Portishead are to reissue their 1994 album Dummy to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The Bristol band have decided against adding any additional material to the re-release, however, the first 1000 copies of Dummy will be pressed on blue vinyl. The record comes packaged in a gatefold sleeve and also includes a digital download card. Pre-orders can be made from Portishead's website from August 13.
The band have a number of festival dates confirmed for the rest of the summer and will play:
Route Du Rock, St Malo, France (August 15)
As you've hopefully seen now, this month's issue of Uncut has a revealing piece about Richard & Linda Thompson's "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight", timed to tie in with that great album's 40th anniversary and its vinyl reissue, plus a burst of Thompson activity that includes a show at the End Of The Road Festival at the end of the month. "It is what it is and I like what it is," he calls the album in the piece, somewhat self-effacingly, "and there's a lot of stuff out there that I've done that I like less. That being said, it sold about 30 copies."
Sad news this morning about the death of Robin Williams, aged 63. Of course, Williams had been a dynamic and prolific screen presence since the late 1970s, from early contributions to The Richard Pryor Show to his sitcom breakthrough in Mork & Mindy and beyond into a hugely successful film career. In tribute, we've compiled below 10 clips that we hope do justice to his prodigious talents.
Fugazi are to release their first demo, nearly 30 years after recording them.
The news was broken by the band's label, Dischord, who wrote on their website:
"In January 1988, after only ten shows, Fugazi decided to go into Inner Ear Studio to see what their music sounded like on tape. They tracked 11 songs, ten of which were ultimately dubbed to cassette tape and distributed free at shows, with the band encouraging people to share the recording.
Bob Weir has cancelled his forthcoming tour itinerary, according to a report on Rolling Stone.
Bob Weir and his band, RatDog, have canceled all of their upcoming tour dates, citing unnamed "circumstances" as the reason, according to a Facebook post by Weir's other group, Furthur.
Leonard Cohen is reportedly releasing a new album to coincide with his 80th birthday.
The album, which Rolling Stone reports is called Popular Problems, is listed on Amazon France for September 22 release date; the day after Cohen's birthday.
Paul McCartney has worked on the score for a new computer game called Destiny.
McCartney has also composed the theme tune for the first-person shooter video game for the Playstation and Xbox, working with a 120 piece orchestra at London's Abbey Road Studios on the piece of music.
Van Morrison is to release a book of his lyrics, Lit Up Inside, on October 2.
The 230 page book, published by Faber & Faber, will be available in three different editions: a Deluxe Edition (50 copies available; £500); a Limited Edition (250 copies; £150); and a standard hardback, priced £14.99.
In a statement on his website, Morrison said "The lyrics in this book span 50 years of writing and as such are representative of my creative journey."
According to a post on quasi-official Morrissey fansite True To You , the singer and his label have parted ways. The post reads: "Three weeks after the release of Morrissey's World Peace Is None Of Your Business (#2 UK, #14 US), Capitol Records/Harvest have ended their relationship with Morrissey, as directed by label boss Steve Barnett. Morrissey is once again in search of a record label."
