One of my last jobs on this issue has been proofing our field report from the End Of The Road festival, which Uncut was proudly involved with again this year. I’m hard-pressed to find another festival which reflects so much of what we do here at Uncut – mixing familiar names (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Slowdive, Lankum, Yo La Tengo) with upcoming faces (Kassi Valazza, Sanam, Florence Adooni, Snõõper) across a variety of genres and styles.
By way of evidence, please look no further than this issue of Uncut. Among many highlights, Laura Barton profiles the remarkable redemption story of Christopher Owens, the former frontman with indie-rock classicists Girls, and whose new album I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair is one of my favourite records of the year so far. Elsewhere, I’m very happy to have found time to write a feature on psychedelic drone outsiders Spacemen 3, who according to one admirer, were nothing less than “the greatest English band of the late ’80s”. There’s more, of course – Van Morrison, Michael Kiwanuka, Peter Perrett as well as Steve Cropper, Suede, the Lijadu Sisters, Chuck Prophet and a rare meeting of minds between Gruff Rhys and Bill Ryder-Jones.
Back to End Of The Road quickly, and I leave you with a quote from Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier, who was there, she said, to provide “sonic balm to aid the evolution of Earth’s traumatised civilizations”. It would be a lofty claim if we suggested that the very copy of Uncut that you now hold in your hands will help heal the collective strife of nations. It is, though, something to aspire to, at the very least.
All this and The Beatles, too.