David Bowie has finally broken his silence on his comeback album The Next Day.
American novelist Ricky Moody, writing for literary website The Rumpus, persuaded Bowie to comment – in a manner – on his album, after asking for a "work flow diagram" explaining his creative approach.
Seeing as how Matthew E White and his band are on tour in the UK this week (I’m seeing him play in London tomorrow), it seemed a good time to post the feature about my visit to Richmond a couple of months ago. I’ve put a few links to stuff in here, too, so you can get a taste of the really interesting music coming out of the scene that revolves around White. Long read, this one…
Not sure how many of you braved the scrums of Ebay dealers on Record Store Day, but one of the more interesting things to come out of the whole business this year was the surreptitious return of Boards Of Canada.
The new issue of Uncut arrives in UK shops on Thursday, though perhaps a few subscribers, with a prevailing wind, might have already received their copies. Lots of interesting stuff in there, including new interviews with The National, Laura Marling, Deborah Harry and Todd Rundgren; The Eagles, The Waterboys, Deep Purple, Mark Mulcahy, Kurt Vile; reviews of Fleetwood Mac, Vampire Weekend, REM, Van Dyke Parks and Jandek; respects paid to Jason Molina, Andy Johns and Phil Ramone; and a brief exchange with the now notorious Michelle Shocked.
Johnny Marr has spoken out about Margaret Thatcher.
"My thoughts are that if you see the word 'Thatcherism,' it’s not a word that stands for something good," he told Rolling Stone. "I don’t think there’s any getting around that."
For the next issue of Uncut, I've reviewed Season 1 of Veep. In case you're not familiar with the show, it's basically Armando Iannucci's attempt to relocate The Thick Of It to the White House.
From Uncut, March 2009.
'Thirty years on from the beginning of Margaret Thatcher's reign of terror, Uncut revisits a tempestuous and invigorating period in British pop history. PAUL WELLER, THE SPECIALS, THE BEAT, UB40, SOUL II SOUL and THE FARM recall a time when mass unemployment energised a whole generation to learn one chord, learn another, form a band - and then make an insurrectionist statement on Cheggers Plays Pop...'
A momentous week, one way or another, though I can’t help wishing the resonant and thought-through fury of “Tramp The Dirt Down” was heading into the Top Ten instead of “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”.
Morrissey has released an official statement regarding the death of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The singer released his comments to fansite True To You yesterday (April 9) following Thatcher's death yesterday at the age of 87.
In the strongly worded statement, Morrissey wrote:
Thatcher was not a strong or formidable leader. She simply did not give a shit about people, and this coarseness has been neatly transformed into bravery by the British press who are attempting to rewrite history in order to protect patriotism.
