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From Gish and Mellon Collie to Oceania, Billy Corgan reveals all about his torturous journey to stardom

I reviewed The Velvet Underground: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition for new issue of Uncut. It's a comprehensive, six-disc set compiling the band's third album in an assortment of mixes, plus 1969 demos and a live recording from The Matrix in San Francisco. Of course, it marks the first album the band recorded after John Cale had left, with Doug Yule assuming bass and (some) vocal duties. I was fortunate enough to speak to both Yule and Mo Tucker for a Q&A to accompany my review.

“We were trying to sound like Kraftwerk…”

Following this morning's momentous news of Ride's return to active service, I thought I'd dig out this piece I wrote for Uncut in 2011.

Twang! Seven-disc box set brings Ryland’s other career into sharp focus...

On the morning of July 29, 1966 Bob Dylan became distracted while out riding his Triumph motorbike. Writing about the incident later in Chronicles Volume 1, Dylan rather gnomically recalled, “I had been in a motorcycle accident and I’d been hurt, but I recovered.” Of course, there is more to Dylan’s accident than that. After a period of retreat and convalescence at his Woodstock home, he began recording songs with his touring band, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm.

Weller on The Jam, solo and beyond...

They were there first – again. Man vs record business, the opera...

Thanks for all the nice feedback about the Liam Hayes/Plush piece I wrote earlier in the week. Lots of other good new arrivals in the list here, and you could do worse than start off by listening to the Cool Ghouls from San Francisco, especially if you're interested in the Allah-Las, the Ty Segall axis, Nuggets ad nauseam and so on.

It is hard to tell where Neil Young and what we can just about call Crazy Horse end their main set in Hyde Park, Saturday night. "Rockin' In The Free World" has spluttered to a conclusion, of sorts, and the band appear to have left the stage. Then, you notice Young remains amidst the debris, pointing agitatedly at the word printed across his new t-shirt: "EARTH".