I was struck by a couple of tweets this morning from Peter Watts (@peter_watts and the author of this month’s Ramones cover story in Uncut). The first ran, “I read the word 'liminal' in the Standard the other day. I think that's psychogeography's 'hippie wigs in Woolworths' moment.”
The Quo are currently on a UK tour, hitting London’s O2 on December 15 – and here’s one song that they are sure to be playing. In this piece from the Uncut archives (Take 190, March 2013), Nick Hasted hears all about the denim-clad, ‘boogie-shuffle’ giants’ 1974 hit. “We were the most uncool band in the world, yet the coolest DJ in the world was saying nice things about us…”_________________
OK, I’ve managed to remember 143 albums that came out this year and that I liked. As in previous years, I didn’t see much point in hacking my list down to a Top 100, or Top 50, or whatever. While it’d be a stretch to claim every one is an imperishable classic, I do feel broadly confident recommending them all.
As Mark Lanegan prepares to release a career-spanning compilation, Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011, early in 2014, we look back at March 2012’s Uncut (Take 178), where the Screaming Trees frontman and solo artist discusses the highs and lows of his catalogue, from collaborating with Kurt Cobain, attempting to thrown session tapes into a river and embracing the synthesizer. Interview: Alastair McKay
A pretty amazing week of new arrivals kicked off with the arrival of the beautiful thing pictured above; the Third Man/Revenant Paramount Records box set (Volume One, I should note). Lots to talk about there, not least the 800 tracks, and once I’ve had a deeper and more extensive listen I’ll try and blog about it properly.
You are, I guess, never finished with Neil Young. A few weeks ago, as we were wrapping up an Uncut Ultimate Music Guide special dedicated to him, the news came through that Young was moving on again. Just as we thought we’d put together a comprehensive survey of all his recorded work, another Archives Performance Series release crept onto the schedules.
In an archive piece taken from Uncut’s January 2005 issue (Take 92), we look back at Dylan in 1975, when he turned the crisis of a deteriorating relationship into one of rock’s most compelling dramas. This is the story of Blood On The Tracks, the album that marked the demise of Dylan’s marriage – and his artistic rebirth. Words: Nick Hasted
Jack White has spoken out about his thoughts on digital versus analogue recording, saying that digital formats have "proven to be anything but fail-safe" when it comes to the preservation of music.
Speaking to The Atlantic, White commented: "A lot of the digital formats in the last 20 years have proven to be anything but fail-safe. The tapes break or the information can't be retrieved."
Jams, folks. Please take ten minutes to watch the excellent clips below from Natural Child and Chris Forsyth. The image above is the cover of Forsyth’s tremendous forthcoming album, which I’ll try my damnedest to write about in the next day or two.
