Eddie Van Halen could be out of action for six months after undergoing emergency surgery.
Van Halen, lead guitarist in the band of the same name, had been suffering from a severe case of Diverticulitis. The disease is a digestive disorder which involves an inflammation and infection of the colon.
The first set of Zappa’s mammoth series of reissues is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut, dated October 2012, and in shops now. To accompany David Cavanagh’s in-depth, three-page examination of the dozen re-releases, here’s a feature from November 2010’s Uncut (Take 162), in which members of the guitarist and composer’s various bands recall the madness and precision that went into some of his most important works. Interviews: John Lewis
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This is one film that's stuck with me since I first saw it a month or so back. Principally, it's a spin on low-rent 70s Italian horror movies; a film that both celebrates and mimics the tropes of murky gialli from filmmakers like Dario Argento.
We’ve just had our copies of the new issue dropped off in the office, ahead of it going on sale later this week. Nick Cave’s on the cover, glowering menacingly. John Robinson went down to Brighton, where, as John memorably tells us, Nick lives in a house that’s ‘large and white, much as Russia in winter is large and white’. The occasion for Uncut dropping in on Cave was the release of Lawless, the terrific – and terrifically violent - new movie directed by Nick’s long-time collaborator, John Hillcoat, for which Cave has written the snappy screenplay.
British filmmaker Tony Scott, director of Top Gun, has died after jumping from a bridge in Los Angeles.
Scott, 68, was seen parking his car and jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge over Los Angeles Harbor at 12.30pm local time on Sunday (August 19). According to official sources quoted in the Daily Breeze, Scott leapt "without hesitation".
A suicide note was found inside Scott's car, a black Toyota Prius, said US Coast Guard Lt Jennifer Osburn. A representative from the LA County Coroner's Office told the BBC: "We have no reason to believe it was not a suicide."
Twenty mostly new records for your delectation this week, with particular emphasis on: the Michael Chapman full and free download from Black Dirt Studios’ consistently excellent “Natch” project; Cody ChesnuTT’s plush, upscale return; Corin Tucker tapping back into the punch of earlyish Sleater-Kinney; Jeff Lynne’s weird forensic re-recordings of his greatest hits; that Crazy Horse boot I wrote about yesterday; and Rangda, of course.
Elbow, Band Of Horses and Hot Chip are among the new additions to the line-up for London's iTunes Festival this year.
Elbow and Bat For Lashes will play together at London's Roundhouse on September 7, while Hot Chip will headline the venue themselves on September 29.
Band Of Horses will support Jack White on September 8.
Elvis Costello has announced an extensive UK tour for next summer.
The singer, who released his 24th studio album National Ransom in 2010, will play 16 dates across the UK in May and June next year.
The tour will once again feature Costello and his band asking members of the audience to spin a huge wheel and select the next song in the set.
Costello's original wheel tour took place in 1986, opening at the Los Angeles Beverly Theatre, before a three night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Elvis Costello will play:
