Tool

An alternative history of the post-rock pioneers...

I don’t have any tattoos, for many reasons, but one of the best I can think of is that I don’t trust my aesthetic tastes to remain constant. I don’t feel confident that the art I like now will all, necessarily, be the same things that I like a few years down the line.

Happy new year, everybody. Bit of a tentative start to 2013, though the new issue with Gram Parsons on the cover has just arrived in UK shops. A plug, too, for the next Uncut Ultimate Music Guide, dedicated to The Beatles, which I think is out January 17.

We seem to be posting a lot more lists than actual joined-up writing at the moment – Michael’s just put Uncut’s full Top 75 of 2012 on the website, with links, and is promising our Archive/Reissues chart tomorrow – but, hey, here’s another. Among some other good new arrivals, another strong recommendation for Parquet Courts: check them out here.

As a knock-on effect of posting my Best Albums Of 2012 list every day this week, the office playlist is about double its normal length, as you’ll see.

Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Adele, Karen O and Fiona Apple are among the artists shortlisted for Oscars. Arcade Fire's track "Abraham's Daughter" on The Hunger Games soundtrack is one of the 75 tracks nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The Black Keys have settled legal claims with Pizza Hut and Home Depot over copyright infringement. The US blues-rock duo sued both companies in June this year, saying their music had been used in TV adverts without their permission. The pizza chain was alleged to have used "significant portions" of their track 'Gold On The Ceiling', while they claimed the DIY chain had used 'Lonely Boy' to sell power tools.

Vampire Weekend played new track "Unbelievers" on US television last night – watch it below. Fans will recognise the track as the same one the band premiered at an intimate show at Cleveland's House Of Blues earlier this year (July 12), though they then referred to it as 'New Song#2'.

Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce has described music festivals as "the death of art" and says they've "gotten straighter as the years have gone on". Speaking to Drowned In Sound, the singer also hits out at other bands' egos.

A weirdly deserted Uncut office today, so it falls on me to break off from my usual arduous routine - tooling around on Twitter, listening to Hiss Golden Messenger bootlegs, wondering what time the cricket starts – and write this week’s newsletter blog.