A serene beginning this morning, with a new Terry Riley album, “Aleph”. Over on my 40 Favourites Of 2012 Thus Far blog, however, things became a little less genteel yesterday, as you can see in the comments thread at the bottom of the chart.
A short week after all the jubilee bullshit, but a pretty hefty postbag these past two days, and some notable downloads, too, as you’ll see from this list.
In tribute to the late Band legend, who died in April 2012, this week’s archive feature is a fascinating piece from October 2009’s Uncut (Take 149) – Barney Hoskyns travels to Levon Helm’s Woodstock barn for one of his Midnight Rambles, a musical hogroast-cum-celebration of the drummer’s life and legacy. “To me,” says Helm, “it’s just rock’n’roll…”
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May comes round again, and with it another Great Escape, one of the year's most satisfying festivals – not only because of its setting in Brighton's many beautiful venues, but because we at Uncut are again putting on our own three nights of some of the most interesting new bands around.
Robert Plant has announced details of three live dates for this summer.
Plant will debut his new band, Sensational Shape Shifters, at:
** Gloucester, Guildhall - May 8
** HMV Forum, London - July 12
** WOMAD, Wiltshire - July 29
Apart from Plant, the line-up for the Sensational Space Shifters is:
Juldeh Camara (JuJu)
ritti (one-stringed African Violin), kologo (African Banjo), talking drum, vocals.
Justin Adams (JuJu, Jah Wobble)
guitar, bendir, vocals
John Baggott (Massive Attack, Portishead)
keyboards
Liam "Skin" Tyson (Cast)
Bright Eyes mainman Conor Oberst is to open his own bar in his home state of Omaha.
The singer, who released his latest album The People's Key in early 2011, is planning the venture with friend and fellow Omaha musician, Phil Schaffart.
The bar, which will not host live music, is set to be named The Pageturners Lounge after the bookshop which previously inhabited the space. Oberst and Schaffert bought the premises in February.
The soundtrack for Dave Grohl's documentary on Sound City Studios, where his former band Nirvana's 'Nevermind' was recorded, is set to be finished this autumn.
Blur are set to celebrate the 21st anniversary will a comprehensive reissue campaign.
All seven of the band's studio albums are to be re-released on July 30 in expanded Special Edition formats, each featuring a bonus disc of previously unreleased material, booklets, and more.
