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Paul Weller added to Isle Of Wight festival lineup

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Paul Weller added to Isle Of Wight festival lineup

Paul Weller has been confirmed to perform at Isle Of Wight Festival this year, appearing directly before The Stone Roses on the main stage. The festival will also be headlined by Bon Jovi and The Killers in 2013. Speaking about his appearance on the Friday night, Paul Weller says: "It's been a while since I've played the Isle Of Wight Festival and I'm excited to be playing it this year, it's a great way to kick off the summer." Other acts already announced for the festival, which will take place at Seaclose Park between June 13-16 include The Maccabees, Jake Bugg, Bloc Party, Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, Blondie, I Am Kloot, Kodaline and Willy Mason. Speaking about the latest additions to next year's lineup, festival organiser John Giddings previously said: "We are proud to present some of the best new music around, together with artists who helped scope the face of modern music – it’s a stunning combination so far."

Paul Weller has been confirmed to perform at Isle Of Wight Festival this year, appearing directly before The Stone Roses on the main stage.

The festival will also be headlined by Bon Jovi and The Killers in 2013. Speaking about his appearance on the Friday night, Paul Weller says: “It’s been a while since I’ve played the Isle Of Wight Festival and I’m excited to be playing it this year, it’s a great way to kick off the summer.”

Other acts already announced for the festival, which will take place at Seaclose Park between June 13-16 include The Maccabees, Jake Bugg, Bloc Party, Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, Blondie, I Am Kloot, Kodaline and Willy Mason.

Speaking about the latest additions to next year’s lineup, festival organiser John Giddings previously said: “We are proud to present some of the best new music around, together with artists who helped scope the face of modern music – it’s a stunning combination so far.”

Vampire Weekend confirm third album almost complete

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Vampire Weekend confirm third album almost complete

Vampire Weekend have confirmed that they are putting the finishing touches to their "organic" and "cohesive" forthcoming third album, which is due for release in spring 2013. The LP will be the band's first new material since 2010's 'Contra' and has been in the works for more than 20 months. Although they say they have been mentally composing the record "since the we handed in [2010's] 'Contra'", when they actually began writing tracks in producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij's Brooklyn apartment, they found a creative flurry at the beginning soon hit a wall. "Making every record is a process full of tough times," singer and guitarist Ezra Keonig told NME. "Invariably that's how it is for us. When we started to work a few days a week and really pick things up we immediately had maybe two or three songs that we thought were perfect for this record, a new vibe, quality songwriting. We felt great about them for two or three months, but then after a while you realise, 'OK, we have two or three great songs and we need 11 or 12.'" He added: "Then the depression sets in. You don't want to have three great songs and then write nine shitty ones. It's like the bar keeps getting higher and higher and there's all these moments where you feel like you have no idea what to do…For our third record it's only getting harder, but that kinda feels like how it should be." After a stint writing in Martha's Vineyard, they then headed out to LA last summer with producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who most recently has been working with Major Lazer, Usher and Snoop Lion. Speaking about working with Rechtshaid, Keonig said: "to bring somebody new in definitely changed the dynamic. After two albums of doing everything ourselves, we're very lucky that we found somebody who, personality-wise and vibe-wise, almost felt like they could be a member of the band. "

Vampire Weekend have confirmed that they are putting the finishing touches to their “organic” and “cohesive” forthcoming third album, which is due for release in spring 2013.

The LP will be the band’s first new material since 2010’s ‘Contra’ and has been in the works for more than 20 months. Although they say they have been mentally composing the record “since the we handed in [2010’s] ‘Contra'”, when they actually began writing tracks in producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij’s Brooklyn apartment, they found a creative flurry at the beginning soon hit a wall.

“Making every record is a process full of tough times,” singer and guitarist Ezra Keonig told NME. “Invariably that’s how it is for us. When we started to work a few days a week and really pick things up we immediately had maybe two or three songs that we thought were perfect for this record, a new vibe, quality songwriting. We felt great about them for two or three months, but then after a while you realise, ‘OK, we have two or three great songs and we need 11 or 12.'”

He added: “Then the depression sets in. You don’t want to have three great songs and then write nine shitty ones. It’s like the bar keeps getting higher and higher and there’s all these moments where you feel like you have no idea what to do…For our third record it’s only getting harder, but that kinda feels like how it should be.”

After a stint writing in Martha’s Vineyard, they then headed out to LA last summer with producer Ariel Rechtshaid, who most recently has been working with Major Lazer, Usher and Snoop Lion. Speaking about working with Rechtshaid, Keonig said: “to bring somebody new in definitely changed the dynamic. After two albums of doing everything ourselves, we’re very lucky that we found somebody who, personality-wise and vibe-wise, almost felt like they could be a member of the band. “

Dave Grohl collaborates with Stevie Nicks and John Fogerty at Sundance Film Festival

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Dave Grohl collaborates with Stevie Nicks and John Fogerty at Sundance Film Festival

Dave Grohl debuted his new supergroup, the Sound City Players, at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday (January 18, 2013). Grohl, who was accompanied by his Foo Fighters bandmates throughout the three-hour show, introduced a rolling castlist of rock legends to the stage to play with him as he guided the crowd through a live history of music recorded at the Sound City Studios, reports Rolling Stone. Nirvana's Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, Slipknot's Corey Taylor, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett, Alain Johannes, Chris Goss, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk were among the 17-strong lineup of musicians who took to the stage. All the featured artists have recorded at the infamous Sound City Studios and appear in Grohl's documentary about the recording studios in Van Nuys, California, which premiered at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Friday (January 19). Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty performed 'Born On The Bayou', 'Bad Moon Rising', 'Proud Mary' and 'Fortunate Son' with Grohl, while Nicks performed 'Landslide' and new song 'You Can't Fix This'. The film also features Paul McCartney, who teamed up with Grohl to front a band comprising the former members of Nirvana at the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert in New York on December 12. A studio recording of 'Cut Me Some Slack', the song the short-lived supergroup recorded for the film, was put online on December 17. Nirvana recorded their Nevermind album at Sound City in 1991. This promises to be a busy year for Grohl. He'll be delivering the keynote speech at this year's South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas on March 14, as well as drumming on the forthcoming Queens Of The Stone Age album.

Dave Grohl debuted his new supergroup, the Sound City Players, at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday (January 18, 2013).

Grohl, who was accompanied by his Foo Fighters bandmates throughout the three-hour show, introduced a rolling castlist of rock legends to the stage to play with him as he guided the crowd through a live history of music recorded at the Sound City Studios, reports Rolling Stone.

Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett, Alain Johannes, Chris Goss, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen and Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk were among the 17-strong lineup of musicians who took to the stage.

All the featured artists have recorded at the infamous Sound City Studios and appear in Grohl’s documentary about the recording studios in Van Nuys, California, which premiered at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Friday (January 19).

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty performed ‘Born On The Bayou’, ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘Fortunate Son’ with Grohl, while Nicks performed ‘Landslide’ and new song ‘You Can’t Fix This’.

The film also features Paul McCartney, who teamed up with Grohl to front a band comprising the former members of Nirvana at the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert in New York on December 12.

A studio recording of ‘Cut Me Some Slack’, the song the short-lived supergroup recorded for the film, was put online on December 17. Nirvana recorded their Nevermind album at Sound City in 1991.

This promises to be a busy year for Grohl. He’ll be delivering the keynote speech at this year’s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas on March 14, as well as drumming on the forthcoming Queens Of The Stone Age album.

Church where Arcade Fire recorded Neon Bible and The Suburbs listed for sale

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Church where Arcade Fire recorded Neon Bible and The Suburbs listed for sale

The church in which Arcade Fire recorded two of their studio albums has been listed for sale, according to reports. The band recorded their 2007 LP Neon Bible and 2010 record The Suburbs at the building in Farnham, Quebec in Canada but, according to Pitchfork, were forced to leave the church behind after the roof collapsed. With the group now working on their fourth studio album in a new location, they posted an advertisement for the building on their Twitter account. According to the listing, the building will cost $325,000 (£204,880), while the roof repairs would set the buyer back between $24,300 (£15,100) and $44,200 (£27,700). It says: "Charming church which housed a small concert hall, followed by a recording studio also offering accommodation. Its architecture makes it a perfect location for an artist's studio, a place of worship, a cultural, community or other organization. Offer here a unique setting to your project!" Last month (December 7), it was revealed that Arcade Fire are currently working on their new album with James Murphy. The band's manager said: "They're in with James Murphy on three or so songs, plus Markus Dravs who is a long-time collaborator. They write too many songs – that's a good problem to have. There's around 35 songs with Arcade Fire, two albums' worth for sure."

The church in which Arcade Fire recorded two of their studio albums has been listed for sale, according to reports.

The band recorded their 2007 LP Neon Bible and 2010 record The Suburbs at the building in Farnham, Quebec in Canada but, according to Pitchfork, were forced to leave the church behind after the roof collapsed. With the group now working on their fourth studio album in a new location, they posted an advertisement for the building on their Twitter account.

According to the listing, the building will cost $325,000 (£204,880), while the roof repairs would set the buyer back between $24,300 (£15,100) and $44,200 (£27,700). It says: “Charming church which housed a small concert hall, followed by a recording studio also offering accommodation. Its architecture makes it a perfect location for an artist’s studio, a place of worship, a cultural, community or other organization. Offer here a unique setting to your project!”

Last month (December 7), it was revealed that Arcade Fire are currently working on their new album with James Murphy. The band’s manager said: “They’re in with James Murphy on three or so songs, plus Markus Dravs who is a long-time collaborator. They write too many songs – that’s a good problem to have. There’s around 35 songs with Arcade Fire, two albums’ worth for sure.”

Bob Dylan to play tribute show to poet Dylan Thomas in Wales?

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Bob Dylan to play tribute show to poet Dylan Thomas in Wales?

Bob Dylan could play a tribute show for late poet Dylan Thomas in Wales, according to a Welsh MP. Reuters reports that Dylan is mulling over an offer to play a gig to mark the 100th birthday of Thomas, with MP for West Swansea Geraint Davies revealing that he has been in touch with the singer to convince him to play the concert. There have often been theories that Dylan, who was born Robert Zimmerman, took his adopted name from the Welsh poet and he is a self-confessed fan of Thomas' work, although there have also been suggestions that his moniker was inspired by a character from US TV Western Gunsmoke called Marshal Matt Dillon. Davies, however, is hopeful that the link between Dylan and the deceased poet will convince him to visit Swansea as part of a series of commemorative events next year. "Bob Dylan named himself after Dylan Thomas," he said. "I have asked Bob Dylan whether he would be prepared to give a centenary concert in Swansea, in order that he could blend his music with Dylan Thomas's poetry." He added: "Sony Music has come back and said that Mr. Dylan is thinking very positively about the idea." Dylan released his 35th studio album, Tempest, last year. It contains a total of 10 tracks and was produced by Dylan himself, although, as with his recent studio albums, the producer was named as 'Jack Frost'.

Bob Dylan could play a tribute show for late poet Dylan Thomas in Wales, according to a Welsh MP.

Reuters reports that Dylan is mulling over an offer to play a gig to mark the 100th birthday of Thomas, with MP for West Swansea Geraint Davies revealing that he has been in touch with the singer to convince him to play the concert.

There have often been theories that Dylan, who was born Robert Zimmerman, took his adopted name from the Welsh poet and he is a self-confessed fan of Thomas’ work, although there have also been suggestions that his moniker was inspired by a character from US TV Western Gunsmoke called Marshal Matt Dillon.

Davies, however, is hopeful that the link between Dylan and the deceased poet will convince him to visit Swansea as part of a series of commemorative events next year. “Bob Dylan named himself after Dylan Thomas,” he said. “I have asked Bob Dylan whether he would be prepared to give a centenary concert in Swansea, in order that he could blend his music with Dylan Thomas’s poetry.”

He added: “Sony Music has come back and said that Mr. Dylan is thinking very positively about the idea.”

Dylan released his 35th studio album, Tempest, last year. It contains a total of 10 tracks and was produced by Dylan himself, although, as with his recent studio albums, the producer was named as ‘Jack Frost’.

Jack White teams up with Scottish label to reissue early blues records

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Jack White teams up with Scottish label to reissue early blues records

Jack White's Third Man Records has teamed up with a small Scottish label to reissue early blues records. White's label has partnered up with Document Records to reissue the complete works of Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and the Mississippi Sheiks on remastered vinyl. A release date has been set for January 29. "Third Man Records is thrilled to announce the release of the first three records in our highly-anticipated Document Records reissue series," said the label in an online statement. They continued: "The recordings we'll be presenting in this reissue series are the building blocks and DNA of American culture. Blues, R&B, Elvis, teenagerism, punk rock... it all goes back to these vital, breathtaking recordings. Every record collection should have ample room for these highly important and endlessly listenable albums." White reportedly chose to work with Document Records as the label, owned by husband-and-wife team Gary and Gillian Atkinson, had released a clutch of blues albums that he bought when he was a kid. Co-founder Gillian Atkinson hopes that by working together with White on the reissue project, they'll encourage younger music-buyers to take interest in the blues genre. "What this collaboration has done, and Jack in particular, is open up a whole new younger market, and he's reaching it", she told Scotland On Sunday.

Jack White’s Third Man Records has teamed up with a small Scottish label to reissue early blues records.

White’s label has partnered up with Document Records to reissue the complete works of Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and the Mississippi Sheiks on remastered vinyl. A release date has been set for January 29.

“Third Man Records is thrilled to announce the release of the first three records in our highly-anticipated Document Records reissue series,” said the label in an online statement.

They continued: “The recordings we’ll be presenting in this reissue series are the building blocks and DNA of American culture. Blues, R&B, Elvis, teenagerism, punk rock… it all goes back to these vital, breathtaking recordings. Every record collection should have ample room for these highly important and endlessly listenable albums.”

White reportedly chose to work with Document Records as the label, owned by husband-and-wife team Gary and Gillian Atkinson, had released a clutch of blues albums that he bought when he was a kid.

Co-founder Gillian Atkinson hopes that by working together with White on the reissue project, they’ll encourage younger music-buyers to take interest in the blues genre. “What this collaboration has done, and Jack in particular, is open up a whole new younger market, and he’s reaching it”, she told Scotland On Sunday.

Matthew E. White – Big Inner

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Matthew E. White – Big Inner

Soulful debut is stunning introduction to producer's talents... It opens with a song with no intro. It’s a love song called “One Of These Days”, and its one of those songs where the intensity of the lyrics is undercut by the contemplative hush of the music, and the humble, diffident voice of a new artist called Matthew E. White. White is not a singer or songwriter by trade. He is a 29-year-old session musician, producer and arranger who decided to make an album to showcase his dream baby: a self-contained label, studio and house band called Spacebomb. So the entire arsenal gathered by White’s years of experience and expertise is at his disposal on “One Of These Days”: three-piece rhythm section, eight horn players, nine string players, a choir. Yet the anticipated wall-of-noise never emerges, and the song creeps around the mind, unveiling each new layer of texture with almost subliminal softness, reveling in the contrast between the minor key dread of the verse, and the comforting major key of the chorus. And what gradually unveils here is a dark devotion that starkly contrasts with the avuncular, country-soul mumble of the soundtrack: “I don’t want to live a minute longer than you/So let’s meet the Lord together” hits like a southern Baptist twist on Morrissey’s melodramatic death wishes on The Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. And of course, when love is that nihilistic, it turns out that the object of White’s desire is long gone. Glory fades, flowers die, and White asks, with sighing tenderness, “Why aren’t you still standing, on the sidewalk, by my stairs?/Seems like everyone’s moving away.” Carbon-based lifeforms. Chelsea managers. Love. In this world, nothing is permanent. The song is the perfect way into Big Inner, a cute pun from a big fan of The Band, and a beautiful album of loss and grief smuggled under cover of a sound like quiet sunny Sundays and a whispered conversation with a shy friend. The seven songs explore faith, death, home comforts and getting dumped and, although Big Inner is no concept album, its immaculate remodelling of turn of the ‘70s blue-eyed soul in the tradition of Tony Joe White, Carole King, Laura Nyro and White favourite Jackie DeShannon invites you into a song suite of sustained mood that is not designed for iPod on shuffle mode. At various points it reminds you of Lambchop, Astral Weeks and Shuggie Otis. White and his arrangers Phil Cook (choir) and Trey Pollard (strings and horns) paint like minimalists despite allowing themselves the most colourful palette available. And while White is no soul singer in the accepted sense, his humble mumbles, strained falsettos and double-tracked whispers lend intimacy to a meticulously played and arranged music which, if led by a more technical voice, could have wandered into blander territory. Instead, each riff, lick, melody and harmony is pitched for maximum effect from minimum bluster, an exquisite exercise in quiet storm economy. “Big Love” follows “One Of These Days” with the closest Big Inner comes to big funk, as shuffling drums and gospel piano backdrop a kiss-off to a faithless lover. As the choir rise into full-on Rotary Connection ecstasy, there’s something of Bill Callahan’s wry stoicism in the way White declares: “I am a barracuda/I am a hurricane” in a voice so small and modest that minnows and summer breezes would appear more appropriate symbols of White’s independence. It’s an ironically defiant stance appropriately undercut by “Will You Love Me”, which slows the central melody of Joe South’s “Games People Play” to a desolate crawl as White begs, one suspects, the same lover to deliver him from an aching loneliness. “Gone Away” grieves for a dead child like a Stax ballad with all the bluesy assertiveness sucked into a black hole of hollow-eyed resignation. The darkness is lifted by the swamp-funk playfulness of “Steady Pace”, which wonders out loud “where the night spends all it’s days” and implores us to slow down and wallow in each moment that we might be lucky enough to be in love. “Hot Toddies”, yet another beautiful, soulful ballad balanced between brassy, honky-tonk funk and a sophistication of orchestral arrangement that Van Dyke Parks would be proud of, continues to gently push a theme of love as home comfort rather than breathless thrill… until you realise that the lover here is booze, as White murmurs his acquiescence to the devil’s “sweet whiskey”. It’s all building towards the album’s final moment of catharsis, a five-minute exaltation based around lines lifted from Brazilian legend Jorge Ben’s “Brother”: “Jesus Christ is our Lord/Jesus Christ, He is your friend.” It’s the coda of closing song “Brazos”, which is about slavery, faith and the doubt that surrounds belief when you are trying to endure Hell on Earth. The euphoric coda captures the ecstasy of joy derived from fervent belief in Heaven and a better place, with a spine-tingling dynamic based on adding simple elements – a new counter-melody here, a handclap there - until the song becomes the kind of exultant rave-up that Primal Scream wished that they’d achieved on Screamadelica. But White is as loaded with doubt as the Apostle Peter: “Sunk like a stone because he wasn’t a believer… And I’m not sure that I am either.” White is a child of devout Christian missionaries, and “Brazos” is as cathartic, mesmeric and profoundly moving as a man’s quest to resolve his spiritual doubts ought to be. Big Inner exists primarily because White wanted to spread the gospel of his Spacebomb label. But the guy with the big vision and the small voice may have unwittingly screwed up. He’s made one of the great albums of modern Americana, and one suspects that a reluctant star is born. Spacebomb as the new Stax may have to wait. Garry Mulholland Q&A Matthew E. White Why so long to make your first album? It took me a while to get the musical chops together to make a record like this. You need a certain amount of experience in leading sessions and getting that many people together in a room, as well as writing the music. And from a songwriting perspective, it took me a while to find my voice. Its not like when I was 20 I said, “I’m gonna make a record when I’m 28.” But this record is also a way to showcase what the Spacebomb label can do. So - what can the Spacebomb label do? I live in an amazing community here in Richmond, Virginia. It has lots of wonderful musicians. So I had this idea about doing things the old way; you know, having a house band. I want people to come here and make records. I thought I should be the first one to do it because I was the most familiar with the process of making records and it’s my vision. And then if it all turned out shitty then I’m the guy who bears the weight. We made this record in seven days and unbelievably cheaply. This idea works. And one of the big reasons for me to found Spacebomb is so I can make more than one record a year with a variety of artists. Would you describe Big Inner as a blue-eyed soul album? Short answer… yeah. But it gives me a little too much credit as a singer! But one of the things I like about the record is that, as a producer and arranger, I’m very professional. I do that for a living. But there are parts of Big Inner which are raw and wild and I don’t really know what I’m doing. One of those parts is the songwriting, and the other is the singing. No one would ask me to sing unless I’m in charge. I’m really aware of that and it doesn’t bother me. It works. The album gives co-songwriting credits to Latin great Jorge Ben, gospel artist Washington Phillips and reggae man Jimmy Cliff. But you haven’t sampled them… I just wanted to be very clear in the credits that I wasn’t trying to do a George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” thing! The chorus to “Will You Love Me”, is pulled straight from Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross”. The chorus of Brazos is from “Brother” by Jorge Ben. There are elements of “What Are You Doing In Heaven Today” by Washington Philips throughout “Gone Away”. My publishers don’t really like that I credit like that! But those three artists and the traditions that they represent are incredibly important to me and I don’t want to try and sweep that under the rug. Your parents are Christian missionaries. How has that affected your art? I spent four years in Manila in The Philippines as a child. We were out there during the coup in the ‘80s and there were tanks turning round in my driveway, which to me, as a little boy, was awesome because I didn’t know what that meant. I went to cockfights. Being there and coming back to America made my idea of what is American more three-dimensional than people who have always been here. As for religious faith, its something I’m still dealing with in terms of what it means to me. There are some things about faith that I don’t like. But it’s been a big part of my life and my past so it’s honest of me to draw upon that for my songs. Is it true that “Gone Away” was inspired by the death of a cousin? Yes. She was killed in a car accident in October 2010. She was just four years old. I’d been out at a bar when I heard and I pretty much picked up a guitar and wrote the song right there. I was just trying to make sense of it. INTERVIEW: GARRY MULHOLLAND

Soulful debut is stunning introduction to producer’s talents…

It opens with a song with no intro. It’s a love song called “One Of These Days”, and its one of those songs where the intensity of the lyrics is undercut by the contemplative hush of the music, and the humble, diffident voice of a new artist called Matthew E. White.

White is not a singer or songwriter by trade. He is a 29-year-old session musician, producer and arranger who decided to make an album to showcase his dream baby: a self-contained label, studio and house band called Spacebomb. So the entire arsenal gathered by White’s years of experience and expertise is at his disposal on “One Of These Days”: three-piece rhythm section, eight horn players, nine string players, a choir.

Yet the anticipated wall-of-noise never emerges, and the song creeps around the mind, unveiling each new layer of texture with almost subliminal softness, reveling in the contrast between the minor key dread of the verse, and the comforting major key of the chorus. And what gradually unveils here is a dark devotion that starkly contrasts with the avuncular, country-soul mumble of the soundtrack: “I don’t want to live a minute longer than you/So let’s meet the Lord together” hits like a southern Baptist twist on Morrissey’s melodramatic death wishes on The Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. And of course, when love is that nihilistic, it turns out that the object of White’s desire is long gone. Glory fades, flowers die, and White asks, with sighing tenderness, “Why aren’t you still standing, on the sidewalk, by my stairs?/Seems like everyone’s moving away.” Carbon-based lifeforms. Chelsea managers. Love. In this world, nothing is permanent.

The song is the perfect way into Big Inner, a cute pun from a big fan of The Band, and a beautiful album of loss and grief smuggled under cover of a sound like quiet sunny Sundays and a whispered conversation with a shy friend. The seven songs explore faith, death, home comforts and getting dumped and, although Big Inner is no concept album, its immaculate remodelling of turn of the ‘70s blue-eyed soul in the tradition of Tony Joe White, Carole King, Laura Nyro and White favourite Jackie DeShannon invites you into a song suite of sustained mood that is not designed for iPod on shuffle mode. At various points it reminds you of Lambchop, Astral Weeks and Shuggie Otis.

White and his arrangers Phil Cook (choir) and Trey Pollard (strings and horns) paint like minimalists despite allowing themselves the most colourful palette available. And while White is no soul singer in the accepted sense, his humble mumbles, strained falsettos and double-tracked whispers lend intimacy to a meticulously played and arranged music which, if led by a more technical voice, could have wandered into blander territory. Instead, each riff, lick, melody and harmony is pitched for maximum effect from minimum bluster, an exquisite exercise in quiet storm economy.

“Big Love” follows “One Of These Days” with the closest Big Inner comes to big funk, as shuffling drums and gospel piano backdrop a kiss-off to a faithless lover. As the choir rise into full-on Rotary Connection ecstasy, there’s something of Bill Callahan’s wry stoicism in the way White declares: “I am a barracuda/I am a hurricane” in a voice so small and modest that minnows and summer breezes would appear more appropriate symbols of White’s independence. It’s an ironically defiant stance appropriately undercut by “Will You Love Me”, which slows the central melody of Joe South’s “Games People Play” to a desolate crawl as White begs, one suspects, the same lover to deliver him from an aching loneliness.

“Gone Away” grieves for a dead child like a Stax ballad with all the bluesy assertiveness sucked into a black hole of hollow-eyed resignation. The darkness is lifted by the swamp-funk playfulness of “Steady Pace”, which wonders out loud “where the night spends all it’s days” and implores us to slow down and wallow in each moment that we might be lucky enough to be in love. “Hot Toddies”, yet another beautiful, soulful ballad balanced between brassy, honky-tonk funk and a sophistication of orchestral arrangement that Van Dyke Parks would be proud of, continues to gently push a theme of love as home comfort rather than breathless thrill… until you realise that the lover here is booze, as White murmurs his acquiescence to the devil’s “sweet whiskey”.

It’s all building towards the album’s final moment of catharsis, a five-minute exaltation based around lines lifted from Brazilian legend Jorge Ben’s “Brother”: “Jesus Christ is our Lord/Jesus Christ, He is your friend.” It’s the coda of closing song “Brazos”, which is about slavery, faith and the doubt that surrounds belief when you are trying to endure Hell on Earth. The euphoric coda captures the ecstasy of joy derived from fervent belief in Heaven and a better place, with a spine-tingling dynamic based on adding simple elements – a new counter-melody here, a handclap there – until the song becomes the kind of exultant rave-up that Primal Scream wished that they’d achieved on Screamadelica. But White is as loaded with doubt as the Apostle Peter: “Sunk like a stone because he wasn’t a believer… And I’m not sure that I am either.” White is a child of devout Christian missionaries, and “Brazos” is as cathartic, mesmeric and profoundly moving as a man’s quest to resolve his spiritual doubts ought to be.

Big Inner exists primarily because White wanted to spread the gospel of his Spacebomb label. But the guy with the big vision and the small voice may have unwittingly screwed up. He’s made one of the great albums of modern Americana, and one suspects that a reluctant star is born. Spacebomb as the new Stax may have to wait.

Garry Mulholland

Q&A

Matthew E. White

Why so long to make your first album?

It took me a while to get the musical chops together to make a record like this. You need a certain amount of experience in leading sessions and getting that many people together in a room, as well as writing the music. And from a songwriting perspective, it took me a while to find my voice. Its not like when I was 20 I said, “I’m gonna make a record when I’m 28.” But this record is also a way to showcase what the Spacebomb label can do.

So – what can the Spacebomb label do?

I live in an amazing community here in Richmond, Virginia. It has lots of wonderful musicians. So I had this idea about doing things the old way; you know, having a house band. I want people to come here and make records. I thought I should be the first one to do it because I was the most familiar with the process of making records and it’s my vision. And then if it all turned out shitty then I’m the guy who bears the weight. We made this record in seven days and unbelievably cheaply. This idea works. And one of the big reasons for me to found Spacebomb is so I can make more than one record a year with a variety of artists.

Would you describe Big Inner as a blue-eyed soul album?

Short answer… yeah. But it gives me a little too much credit as a singer! But one of the things I like about the record is that, as a producer and arranger, I’m very professional. I do that for a living. But there are parts of Big Inner which are raw and wild and I don’t really know what I’m doing. One of those parts is the songwriting, and the other is the singing. No one would ask me to sing unless I’m in charge. I’m really aware of that and it doesn’t bother me. It works.

The album gives co-songwriting credits to Latin great Jorge Ben, gospel artist Washington Phillips and reggae man Jimmy Cliff. But you haven’t sampled them…

I just wanted to be very clear in the credits that I wasn’t trying to do a George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” thing! The chorus to “Will You Love Me”, is pulled straight from Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross”. The chorus of Brazos is from “Brother” by Jorge Ben. There are elements of “What Are You Doing In Heaven Today” by Washington Philips throughout “Gone Away”. My publishers don’t really like that I credit like that! But those three artists and the traditions that they represent are incredibly important to me and I don’t want to try and sweep that under the rug.

Your parents are Christian missionaries. How has that affected your art?

I spent four years in Manila in The Philippines as a child. We were out there during the coup in the ‘80s and there were tanks turning round in my driveway, which to me, as a little boy, was awesome because I didn’t know what that meant. I went to cockfights. Being there and coming back to America made my idea of what is American more three-dimensional than people who have always been here. As for religious faith, its something I’m still dealing with in terms of what it means to me. There are some things about faith that I don’t like. But it’s been a big part of my life and my past so it’s honest of me to draw upon that for my songs.

Is it true that “Gone Away” was inspired by the death of a cousin?

Yes. She was killed in a car accident in October 2010. She was just four years old. I’d been out at a bar when I heard and I pretty much picked up a guitar and wrote the song right there. I was just trying to make sense of it.

INTERVIEW: GARRY MULHOLLAND

Stephen Stills announces career-spanning box set

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Stephen Stills announces career-spanning box set
Stephen Stills is to release a career-spanning box set, called Carry On, on March 26. Carry On will be a 4CD set, featuring 82 tracks, 25 of which are previously unreleased. It has been co-produced by Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein. It was also include a 113-page booklet with rare photos and extens...

Stephen Stills is to release a career-spanning box set, called Carry On, on March 26.

Carry On will be a 4CD set, featuring 82 tracks, 25 of which are previously unreleased. It has been co-produced by Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein. It was also include a 113-page booklet with rare photos and extensive liner notes.

The track listing for Carry On is:

Disc 1

1 • Travelin’–Stephen Stills (2:21) mono

2 • High Flyin’ Bird–The Au Go Go Singers (2:34)

3 • Sit Down I Think I Love You–Buffalo Springfield (2:33) mono

4 • Go And Say Goodbye–Buffalo Springfield (2:32) mono

5 • For What It’s Worth–Buffalo Springfield (2:40) mono

6 • Everydays–Buffalo Springfield (2:43)

7 • Pretty Girl Why–Buffalo Springfield (2:30)

8 • Bluebird–Buffalo Springfield (4:30)

9 • Rock N Roll Woman–Buffalo Springfield (2:46)

10 • Special Care–Buffalo Springfield (3:32)

11 • Questions–Buffalo Springfield (2:56)

12 • Uno Mundo–Buffalo Springfield (2:09)

13 • Four Days Gone–Buffalo Springfield (3:47)

14 • Who Ran Away?–Stephen Stills (2:18)

15 • Forty-Nine Reasons–Stephen Stills (2:44)

16 • Helplessly Hoping–Crosby, Stills & Nash (2:41)

17 • You Don’t Have To Cry–Crosby, Stills & Nash (2:45)

18 • Suite: Judy Blue Eyes–Crosby, Stills & Nash (7:24)

19 • 4+20–Stephen Stills (2:12)

20 • So Begins The Task–Stephen Stills (3:57)

21 • The Lee Shore–Stephen Stills (3:00)

22 • Carry On/Questions–Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (4:28)

23 • Woodstock–Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (3:54)

Disc 2

1 • Love The One You’re With–Stephen Stills (3:07)

2 • Old Times Good Times–Stephen Stills (3:39)

3 • Black Queen–Stephen Stills (5:26)

4 • No Name Jam–Stephen Stills & Jimi Hendrix (2:43)

5 • Go Back Home–Stephen Stills (5:54)

6 • Marianne–Stephen Stills (2:30)

7 • My Love Is A Gentle Thing–Stephen Stills (1:23)

8 • Fishes And Scorpions–Stephen Stills (3:17)

9 • The Treasure–Stephen Stills (4:41)

10 • To A Flame–Stephen Stills (3:09)

11 • Cherokee–Stephen Stills (3:23)

12 • Song Of Love–Stephen Stills (3:27)

13 • Rock N Roll Crazies/Cuban Bluegrass–Stephen Stills (3:32)

14 • Jet Set (Sigh)–Stephen Stills (4:23)

15 • It Doesn’t Matter–Stephen Stills (2:30)

16 • Colorado–Stephen Stills (2:53)

17 • Johnny’s Garden–Stephen Stills (2:46)

18 • Change Partners–Stephen Stills (3:16)

19 • Do For Others–Stephen Stills & Steve Fromholz (2:46)

20 • Find The Cost Of Freedom–Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (2:38)

21 • Little Miss Bright Eyes–Stephen Stills (2:05)

22 • Isn’t It About Time–Stephen Stills (3:02)

Disc 3

1 • Turn Back The Pages–Stephen Stills (4:05)

2 • First Things First–Stephen Stills (2:25)

3 • My Angel–Stephen Stills (2:35)

4 • Love Story–Stephen Stills (4:16)

5 • As I Come Of Age–Stephen Stills (2:37)

6 • Know You Got To Run–Stephen Stills (2:58)

7 • Black Coral–Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (4:41)

8 • I Give You Give Blind–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:05)

9 • Crossroads/You Can’t Catch Me–Stephen Stills (6:38)

10 • See The Changes–Crosby, Stills & Nash (3:18)

11 • Thoroughfare Gap–Stephen Stills (3:35)

12 • Lowdown–Stephen Stills (3:49)

13 • Cuba Al Fin (edit)–Stephen Stills (4:48)

14 • Dear Mr. Fantasy–Stephen Stills & Graham Nash (6:20)

15 • Spanish Suite–Stephen Stills (11:20)

16 • Feel Your Love–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:29)

17 • Raise A Voice–Crosby, Stills & Nash (2:31)

18 • Daylight Again–Crosby, Stills & Nash (2:30)

Disc 4

1 • Southern Cross–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:42)

2 • Dark Star–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:50)

3 • Turn Your Back On Love–Crosby, Stills & Nash (5:20)

4 • War Games–Crosby, Stills & Nash (2:20)

5 • 50/50–Stephen Stills (4:23)

6 • Welfare Blues–Stephen Stills (2:02)

7 • Church (Part Of Someone)–Stephen Stills (3:45)

8 • I Don’t Get It–Stephen Stills (3:37)

9 • Isn’t It So–Stephen Stills (3:37)

10 • Haven’t We Lost Enough?–Crosby, Stills & Nash (3:07)

11 • Ballad Of Hollis Brown–Stephen Stills (4:12)

12 • Treetop Flyer–Stephen Stills (4:54)

13 • Heart’s Gate–Stephen Stills (3:02)

14 • Girl From The North Country–Crosby, Stills & Nash (3:57)

15 • Feed The People–Stephen Stills (4:25)

16 • Panama–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:14)

17 • Only Waiting For You–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:04)

18 • No Tears Left–Crosby, Stills & Nash (4:54)

19 • Ole Man Trouble–Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (5:30)

20 • Ain’t It Always–Stephen Stills (3:25)

An Audience With… Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy

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An Audience With… Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy discusses his band’s upcoming new album in the current issue of Uncut (dated February 2013, Take 189), out now – but here, in this piece from Uncut’s August 2009 issue, Tweedy answers questions from fans and famous admirers, and discusses Bob Dylan’s beard, hanging...

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy discusses his band’s upcoming new album in the current issue of Uncut (dated February 2013, Take 189), out now – but here, in this piece from Uncut’s August 2009 issue, Tweedy answers questions from fans and famous admirers, and discusses Bob Dylan’s beard, hanging with Neil Young and the recipe for the perfect burger (clue: use cranberries)…

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After making music for more than 20 years professionally, Jeff Tweedy recently played the most emotionally exhausting gig of his career. “It was for the bar mitzvah for my eldest son, Spencer,” he says. “My wife – who’s Jewish, which makes my two children Jewish – asked me to play ‘Forever Young’ by Bob Dylan at the ceremony. During the performance, I managed to maintain some detachment, but just rehearsing it had me in floods of tears. It’s a pretty appropriate set of lyrics for that environment: ‘May you grow up to be righteous/May you grow up to be true/May you always know the truth/And see the lights surrounding you’.”

Are his children – aged 10 and 14 – aware that their father is one of the most fêted songwriters of his generation?

“They have a vague awareness of what I do,” he ponders. “I think they see me as some slightly crazy old guy who sings old country songs, and who has the right amount of ability to embarrass the shit out of them. Which is fine by me!”

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Is it true you fell out with Billy Bragg about Woody’s lyrics for the Mermaid Avenue project?

Alex Demidh, Washington

Not really. I had disagreements about what was the most interesting part of Guthrie’s work in the light of what we already knew about it. I didn’t object politically. I just felt that, at that time, discovering what was in the archive, the most enlightening part of it was that there was a human element to all his writing. He wasn’t just sloganeering and he wasn’t hardline. I just thought some songs were more interesting and I was just voicing my opinion about that.

Since the beginning, Wilco has had such a consistent visual identity. Your graphic work (album covers, posters, books, photographs, etc) is always unmistakably Wilcoesque. Who is the aesthetic tyrant in (or around) the band?

Natalie Merchant

I’d have to say that’s me, although Tony Marguerita, our manager, has always felt compelled to weigh in as well. Part of the fun of making records, to me, is having a part in the whole process. I’ve always loved how a good album sleeve can add to the identity of a band and a record. The first one that came to mind is Wire’s Pink Flag, which was such a fantastically bold visual statement. That was a big influence on us.

What was it like touring with Neil Young?

Will Odgers, Exeter

The most inspiring part of the tour was watching someone who could be given a free pass to coast through the rest of his career completely disinclined to do so. Every day you’d see him working on new songs at soundchecks; you’d see someone utterly driven to play the shows with so much passion; someone so singular in his pursuit. All that makes it an uplifting experience to anyone who has any desire to stay making music for that long. We hung out at the catering table, and he was always warm and friendly. I guess he liked our music – just being asked on his tour implies a certain amount of… tolerance. Ha ha!

Is there any chance of any further work with Jim O’Rourke – ideally a new Loose Fur record?

Lloyd Jones, South Wales

There’s no immediate plans, but all the principle parties are still very interested! Jim is a good friend and I haven’t been able to spend too much time with him for a few years because he’s been living in Japan, but we’ve always just had a great deal of fun hanging out. And when you look at Loose Fur it’s just whatever happens when Jim and I go in together. It’s just whatever stuff we make up.

Your songs regularly make me cry! Is there a song that you might have grown up with that had the same effect on you?

Tanya Donelly

Almost anything has the potential to make me cry. The scream in “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who can make me cry. It’s loaded with so much resonance, it’s incredibly powerful. Even Mac Davis’ “It’s Hard To Be Humble” can make me cry. Even the version he does on The Muppet Show!

Jeff, what exactly is a “lyrical stance” and how did you obtain it?

Peter Buck, REM

Ha ha! Actually, that’s a good question. The only time I’ve had a definable lyrical stance is in the song “Lyrical Stance”, which I sang with Scott McCaughey and The Minus 5, featuring, of course, Peter Buck. That’s my one and only attempt at having a “lyrical stance”. Lyrical stance to me sounds like you have some coherent philosophy. Something you have as your base and you write out from that in ways that fit in with your worldview. I do not have anything resembling that at all! I would say that if I have a lyrical stance at all, it is a belief in ambiguity and that there’s no fighting it. I guess that someone like Dee Dee Ramone, were he around, would have been a better person to ask about strong lyrical stance.

You seem to have a love/hate relationship with the UK. At the Shepherds Bush Empire in 2000 you seemed very irritated with the English audience, yet you’ve worked closely with Billy Bragg and raised awareness of Bill Fay. What’s your real view of us?

Andy Hickson, London

Ha ha! I often hear anecdotal evidence that I’ve been cantankerous to UK audiences. To be honest, I’m usually cantankerous to all audiences! It’s just that British audiences, and the British music press in particular, seem to love it more than anywhere else. British music journalists enjoy being abused more than other journalists! In the UK, it seems like, no matter what we do, whether we come there or not, however many shows we play, we sell the exact same number of records! And we often lose money when we play a lot of places in Europe. Still, I’m playing in London on my birthday [August 25], so I can’t hate you guys too much, can I?

Did you get autographs from the Stones when Wilco opened for them a few years back?

J Kelleher, New York

I don’t collect autographs – not since I got one from Joey Ramone when I was young. But yes, I did get some fantastic pictures of the Stones standing with my two kids, Spencer and Sam. There’s a priceless photo – my youngest son has a look of absolute terror on his face, being in that close proximity to Ron Wood!

What was the straw that broke the camel’s back with Uncle Tupelo? Why did you decide to call it a day and do separate things?

Evan Dando

Well, Jay Farrar basically quit the band. I don’t know if you’d call it a straw, it was more like a two-by-four! It’s hard to make a band continue if the principal singer and songwriter is quitting and leaving the band. Why did he leave? I try to avoid speculating publicly, to be honest, but I can only assume that he didn’t want to be in the band any more. I would have been happy to carry on as we were. But, you know, these things happen for the best.

What books have you been reading lately?

Neil, Grantham

I’m reading To The Edge of The World by Harry Thompson, a historical novel based on the travels of ‘The Beagle’, the ship that sailed with Charles Darwin and Captain Fitzroy. That’s a pretty big book, but as usual I’ve been reading shorter things: magazine articles, fiction, non-fiction, poetry. My favourite book of all time is Don Quixote. It’s all you need to know about rock music. Delusions, post-modernism, tilting at windmills, the idea of having a companion like Sancho Panza who is willing to indulge you, but is actually smarter than you – it’s pure rock’n’roll!

I would love to know your thoughts on the role of music and musicians in the world today. Are we just barfing up our problems? Or do we serve some good?

Robin Pecknold, Fleet Foxes

Well, I think that musicians have something similar to a hypocratic oath, which is first to do no harm. Luckily it’s pretty hard to do too much harm when you’re making stuff up and putting it out into the world. Beyond that, I’m certain Robin’s music has been a consolation to a lot of people, including myself, and I have a lot of faith in that. That’s very worthwhile. And to be honest, that’s something pretty eternal and transcendent.

What’s your favourite Kuma’s burger called?

Nels Cline, Wilco

Kuma’s is a hamburger joint in Chicago that names all its burgers after heavy metal bands. It makes aesthetic and culinary decisions based upon the personalities of the band that they’re named after. My favourite Kuma’s burger is the Judas Priest, which I believe is a burger with cranberries, blue cheese, walnuts and arugula. It’s an inspired decision to have an element of fruitiness on a burger, and it’s inspired to name this after Judas Priest.

Which hero have you met that didn’t disappoint you?

Donal O’Connell, Dublin

Johnny Cash did not disappoint me. We supported him a couple of times with Uncle Tupelo, and then a couple of times with Wilco, here in Chicago. It’s the closest I’ve been to an American idol: like getting to meet a bald eagle, or a Rushmore statue, or a walking, talking dollar bill. He was just majestic, he really was! Years later, when I met him for the second time, I was incredibly flattered that he remembered my name. It’s as if he was very aware of his role as someone who had the power to uplift and inspire. A really, really amazing person to be around.

I saw you wearing a Nudie suit at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Do you have any other Nudies in the closet?

Tony Young, Moscow

I own three of them – black, red, white – and a fair amount of shirts made by that tailor, Jamie Nudie of Hollywood, all made in Nudie Cohn’s old studio in Hollywood. The whole band have been kitted out in them. It’s just one of those things we have at our disposal for special occasions. Sometimes it seems like a good time to wear a Nudie suit, other times you feel like a real jerk. One day, maybe if I get a speeding ticket or something, I might wear one to go to the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] to see if I get any preferential treatment.

Which recent records would you recommend?

Susana Reguera, Madrid

I buy a lot, I always have. I tend to shop online these days, and spend vast amounts of money on amazing reissue stuff, which is hard to resist. That’s right in my wheelhouse. But I also buy a lot of new music. I like Bill Callahan’s Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, and the last Blitzen Trapper record. And anything by The Handsome Family.

What is your relationship with the guitar? Baptiste Piégay, France

I love it. It hates me. Or it’s indifferent to me. I have at least 13 guitars within my vision at the moment. All kinds: acoustic, classical, electric, mandolins, banjos, ukuleles… They’re just lying around the house. It’s good to just trip over them: it forces you to pick one up and get writing.

How have you balanced family life with your rock life?

Kristofor Georgeou, by email

It’s one of the things I can say that I’m most proud of in my life – the transitions between being on the road and being with my family feel natural to me. I certainly had periods when I wasn’t as healthy and I was drinking more, and that was more difficult. A band like ours makes most of its money from touring, but the important thing for us is not to tour for too long. So we tour in short bursts – two or three weeks, max. After that, you’re not playing music any more, you start to become numb. I don’t think any of us could maintain a family life if we were doing 16-month tours. The downside is that being overseas has always been hard on the band.

Your song, “Bob Dylan’s Beard”: what type of facial hair are we talking? The cover of Nashville Skyline? Infidels? “Love And Theft”?

Steven James, London

It’s figurative! For one, it’s not a specific beard I’m referring to, it’s the idea of emulating your heroes and only being able to communicate your own emotions through the idea of someone else’s persona. But, since you mention it… I kinda like the beard he’s rocking on the cover of Infidels. Ha ha!

Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello to join Bruce Springsteen on tour

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Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello to join Bruce Springsteen on tour

Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello is to join Bruce Springsteen on his Australian tour. The guitarist will fill in for Steve Van Zandt on the Australian leg of the Wrecking Ball tour while he finishes filming Norwegian-American TV series Lillyhammer. Van Zandt, who is best known in television for playing Silvio Dante in hit drama The Sopranos, is expected to re-join Springsteen on April 29 when the band play Oslo in Norway, reports Rolling Stone. Tom Morello is no stranger to appearing on stage with Springsteen after he joined the legendary New Jersey singer at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in December last year (2012). The Rage Against The Machine guitarist – who played on the Wrecking Ball album – joined The Boss onstage for 'Death to My Hometown', 'This Depression', 'The Ghost of Tom Joad', 'Badlands' and 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out'. Bruce Springsteen is set to play a number of UK and Ireland dates this summer as part of his European tour. He will play London's Wembley Stadium on June 15 2013, Glasgow Hampden Park on June 18 and Coventry Ricoh Arena on June 20. The Boss will then visit mainland Europe before travelling to Ireland to play Limerick Thomond Park on July 16, Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh on July 18 and Belfast King's Hall on July 20. Bruce Springsteen will play: London Wembley Stadium (June 15) Glasgow Hampden Park (18) Coventry Ricoh Arena (20) Limerick Thomond Park (July 16) Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh (18) Belfast King's Hall (20)

Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello is to join Bruce Springsteen on his Australian tour.

The guitarist will fill in for Steve Van Zandt on the Australian leg of the Wrecking Ball tour while he finishes filming Norwegian-American TV series Lillyhammer.

Van Zandt, who is best known in television for playing Silvio Dante in hit drama The Sopranos, is expected to re-join Springsteen on April 29 when the band play Oslo in Norway, reports Rolling Stone.

Tom Morello is no stranger to appearing on stage with Springsteen after he joined the legendary New Jersey singer at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in December last year (2012).

The Rage Against The Machine guitarist – who played on the Wrecking Ball album – joined The Boss onstage for ‘Death to My Hometown’, ‘This Depression’, ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’, ‘Badlands’ and ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’.

Bruce Springsteen is set to play a number of UK and Ireland dates this summer as part of his European tour. He will play London’s Wembley Stadium on June 15 2013, Glasgow Hampden Park on June 18 and Coventry Ricoh Arena on June 20.

The Boss will then visit mainland Europe before travelling to Ireland to play Limerick Thomond Park on July 16, Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh on July 18 and Belfast King’s Hall on July 20.

Bruce Springsteen will play:

London Wembley Stadium (June 15)

Glasgow Hampden Park (18)

Coventry Ricoh Arena (20)

Limerick Thomond Park (July 16)

Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh (18)

Belfast King’s Hall (20)

The Beatles – The Ultimate Music Guide – on sale now

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The Beatles – The Ultimate Music Guide – on sale now

Uncut presents The Beatles - The Ultimate Music Guide is available now. Dedicated to The Beatles, the lavish, 148 page magazine includes brand new reviews of all Beatles albums alongside classic and revealing interviews from the archives of Melody Maker and NME, in many cases unseen for years. The special are also rare photographs and a round up of Beatles memorabilia. The Beatles – The Ultimate Music Guide is on sale priced £6.99. You can also order it online at www.uncut.co.uk/store or download digitally at www.uncut.co.uk/download. Other instalments in The Ultimate Music Guide series are also available online at www.uncut.co.uk/store.

Uncut presents The Beatles – The Ultimate Music Guide is available now.

Dedicated to The Beatles, the lavish, 148 page magazine includes brand new reviews of all Beatles albums alongside classic and revealing interviews from the archives of Melody Maker and NME, in many cases unseen for years.

The special are also rare photographs and a round up of Beatles memorabilia.

The Beatles – The Ultimate Music Guide is on sale priced £6.99. You can also order it online at www.uncut.co.uk/store or download digitally at www.uncut.co.uk/download.

Other instalments in The Ultimate Music Guide series are also available online at www.uncut.co.uk/store.

The Strokes to release new album in 2013

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The Strokes to release new album in 2013
The Strokes are to release a new album in 2013. The band's fifth studio album will be released later this year and will likely be preceded by the single "All The Time", according to Billboard. News of a new LP comes just hours after a US radio station claimed it had been sent a brand new Strokes t...

The Strokes are to release a new album in 2013.

The band’s fifth studio album will be released later this year and will likely be preceded by the single “All The Time”, according to Billboard.

News of a new LP comes just hours after a US radio station claimed it had been sent a brand new Strokes track titled “All The Time“. According to Seattle’s 107.7, the station was sent the track by RCA records. “We’ll have to ‘leak’ this soon. You won’t be disappointed…” a post on its Facebook page read.

Last summer, NME confirmed that The Strokes were working on the follow-up to 2011’s Angles. Reports that the band had been working on new material at the famous Electric Lady Studios in their home city of New York were quickly denied by their management and record label.

However, guitarist Albert Hammond Jr’s father revealed that the reports were true and the band were in the process of finishing up their fifth studio album.

Asked if the band were recording, Hammond Sr said: “Albert says that the stuff they’re doing is incredible. They’re doing it themselves with their friend, engineer and producer. He just says, ‘Dad, it’s incredible’.”

When asked if he thought it would sound different from Angles, he said: “I don’t think they’ll go in a wildly different direction. Obviously the songs will be different, but I think The Strokes are The Strokes; they always will be The Strokes.”

Zero Dark Thirty

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Zero Dark Thirty
Zero Dark Thirty is a companion piece to The Hurt Locker, the previous film from director Kathryn Bigelow and scriptwriter Mark Boal. But while The Hurt Locker viewed the War on Terror in microcosm, focussing on a three-man bomb disposal team during the Iraq war, Zero Dark Thirty tells a bigger stor...

Zero Dark Thirty is a companion piece to The Hurt Locker, the previous film from director Kathryn Bigelow and scriptwriter Mark Boal. But while The Hurt Locker viewed the War on Terror in microcosm, focussing on a three-man bomb disposal team during the Iraq war, Zero Dark Thirty tells a bigger story: the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, unfolding across a ten-year period in CIA Black Ops sites, military bases and embassies in destinations as far a field as Pakistan, Gdansk, London and the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

In other filmmakers hands, you could see this as being a gung-ho right wing revenge flick, or perhaps a Bourne-style action film. Imagine the havoc Oliver Stone could have caused with this material. To their credit, Bigelow and Boal adopt a journalistic approach. For much of its three hour running time, Zero Dark Thirty moves like a police procedural: it is rigorous, pared-back and analytical.

Although based on fact, we see the events in Zero Dark Thirty through the eyes of a fictional character, Maya, played by Jessica Chastain – “just off the plane from Washington” and forced to watch a suspect endure waterboarding, sleep and food depravation and 24 hours of constant heavy metal. At first a wispy, subdued figure, Maya becomes defined by her actions: “I’m gonna smoke everybody involved in this op,” she swears after a suicide bombing. “And then I’m gonna kill Bin Laden.”

Her steely reserve perhaps contains some of Bigelow’s own –another woman making it in a notoriously blokeish environment. Maya feels like another of the director’s great female leads, like Jamie Lee Curtis in Blue Steel or Angela Bassett in Strange Days. Operating out of the US Embassy in Islamabad, Maya is grouped with fellow professionals. Events move to Langley, Virgina and the film shifts gear, becoming a wordy political drama about risk assessment and percentages. The final, intense 50 minutes is the Special Forces raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, which is another thing altogether.

Michael Bonner

U2: ‘We don’t care if the new album takes 10 years’

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U2: ‘We don’t care if the new album takes 10 years’
Bono has said that the next U2 album will only be released when it's completely ready. The singer revealed that U2 are working on their 13th album, believed to be titled 10 Reasons To Exist. Discussing the band's 13th album. Speaking to The Sun, Bono said: "U2 have been back and they're really in ...

Bono has said that the next U2 album will only be released when it’s completely ready.

The singer revealed that U2 are working on their 13th album, believed to be titled 10 Reasons To Exist. Discussing the band’s 13th album. Speaking to The Sun, Bono said: “U2 have been back and they’re really in fine fettle.”

He added: “They’re mad for it at the moment and they really want to make a new record. And they don’t care if it takes 10 years – they don’t care if it never happens again, they just want to get it right. Within the band we’ve been calling it 10 Reasons To Exist – but I will tell you we might have at least six of them.”

Meanwhile, U2’s The Edge has announced that his Music Rising charity has launched a Hurricane Sandy relief fund.

The guitarist founded the charity alongside Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz and producer Bob Ezrin, to provide musical equipment and financial support to musicians, schools and community organisations affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

It has now shifted its attention to those who have been worst affected by Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed lives across the tri-state area of the United States of America in October 2012.

Prince auditions drummer ahead of possible tour

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Prince auditions drummer ahead of possible tour
Prince has booked six dates at an intimate Minneapolis jazz club this week in order to audition for a new drummer. As reported by the Duluth News Tribune, Prince booked the dates at the Dakota Jazz Club at short notice and will also host a jam session for his band. The Minneapolis-born musician wi...

Prince has booked six dates at an intimate Minneapolis jazz club this week in order to audition for a new drummer.

As reported by the Duluth News Tribune, Prince booked the dates at the Dakota Jazz Club at short notice and will also host a jam session for his band.

The Minneapolis-born musician will reportedly play two “sound check” sets next Wednesday, two jam sessions on Thursday night and two shows on Friday night which are billed as a “surprise”. Tickets, which cost between $70 and $200, have already sold out for all of the dates.

Prince’s acknowledgement that he is auditioning a new live drummer has sparked rumours that he’ll be heading out on a wider tour this year, although thus far there are no dates scheduled.

Earlier this month, a mysterious new track believed to be the work of Prince surfaced online. Titled “Same Page Different Book“, the tune emerged via a new Twitter account called 3rd Eye Girl.

At present, it is unclear whether “3rd Eye Girl” is a viral marketing campaign affiliated to Prince, or merely a fan who has managed to track down some unreleased material. Back in November 2012, Prince released a one-off single called “Rock And Roll Love Affair“. His last album, 20Ten, came out two years ago as a free covermount with the Daily Mirror.

Meanwhile, Prince is due to be honoured at a charity tribute concert in New York on March 9. Artists including The Roots and Talib Kweli will perform songs from his back catalogue, but it is unknown whether Prince himself will appear at the event.

Joe Strummer has square in Spanish city named after him

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Joe Strummer has square in Spanish city named after him
Joe Strummer is to be honoured with a square in the Spanish city of Granada named after him. Though Strummer died over 10 years ago his legacy lives on and a Facebook petition to name a square in the city after Strummer was approved by officials this week. The square will now be called Plaza Joe St...

Joe Strummer is to be honoured with a square in the Spanish city of Granada named after him.

Though Strummer died over 10 years ago his legacy lives on and a Facebook petition to name a square in the city after Strummer was approved by officials this week. The square will now be called Plaza Joe Strummer with The Guardian quoting city hall spokeswoman, María José Anguita as saying: “A square has been identified and now the proposal has to be approved by the committee of honours and distinctions. There was a popular petition for this to happen and the city hall accepted it.”

Strummer, who mentions Granada in The Clash‘s “Spanish Bombs”, first travelled to the city in 1983 following the dismissal of guitarist Mick Jones. While there the frontman spent time producing an album for Spanish band 091, who he knew from a squat they shared together in London. Strummer put his own money into the album recording and agreed to work with the small band after meeting them through his Spanish girlfriend, Paloma Romero of The Slits.

Late last year it was reported that Strummer is to be the subject of a new musical biopic.

Thom Yorke promises to ‘sue the living shit’ out David Cameron if he uses his music

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Thom Yorke promises to ‘sue the living shit’ out David Cameron if he uses his music
Thom Yorke has warned Prime Minister David Cameron against using any of his music in election campaigns, warning that he would "sue the shit out of him" if he did. Yorke, who has spoken out about many political, social and environmental issues in the past said in an interview with Dazed and Confus...

Thom Yorke has warned Prime Minister David Cameron against using any of his music in election campaigns, warning that he would “sue the shit out of him” if he did.

Yorke, who has spoken out about many political, social and environmental issues in the past said in an interview with Dazed and Confused magazine: “Politics is not a fun thing to write about…I can’t say I love the idea of a banker liking our music, or David Cameron. I can’t believe he’d like [Radiohead’s last album] King Of Limbs much. But I also equally think, who cares?”

He added: “As long as he doesn’t use it for his election campaigns, I don’t care. I’d sue the living shit out of him if he did.”

Thom Yorke is currently working on his Atoms For Peace project, which features Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, super-producer Nigel Godrich and percussionist Mauro Refosco. The group’s debut album ‘Amok’ is set for release on February 25.

Speaking recently about whether the group would be playing any live shows, Godrich said that UK and European concerts were on the cards, but that they were “still being figured out”. Yorke ruled out playing this summers’ Glastonbury, explaining “We won’t have got our shit together by then.”

The Rolling Stones ’50 And Counting’ tour sold £24 million worth of tickets

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The Rolling Stones ’50 And Counting’ tour sold £24 million worth of tickets
The Rolling Stones sold £24 million worth of tickets for their recent 50 And Counting shows. The band's sell-out shows in London on November 25 and 29 (2012) shifted as many as 31,755 tickets. Their US dates at Brooklyn's new Barclays Center on December 8 as well as a two-show stint on December 1...

The Rolling Stones sold £24 million worth of tickets for their recent 50 And Counting shows.

The band’s sell-out shows in London on November 25 and 29 (2012) shifted as many as 31,755 tickets. Their US dates at Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center on December 8 as well as a two-show stint on December 13 and 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, pushed the total number of tickets sold to 364,864 over all five dates, Billboard reports.

Over the five dates, the band were joined by former members Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman as well as Florence Welch, Mary J Blige, Lady Gaga and Black Keys.

Tickets for the band’s London shows ranged from £90 to a deluxe VIP package priced at £950, which left many fans frustrated as they could not afford to see the legendary group.

Keith Richards claimed the ticket prices – which will see the band personally pocket around £16 million – were “about right to us”. However, he added: “I just wanna do some shows and I don’t want to charge over the bloody top.” Mick Jagger also defended the ticket prices, saying that the shows were “expensive to put on”

Suede reveal tracklisting for new album ‘Bloodsports’

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Suede reveal tracklisting for new album ‘Bloodsports’
Suede have revealed the tracklisting to their new album Bloodsports. Last week, the band unveiled 'Barriers', the first song to be lifted from the album, which is due out in March 18. You can listen to the track on Suede's official website now. The first single from Bloodsports, titled 'It Starts A...

Suede have revealed the tracklisting to their new album Bloodsports.

Last week, the band unveiled ‘Barriers’, the first song to be lifted from the album, which is due out in March 18. You can listen to the track on Suede’s official website now. The first single from Bloodsports, titled ‘It Starts And Ends With You’, is due for release in February.

Speaking about the new Suede material, frontman Brett Anderson told NME: “After a year of sweating and bleeding over the record it’s finally finished so we wanted to get some music out there as soon as we could. ‘Barriers’ isn’t the first single but we are proud enough of it to just chuck it out there and thought that its pulsing, romantic swell somehow summed up the feel of the album quite nicely.”

He added: “The album is called ‘Bloodsports’. It’s about lust, it’s about the chase, it’s about the endless carnal game of love. It was possibly the hardest we ever made but certainly is the most satisfying. Its 10 furious songs have reclaimed for me what Suede was always about: drama, melody and noise.”

The tracklisting to ‘Bloodsports’ is as follows:

‘Barriers’

‘Snowblind’

‘It Starts And Ends With You’

‘Sabotage’

‘For The Strangers’

‘Hit Me’

‘Sometimes I Feel I’ll Float Away’

‘What Are You Not Telling Me?’

‘Always’

‘Faultlines’

Talk Talk – Natural Order 1982 – 1991

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Talk Talk – Natural Order 1982 – 1991

An alternative history of the post-rock pioneers... Talk Talk have enjoyed a fractious relationship with the compilation album. When the million-selling Best Of Natural History was assembled and released in 1990 without their consent, a disgruntled Mark Hollis commented “I don’t like compilation albums and I didn’t like that one”. A year later EMI released History Revisited, a collection of unauthorised dance remixes which provoked the band into suing their former paymasters for releasing “material that had been falsely attributed to them”. Having won that case in 1992, all remaining copies of the album were destroyed and History Revisited has remained out of print ever since. Happily, this hard-line stance seems to have softened of late. Natural Order is a belated companion to Natural History and this time Hollis is on board, offering creative input into the track listing. And it shows. Taking the high road over the less travelled terrain of Talk Talk’s weird and winding back catalogue, there are no hits among these 10 songs and only a single offering from each of their first two albums: “Have You Heard The News?” from 1982 debut The Party’s Over, and “Renee” from It’s My Life (1984). All burbling fretless bass and sweeping synths, texturally these songs are as evocative of the early 80s as the Falklands and the feather-cut. Yet although the band are working with a rather clinical set of tools, the expansiveness and aching melancholy of “Renee” and “For What It’s Worth”, the B-side to “Living In Another World”, reveal the first stirrings of a much bolder creative aesthetic. From thereon Natural Order is an essay in glorious abstraction. Space becomes a lead instrument; textures are more organic, the mood increasingly pastoral; classical music and jazz meet and merge with rock. The more accessible parts of The Colour Of Spring (1986) - “Life’s What You Make It”, “I Don’t Believe In You”, “Give It Up” – are entirely overlooked. Instead, Hollis favours the album’s most mossy, unanchored moments. The rather ominous “Chameleon Day” is a drifting fragment, defined by squalls of disembodied variophone, dramatic stabs of piano and impassioned yelp revealing a mind “in disarray”. Conversely, “April 5th” is brimful with the promise of spring and ends with a transported Hollis performing vocal somersaults over a simple, purifying two-chord wash of organ and gently puffing soprano sax. Both songs point towards the more diffuse, fragmented dynamics of the final two Talk Talk albums. Included from Spirit Of Eden (1988) are the hymnal “Wealth”, a spell-binding song of surrender so perfectly unhurried it almost feels like a six-minute fade out, and the more abrasive “Eden”, in which the Velvets’ “Heroin” collides with Tago Mago. From the same sessions comes “John Cope”, first released on the flip-side of “I Believe In You”. Loose and live-sounding, knitting together raw guitar licks, high, swirling organ and spacious rhythm, it may conceivably have been left off the album because it erred a little on the catchy, conventional side. The band’s extraordinary swan song, Laughing Stock (1991), is represented by the unsettling, aqueous blues of “Taphead” and a drastic edit of “After The Flood” which, hilariously, attempts to fashion the original’s staunchly confrontational 10 minutes into something approaching a radio-friendly single. At a shade over four minutes it simply sounds like it has been cut off at the knees – and, ironically, much stranger and inaccessible than the magnificent album version. Its presence here has little more than novelty value, and underscores the niggling problem with Natural Order. Fans may quibble with the exact nature of the inclusions and omissions, but as a career-spanning retrospective designed to summarise the band’s status as post-rock pioneers it does the job. The fact is, however, that most of these intensely beautiful songs truly breathe only within the landscape of their original albums. They belong to a larger tapestry. Here, reframed and recontextualised, they often seem oddly ill at ease. Graeme Thomson

An alternative history of the post-rock pioneers…

Talk Talk have enjoyed a fractious relationship with the compilation album. When the million-selling Best Of Natural History was assembled and released in 1990 without their consent, a disgruntled Mark Hollis commented “I don’t like compilation albums and I didn’t like that one”. A year later EMI released History Revisited, a collection of unauthorised dance remixes which provoked the band into suing their former paymasters for releasing “material that had been falsely attributed to them”. Having won that case in 1992, all remaining copies of the album were destroyed and History Revisited has remained out of print ever since.

Happily, this hard-line stance seems to have softened of late. Natural Order is a belated companion to Natural History and this time Hollis is on board, offering creative input into the track listing. And it shows. Taking the high road over the less travelled terrain of Talk Talk’s weird and winding back catalogue, there are no hits among these 10 songs and only a single offering from each of their first two albums: “Have You Heard The News?” from 1982 debut The Party’s Over, and “Renee” from It’s My Life (1984). All burbling fretless bass and sweeping synths, texturally these songs are as evocative of the early 80s as the Falklands and the feather-cut. Yet although the band are working with a rather clinical set of tools, the expansiveness and aching melancholy of “Renee” and “For What It’s Worth”, the B-side to “Living In Another World”, reveal the first stirrings of a much bolder creative aesthetic.

From thereon Natural Order is an essay in glorious abstraction. Space becomes a lead instrument; textures are more organic, the mood increasingly pastoral; classical music and jazz meet and merge with rock. The more accessible parts of The Colour Of Spring (1986) – “Life’s What You Make It”, “I Don’t Believe In You”, “Give It Up” – are entirely overlooked. Instead, Hollis favours the album’s most mossy, unanchored moments. The rather ominous “Chameleon Day” is a drifting fragment, defined by squalls of disembodied variophone, dramatic stabs of piano and impassioned yelp revealing a mind “in disarray”. Conversely, “April 5th” is brimful with the promise of spring and ends with a transported Hollis performing vocal somersaults over a simple, purifying two-chord wash of organ and gently puffing soprano sax.

Both songs point towards the more diffuse, fragmented dynamics of the final two Talk Talk albums. Included from Spirit Of Eden (1988) are the hymnal “Wealth”, a spell-binding song of surrender so perfectly unhurried it almost feels like a six-minute fade out, and the more abrasive “Eden”, in which the Velvets’ “Heroin” collides with Tago Mago. From the same sessions comes “John Cope”, first released on the flip-side of “I Believe In You”. Loose and live-sounding, knitting together raw guitar licks, high, swirling organ and spacious rhythm, it may conceivably have been left off the album because it erred a little on the catchy, conventional side.

The band’s extraordinary swan song, Laughing Stock (1991), is represented by the unsettling, aqueous blues of “Taphead” and a drastic edit of “After The Flood” which, hilariously, attempts to fashion the original’s staunchly confrontational 10 minutes into something approaching a radio-friendly single. At a shade over four minutes it simply sounds like it has been cut off at the knees – and, ironically, much stranger and inaccessible than the magnificent album version.

Its presence here has little more than novelty value, and underscores the niggling problem with Natural Order. Fans may quibble with the exact nature of the inclusions and omissions, but as a career-spanning retrospective designed to summarise the band’s status as post-rock pioneers it does the job. The fact is, however, that most of these intensely beautiful songs truly breathe only within the landscape of their original albums. They belong to a larger tapestry. Here, reframed and recontextualised, they often seem oddly ill at ease.

Graeme Thomson

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