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Incredible Michael Jackson Album Sales

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Incredible Michael Jackson Album Sales

Phenomenal sales of Michael Jackson albums following news of the icon's sudden death yesterday (June 25) of a suspected heart attack have resulted in an unprecedented occupation of the Top 15 places in Amazon.com's bestsellers list. He also has three other singles and albums in the top 25. Jackson's iTunes chart is currently topped with "Thriller", with "Billie Jean" at No.2 and No. 3 (two versions), "Man In the Mirror" at No. 4, and at No.5, "Beat It." Top 15 Amazon Bestsellers chart is currently as follows: 1. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller 2. Off the Wall - Michael Jackson 3. Bad - Michael Jackson 4. Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection 5. Number Ones - Michael Jackson 6. Dangerous - Michael Jackson 7. The Ultimate Collection - Jackson 5 8. Greatest Hits Vol 1: History - Michael Jackson 9. The Essential Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson 10. Invincible - Michael Jackson 11. HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I - Michael Jackson 12. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (Deluxe Casebook Edition) 13. Thriller - Special Edition - Michael Jackson 14. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller - Michael Jackson 15. Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix - Michael Jackson Click here for the Top 15 Amazon Bestsellers chart Read the full Uncut Michael Jackson obituary here. And for more music and film news from Uncut click here Pic credit: PA Photos

Phenomenal sales of Michael Jackson albums following news of the icon’s sudden death yesterday (June 25) of a suspected heart attack have resulted in an unprecedented occupation of the Top 15 places in Amazon.com’s bestsellers list.

He also has three other singles and albums in the top 25.

Jackson’s iTunes chart is currently topped with “Thriller”, with “Billie Jean” at No.2 and No. 3 (two versions), “Man In the Mirror” at No. 4, and at No.5, “Beat It.”

Top 15 Amazon Bestsellers chart is currently as follows:

1. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller

2. Off the Wall – Michael Jackson

3. Bad – Michael Jackson

4. Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection

5. Number Ones – Michael Jackson

6. Dangerous – Michael Jackson

7. The Ultimate Collection – Jackson 5

8. Greatest Hits Vol 1: History – Michael Jackson

9. The Essential Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson

10. Invincible – Michael Jackson

11. HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I – Michael Jackson

12. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (Deluxe Casebook Edition)

13. Thriller – Special Edition – Michael Jackson

14. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller – Michael Jackson

15. Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix – Michael Jackson

Click here for the Top 15 Amazon Bestsellers chart

Read the full Uncut Michael Jackson obituary here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: PA Photos

OBITUARY: Michael Jackson 1958-2009

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OBITUARY: Michael Jackson 1958-2009
MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009 Although he was only 50 at the time of his death, there is a strong argument that Michael Jackson’s decline as a musician was inevitable more than half his lifetime ago. He was barely 24 when he made Thriller in 1982, which, according to the Guinness Book Of World Reco...

MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009

Although he was only 50 at the time of his death, there is a strong argument that Michael Jackson’s decline as a musician was inevitable more than half his lifetime ago. He was barely 24 when he made Thriller in 1982, which, according to the Guinness Book Of World Records in 2007, has so far sold 65 million copies, and cast a giant shadow over the rest of his career. Compilations and remix projects aside, he went on to release just three more full albums.

And while diehard fans will try to convince you that Bad, Dangerous and Invincible all had their merits, none came within a country mile of their behemoth-like predecessor’s musical and cultural impact. A child star at Motown, both with his brothers and as a solo act, Jackson endured a lean spell after quitting the Detroit “family”, and it took a collaboration with Quincy Jones on 1979’s Off The Wall to remind the record-buying public that he still had something to offer.

What he offered amounted to nothing short of redefining mainstream black pop, distilling the sounds of close friend Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, even Sly Stone, then adding an indisputably more blatant commercial sheen that moonwalked its way across genres and hitherto rigid marketing “formats”. Off The Wall has notched up 20 million sales to date, certainly not to be sniffed at, but it was Thriller, or more specifically its second single, “Billie Jean”, that cemented Jackson’s standing as a global force.

As with two comparably-sized pop icons of previous generations, television played a major role. Elvis Presley went from hillbilly to household name thanks in no small part to exposure on The Steve Allen Show, while Ed Sullivan’s variety cavalcade helped Beatlemania go truly ballistic. For Jackson, it was the fledgling MTV, who were reluctant to showcase black acts until “Billie Jean” came along. It took CBS label boss Walter Yetnikoff’s threat to withdraw all product from the cable channel to get Jackson on the air in the first place, but soon a symbiotic relationship between broadcaster and artist developed, to the point where it could be argued that neither would have flourished so heartily without the other.

In terms of genuine creativity, this is perhaps where the Michael Jackson story ends, and the media circus feasting on bizarre behaviour, curious marriages, remarkable physical transformations and allegations of child abuse takes over. It’s a safe bet that elsewhere Jacko the supposed freak will garner as many, if not more, column inches than Jackson the musician, so Uncut might be best leaving the door-stepping salaciousness to others. Tabloid scandals throughout the 1980s and 1990s were punctuated by some genuinely astonishing live performances, acting as occasional reminders of why he caught our attention in the first place.

Thought to be in permanent retirement after 2007’s headline-grabbing child abuse trial, it surprised many when Jackson announced he was returning to the stage for a marathon residency at the O2 Arena in London. In all, 50 dates were confirmed, meaning a total of one million people were due to witness his “comeback” over the next six months.

Long before his death there were question marks hanging over the O2 concerts. American promoters were threatening legal action, claiming Jackson had agreed to not play anywhere in the world until after a series of US gigs with his brothers, while some commentators doubted that a performer of his age who’d been inactive for so long, and therefore well below his punching weight, would have the physical stamina to endure 50 high-energy shows. Several media reports have even suggested that strenuous rehearsals at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles in recent weeks may have contributed to the heart attack that killed him.

Jackson didn’t need that one last hurrah to leave his mark on history. It’s unlikely there’s a single R&B act of the last quarter of a century who doesn’t cite him as a major influence, much in the way that anyone who ever picked up a guitar might have looked in the mirror and dreamed they were Presley or Lennon. He was also a towering inspiration to the worldwide black community, as important a figure as Muhammad Ali, and a touchstone for anyone who might wanna be startin’ somethin’.

TERRY STAUNTON

For more on Michael Jackson click here.

Attempts made to resuscitate Jackson ‘For more than one hour’

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Attempts made to resuscitate Jackson ‘For more than one hour’
Michael Jackson who died yesterday (June 25) of a suspected heart attack was in resuscitation at Ronald Reagan UCLA in Los Angeles for more than an hour, his brother Jermaine Jacksonsaid in a statement last night. Speaking on behalf of the family, Jermaine gave the following comment at a short pres...

Michael Jackson who died yesterday (June 25) of a suspected heart attack was in resuscitation at Ronald Reagan UCLA in Los Angeles for more than an hour, his brother Jermaine Jacksonsaid in a statement last night.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Jermaine gave the following comment at a short press conference to confirm Michael’s sudden death:

“This is hard. My brother, the legendary king of Pop michael jackson passed away on Thursday June 25 2009 at 2.26pm It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy are known.

His personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resusitate my brother and, as did the paramedics who transported him to Ronald Reagan UCLA. Upon arrival at the hospital at approximately 1.14pm a team of doctors including emergency physicians, cardiologists attempted to resusitate him for a period of more than one hour. They were unsuccessful.

Our family please request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time.

And may Allah be with you Michael always. I love you.”

Fans had been gathering outside UCLA hospital from the moment reports of the entertainment legend got out and fans around the world have expressed their grief with floral and candle tributes at various sites around the world, from his family home and Neverland ranch to Madame Tussauds in Shanghai.

Read Uncut’s full obituary to Michael Jackson, here.

For more on Michael Jackson click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: PA Photos

Michael Jackson Is Dead

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Michael Jackson Is Dead

The Los Angeles Times has reported that pop icon Michael Jackson has died of a suspected heart attack today (June 25). Paramedics were called to the singer's home at noon and was at 3.15pm "pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times." Celebrity website TMZ.com reported earlier today that Jackson had died, although their reports were unconfirmed. Read Uncut's full obituary to Michael Jackson, here. The singer had been due to start an incredulous 50-date live residency in London from July 13, his first shows in 12 years, and had been rehearsing for the shows in LA. Jackson has been a star for more than 40 years, with his biggest hits including "Billie Jean", "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", "Bad" and "Earth Song." For more on Michael Jackson click here. And for more music and film news from Uncut click here Pic credit: PA Photos

The Los Angeles Times has reported that pop icon Michael Jackson has died of a suspected heart attack today (June 25).

Paramedics were called to the singer’s home at noon and was at 3.15pm “pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.”

Celebrity website TMZ.com reported earlier today that Jackson had died, although their reports were unconfirmed.

Read Uncut’s full obituary to Michael Jackson, here.

The singer had been due to start an incredulous 50-date live residency in London from July 13, his first shows in 12 years, and had been rehearsing for the shows in LA.

Jackson has been a star for more than 40 years, with his biggest hits including “Billie Jean”, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”, “Bad” and “Earth Song.”

For more on Michael Jackson click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: PA Photos

Arcade Fire’s Win Butler Confirms Neon Bible Follow-Up

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Arcade Fire’s Win Butler Confirms Neon Bible Follow-Up
Arcade Fire have revealed that they are already working on a new studio album, the follow-up to last year's Neon Bible. Co-founder of the group Win Butler has expressed that Arcade Fire would probably release new material sooner than anyone expected at first and that they are already halfway throug...

Arcade Fire have revealed that they are already working on a new studio album, the follow-up to last year’s Neon Bible.

Co-founder of the group Win Butler has expressed that Arcade Fire would probably release new material sooner than anyone expected at first and that they are already halfway through writing new songs.

Speaking to Uncut sister-title NME, Butler explains that: “None of us want to take three years making a record. It could be that we’ll play live [soon] and maybe we’ll end up bashing it [another album] out fast. We’re in the middle of writing, things are coming together, it’s a great feeling.”

Win Butler also adds in the interview (in this week’s issue, out June 24) that he’s even considering playing live shows again. He says that even though exhausted after the last tour, he feels ready again: “If you had asked me six months ago I’d be like ‘No, I’m good.’ But now I go to a gig and I get the little…I can imagine being on that stage. It’s the step before you actually go and do it.”

For more Arcade Fire news on Uncut click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: Andy Willsher

Dylan, Beatles and Nirvana Memorabilia Rakes In Cash At Christies Auction

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Dylan, Beatles and Nirvana Memorabilia Rakes In Cash At Christies Auction
Bob Dylan's handwritten lyrics for his 1964 The Times They Are A-Changin' album track "With God On Our Side" has sold for £15, 090 ($25, 000) at a Christies auction in New York this week (June 23). The pop and rock memorabilia collection of more than 300 special items raised over £392,200 ($650,0...

Bob Dylan‘s handwritten lyrics for his 1964 The Times They Are A-Changin’ album track “With God On Our Side” has sold for £15, 090 ($25, 000) at a Christies auction in New York this week (June 23).

The pop and rock memorabilia collection of more than 300 special items raised over £392,200 ($650,000); with top sellers on the day including a unique Sgt Pepper-era Beatles fan club poster, signed by all four members which fetched around £31, 720 ($52, 500) and a couple of notebooks with lyric ideas written in them by late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott which went for £ 21,500 ($35,000).

One of the other big sellers was a Sears bass guitar which was owned by deceased Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain which raised £26, 415 ($43, 750). The bass was used by the band’s frontman to record Nirvana’s early demos.

Christies head of popular culture, Simeon Lipman has commented that “Even in an unstable economy, you’ll see peaks for certain prices.”

As for Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics for “Little Buddy”, copied from Hank Snow while at summer camp and signed Bobby Zimmerman, previously reported here – the hand-scrawled piece of paper sold for $12, 500.

For more Beatles news on Uncut click here.

For more Dylan news from expectingrain.com.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Morrissey Liverpool Arena Tour Date Announced

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Morrissey Liverpool Arena Tour Date Announced
Morrissey has announced that his final 2009 tour date will be at Liverpool's Echo Arena on November 7. The Liverpool date is a new show added to the tour, which largely consist of rescheduled dates from the former Smiths singer earlier this year, when several shows were cancelled due to illness. M...

Morrissey has announced that his final 2009 tour date will be at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on November 7.

The Liverpool date is a new show added to the tour, which largely consist of rescheduled dates from the former Smiths singer earlier this year, when several shows were cancelled due to illness.

Morrissey’s Liverpool Echo Arena show tickets will go on sale on Friday June 26 at 9am.

Morrissey’s remaining 2009 tour dates are:

London, Mile End Troxy Ballroom (July 18)

London, Brixton 02 Academy (19, 21, 22)

Birmingham, Symphony Hall (October 23)

Swindon, Oasis Leisure Centre (24)

Bournemouth, Opera House (26)

London, Royal Albert Hall (27)

Leeds, O2 Academy Leeds (29)

Sheffield, Sheffield City Hall (30)

Salisbury, City Hall (November 2)

Liverpool, Echo Arena (7)

For more Morrissey news on Uncut click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: PA Photos

Countdown to Latitude: Nick Cave’s Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos talks to Uncut about their festival set!

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Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are set to headline the closing night at next month's Latitude festival, and they will be aiming to win over new fans as well as please the faithful with their set list, says Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos; the drummer returns to Suffolk for a second year after performing with Ni...

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are set to headline the closing night at next month’s Latitude festival, and they will be aiming to win over new fans as well as please the faithful with their set list, says Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos; the drummer returns to Suffolk for a second year after performing with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and Martyn Casey as Grinderman last year.

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ‘Spoilt For Choice’ Choosing Live Set Lists

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ‘Spoilt For Choice’ Choosing Live Set Lists
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds who are set to play Glastonbury festival this weekend (June 28) before returning to the UK to headline the closing night of Latitude 2009 on July 19 are "spoiled for choice" when it comes to choosing what to play live, drummer Jim Sclavunos has told www.uncut.co.uk. Ta...

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds who are set to play Glastonbury festival this weekend (June 28) before returning to the UK to headline the closing night of Latitude 2009 on July 19 are “spoiled for choice” when it comes to choosing what to play live, drummer Jim Sclavunos has told www.uncut.co.uk.

Talking just before their summer festival tour begins, Sclavunos says that as a long running group, they “try to slip in at least one song from each album” adding that “With 14 amazing studio albums to choose from, I don’t want to boast, but we’re spoiled for choice.”

The Bad Seeds line-up of Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, Thomas Wydlers and Conway Savage will be joined on this tour by legendary punk guitarist Ed Kuepper and Sclavunos says he’s helped give the group a new feel on the old songs.

He explains: “He’s new blood in the line-up and is helping us give all the classic Bad Seeds material a fresh take. Ed’s a pleasure to work with.”

For the full Latitude interview with Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos, go to Uncut’s dedicated Latitude blog now!

With less than a month to go until Uncut’s favourite event of the summer, we’ll be bringing you daily artist previews, news updates and prize giveaways as we count down to Suffolk…so check back here tomorrow for more exclusive content!

Yesterday (June 23), we spoke to Uncut Arena headliner’s Gossip front woman Beth Ditto, see her Latitude festival tips here and enter our Music For Men album competition give away.

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

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Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

Just a brief perusal of the resumé of Dave Longstreth, former Yale student and benevolent dictator behind Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, will reveal that he is a conceptual kind of guy. Take 2007’s Rise Above, wherein Longstreth and band set out to rewrite Black Flag’s early US hardcore landmark Damaged entirely from memory. Or try Dirty Projectors’ 2005 album The Getty Address, a grand orchestral work featuring over 25 musicians, which revolved around a narrative inspired by the life of The Eagles’ Don Henley (with diversions that stop to ponder topics as diverse as the Aztecs, 9/11, and bird-watching). Or just listen to the music itself, which assembles bursts of African highlife guitar, the melismatic warble of US chart R&B, and all sorts of orchestral trimmings. Dirty Projectors are not a band that plugs in and plays: every inch is polished, every note arranged. Talking about Bitte Orca in these terms, though, gives you little feel for their music. It primes you for something clever-clever, studied, excessively cerebral – and this, the fifth album under the Dirty Projectors name, is nothing of the sort. Rather, this is the group’s closest stab yet at transmuting their peculiar interests into joyful, ecstatic pop. “Cannibal Resource” is an impossibly sunny opener, setting Longstreth’s lilting, curiously androgynous vocal – think Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, or a relaxed David Byrne – amid handclaps, bobbing bass, sweet chiming guitar and the powerful harmonies and reflected calls of co-vocalists Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian. “Can it ask a question/Can it sing a melody?” questions Longstreth, and the girls echo back in the joyful affirmative. It is the presence of Coffman and Deradoorian, both technically accomplished singers, but capable of playing out Longstreth’s odder whims, that provides Bitta Orca with its mostly simply beautiful moments. Coffman takes the microphone on “Stillness Is The Move”, a remarkable organic take on the sparse, diva-fronted R&B pedalled by the likes of Timbaland late last decade – think Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” – that sees her remarkable voice fluttering up to the rafters. Deradoorian, meanwhile leads on the following “Two Doves”, a cut of fairy-tale chamber pop that hides a sharp thorn of heartbreak within flourishes of finger-plucked guitar and billowing strings. Hunting for a common lyrical thread here feels a little futile, but “Temecula Sunrise” feels to be Longstreth’s stab at writing a song about the American working-class experience – albeit, one that has more sonically in common with the preppy Afro-pop of Vampire Weekend than any more traditional blue-collar rock staple. “I live in a new construction home/I live on a strip beyond the dealership, yeah,” he sings, as acoustic guitars intertwine. But by verse two, he’s professing the open hand of friendship over handclaps and highlife guitar: “Definitely you can come and live with us/I know there’s a space for you in the basement, yeah/All you’ve gotta do is help out with the chores and dishes…” “Remade Horizon”, too, seems rooted in the topography of suburban America, the lyrics a vignette of back yards, freeways, and parking lots – although again, the arrangements are anything but, vaulting melodies and big choral swells that sight some sweltering Eden amid the sprawl of concrete and malls. Only a couple of tracks outstay their welcome: “Useful Chamber” is a little patchwork in its formation, jolting between long, meandering passages and excessively tangled rock-outs, while the closing “Florescent Half Dome”, with its meandering keys and echo-treated drum fills, is – whisper it – a little Phil Collins. Dave Longstreth still isn’t making it easy for you to love his band – indeed, that you must make a little effort is probably a point of honour for him. Still, as a whole, Bitte Orca feels nothing less than a modern equivalent to Talking Heads’ Fear Of Music or Scritti’s Cupid & Psyche 85 –art-rock with intellectual rigour, borderless curiosity, and no fear of the mainstream. Pop, by any other name. LOUIS PATTISON For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Just a brief perusal of the resumé of Dave Longstreth, former Yale student and benevolent dictator behind Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, will reveal that he is a conceptual kind of guy. Take 2007’s Rise Above, wherein Longstreth and band set out to rewrite Black Flag’s early US hardcore landmark Damaged entirely from memory. Or try Dirty Projectors’ 2005 album The Getty Address, a grand orchestral work featuring over 25 musicians, which revolved around a narrative inspired by the life of The Eagles’ Don Henley (with diversions that stop to ponder topics as diverse as the Aztecs, 9/11, and bird-watching). Or just listen to the music itself, which assembles bursts of African highlife guitar, the melismatic warble of US chart R&B, and all sorts of orchestral trimmings. Dirty Projectors are not a band that plugs in and plays: every inch is polished, every note arranged.

Talking about Bitte Orca in these terms, though, gives you little feel for their music. It primes you for something clever-clever, studied, excessively cerebral – and this, the fifth album under the Dirty Projectors name, is nothing of the sort. Rather, this is the group’s closest stab yet at transmuting their peculiar interests into joyful, ecstatic pop. “Cannibal Resource” is an impossibly sunny opener, setting Longstreth’s lilting, curiously androgynous vocal – think Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, or a relaxed David Byrne – amid handclaps, bobbing bass, sweet chiming guitar and the powerful harmonies and reflected calls of co-vocalists Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian. “Can it ask a question/Can it sing a melody?” questions Longstreth, and the girls echo back in the joyful affirmative.

It is the presence of Coffman and Deradoorian, both technically accomplished singers, but capable of playing out Longstreth’s odder whims, that provides Bitta Orca with its mostly simply beautiful moments. Coffman takes the microphone on “Stillness Is The Move”, a remarkable organic take on the sparse, diva-fronted R&B pedalled by the likes of Timbaland late last decade – think Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” – that sees her remarkable voice fluttering up to the rafters. Deradoorian, meanwhile leads on the following “Two Doves”, a cut of fairy-tale chamber pop that hides a sharp thorn of heartbreak within flourishes of finger-plucked guitar and billowing strings.

Hunting for a common lyrical thread here feels a little futile, but “Temecula Sunrise” feels to be Longstreth’s stab at writing a song about the American working-class experience – albeit, one that has more sonically in common with the preppy Afro-pop of Vampire Weekend than any more traditional blue-collar rock staple. “I live in a new construction home/I live on a strip beyond the dealership, yeah,” he sings, as acoustic guitars intertwine. But by verse two, he’s professing the open hand of friendship over handclaps and highlife guitar: “Definitely you can come and live with us/I know there’s a space for you in the basement, yeah/All you’ve gotta do is help out with the chores and dishes…” “Remade Horizon”, too, seems rooted in the topography of suburban America, the lyrics a vignette of back yards, freeways, and parking lots – although again, the arrangements are anything but, vaulting melodies and big choral swells that sight some sweltering Eden amid the sprawl of concrete and malls.

Only a couple of tracks outstay their welcome: “Useful Chamber” is a little patchwork in its formation, jolting between long, meandering passages and excessively tangled rock-outs, while the closing “Florescent Half Dome”, with its meandering keys and echo-treated drum fills, is – whisper it – a little Phil Collins. Dave Longstreth still isn’t making it easy for you to love his band – indeed, that you must make a little effort is probably a point of honour for him. Still, as a whole, Bitte Orca feels nothing less than a modern equivalent to Talking Heads’ Fear Of Music or Scritti’s Cupid & Psyche 85 –art-rock with intellectual rigour, borderless curiosity, and no fear of the mainstream. Pop, by any other name.

LOUIS PATTISON

For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Iron And Wine – Around The Well

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Iron And Wine – Around The Well

On the second disc of this sumptuous collection of oddities is a cover of New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”, in which a soldier returns home to wife and child from some far-flung war in the East, unaware he’s now a ghost. You could easily mistake it for an Iron And Wine original. It carries the imprint of Sam Beam’s own songs, which are often cryptic novellas of hearth and home, of lost moments and illicit fantasies. Songs that slowly yield their strange secrets while hinting at some unspoken private epiphany. It’s something Beam has done – across sundry EPs and four albums now – that none of his peers have quite matched. This set gathers up various tunes, from 2002’s The Creek Drank The Cradle to 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog, that either missed the final cut or were recorded for other projects. Such is the quality, though, thatAround The Well stands alone. These are finely detailed hymnals with a deceptively light touch, led out by Beam’s warm-blanket voice and brittle guitar. Disc One finds him in spare mode, elegantly plucking an acoustic six-string, with odd dabs of banjo and slide. “Dearest Forsaken” and “Loud As Hope” are as simple as they are gorgeous, Beam casting himself as furry folk kin of JJ Cale. But it’s Disc Two, made up of more recent stuff, that excels. Here the songs really bloom, with bony percussion, skittery rhythms and more daring arrangements. The swampy “No Moon” recalls Tony Joe White in his country-soul prime, while the tap-room piano and harmonies of “Kingdom Of The Animals” makes for bespoke folk-gospel. The imagery within is as dense as Beam’s voice is soft. “The kettle burned ’cos I left it too long / And we were kissing with the radio on / The cat was choking on a rattlesnake bone / The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home” he sings on the lovely “Carried Home”. With peaks like that, this record is anything but filler. ROB HUGHES For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

On the second disc of this sumptuous collection of oddities is a cover of New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”, in which a soldier returns home to wife and child from some far-flung war in the East, unaware he’s now a ghost. You could easily mistake it for an Iron And Wine original. It carries the imprint of Sam Beam’s own songs, which are often cryptic novellas of hearth and home, of lost moments and illicit fantasies. Songs that slowly yield their strange secrets while hinting at some unspoken private epiphany. It’s something Beam has done – across sundry EPs and four albums now – that none of his peers have quite matched.

This set gathers up various tunes, from 2002’s The Creek Drank The Cradle to 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog, that either missed the final cut or were recorded for other projects. Such is the quality, though, thatAround The Well stands alone. These are finely detailed hymnals with a deceptively light touch, led out by Beam’s warm-blanket voice and brittle guitar. Disc One finds him in spare mode, elegantly plucking an acoustic six-string, with odd dabs of banjo and slide. “Dearest Forsaken” and “Loud As Hope” are as simple as they are gorgeous, Beam casting himself as furry folk kin of JJ Cale.

But it’s Disc Two, made up of more recent stuff, that excels. Here the songs really bloom, with bony percussion, skittery rhythms and more daring arrangements. The swampy “No Moon” recalls Tony Joe White in his country-soul prime, while the tap-room piano and harmonies of “Kingdom Of The Animals” makes for bespoke folk-gospel. The imagery within is as dense as Beam’s voice is soft. “The kettle burned ’cos I left it too long / And we were kissing with the radio on / The cat was choking on a rattlesnake bone / The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home” he sings on the lovely “Carried Home”. With peaks like that, this record is anything but filler.

ROB HUGHES

For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

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Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

Despite the hype that heralded 2009 as the return of the kooky pop autrix, the most convincing Kate Bush album of the year turns out to be by a man. Composed in the turmoil following Patrick Wolf’s flight from Universal who tried to sell him as a more conventional pop idol, The Bachelor is militantly melodramatic and defiantly independent, detailing some English civil war of the soul in the style of Marc Almond fronting the Arcade Fire. It’s a ravishing production, and with a companion disc promised next year, feels like a fresh start for a brilliant career. STEPHEN TROUSSÉ For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Despite the hype that heralded 2009 as the return of the kooky pop autrix, the most convincing Kate Bush album of the year turns out to be by a man.

Composed in the turmoil following Patrick Wolf’s flight from Universal who tried to sell him as a more conventional pop idol, The Bachelor is militantly melodramatic and defiantly independent, detailing some English civil war of the soul in the style of Marc Almond fronting the Arcade Fire.

It’s a ravishing production, and with a companion disc promised next year, feels like a fresh start for a brilliant career.

STEPHEN TROUSSÉ

For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Amazing Baby – Rewild

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Amazing Baby – Rewild

Touted as fellow psychedelic adventurers of MGMT, Brooklyn’s Amazing Baby here prove their third eye is of far wider scope than the press shots of the band lounging rockishly in wolfskin jackets might suggest. While retaining Hunky Dory as its ground zero, their debut trips Floydishly around two decades of chiffon pop to take in elements of Imperial Bedroom-era Costello (“Bayonets”), early baggy (“Deerripper”) and Afrobeat-period Peter Gabriel (“Roverfrenz”). A frequently startling record of no little beauty – which threatens to launch a new, esoteric generation of Williamsburg wonders. MARK BEAUMONT For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive Pic credit: Pieter Van Hattem

Touted as fellow psychedelic adventurers of MGMT, Brooklyn’s Amazing Baby here prove their third eye is of far wider scope than the press shots of the band lounging rockishly in wolfskin jackets might suggest.

While retaining Hunky Dory as its ground zero, their debut trips Floydishly around two decades of chiffon pop to take in elements of Imperial Bedroom-era Costello (“Bayonets”), early baggy (“Deerripper”) and Afrobeat-period Peter Gabriel (“Roverfrenz”).

A frequently startling record of no little beauty – which threatens to launch a new, esoteric generation of Williamsburg wonders.

MARK BEAUMONT

For more album reviews, click here for the UNCUT music archive

Pic credit: Pieter Van Hattem

Edinburgh Film Festival — The September Issue

Michael Bonner
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It’s actually quite a strange experience watching The September Issue, RJ Cutler’s documentary about Vogue. For one, there’s something fascinating about watching the mechanics of another magazine in operation. It would, of course, be self-indulgent of me to base an entire blog on magazine publishing – or, indeed, looking for parallels between the staff of Vogue and Uncut. But I suppose, to some degree, it’s inevitable. Still, I’ll try not to bore you too much with talk of RF1s or ed:ad ratios and concentrate, instead, on the personalities that make The September Issue absolutely fascinating viewing. Principally, this is Anna Wintour, Vogue’s British-born Editor-in-Chief, a woman who’s already been sort of immortalised in screen in The Devil Wears Prada, where Meryl Streep played a character not a million miles from Wintour. Wintour comes with plenty of baggage: the daughter of an Evening Standard editor, she was in the heart of Soho in the Sixties (she dated Oz founder Richard Neville for a while), and has built a formidable magazine resume over the years culminating with the Vogue post, which she’s held since 1988. Wintour’s rise has not been without controversy. She has been characterised as a cold and aloof figure, and her pro-fur stance hasn’t exactly endeared her towards activists. She was nicknamed “Nuclear” after culling most of the staff when she took over. On the up, perhaps, she was ahead of the curve in terms of predicting the rise of celebrity culture, and under her aegis Vogue has re-established itself as an iconic global brand, selling around 1.3 million copies a month. Wintour’s foil in The September Issue (the film, incidentally, is named after the key edition of the magazine that covers off the Autumn fashion season) is Grace Coddington. Another ex-pat, Coddington is Vogue’s Creative Designer, joining the magazine at almost the same time as Wintour. If, to some degree, Wintour is Vogue’s head then Coddington is its heart. She is passionate about fashion but arguably lacks Wintour’s pragmatic approach to magazine craft. The two, it seems, regularly lock horns, and it’s their conflicts that provide much of the colour in Cutler’s film. Of course, it’s debatable whether Wintour really is such a devil. Watching her here, you sense she has a forensic knowledge of how her magazine works. Her attitude towards junking entire shoots Coddington has worked on are based not on any enmity (she’s generous and forthcoming in her praise of Coddington) but instead are led by entirely pragmatic reasons. Maybe they disrupt the flow of the issue, or she doesn’t like the colour blocking. It’s just business, nothing personal. Of course, this being about fashion, there are some priceless moments, of which the declaration in one editorial meeting that “Jacket is the new coat” is a highlight. Hilarious, and you’ll hopefully be pleased to know not the kind of discussions we have during our own editorial meetings. Anyway, that’s me done for Edinburgh this year, though the Festival runs until Sunday. Hope you’ve enjoyed the blogs. Cheers.

It’s actually quite a strange experience watching The September Issue, RJ Cutler’s documentary about Vogue. For one, there’s something fascinating about watching the mechanics of another magazine in operation. It would, of course, be self-indulgent of me to base an entire blog on magazine publishing – or, indeed, looking for parallels between the staff of Vogue and Uncut. But I suppose, to some degree, it’s inevitable. Still, I’ll try not to bore you too much with talk of RF1s or ed:ad ratios and concentrate, instead, on the personalities that make The September Issue absolutely fascinating viewing.

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New Steely Dan Collection Out This Month

Uncut
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New Steely Dan Collection Out This Month

A new double-disc compilation of Steely Dan tracks is to be released by Universal on June 29. The 33 track 'Very Best of' coincides with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's brief UK tour which calls at Edinburgh, Birmingham and London (dates below). Steely Dan last released a studio album, Everything Must Go, in 2003. Fagen and Becker are touring with their 11-piece Left Bank Holiday Band, playing at: Edinburgh Playhouse (June 28) Birmingham NIA (29) London Hammersmith Apollo (July 1) The full trackisting is: Disc 1: 1. Do It Again 2. Dirty Work 3. Reelin' In The Years 4. Only A Fool Would Say That 5. Change Of The Guard 6. Bodhisattva 7. Boston Rag, The 8. Show Biz Kids 9. My Old School 10. Rikki Don't Lose That Number 11. Night By Night 12. Pretzel Logic 13. Any Major Dude Will Tell You 14. Black Friday 15. Bad Sneakers 16. Doctor Wu 17. Any World (That I'm Welcome To) 18. Chain Lightning Disc 2 1. Kid Charlemagne 2. Don't Take Me Alive 3. Haitian Divorce 4. Fez, The 5. Here In The Western World 6. Black Cow 7. Aja 8. Deacon Blues 9. Peg 10. Josie 11. FM 12. Babylon Sisters 13. Hey Nineteen 14. Time Out Of Mind 15. Third World Man More info: www.steelydan.com For more music and film news click here

A new double-disc compilation of Steely Dan tracks is to be released by Universal on June 29.

The 33 track ‘Very Best of’ coincides with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker‘s brief UK tour which calls at Edinburgh, Birmingham and London (dates below).

Steely Dan last released a studio album, Everything Must Go, in 2003.

Fagen and Becker are touring with their 11-piece Left Bank Holiday Band, playing at:

Edinburgh Playhouse (June 28)

Birmingham NIA (29)

London Hammersmith Apollo (July 1)

The full trackisting is:

Disc 1:

1. Do It Again

2. Dirty Work

3. Reelin’ In The Years

4. Only A Fool Would Say That

5. Change Of The Guard

6. Bodhisattva

7. Boston Rag, The

8. Show Biz Kids

9. My Old School

10. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number

11. Night By Night

12. Pretzel Logic

13. Any Major Dude Will Tell You

14. Black Friday

15. Bad Sneakers

16. Doctor Wu

17. Any World (That I’m Welcome To)

18. Chain Lightning

Disc 2

1. Kid Charlemagne

2. Don’t Take Me Alive

3. Haitian Divorce

4. Fez, The

5. Here In The Western World

6. Black Cow

7. Aja

8. Deacon Blues

9. Peg

10. Josie

11. FM

12. Babylon Sisters

13. Hey Nineteen

14. Time Out Of Mind

15. Third World Man

More info: www.steelydan.com

For more music and film news click here

The Gossip cover Fleetwood Mac before shows to ‘Get In The Mood’

Uncut
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The Gossip cover Fleetwood Mac before shows to ‘Get In The Mood’
Beth Ditto has revealed that the Gossip cover Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" before shows to get them in the mood for their onstage party. In an interview with www.uncut.co.uk as part of our Latitude Festival Countdown, Ditto told us: "We usually play "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac to get everybody in. ...

Beth Ditto has revealed that the Gossip cover Fleetwood Mac‘s “The Chain” before shows to get them in the mood for their onstage party.

In an interview with www.uncut.co.uk as part of our Latitude Festival Countdown, Ditto told us: “We usually play “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac to get everybody in. That’s always good. That’s Hannah’s [Billie, drummer] choice. It’s her No.1 pumped-up jam.”

Ditto also promises that the Gossip, whose new album Music For Men is released this week, will “have some tricks up [their] sleeves” with regards to surprise cover versions during their headline set in the Uncut Arena at Latitude on the final night (July 19). Previous live covers have included Wham and Heaven 17.

Ditto has some great tips on festival essentials too, to find out what they are, see the full Latitude interview with Beth Ditto, here.

For your chance to win a copy of the Gossip’s latest album Music For Men, go to Uncut’s competitions page here.

The Latitude Countdown continues tomorrow. Check back for more updates, previews, competitions and interviews! The Henham Park, Suffolk festival kicks off on July 16!

For more Gossip news on Uncut click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

Pic credit: PA Photos

Countdown to Latitude: The Gossip’s Beth Ditto talks to Uncut about their headline appearance in the Uncut Arena!

Uncut
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With the Gossip's latest album Music For Men out this week (June 22), the band's force of nature front woman took time out to talk to us about their Uncut Arena headline show at Latitude next month. UNCUT: We're very pleased to have the Gossip headline the Uncut Arena's final night at Latitude, are you going to be taking us out with a bang? BETH DITTO: I dunno! I never know. I like to keep it simple and say NO! I'll say to expect it to be be mediocre, so that way you'll be pleasantly surprised. U: Do you prefer playing in tents (the Uncut Arena is covered)to outdoor stages at festivals? Does it help keep it intimate and rowdy? BD: I like the tents! Can I be honest with why I like tents? I like the fact that tents are shaded. U: Our tent can get pretty sweaty when packed to capacity, any possibility that you'll strip off again, like you did at Glastonbury last year? BD: You'll have to wait and see! You never know! U: Any ideas yet if the Gossip will be treating us to any cover versions this year, after previous live surprises like Aaliyah and Wham? BD: We have a couple of tricks up our sleeves, but I'm not going to tell you what they are! But they are going to be REALLY COOL. No, no I have no clues at all! I can't tell you, 'cos then you'd know and spoil the surprise! U: So what do you do before shows, to get yourselves in the mood for your onstage party? BD: There's a long time, where I'm just putting on eyeliner for like an hour. Because I wear so much eyeliner, that's really boring, but it's true, that's what I do! Before we play the show, we usually play "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac to get everybody in. That's always good. That's Hannah's [Billie, drummer] choice. It's her No.1 pumped-up jam. U: Any ideas, as yet, what glamorous outfits you'll be treating Latitude to? BD: Wait and see! I never know 'til the day of the show really. I carry a LOT of stuff around with me on tour. A lot. I have a lot of stuff, which is kinda a problem! I always have two suitcases, I have one for the daytime and one for the night time. The night time one has show clothes in it. It's really hard for me to wear the same thing twice. U: How do you deal with hecklers and stage invaders during your live shows? BD: I am really good with hecklers! They bring out the best in me sometimes, actually. By the end of it I usually feel like we really have a good rapport with each other, there's some really good jokes going back and forth. U: Are you going to have any time at Latitude to check out any of the other artists that are playing? Or are schedules too tight nowadays to allow that? BD: The sad thing is, we never have time to see the shows. Never. Ever ever ever. I know it's a shame, it's the worst. Last year it was like 'Jay-Z's playing, when are you ever gonna see Jay_z play again y'know'. And then, yeah, we're used to it by now. I used to get really disappointed. I'm probably not going to get to see any of the shows. U: What new music are you currently into? - You've been raving about Fever Ray (playing the Uncut Arena on Friday July 17) on your blog. BD: La Roux. We're all really into La Roux. She's very pop. Everything about her is incredible. U: So finally, what are your top festival survival tips? BD: Baby wipes! So you can stay clean. I suggest a nail file. A lighter. You know what, if I were a lady, ha ha I guess I am a lady actually! As a lady, I would sew a pocket into my bra, so i could keep all my money there. Maybe even sew an iPod and a phone pocket into my bra, so they could just stay there. It's like my grandmother did in the old days. She would make a little pocket in her bra and keep all her money in there. It's a really good idea, no one will ever think to look there! The Gossip headline the Uncut Arena at Latitude 2009 on Sunday July 19. *** For a chance to win one of ten copies of the Gossip's 'Music For Men' album, go to Uncut's competitions page now, here! Don't forget: you can still get tickets for the four-day event; with music headliners including Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds here at www.latitudefestival.co.uk With less than a month to go until Uncut's favourite event of the summer, we'll be bringing you daily artist previews, news updates and prize giveaways as we count down to Suffolk...so check back here tomorrow for more exclusive content!

With the Gossip‘s latest album Music For Men out this week (June 22), the band’s force of nature front woman took time out to talk to us about their Uncut Arena headline show at Latitude next month.

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The Vaselines to play rare show at Latitude! Plus more additions!

Uncut
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The Vaselines, who originally disbanded in 1990, are set to play a rare show in the Uncut Arena at Latitude Festival next month, it has just been confirmed (June 23). The cult Scottish indie band, who found a wider audience after Nirvana's Kurt Cobain professed his love of their music and covered...

The Vaselines, who originally disbanded in 1990, are set to play a rare show in the Uncut Arena at Latitude Festival next month, it has just been confirmed (June 23).

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The Vaselines To Play Rare Show At Latitude Festival!

Uncut
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The Vaselines To Play Rare Show At Latitude Festival!
The Vaselines, who originally disbanded in 1990, are set to play a rare show in the Uncut Arena at Latitude Festival next month, it has just been confirmed (June 23). The cult Scottish indie band, who found a wider audience after Nirvana's Kurt Cobain professed his love of their music and covered V...

The Vaselines, who originally disbanded in 1990, are set to play a rare show in the Uncut Arena at Latitude Festival next month, it has just been confirmed (June 23).

The cult Scottish indie band, who found a wider audience after Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain professed his love of their music and covered Vaselines tracks “Molly’s Lips” and “Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam”, have recently reformed to play a few select shows.

Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee recently played their first London show in 20 years (March 27) to a sold-out enthusiastic crowd, now you can have a chance to see the indie icons at Latitude.

Also newly confirmed for next month’s diverse event in Suffolk are the acclaimed alt.country rockers The Broken Family Band who will play the outdoor Obelisk Arena stage.

They join previously announced main stage performers Doves, Regina Spektor, Pretenders, Patrick Wolf, Phoenix and of course, headliners Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

The Uncut Arena also has US folk siren (likened to Joanna Newsom), 2009 hot tips Red Light Company and pop-maestro collective Miike Snow all performing on the bill which already includes Gossip, Spiritualized, Bat For Lashes, Fever Ray and Magazine.

More information, updated daily at Uncut’s Latitude Festival blog.

Get your tickets from latitudefestival.co.uk – day tickets start at £60.

Latitude Festival 2009’s latest additions are:

OBELISK ARENA

The Broken Family Band

Broken Records

UNCUT ARENA

Miike Snow

Gurrumul

The Vaselines

Manchester Orchestra

Alela Diane

Red Light Company

SUNRISE ARENA

The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Join Uncut at our dedicated Latitude Festival blog for our festival countdown! We have artist previews, interviews and Latitude artist give aways in the run up to our event of the summer!

Arctic Monkeys Humbug Album Cover Unveiled!

Uncut
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Arctic Monkeys Humbug Album Cover Unveiled!
Arctic Monkeys have unveiled the cover artwork for their forthcoming third studio album 'Humbug'. The ten track album, co-produced by Josh Homme and James Ford is set for release on August 24, the week before the band headline the Reading and Leeds Festivals (Reading on August 29, Leeds on August 2...

Arctic Monkeys have unveiled the cover artwork for their forthcoming third studio album ‘Humbug‘.

The ten track album, co-produced by Josh Homme and James Ford is set for release on August 24, the week before the band headline the Reading and Leeds Festivals (Reading on August 29, Leeds on August 28).

The cover photograph, which is the is the first album cover to feature the band, was taken by Guy Aroch at New York’s Electric Lady Studios on the last day of recording.

The album is now available to pre-order from the band’s website;arcticmonkeys-store.co.uk the CD coming with a limited edition poster.

The Humbug tracklisting is available here.

The band, fronted by Alex Turner have also just confirmed four new US tour dates:

Highline, New York, USA (August 3)

Paradise, Boston, USA (5)

Metro, Chicago, USA (7)

Lollapalooza, Chicago, USA (8)

For more Arctic Monkeys news on Uncut click here.

And for more music and film news from Uncut click here

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