One of the highlights of Dave Alvin’s last solo album, 2011’s Eleven Eleven, was a track called “What’s Up With Your Brother?”, a droll blues about Dave’s famously fractious relationship with his brother, Phil, that ended hilariously with them having the kind of argument that put paid to The Blasters, the band they were in together before fraternal tensions drove them into a ditch. They split in 1985, after just five albums. While Dave became dedicated to life as a hard travelling road dog, Phil completed a master’s degree in mathematics and artificial intelligence.
Ringo Starr has discussed A Hard Day's Night movie on its 50th anniversary and ahead of its re-release in cinemas and on DVD.
"I mean, we were in a movie, man. We were making a movie!" remembers Starr in a new interview with Billboard. "Four guys from Liverpool making a movie - it was so great. I loved it...".
It’s not a situation I could have predicted 20 years ago, I’ll admit, but there’s a point I reach quite often on Friday afternoons when all I really want to hear is The Grateful Dead. As default, I’ll cue up something from 1972 – the Wembley Empire Pool set from that year, say – mention it on Twitter, then receive a lot of static from my Dead friends who see me as something of a lightweight for clinging so conservatively to that year.
Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson has invested $450,000 (£270,465) in the 'world's biggest aircraft'.
The HAV Airlander is a 91.4 metre long airship, which is 18.2 metres longer than a Boeing 747, reports Top Gear. The ship is being made by the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles and its top speed is 100mph. It weighs 38 tonnes and can in addition carry 50 tonnes of cargo.
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy is set to make a guest appearance in US TV series Parks And Recreation.
The singer will be the latest special guest to join series six of the show, following cameos from Kristen Bell and Heidi Klum. Tweedy will appear as the frontman of a fictional band called Land Ho!, who is lobbied by Amy Poehler's character, government worker Leslie Knope.
With Kings Of Leon’s sixth album, Mechanical Bull, set for release on September 23, we thought it would be time to take a trip through the archives into November 2010 (Take 162), when we joined the Followill clan on the road in America – we hear of uncanny robberies, an army of Kings lookalikes, whiskey-fuelled anxieties and a new power struggle within this most volatile of bands. Do they want to be rootsy outlaws or modern rock superstars? Words: Jaan Uhelszki
Members of Sigur Róswill appear in the new series of Game Of Thrones.
Jonsi Birigisson, Georg Hólm and Orri Páll Dýrason are currently in Croatia shooting scenes for the HBO show's forthcoming fourth series. Entertainment Weekly reports that the bandmates will play musicians in the programme and that their cameo came about as showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are big fans of the Icelandic band and listened to their music while shooting previous series in Iceland.
I hope you had a good Bank Holiday break. I spent a very enjoyable chunk of it reading the new Carl Hiaasen novel – excuse the shameless self-promotion, but you can read an interview I did with Hiaasen over on my blog. But now we’re back in the office, and it’s my pleasure to introduce you all to the new issue of Uncut, which goes on sale tomorrow.
