Estranged Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has confirmed that he will not be taking part in any of the three Black Sabbath shows set for this summer.
The drummer has released a statement on his website, Billward.com, saying that he will not be playing with the band at their Birmingham show on May 19, nor with them at Download Festival on June 10 or at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 3.
To accompany this month’s Uncut (Take 181, June 2012), out now, which features the Bonnie “Prince” Billy/Palace icon fielding questions from fans and musicians, here’s an illuminating Album By Album piece with Will Oldham, talking to Andrew Mueller, from Uncut’s April 2009 issue. “I feel more confident about things now,” he says. “Which frees up space for me to feel insecure about a whole new range of stuff…”
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Leonard Cohen has announced a 21-day tour of North America to support Old Ideas, his 11th studio album that was released in January.
Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier this year about going back out on tour, Cohen said, "I have two minds. I don't like to do a small tour, so whether I'm going to sign up for for another couple of years...is that really where I want to be? Maybe it is…touring is like taking the first step on a walk to China. It's a serious commitment, so there are a lot of factors to be examined."
Vampire Weekend have confirmed to Rolling Stone that they're working on the follow-up to their 2011 album, Contra.
"We've started many songs," bassist Chris Baio told Rolling Stone. "Obviously we haven't been rushing it. We take it very seriously. We'll be incredibly psyched to share it with the world when it's done."
Released in January, 2011, Contra reached No 3 in the UK album charts and No 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in America.
I had lunch with Harvey Weinstein once. This was during the Cannes Film Festival, and I was among a group of film journalists invited to one of the swelegant hotels on the Croisette to nibble canapés and listen dutifully while Weinstein unveiled the forthcoming slate for his company, Miramax.
As this month’s new Uncut (May 2012, Take 180) features Brian Fallon talking about The Gaslight Anthem’s upcoming new album, Handwritten, we thought it would be fitting to dig out this Uncut feature from January 2010 – in which Fallon tells Jaan Uhelszki how he became a rumbustious, show-stealing international phenomenon, beloved even by The Boss himself. Not bad for a tattooed punk kid whose “mother fed me Born To Run with my Cheerios”…
The more-than-extensive ‘Immersion’ edition of Pink Floyd’s opus The Wall (the box includes a scarf and marbles!) is reviewed in our latest issue, out now – so we thought we’d revisit John Lewis’ excellent feature from June 2011 (Take 169). As the extravaganza arrives in Europe, Uncut meets the obsessive fans, stoners, bloggers and military advisors who’ll follow Waters and his lavish production to the ends of the globe…
