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T Bone Burnett Would Love To Record Bob Dylan

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T Bone Burnett Would Love To Record Bob Dylan

Legendary musician and now producer T-Bone Burnett has revealed that he'd like to work with Bob Dylan. Burnett's musical career started when Dylan asked him to play on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975, and the pair have most recently worked together on song for the film The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood -- however when asked by Uncut if he would consider producing Dylan, like he has Elvis Costello and Robert Plant -- he replies: "I would if he asked me. I would love to record Bob with a deep, warm sound, like the kind I know he loves." Burnett adds that he'd love to set up recording in the same style as Plant and Krauss' 'Raising Sand' was made. He says: "I would love to be able to just set up a room with mics in it and...leave [laughs]. I'd love to give him the sound for him to play in. But it's complicated, and I don't know if I could produce a record for Bob." For the full interview with Burnett by Bud Scoppa, check out the latest issue of Uncut (May 2008) -- on sale now. Burnett talks about the rumours of converting Dylan to Christianity, breaking up the Attractions and more. The new issue also features brand new indepth interviews with Led Zeppelin's Plant, Page and Paul Jones.

Legendary musician and now producer T-Bone Burnett has revealed that he’d like to work with Bob Dylan.

Burnett’s musical career started when Dylan asked him to play on the Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975, and the pair have most recently worked together on song for the film The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood — however when asked by Uncut if he would consider producing Dylan, like he has Elvis Costello and Robert Plant — he replies: “I would if he asked me. I would love to record Bob with a deep, warm sound, like the kind I know he loves.”

Burnett adds that he’d love to set up recording in the same style as Plant and Krauss’ ‘Raising Sand’ was made. He says: “I would love to be able to just set up a room with mics in it and…leave [laughs]. I’d love to give him the sound for him to play in. But it’s complicated, and I don’t know if I could produce a record for Bob.”

For the full interview with Burnett by Bud Scoppa, check out the latest issue of Uncut (May 2008) — on sale now.

Burnett talks about the rumours of converting Dylan to Christianity, breaking up the Attractions and more.

The new issue also features brand new indepth interviews with Led Zeppelin’s Plant, Page and Paul Jones.

The Killers Announce Outdoor Show

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The Killers Announce Outdoor Show
The Killers have confirmed their first live appearance in 2008. The band, fronted by Brandon Flowers are to return to Ireland to play an outdoor show at Dublin's Marlay Park on August 21. The group missed some Irish gigs on their final 'Sam's Town' tour last year due to illness. The Killers are a...

The Killers have confirmed their first live appearance in 2008.

The band, fronted by Brandon Flowers are to return to Ireland to play an outdoor show at Dublin’s Marlay Park on August 21.

The group missed some Irish gigs on their final ‘Sam’s Town’ tour last year due to illness.

The Killers are also currently working on their partly self-produced third studio album, expected to be completed later this year. The first two have now sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Tickets for the newly announced show will go on sale on April 4 at 8am.

Robert Plant Confirms ‘Led Zeppelin Could Play Again’

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Robert Plant Confirms ‘Led Zeppelin Could Play Again’
Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant has said that there is a chance of more one-off live perfomances from the band, if the reasoning was right. Speaking in the new (May 2008) edition of UNCUT magazine, the Zep singer, commenting on the huge success of their December reunion show at London's O2 Arena, said...

Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant has said that there is a chance of more one-off live perfomances from the band, if the reasoning was right.

Speaking in the new (May 2008) edition of UNCUT magazine, the Zep singer, commenting on the huge success of their December reunion show at London’s O2 Arena, said: “Hopefully, one day, we could do it again. Our profit is – it’s metaphysical.”

The group’s bassist John Paul Jones added: “We (Jones and Page) spoke afterwards, and we both thought the same – it felt like the first night of a tour. You think, ‘Oh, I could do that a bit better, or change something in that song.’ And we didn’t get a chance to do any more.”

Plant also says the Ahmet Ertegun reunion gig was very different to previous gigs in their heyday. He says he: “sang his nuts off” and says it was weird that the “personality of the audience has changed from those days when everybody was in the same condition as the band. Now it was more like the 68th wonder of the world rather than a gig. So I felt a bit embarrassed.”

See the latest issue (MAY 2008) of Uncut for Plant, Page and Paul Jones’ first in-depth interviews since their reunion for the Ahmet Ertegun reunion at London’s O2 Arena last December.

The issue will also come with a brilliant 15-track CD of the music that shaped the band, featuring Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Otis Rush amongst the selections.

X Factor Winner Becomes First Brit Female To Top US Charts In 21 Years

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X Factor Winner Becomes First Brit Female To Top US Charts In 21 Years
Leona Lewis has become the first British female to top the US Singles Chart since 1987. Lewis, who won last year's TV talent show X Factor has topped the charts with 'Bleeding Love' which was also a UK number one and last years' top-selling UK single. Last year Lewis signed a £5m record deal in t...

Leona Lewis has become the first British female to top the US Singles Chart since 1987.

Lewis, who won last year’s TV talent show X Factor has topped the charts with ‘Bleeding Love’ which was also a UK number one and last years’ top-selling UK single.

Last year Lewis signed a £5m record deal in the US, and the single was released six weeks ago.

The last British female to achieve a Billboard Hot 100 number one was Kim Wilde in 1987, with her cover of the Supremes “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”.

It is thought that Lewis’ appearance with Simon Cowell on the Ophrah Winfrey TV show last week helped boost sales for the 22-year old.

R.E.M’s Accelerate Reviewed Here!

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R.E.M’s Accelerate Reviewed Here!
Uncut.co.uk publishes a weekly selection of music reviews; including new, reissued and compilation albums. Find out about the best here, by clicking on the album titles below. All of our reviews feature a 'submit your own review' function - we would love to hear about what you've heard lately. The...

Uncut.co.uk publishes a weekly selection of music reviews; including new, reissued and compilation albums. Find out about the best here, by clicking on the album titles below.

All of our reviews feature a ‘submit your own review’ function – we would love to hear about what you’ve heard lately.

These albums are all set for release next week (March 31):

R.E.M. – Accelerate – The band Return To Form? Michael Stipe and co. follow-up 2004’s disappointing Around The Sun — with a little help from U2’s Jacknife Lee. See our in-depth review here — and have your say.

Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple – The ‘Crazy’ duo return with a kaleidoscopic, funkadelic second album + Q&A with Danger Mouse.

The Rolling Stones – Shine A Light OST – With their Martin Scorsese directed live music film doc premiering in the UK next week, check out what the soundtrack has in store.

The Black Keys – Attack and Release – Gorgeous blue-eyed soul and garage blues from the duo.

Plus here are FIVE of UNCUT’s recommended new releases from the past few weeks – check out these albums if you haven’t already:

Supergrass – Dimond Hoo Ha – Britpop alumni enter ‘Berlin! period. Almost. Uncut Q&A with frontman Gaz Coombs too.

Beck – Odelay Deluxe Edition – 90s slack hop opus, remastered and extended with remixes, B-sides and two unreleased tracks has stood up to the test of time — Stephen Trousse revists Beck’s genius.

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid – Guy Garvey and band return with great fourth album, featuring a duet with Richard Hawley too.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash – Former Pavement slacker Malkmus returns with second album backed by the Jicks.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazurus, Dig!!! – “The band has never sounded better, and Cave seems to have relaxed into the hysteria of his vocal style; like Elmer Gantry singing Leonard Cohen at a tent-revival.”

For more reviews from the 3000+ UNCUT archive – check out: www.www.uncut.co.uk/music/reviews.

R.E.M. – Accelerate

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R.E.M. – Accelerate

You join us in the Uncut office, late January, waiting for the 14th R.E.M. album to turn up. There’s a little anticipation, naturally, a mature frisson of excitement. But there’s a lot more scepticism, in spite of a music business whispering campaign which has already anointed Accelerate as that most precious phenomenon, the Return To Form. The pre-release hype in 2004, you may remember, promised Around The Sun would be something similar. Instead, that album was so balefully received - by R.E.M.'s fans, crucially, as well as critics - that even the band grouch about it now. The stories about Accelerate, admittedly, are slightly different. Many of the 11 songs, recorded in Vancouver, Athens and Dublin, were roadtested at last summer’s run of shows in the Irish capital, and were received fairly rapturously by those who heard them live and on YouTube. But the suspicions remain. Might the raw new songs be hygienised by Jacknife Lee, best known for his loud and anodyne productions for Snow Patrol, Editors and U2? And could Accelerate turn out to be the work of a desperate band still trying to compete, anxiously in denial of their diminishing powers? Well, here’s Track One, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”. Three minutes, 11 seconds. A great fuzzy thicket of guitars suggests, immediately, that Peter Buck is a much more engaged presence this time: judging by some interviews from 2004, his most pressing job during the Around The Sun sessions was to fill up the iPods of his bandmates. There’s a tumble of drums, and then Michael Stipe arrives at breakneck speed, huskily trying to squeeze a few too many words into each line, with Mike Mills leaving a vapour trail of harmonies in his wake. It’s an invigorating, agenda-setting opener. For if Around The Sun sought to rescore the populist gravity of Automatic For The People with massed keyboards, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge” aims squarely for the affections of REM’s hardcore rump, those who treasure the helter-skeltering epiphanies of “So Fast, So Numb”, “Life And How To Live It” and, in particular, “These Days”. And it’s no false dawn. As the 34 minutes of Accelerate pass in a general blur, the closest antecedents are revealed to be 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant and the following year’s Document; the albums where REM stood on the cusp of mainstream success, negotiating between the elliptical jangle of their early years and a crunchy, poetic twist on stadium rock. So “Mansized Wreath” swaggers in with a feedback-spattered riff, an organ wheezing consumptively, Mike Mills essaying some highly unlikely funk runs, and a vague but satisfying hint of “Exhuming McCarthy”. This is Accelerate Track Two, and, again, it’s exhilarating. Lee’s mix may tend towards his usual deafening flatness, the scrupulously limited dynamic range demanded by radio producers. But the denseness suits R.E.M., reconstructing their trademark intricate hedge of sound, albeit with a very contemporary digital clarity. At times, the eagerness to placate those long-term devotees dismayed by Around The Sun - and, to a lesser extent, by Up and Reveal - is pretty unbecoming. “Sing For The Submarine” is an overlong (4:50!) and bombastic trudge which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Around The Sun, scarred by some clattery aerobics from the old Ministry drummer, Bill Rieflin. Stipe, though, is a bigger problem, awkwardly weaving a bunch of his old song titles – “Electron Blue”, “Feeling Gravity’s Pull”, “High Speed Train” – into the lyrics. “Supernatural Superstitious”, meanwhile, begins, “Everybody here comes from somewhere,” reminiscent of those arch concert intros that make Stipe resemble a trendy vicar. The song itself, a scuffed and bouncy cousin to “Man On The Moon” and “The Great Beyond”, consequently comes across as one of Accelerate’s more crass moments. Elsewhere, the allusions to R.E.M’s past are more rewarding. The churning raga-rock of “Mr Richards” recalls “Time After Time”, even if Stipe’s vocal would work better buried deep in the feedback, rather than sitting pertly above it. “Horse To Water” is choppy, cascading and very nearly the equal to “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”, with another mildly embarrassing lyric that involves “Friday night, fuck and fight, a pub crawl”. The ballads, too, are mostly impressive. “Hollow Man” begins, coyly, as a piano meditation typical of late-period REM, then blooms into something faster and more euphoric, with a tiny, chiming middle eight that is Buck’s most overt nod to The Byrds in years. “Houston” has melodic affinities with “Try Not To Breathe”, but a creaking, ominous air closer to “King Of Birds”. And while the world-gone-wrong portent of “Until The Day Is Done” marks it as kin to the last album’s “Final Straw”, the solemnities are handled with an elegance that also recalls, more pleasingly, “World Leader Pretend”. Eleven songs, then, and only one outright dud – the giddy, dorky “I’m Gonna DJ”, which hasn’t appreciably improved since its appearance on last year’s R.E.M. Live album. By the end, you’re left with the impression of a very self-conscious band who are in thrall to their fans and the riches of their back catalogue, but who’ve managed to relocate their energy and melodic zeal as well as their signature sound. A nagging doubt remains that this isn’t the music these three men would necessarily choose to make right now, that Accelerate is a lively professional exigency, from the studiously dynamic title onwards. But then “Living Well’s The Best Defence” winds up again, and the deeper motivations of R.E.M. seem irrelevant when they’ve made their most straightforwardly enjoyable album since 1996’s New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Stipe has scolded us often enough for misinterpreting his lyrics as personal revelations. But when, in “Hollow Man”, he ruefully notes, “I took the prize last night for complicatedness,” the temptation is too great. Accelerate is a simple, pragmatic record built on an uncomfortable truth: sometimes, even the best bands have to retrace their steps, if only to remind themselves what they’re really good at. JOHN MULVEY Accelerate - Track By Track 1 Living Well's the Best Revenge 5* 2 Mansized Wreath 4* 3 Supernatural Superserious 3* 4 Hollow Man 3* 5 Houston 3* 6 Accelerate 3* 7 Until the Day Is Done 4* 8 Mr. Richards 4* 9 Sing for the Submarine 3* 10 Horse to Water 4* 11 I'm Gonna DJ 2*

You join us in the Uncut office, late January, waiting for the 14th R.E.M. album to turn up. There’s a little anticipation, naturally, a mature frisson of excitement. But there’s a lot more scepticism, in spite of a music business whispering campaign which has already anointed Accelerate as that most precious phenomenon, the Return To Form.

The pre-release hype in 2004, you may remember, promised Around The Sun would be something similar. Instead, that album was so balefully received – by R.E.M.’s fans, crucially, as well as critics – that even the band grouch about it now. The stories about Accelerate, admittedly, are slightly different. Many of the 11 songs, recorded in Vancouver, Athens and Dublin, were roadtested at last summer’s run of shows in the Irish capital, and were received fairly rapturously by those who heard them live and on YouTube. But the suspicions remain. Might the raw new songs be hygienised by Jacknife Lee, best known for his loud and anodyne productions for Snow Patrol, Editors and U2? And could Accelerate turn out to be the work of a desperate band still trying to compete, anxiously in denial of their diminishing powers?

Well, here’s Track One, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”. Three minutes, 11 seconds. A great fuzzy thicket of guitars suggests, immediately, that Peter Buck is a much more engaged presence this time: judging by some interviews from 2004, his most pressing job during the Around The Sun sessions was to fill up the iPods of his bandmates. There’s a tumble of drums, and then Michael Stipe arrives at breakneck speed, huskily trying to squeeze a few too many words into each line, with Mike Mills leaving a vapour trail of harmonies in his wake.

It’s an invigorating, agenda-setting opener. For if Around The Sun sought to rescore the populist gravity of Automatic For The People with massed keyboards, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge” aims squarely for the affections of REM’s hardcore rump, those who treasure the helter-skeltering epiphanies of “So Fast, So Numb”, “Life And How To Live It” and, in particular, “These Days”.

And it’s no false dawn. As the 34 minutes of Accelerate pass in a general blur, the closest antecedents are revealed to be 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant and the following year’s Document; the albums where REM stood on the cusp of mainstream success, negotiating between the elliptical jangle of their early years and a crunchy, poetic twist on stadium rock.

So “Mansized Wreath” swaggers in with a feedback-spattered riff, an organ wheezing consumptively, Mike Mills essaying some highly unlikely funk runs, and a vague but satisfying hint of “Exhuming McCarthy”. This is Accelerate Track Two, and, again, it’s exhilarating. Lee’s mix may tend towards his usual deafening flatness, the scrupulously limited dynamic range demanded by radio producers. But the denseness suits R.E.M., reconstructing their trademark intricate hedge of sound, albeit with a very contemporary digital clarity.

At times, the eagerness to placate those long-term devotees dismayed by Around The Sun – and, to a lesser extent, by Up and Reveal – is pretty unbecoming. “Sing For The Submarine” is an overlong (4:50!) and bombastic trudge which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Around The Sun, scarred by some clattery aerobics from the old Ministry drummer, Bill Rieflin. Stipe, though, is a bigger problem, awkwardly weaving a bunch of his old song titles – “Electron Blue”, “Feeling Gravity’s Pull”, “High Speed Train” – into the lyrics. “Supernatural Superstitious”, meanwhile, begins, “Everybody here comes from somewhere,” reminiscent of those arch concert intros that make Stipe resemble a trendy vicar. The song itself, a scuffed and bouncy cousin to “Man On The Moon” and “The Great Beyond”, consequently comes across as one of Accelerate’s more crass moments.

Elsewhere, the allusions to R.E.M’s past are more rewarding. The churning raga-rock of “Mr Richards” recalls “Time After Time”, even if Stipe’s vocal would work better buried deep in the feedback, rather than sitting pertly above it. “Horse To Water” is choppy, cascading and very nearly the equal to “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”, with another mildly embarrassing lyric that involves “Friday night, fuck and fight, a pub crawl”.

The ballads, too, are mostly impressive. “Hollow Man” begins, coyly, as a piano meditation typical of late-period REM, then blooms into something faster and more euphoric, with a tiny, chiming middle eight that is Buck’s most overt nod to The Byrds in years. “Houston” has melodic affinities with “Try Not To Breathe”, but a creaking, ominous air closer to “King Of Birds”. And while the world-gone-wrong portent of “Until The Day Is Done” marks it as kin to the last album’s “Final Straw”, the solemnities are handled with an elegance that also recalls, more pleasingly, “World Leader Pretend”.

Eleven songs, then, and only one outright dud – the giddy, dorky “I’m Gonna DJ”, which hasn’t appreciably improved since its appearance on last year’s R.E.M. Live album. By the end, you’re left with the impression of a very self-conscious band who are in thrall to their fans and the riches of their back catalogue, but who’ve managed to relocate their energy and melodic zeal as well as their signature sound.

A nagging doubt remains that this isn’t the music these three men would necessarily choose to make right now, that Accelerate is a lively professional exigency, from the studiously dynamic title onwards. But then “Living Well’s The Best Defence” winds up again, and the deeper motivations of R.E.M. seem irrelevant when they’ve made their most straightforwardly enjoyable album since 1996’s New Adventures In Hi-Fi.

Stipe has scolded us often enough for misinterpreting his lyrics as personal revelations. But when, in “Hollow Man”, he ruefully notes, “I took the prize last night for complicatedness,” the temptation is too great. Accelerate is a simple, pragmatic record built on an uncomfortable truth: sometimes, even the best bands have to retrace their steps, if only to remind themselves what they’re really good at.

JOHN MULVEY

Accelerate – Track By Track

1 Living Well’s the Best Revenge 5*

2 Mansized Wreath 4*

3 Supernatural Superserious 3*

4 Hollow Man 3*

5 Houston 3*

6 Accelerate 3*

7 Until the Day Is Done 4*

8 Mr. Richards 4*

9 Sing for the Submarine 3*

10 Horse to Water 4*

11 I’m Gonna DJ 2*

Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple

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Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple

Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and Thomas “Cee-Lo” Callaway have been promiscuous collaborators since the history-making download chart-topper “Crazy” earned them overnight stardom two years back. Their 2006 debut St Elsewhere was a pretty solid collection, but a little overshadowed by the anthem that went on to become that year’s biggest-selling single. The Odd Couple is a much stronger album, with almost every track sounding like a potential hit. Gnarls Barkley thrive in the space between Burton’s art-pop futurism and Callaway’s gospel-blues populism. The producer, an Anglophile New Yorker who has mashed up everyone from The Beatles to Gorillaz, fills the sonic canvas with arch references and electro-noise asides. The singer, an Atlanta-raised soul shouter and hip-hopper with a sideline penning polished chart-pop for the likes of Pussycat Dolls, provides soaring emotions and a warm, guttural voice. The Odd Couple is stacked with tunes that manage to sound like funky church sermons and cool avant-pop experiments simultaneously. Several tracks, from the deceptively jaunty fuzz-pop of “Charity Case” to the bouncy retro-strum of “Surprise”, call to mind OutKast’s knowing, nostalgic “Hey Ya” taken to the next level. With their penchant for pop hooks and fancy dress, Gnarls never forget their mission is to entertain. But there is darkness here, too, an imploring tone in Calloway’s voice that reaches right back to the blues. The dissonant, oppressive, psycho-voiced slow jam “Would Be Killer” is nocturnal noir; “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” an exquisite gospel confessional. Most of these tracks combine a seductive, upbeat surface with unsettling sonic textures beneath. It’s a dream-team formula: imagine Prince jamming with Radiohead. The result is a milestone in modern psychedelic soul. STEPHEN DALTON UNCUT: You were semi-underground when you made St Elsewhere, but you recorded The Odd Couple as pop stars... DANGER MOUSE: I wouldn’t say we went into it as pop stars, but I know what you mean. We weren’t really that deliberate about St Elsewhere, and it was kind of the same for this record. We just wanted to make sure we really liked it. There seem to be many more vintage soul influences this time... Our whole thing is more about the spirit of it, the feeling, than anything else. Psychedelic music, we draw a lot from that – music back then drew from a lot of different places, it just did it really naturally. Are you the brains and Cee-Lo the heart? We definitely complement each other. Whether it’s heart or brain or whatever, if he finds something in the music, it will all make sense. INTERVIEW: STEPHEN DALTON

Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and Thomas “Cee-Lo” Callaway have been promiscuous collaborators since the history-making download chart-topper “Crazy” earned them overnight stardom two years back. Their 2006 debut St Elsewhere was a pretty solid collection, but a little overshadowed by the anthem that went on to become that year’s biggest-selling single. The Odd Couple is a much stronger album, with almost every track sounding like a potential hit.

Gnarls Barkley thrive in the space between Burton’s art-pop futurism and Callaway’s gospel-blues populism. The producer, an Anglophile New Yorker who has mashed up everyone from The Beatles to Gorillaz, fills the sonic canvas with arch references and electro-noise asides. The singer, an Atlanta-raised soul shouter and hip-hopper with a sideline penning polished chart-pop for the likes of Pussycat Dolls, provides soaring emotions and a warm, guttural voice.

The Odd Couple is stacked with tunes that manage to sound like funky church sermons and cool avant-pop experiments simultaneously. Several tracks, from the deceptively jaunty fuzz-pop of “Charity Case” to the bouncy retro-strum of “Surprise”, call to mind OutKast’s knowing, nostalgic “Hey Ya” taken to the next level.

With their penchant for pop hooks and fancy dress, Gnarls never forget their mission is to entertain. But there is darkness here, too, an imploring tone in Calloway’s voice that reaches right back to the blues. The dissonant, oppressive, psycho-voiced slow jam “Would Be Killer” is nocturnal noir; “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” an exquisite gospel confessional.

Most of these tracks combine a seductive, upbeat surface with unsettling sonic textures beneath. It’s a dream-team formula: imagine Prince jamming with Radiohead. The result is a milestone in modern psychedelic soul.

STEPHEN DALTON

UNCUT: You were semi-underground when you made St Elsewhere, but you recorded The Odd Couple as pop stars…

DANGER MOUSE: I wouldn’t say we went into it as pop stars, but I know what you mean. We weren’t really that deliberate about St Elsewhere, and it was kind of the same for this record. We just wanted to make sure we really liked it.

There seem to be many more vintage soul influences this time…

Our whole thing is more about the spirit of it, the feeling, than anything else. Psychedelic music, we draw a lot from that – music back then drew from a lot of different places, it just did it really naturally.

Are you the brains and Cee-Lo the heart?

We definitely complement each other. Whether it’s heart or brain or whatever, if he finds something in the music, it will all make sense.

INTERVIEW: STEPHEN DALTON

The Rolling Stones – Shine A Light OST

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The Rolling Stones – Shine A Light OST

Listening to The Rolling Stones live is like eavesdropping on a circus. You may surmise that the crowd is being tantalised by Mick’s clown pouts, but what you get is the sensation of being stuck outside the tent. On the plus side, you don’t have to watch Christina Aguilera defibrillating Live With Me. Not that the Stones are bad, but the murkiness of the sound, with guitars sinking in a mud of horns, does them no favours. As Tears Go By is as sweet as Some Girls is unappealing, and while it’s admirable that “Buddy motherfucking Guy” guests on Champagne and Reefer, his playing has never been known for its economy. Less is more, and the Stones are at their best on the spoof country of Faraway Eyes; and Richards’ attack on You Got The Silver, with Ronnie Wood picking holes in an acoustic slide guitar. ALASTAIR McKAY

Listening to The Rolling Stones live is like eavesdropping on a circus. You may surmise that the crowd is being tantalised by Mick’s clown pouts, but what you get is the sensation of being stuck outside the tent. On the plus side, you don’t have to watch Christina Aguilera defibrillating Live With Me.

Not that the Stones are bad, but the murkiness of the sound, with guitars sinking in a mud of horns, does them no favours. As Tears Go By is as sweet as Some Girls is unappealing, and while it’s admirable that “Buddy motherfucking Guy” guests on Champagne and Reefer, his playing has never been known for its economy.

Less is more, and the Stones are at their best on the spoof country of Faraway Eyes; and Richards’ attack on You Got The Silver, with Ronnie Wood picking holes in an acoustic slide guitar.

ALASTAIR McKAY

R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe Speaks About The Making Of Accelerate

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R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe Speaks About The Making Of Accelerate

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: MICHAEL STIPE UNCUT: Can you tell me a little about how an R.E.M. LP comes to be made? MICHAEL STIPE: It’s always a bit different for us – over the last 28 years of making records, we’ve kind of built up a set of rules, which we then realise are a little outdated or outmoded, and then we discard them and begin over again. And that was certainly the case for Accelerate. What did you have to change? Mostly the way that we communicate with each other. Or rather how we did communicate with each other – it kind of forced our hand. The last record we made (i)Around The Sun(i), I think was a great group of songs, but I think the band kind of lost focus in the studio while we recording them. And the period of time between recording the songs and getting them mixed took way too long. So with this one we decided to turbo-charge the process, and we made a record faster than we probably have done in 20 years. How did you sort out your communication problems? It was on tour, after Around the Sun, the three of us looked at each other and said, “That was no fun, and we’re none of us very happy with the record and we have no-one to blame for that but ourselves.” We needed to really pick up the pieces and figure it out again, and that’s what we’ve done. When you’d done that; what happened next? The guys write a bunch of songs, put them down on tape and throw them to me, and I try to come up with melodies and words. And the big difference with this time was that I went into the first day of recording with completely written songs – which rarely happens. It’s always taken me a lot longer to do my work than it has Peter and Mike. What was behind the decision to go with Jacknife Lee as a producer? I had had several conversations with The Edge as it happens, and he thought Jacknife would be a great compliment to REM. I was super-impressed by what he’d done. He’s very inspired and very inspiring, so I kind of instantly liked him. We had an idea of what kind of record we wanted to make before we even met him, so that decision was a little bit fuelled by that knowledge: here’s what we want to do, let’s find a producer that can help us achieve that. The only minor change along the way has been that, all through making this record I had said “I don’t care how good this record is – I’m not going to tour it. But by the time we’d finished the thing, I thought “This is really good”, and changed my mind. I sat the guys down, and said “Fuck it, I’m gonna do it. Let’s tour…Let’s hit the road with this one”. And you feel that your communication problems are over, now? I don’t want to be a fucking bore, but a large part of what we do is that we have to be able to communicate on some level. There are stories in music history of musical partnerships being held together by lawyers. We were nowhere near that, but I was like, “I don’t want to be that”. None of us want to be that. And it’s not like we hated each other or anything, but we had all gone off into our own little worlds and in our own little directions and overlooked the possibility of making ourselves a whole lot better. I’m not saying we achieved that, but I’m thrilled with this record. For a band like yours a tour that isn’t working must be particularly annoying… When you’re flogging out around the world for a year and a half, that can get a little tiring. But that’s not the kind of tour that we’re talking about this time. The thing with touring is that you always never want to do it until you’re doing it, and then you never want it to stop. From a distance it seems impossible and exhausting but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s really fun. In terms of sound, Accelerate seems to be a cousin of records like Life’s Rich Pageant and Document. Was that conscious? No, not at all. I’m really bad at looking backwards, and I’ve stated that a thousand times before. Even thematically I had no idea where the direction the record would go. I try not to think, or over think what I’m writing about and let it come through me and be in some more unconscious voice. Thematically, I didn’t know 'til halfway through how the record was shaping up, and the different emotions that are touched on and the different scenarios that are played out in the record. “Mansized Wreath” is a great track. You seem to be engaging with political propaganda in it – is that along the right lines? Very much so. The germ of the idea which was the inspiration for that song came on Martin Luther King Day, which is a holiday here in the United States. It was basically a photo-op in Atlanta by our current administration, where protestors were held at bay using buses - of all things - with sharp shooters on top of them. A line of buses: that visual was such a slap in the face to civil rights. You perhaps have high hopes for the end of the Bush administration. Does that account for the energised feel of Accelerate? I honestly didn’t think of it in that way. I’ll be happy to see a new administration step in for sure, but I’m afraid the ripple effect of the damage that’s been done in the past seven years will be with us for our lifetimes… INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: MICHAEL STIPE

UNCUT: Can you tell me a little about how an R.E.M. LP comes to be made?

MICHAEL STIPE: It’s always a bit different for us – over the last 28 years of making records, we’ve kind of built up a set of rules, which we then realise are a little outdated or outmoded, and then we discard them and begin over again. And that was certainly the case for Accelerate.

What did you have to change?

Mostly the way that we communicate with each other. Or rather how we did communicate with each other – it kind of forced our hand. The last record we made (i)Around The Sun(i), I think was a great group of songs, but I think the band kind of lost focus in the studio while we recording them. And the period of time between recording the songs and getting them mixed took way too long. So with this one we decided to turbo-charge the process, and we made a record faster than we probably have done in 20 years.

How did you sort out your communication problems?

It was on tour, after Around the Sun, the three of us looked at each other and said, “That was no fun, and we’re none of us very happy with the record and we have no-one to blame for that but ourselves.” We needed to really pick up the pieces and figure it out again, and that’s what we’ve done.

When you’d done that; what happened next?

The guys write a bunch of songs, put them down on tape and throw them to me, and I try to come up with melodies and words. And the big difference with this time was that I went into the first day of recording with completely written songs – which rarely happens. It’s always taken me a lot longer to do my work than it has Peter and Mike.

What was behind the decision to go with Jacknife Lee as a producer?

I had had several conversations with The Edge as it happens, and he thought Jacknife would be a great compliment to REM. I was super-impressed by what he’d done. He’s very inspired and very inspiring, so I kind of instantly liked him. We had an idea of what kind of record we wanted to make before we even met him, so that decision was a little bit fuelled by that knowledge: here’s what we want to do, let’s find a producer that can help us achieve that. The only minor change along the way has been that, all through making this record I had said “I don’t care how good this record is – I’m not going to tour it. But by the time we’d finished the thing, I thought “This is really good”, and changed my mind. I sat the guys down, and said “Fuck it, I’m gonna do it. Let’s tour…Let’s hit the road with this one”.

And you feel that your communication problems are over, now?

I don’t want to be a fucking bore, but a large part of what we do is that we have to be able to communicate on some level. There are stories in music history of musical partnerships being held together by lawyers. We were nowhere near that, but I was like, “I don’t want to be that”. None of us want to be that. And it’s not like we hated each other or anything, but we had all gone off into our own little worlds and in our own little directions and overlooked the possibility of making ourselves a whole lot better. I’m not saying we achieved that, but I’m thrilled with this record.

For a band like yours a tour that isn’t working must be particularly annoying…

When you’re flogging out around the world for a year and a half, that can get a little tiring. But that’s not the kind of tour that we’re talking about this time. The thing with touring is that you always never want to do it until you’re doing it, and then you never want it to stop. From a distance it seems impossible and exhausting but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s really fun.

In terms of sound, Accelerate seems to be a cousin of records like Life’s Rich Pageant and Document. Was that conscious?

No, not at all. I’m really bad at looking backwards, and I’ve stated that a thousand times before. Even thematically I had no idea where the direction the record would go. I try not to think, or over think what I’m writing about and let it come through me and be in some more unconscious voice. Thematically, I didn’t know ’til halfway through how the record was shaping up, and the different emotions that are touched on and the different scenarios that are played out in the record.

“Mansized Wreath” is a great track. You seem to be engaging with political propaganda in it – is that along the right lines?

Very much so. The germ of the idea which was the inspiration for that song came on Martin Luther King Day, which is a holiday here in the United States. It was basically a photo-op in Atlanta by our current administration, where protestors were held at bay using buses – of all things – with sharp shooters on top of them. A line of buses: that visual was such a slap in the face to civil rights.

You perhaps have high hopes for the end of the Bush administration. Does that account for the energised feel of Accelerate?

I honestly didn’t think of it in that way. I’ll be happy to see a new administration step in for sure, but I’m afraid the ripple effect of the damage that’s been done in the past seven years will be with us for our lifetimes…

INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

The Black Keys – Attack And Release

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The Black Keys – Attack And Release
The Black Keys are on the cusp of greatness – “Attack and Release”, produced by Danger Mouse, takes them one step closer, but not quite over the edge. We’ve always known they can do the two-piece blues-rock caveman shuffle as well as almost anyone (“I Got Mine” and the Zep-channelling ...

The Black Keys are on the cusp of greatness – “Attack and Release”, produced by Danger Mouse, takes them one step closer, but not quite over the edge.

We’ve always known they can do the two-piece blues-rock caveman shuffle as well as almost anyone (“I Got Mine” and the Zep-channelling “Same Old Thing” stand out this time), but here the hand claps go to a trio of blue-eyed soul and R&B numbers that rival Steve Marriott (some songs were originally written for Ike Turner).

“Lies” is Motown-aping bliss, while “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” is a bone fide classic.

PETER SHEPHERD

Interpol Announce Festival Warm Up Show

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Interpol Announce Festival Warm Up Show
Interpol have announced that they are to play a one-off warm-up show prior to this year's Latitude Festival. The band who are due to be the closing headliners on Latitude's Obelisk Arena on Sunday July 20 -- will also now play an intimate (by their standards) show at Manchester's Apollo on July 8. ...

Interpol have announced that they are to play a one-off warm-up show prior to this year’s Latitude Festival.

The band who are due to be the closing headliners on Latitude’s Obelisk Arena on Sunday July 20 — will also now play an intimate (by their standards) show at Manchester’s Apollo on July 8.

Interpol return to the UK after two sell out shows at London’s Alexandra Palace late last year, and the New Yorkers released their acclaimed third album ‘Our Love To Admire’ last year.

Also appearing at this year’s Uncut-sponsored Latitude Festival are Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand, The Breeers and M.I.A.

Interpol are also set to perform at Ireland’s Electric Picnic festival and Scotland’s T In The Park, both on the weekend of July 11-13.

www.interpolnyc.com

www.latitudefestival.co.uk

R.E.M. Play Live Rarities At Intimate London Show

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R.E.M. Play Live Rarities At Intimate London Show
R.E.M. played several rarely performed live tracks at a special in-store gig at London's Regent's Street last night (March 26). The band who were in town for the launch of the ICA venue's 60th anniversary concert on Monday (March 24), showcased eight tracks from their forthcoming new album 'Acceler...

R.E.M. played several rarely performed live tracks at a special in-store gig at London’s Regent’s Street last night (March 26).

The band who were in town for the launch of the ICA venue’s 60th anniversary concert on Monday (March 24), showcased eight tracks from their forthcoming new album ‘Accelerate’ in the intimate setting of the Apple Store’s theatre.

R.E.M. also treated the 450-strong audience of competition winners and fan club members to several rare 80’s classics, including Fables of the Reconstruction’s “Auctioneer (Another Engine)” and Life’s Rich Pageant’s “Fall On Me”. They also played “West of the Fields” from their 1983 debut Murmur.

R.E.M. will now return to the UK for some Summer stadium dates at the following places:

Manchester Lancashire County Cricket Club (August 24)

Cardiff Millennium Stadium (25)

Southampton Rose Bowl (27)

London Twickenham Stadium (30)

The full R.E.M. iTunes Live Session set was:

‘Bad Day’

‘Auctioneer (Another Engine)’

‘Supernatural Superserious’

‘Fall On Me’

‘Man Sized Wreath’

‘Hollow Man’

‘West Of The Fields’

‘Houston’

‘Living Well Is The Best Revenge’

‘Man On The Moon’

‘I’m Gonna DJ’

‘Walk Unafraid’

‘Horse To Water’

Flight Of The Conchords

John Mulvey
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I was listening to some generally unfunny show on Radio 4 last week, when some comedian who should really remain nameless – but whose uselessness compels me to identify him as Mitch Benn – sang a song, notionally in the style of David Bowie, on the subject of, if memory serves, farting in space. Goodness, it was awful. As, I think, has been every supposedly comic song I’ve ever heard from Mitch Benn. It provided, though, a reminder of how awful comic songs are in general – a wake-up call that I probably needed after spending the week listening to the new album by Flight Of The Conchords. Now I can’t pretend that I’ll be listening to this one indefinitely, much as I love the series. But “Flight Of The Conchords” works not just because it’s very funny, not just because the parodies are so lovingly meticulous (their “Bowie”, for instance, nods to about four different incarnations of the Dame with casual precision), but because Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are straightforwardly good at music. Strip away all those wry homages (and yes, it might be an easy target to mimic, but the over-enunciated Pet Shop Boys rip of “Inner City Pressure” is especially fine), and Flight Of The Conchords emerge as a pretty interesting band – mildly fey indie boys who aspire, possibly, to being a bedroom version of Hall & Oates – who just happen to tell jokes. This is what keeps “Flight Of The Conchords” interesting, long after you’ve learned to anticipate the bit where they shout “BAGUETTE!” in terrible fake French accents during “Foux Du Fafa” (très “Les Bicyclettes De Wellington”, incidentally). When I blogged on Hot Chip’s “Made In The Dark” a few months ago, I described “Wrestlers” – tongue only partly in cheek – as a cross between Aaliyah and the Conchords. Listening to this album, the comparison seems even more valid: the studied, wry sensitivity, the folksy take on synthpop; the pleasing suspicion that, beneath all the irony and posturing, they’re taking it all rather seriously. “Think About It” is a voluptuous parody of plaintive, conscious inner-city soul, with an anguished request - “Can someone please remove these cutleries from my knees?” – and a pointedly signposted “a capella jam”. Weirdly, though, that sense of straight-faced craftsmanship is still apparent beneath the ludicrous, over-earnest platitudes. Again, this is unambiguously fine music. Consequently, my favourite moment on the album has no jokes, not even any words. It comes just after “Ladies Of The World”, a deliriously effete take on machismo on which they note, “We’re talking about brunettes not fighter jets”. The song ends, and then, a couple of seconds later, there’s a wordless coda of acoustic strums and helium harmonies. Comedy be damned: it’s lovely. My favourite song from the TV show didn’t make the album, mystifyingly. “If You’re Into It” was on the “Distant Future” mini-album last year, but then so were “Business Time” and “Robots”, and they’ve made the cut here. In the spirit of sharing links and so on, here it is on Youtube.

I was listening to some generally unfunny show on Radio 4 last week, when some comedian who should really remain nameless – but whose uselessness compels me to identify him as Mitch Benn – sang a song, notionally in the style of David Bowie, on the subject of, if memory serves, farting in space.

Continue

Rolling Stones Ban From Blackpool Is Lifted!

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Rolling Stones Ban From Blackpool Is Lifted!
The Rolling Stones have had their ban from playing at the English seaside resort Blackpool lifted it after 44 years. The group have been outlawed since a show at the town's legendary Empress Ballroom in July 1964, when it descended into a riot, with 50 fans having to be treated for injuries. The r...

The Rolling Stones have had their ban from playing at the English seaside resort Blackpool lifted it after 44 years.

The group have been outlawed since a show at the town’s legendary Empress Ballroom in July 1964, when it descended into a riot, with 50 fans having to be treated for injuries.

The riot alledgedly kicked off when someone tried to spit at band member Brian Jones – with Keith Richards trying to stop it by kicking the man in the face, when the mass brawl kicked off resulting in damage to the venue’s property.

Chandeliers, seating and the Steinway piano were all damaged, resulting in the town’s decision to ban the band from ever returning to play.

However, current Blackpool council leader Peter Callow has nowsent a personal invitation to the legendary rockers to return to perform in the city.

He has said: “We are writing to the group to say the ban has been lifted and they are welcome to play here again.

The 13th Uncut Playlist Of 2008

John Mulvey
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Thanks for all your responses to the Raconteurs and REM blogs yesterday. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to feel underwhelmed by the REM Albert Hall show. The new issue of Uncut has just turned up this minute (I'm not making this up as an excuse for a plug, I promise), with new Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones interviews in there, amongst many other things. Before I have a look at the damage, let me just type in our playlist from the past couple of days (the Raconteurs has been played four or five times thus far, if memory serves). . . 1. The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely (XL) 2. Sharron Kraus - The Fox's Wedding (Durtro Jnana) 3. Various Artists - Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1974-1982 (Strut) 4. Joan As Police Woman - To Survive (Reveal) 5. Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time: The Best Of 1980-1989 (EMI) 6. Asva - What You Don't Know Is Frontier (Southern) 7. Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica (XXXChange Remix) (Paw Tracks) 8. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (Bella Union) 9. Nisennenmondai - Destination Tokyo (Eclipse) 10. Vetiver - Thing Of The Past (FatCat) 11. Broken Records - If The News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It (Young Turks) 12. Four Tet - Ringer (Domino) 13. Humble Pie - Town & Country (Repertoire)

Thanks for all your responses to the Raconteurs and REM blogs yesterday. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to feel underwhelmed by the REM Albert Hall show.

Continue

Oasis Announce First Show For 2008

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Oasis Announce First Show For 2008
Oasis are to headline one night of the Virgin Festival in Toronto this September. This is the first announcement of a live show for the Gallaghers and co. who are currently recording their seventh studio album in Los Angeles. Oasis will join Foo Fighters as headliners of the event, held on Septemb...

Oasis are to headline one night of the Virgin Festival in Toronto this September.

This is the first announcement of a live show for the Gallaghers and co. who are currently recording their seventh studio album in Los Angeles.

Oasis will join Foo Fighters as headliners of the event, held on September 6 and 7, with Oasis playing the second night.

Bloc Party, Spiritualized and The Pigeon Detectives are also confirmed for the festival which is now in it’s third year.

www.oasisinet.com

Radiohead Reveal Support Act For European Tour

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Radiohead Reveal Support Act For European Tour

Mercury Music Prize nominated Bat For Lashes has been revealed as the support act for Radiohead's forthcoming European tour dates. The group are known to be huge fans of BFL's Natasha Khan, with Thom Yorke choosing her track "Horse And I" in his top ten iTunes list for Pitchfork magazine saying: “I love the harpsichord and the sexual ghost voices and bowed saws.This song seems to come from the world of Grimm's fairytales”. Natasha Khan will join Radiohead at the following European shows: Dublin Malahide (June 6 / 7) Paris Bercy (9/10) Barcelona Day Dream festival, Parc del Forum (12) Nimes Arenes (14/15) Milan Civica Arena (17 / 18) London Victoria Park (24 / 25) Glasgow Green (27) Manchester LCCC (29) Amsterdam Wester Park (July 1) www.radiohead.com Pic credit: PA Photos

Mercury Music Prize nominated Bat For Lashes has been revealed as the support act for Radiohead‘s forthcoming European tour dates.

The group are known to be huge fans of BFL’s Natasha Khan, with Thom Yorke choosing her track “Horse And I” in his top ten iTunes list for Pitchfork magazine saying: “I love the harpsichord and the sexual ghost voices and bowed saws.This song seems to come from the world of Grimm’s fairytales”.

Natasha Khan will join Radiohead at the following European shows:

Dublin Malahide (June 6 / 7)

Paris Bercy (9/10)

Barcelona Day Dream festival, Parc del Forum (12)

Nimes Arenes (14/15)

Milan Civica Arena (17 / 18)

London Victoria Park (24 / 25)

Glasgow Green (27)

Manchester LCCC (29)

Amsterdam Wester Park (July 1)

www.radiohead.com

Pic credit: PA Photos

Paul McCartney Pays Tribute To Childhood Friend Aspinall

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Paul McCartney Pays Tribute To Childhood Friend Aspinall

Sir Paul McCartney has paid tribute to his childhood friend and Beatles' road manager and friend Neil Aspinall who died earlier this week (March 24). McCartney has said in statement: "I met him at school when we were both 11 and we remained friends ever since. "I was able to say goodbye and thank him for everything he did for us and I send my deepest sympathies to his wonderful family. "I will miss him but will remember the laughs, there were plenty." Neil Aspinall, who died of lung cancer in New York aged 66, was also the Chief Exec of The Beatles' Apple Corps for 37 years until retiring last year. Pic credit: PA Photos

Sir Paul McCartney has paid tribute to his childhood friend and Beatles‘ road manager and friend Neil Aspinall who died earlier this week (March 24).

McCartney has said in statement: “I met him at school when we were both 11 and we remained friends ever since.

“I was able to say goodbye and thank him for everything he did for us and I send my deepest sympathies to his wonderful family.

“I will miss him but will remember the laughs, there were plenty.”

Neil Aspinall, who died of lung cancer in New York aged 66, was also the Chief Exec of The Beatles’ Apple Corps for 37 years until retiring last year.

Pic credit: PA Photos

Last Chance To Win Tickets To Rolling Stones Film Premiere!

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Last Chance To Win Tickets To Rolling Stones Film Premiere!

Coinciding with the April 2008 issue of UNCUT, with it's exclusive interview with the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Mick Jagger -- Uncut.co.uk has a PAIR of tickets to next week's London premiere of their new Martin Scorsese-directed flick 'Shine A Light'! Not only does the prize include a pair of tickets to the premiere on April 2 - meaning you'll see the film ahead of everyone else when it opens on April 11 - the Stones and Scorsese will also be in attendance on the red carpet. Plus we'll put you up in a swish West End Hotel overnight, the Rathbone Hotel! To be in with a chance of winning this superb prize, all you have to do is check out the UNCUT interview in the April issue and answer the simple question BY CLICKING HERE. This competition closes on Friday March 28 at 6pm. Winners will be notified by telephone/email, so please include your daytime contact details. Please note: travel to London is not included in the prize. Meanwhile, you can read Uncut's first review of 'Shine A Light' by clicking here now. ©Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Coinciding with the April 2008 issue of UNCUT, with it’s exclusive interview with the Rolling Stones‘ Keith Richards and Mick Jagger — Uncut.co.uk has a PAIR of tickets to next week’s London premiere of their new Martin Scorsese-directed flick ‘Shine A Light’!

Not only does the prize include a pair of tickets to the premiere on April 2 – meaning you’ll see the film ahead of everyone else when it opens on April 11 – the Stones and Scorsese will also be in attendance on the red carpet.

Plus we’ll put you up in a swish West End Hotel overnight, the Rathbone Hotel!

To be in with a chance of winning this superb prize, all you have to do is check out the UNCUT interview in the April issue and

answer the simple question BY CLICKING HERE.

This competition closes on Friday March 28 at 6pm. Winners will be notified by telephone/email, so please include your daytime contact details.

Please note: travel to London is not included in the prize.

Meanwhile, you can read Uncut’s first review of ‘Shine A Light’ by clicking here now.

©Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Breeders Host Album Launch Party Online

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The Breeders Host Album Launch Party Online
The Breeders launched their latest studio album Mountain Battles online last night at 10pm. The 4AD album is set to be released on April 7 but due to the fact that tracks from the album were leaked onto the internet recently, Kim Deal and co. decided to host an official record release event last ni...

The Breeders launched their latest studio album Mountain Battles online last night at 10pm.

The 4AD album is set to be released on April 7 but due to the fact that tracks from the album were leaked onto the internet recently, Kim Deal and co. decided to host an official record release event last night in Ohio.

You can catch up with the ‘official launch’ of Mountain Battles by watching the video of the party from last night online at the band’s website here: www.breedersdigest.net.

The group are also planning their first full UK tour in five years starting next month.

The Breeders will play at the following venues:

Dublin Vicar Street (April 7)

Glasgow ABC (8)

Leeds Metropolitan University (9)

Nottingham Trent University (10)

Sheffield Leadmill (12)

Birmingham Academy 2 (13)

Manchester Academy 2 (14)

London KOKO (16 / 17)

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