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Kurt Cobain’s final days are being turned into an opera

Elizabeth Aubrey
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Kurt Cobain’s final days are being turned into an opera
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's final days are being turned into an opera by the Royal Opera House in London. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Krist Novoselic on Nevermind’s impact: “So much was going on. And then it all just spectacularly...

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s final days are being turned into an opera by the Royal Opera House in London.

The production, called Last Days, will be a production adapted from Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film of the same name.

The film, which was centred on a young musician called Blake, was loosely based on Cobain’s last days. Cobain died by suicide in 1994 aged 27.

A description from the Royal Opera House says that the opera “plunges into the torment that created a modern myth” and that “Blake” is “haunted by objects, visitors and memories distracting him from his true purpose – self-destruction”.

The opera has been composed by Oliver Leith, the Royal Opera House’s composer-in-residence. Directed by Copson and Anna Morrissey, it is due to be staged this October at the venue’s Linbury Theatre (via The Guardian).

Leith said he was a “massive” Nirvana fan and that “the music soundtracked my teens. It’s some of the first music I learned to play on the guitar.

“I owe a lot of how I now make music to the sound of grunge from that time – I had never really thought about where my experimental mess and repetitions had come from.”

Joy Division, Sex Pistols and more to feature in new British Pop Archive in Manchester

Will Richards
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Joy Division, Sex Pistols and more to feature in new British Pop Archive in Manchester
Details of a new British Pop Archive in Manchester have been revealed, detailing the history of some of the city's most famous bands. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut Hosted at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library at the University of Manches...

Details of a new British Pop Archive in Manchester have been revealed, detailing the history of some of the city’s most famous bands.

Hosted at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library at the University of Manchester, the new BPA is described as “a national collection dedicated to the preservation and research of popular culture.”

Featuring artefacts from Joy Division, Sex Pistols, New Order and more bands integral to the city’s musical history, the BPA promises to “celebrate and preserve British popular music and other aspects of popular culture, recognising its pivotal influence on the world stage.”

The BPA’s first exhibit will come in the form of ‘Collection’, launching on May 19. A statement describes it as “a distinctively Manchester-flavoured exhibition, underlining why the city is the perfect home for the British Pop Archive. Curated by British Pop Archive curator Mat Bancroft, Jon Savage and Hannah Barker, it explores the vibrant cultural scene of a city that has driven innovation, creativity and social progress.

“The exhibition features iconic items from British pop history, many of which have never been seen by the public. Highlights include personal items relating to The Smiths, New Order, The Haçienda, Factory Records, Granada Television and Joy Division.”

Watch a trailer for the BPA below.

Professor Christopher Pressler, Director of The University of Manchester Library, said: “The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is one of the acknowledged great libraries of the world. This position is founded on our astonishing special collections and archives. Whilst we continue to work on materials in every format and every language from five thousand years of human history it is critical that we also engage with our own time.

“The British Pop Archive is part of our desire to reach into areas not always associated with major research libraries, including pop music, popular culture, counter-culture, television and film. This is a national archive held in Manchester, one of the most important centres of modern culture in the world.”

Mat Bancroft, the British Pop Archive’s Curator, added: “We launch the British Pop Archive with a Manchester focused exhibition full of unique and unseen artefacts. These materials tell the story of a vibrant city with art, culture and music at its heart. More than that they foreground the creative catalysts, musicians, producers, artists, designers and writers who have instigated this repositioning of landscape – to propose media as the new cultural capital of the city.”

An audience with Low: “When things are right at the edge of breaking apart, it can be really musical”

Sam Richards
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An audience with Low: “When things are right at the edge of breaking apart, it can be really musical”
It’s the day before Low hit the road for their first tour in more than two years, but the duo are feeling unusually calm. “There’s this German word for the anxiety that occurs before a long trip,” says Mimi Parker, on a Zoom call from Duluth. “But since we haven’t toured for so long, I d...

It’s the day before Low hit the road for their first tour in more than two years, but the duo are feeling unusually calm. “There’s this German word for the anxiety that occurs before a long trip,” says Mimi Parker, on a Zoom call from Duluth. “But since we haven’t toured for so long, I don’t have that anxiety as severe. Maybe I’ve forgotten how bad it is!”

Her husband and bandmate Alan Sparhawk is consoling himself with the idea that because audiences have been so starved of live music, they’ll happily forgive any sloppiness. “I went to a show the other day in town,” he reveals. “It was just some friends who were doing a Van Halen cover band for somebody’s birthday party, and I was really pretty ecstatic!”

Sparhawk has recently been moonlighting in a covers band himself, playing the songs of Neil Young and Crazy Horse with the group Tired Eyes: “It’s a very raggedy four-piece band, and it’s really fun.” Parker, however, has declined the opportunity to get involved, preferring to stay home and watch the Winter Olympics. “We used to pretend Mim had a band called Rubber Snake,” confides Sparhawk. Sadly, though, no lost recordings by this tantalising side-project are believed to exist. “Definitely lost!” she laughs.

When you first got together as a couple, was there any inkling that you’d also be making music together for the rest of your lives?
David Moss, Carshalton, Surrey

SPARHAWK: I don’t know. I mean, we bonded originally on music. We were the two people in our school who were into weirder music: Mim had Hüsker Dü and REM, and I had Sex Pistols, The Clash and Siouxsie & The Banshees.

PARKER: We knew that music was important. I had a musical family – I would sing, my sister and my mom played guitar and piano and accordion. And Alan’s dad was musically inclined. So in terms of us being in a band, not right away, but the odds were pretty high.

How long was it before audiences stopped heckling you to play louder/faster?
Mary Levitz, Glasgow

PARKER: I think they might still do that!

SPARHAWK: Early on, of course, we were always shocking people. We were thrown on with whatever bands were there, it’s kind of a crapshoot. And so a lot of times, you’d get indifference and people going to the bar halfway through the first song. And some hecklers and drunkies deciding that they’ve come up with something clever to yell at you.

PARKER: And honestly, I think if we were to open for certain bands I’m sure we’d still get that. But once we started doing our own shows and people were specifically coming to see us, for the most part they were pretty nice. We were never precious about it, we knew that we were not going to appeal to the majority of people.

SPARHAWK: We were coming at it from a little bit of a contrary, punk angle – ‘Yeah, well, we don’t care what you think – they didn’t like The Velvet Underground at first either!’

You’ve always been a band who’ve made the most from minimal resources or technology. How do the last two albums fit into that?
Alex McCloud, Belfast

SPARHAWK: I would say, actually, what you’re hearing on the last record is a lot simpler than maybe it sounds. And I think that comes out of experience, and trusting yourself. We’ve been lucky to be in a position where we’ve always been able to push out as far as we want. There’s never been any obligation to stay a certain way or gravitate toward a certain way, either from labels or from us or anyone.

PARKER: We have stayed with a pretty minimal approach. On Hey What there’s huge, big sounds but honestly there’s not really even percussion – the guitar is played through a synth, and then there’s vocals. After maybe the third or fourth record we were like, ‘Oh, maybe we should add strings, we should add, add, add.’ And then after that, we decided to start taking things out again. And that’s where our mindset has stayed. From the get-go it’s always been very naked, very minimal, just three of us on stage. Maybe someday we’ll surround ourselves with musicians. We joke about it sometimes: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there were two or three more people with us so we could relax a bit more?’ But anyway…

Every time “Days Like These” comes on my playlist at home, my wife thinks the speakers have blown. Did you get any similar complaints, and was that the idea?
Andy Brammel, Northumberland

SPARHAWK: Yeah. Some of the fun and excitement is in pushing the front edge of what’s possible, sonically.

PARKER: I think after our last couple of records, people that know us are not surprised. It’s the partners and the spouses and the mates that are like, ‘What the hell is this?’

SPARHAWK: And of course, secretly, it’s a little proud moment: ‘Yes! We made something so out that people thought it was broken!’ But like I said, there are genuinely interesting things that happen when you push things to the limits. Anybody who messes with sound understands that when things are right at the edge of breaking apart, it can actually be really musical.

Do you think you might recruit a new bassist, or have you burned through all the options in Duluth now?
Phil Barnes, via email

SPARHAWK: We’ve burned all our bridges! No, we do have a bass player touring with us. Her name is Liz Draper and it’s going great so far. The bass is a very vital cornerstone for the band. The mood and the vibe and the responsibility for making something substantial but also still quiet and minimal really falls on the bass. And so it’s always been an important role. We’ve had really great bass players, people that are dear friends.

PARKER: And we want to keep playing live, it’s important to touch those instruments. We could have done it without a bass player – it would have meant maybe pushing some buttons and whatnot. But that’s never been what we’ve been about. In the studio, BJ [Burton, producer of Hey What] was kind of that third collaborator.

SPARHAWK: Personally I like having someone to bounce ideas off. The two of us, we do get a lot done, and my songwriting process really involves Mim. But it’s nice to have a third person because it’s like two dimensions into three dimensions. We need someone to throw a little bit of unpredictability or a twist in there sometimes to keep the ball rolling.

“Breaker” – a straight-up anti-war song or something more personal?
Kyle Marchant, Boston, MA

SPARHAWK: It’s both. I mean, war is personal – it’s you killing someone, it’s you gettin’ killed, right? So yeah, it’s both. It’s looking at yourself going, ‘What is it about me that apparently I destroy? What is up with that? How do I stop doing that?’ It has to do with admitting that war is just as much your fault as anybody else’s. I’m a human being, I’m clearly capable of horrific violence. What up with that? Because it sure hasn’t done humanity much good.

I really enjoy listening to the dub mixtapes you often play before your live sets. What are your favourite dub tracks and how does dub influence your approach to making music?
Paul Cowley, via email

SPARHAWK: Some of my favourites are Horace Andy’s Dub Box, The Upsetters, The Aggrovators, The Congos’ Heart Of The Congos, Bunny Wailer’s Blackheart Man… We pretend to cover The Heptones sometimes in soundcheck. The thing I like about dub is that you’re breaking up things: here’s the vocal track and here’s the drum track, here’s the bass. We could turn this part up real loud and shut this one down. As soon as you see that’s a possibility, dub just kind of explodes in your mind. It really breaks up the idea of what music is – the creative process isn’t just writing songs. Obviously it’s a pretty easily seeable influence on the way we’ve worked for the last few years, and throwing out preconceptions about what we’re supposed to end up with. Dub is full of really amazing moments where all that’s going on is the bass and this tricked-out snare, and it’s doing everything you need for your soul. That’s powerful. You can just take little parts of it and it still carries the message.

Will you ever record a sequel to the Christmas record? How about an Easter-themed EP?
Alison Durrant, via email

PARKER: Oh yeah, there are a lot of Easter songs to cover…! [sings] “Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hoppin’ down the bunny trail” – that’s the only Easter song I can think of.

SPARHAWK: [hammily] “He’s up, he’s out, he’s back to liiiife!” Yeah, we’re gonna write an Easter musical.

PARKER: We’ve been approached about doing another Christmas record and it’s kind of appealing…

SPARHAWK: …but so many good things have been ruined by sequels.

What’s it like to have a star on the Minneapolis Hall Of Fame outside First Avenue?
Geoff Beattie, Harrogate

PARKER: It was really cool of them to do that.

SPARHAWK: I remember going down to Minneapolis with my mom when I was 14 or 15 and thinking, ‘I hope I see someone with a mohawk, that’s gonna be so life-affirming to me.’ We drove by First Avenue and I do distinctly remember seeing those stars. Then when I was in college, finally going down and seeing a show. And when we started the band, we played in the Entry, which is the side-room there.

PARKER: Anyway, you can see it’s very important to Alan!

Will the dungarees be coming out on tour?
Laverty79, via email

SPARHAWK: We had a discussion yesterday about this! Mim thinks it might be a little much – a little too connotative, a little irreverent.

PARKER: Yeah. They might disappear before the tour…

SPARHAWK: But part of the conversation was like, ‘Jeez, man, I don’t know what to wear any more.’ Do I just put on some black pants and a black button-down shirt again? I do actually worry about clothing more than people probably think.

This feature originally appeared in Uncut Take 300 (May 2022)

Listen to Teenage Fanclub’s new song “I Left A Light On”

Alex Gallagher
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Listen to Teenage Fanclub’s new song “I Left A Light On”
Teenage Fanclub have shared a new single, "I Left A Light On", which they say is the first indication that a new album may be on the way. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade review The new song is a slow-bur...

Teenage Fanclub have shared a new single, “I Left A Light On”, which they say is the first indication that a new album may be on the way.

The new song is a slow-burning, piano-led ballad with soaring strings, written by the band’s Norman Blake while they were mixing their latest album, 2021’s Endless Arcade. It was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and arrives alongside a video that shows the band performing it there.

“As a band we’ve already started thinking about another new album,” comments Blake. “This song is the first signpost towards that.” Watch the video for “I Left A Light On” below:

Endless Arcade, Teenage Fanclub’s 11th studio album, arrived back in April of last year following singles “Home”, “I’m More Inclined” and “The Sun Won’t Shine On Me”.

The album, which followed 2016’s Here, marked their first record following the departure of co-founder Gerard Love in 2018, after nearly three decades with the band. It also marked their first with former Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci member Euros Childs onboard.

Teenage Fanclub will kick off a run of UK and European tour dates tomorrow night (April 6) with a show at SWG3 in Glasgow. See dates and venues for those below, and head here for tickets.

Teenage Fanclub’s 2022 tour dates are:

APRIL

Wednesday 6 – Glasgow, SWG3
Friday 8 – Sheffield, Leadmill
Saturday 9 – Leeds, Beckett’s
Sunday 10 – Nottingham, Rock City
Tuesday 12 – Birmingham, Institute
Wednesday 13 – Norwich, Waterfront
Thursday 14 – Bath, Komedia
Saturday 16 – Brighton, Chalk
Sunday 17 – Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
Tuesday 19  – London, Union Chapel
Wednesday 20 – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
Thursday 21  – Dublin, Academy
Saturday 23 – Gothenburg, Pustervik
Sunday 24 – Oslo, Vulkan
Monday 25 – Copenhagen, Pumpehuset
Wednesday 27 – Hamburg, Knust Apr
Thursday 28  – Berlin, Columbia Theater
Friday 29 – Dusseldort, Zakk

MAY

Sunday 1 – Munich, Strom
Monday 2 – Mannheim, Alte Feuerwache
Wednesday 4 – Lyon, Épicerie Moderne
Thursday 5 – Nantes, La Barakason
Friday 6 – Rouen, Le 106
Saturday 7 – Paris, La Gaîté Lyrique
Sunday 8 – Eindhoven, Effenaar
Monday 9 – Utrecht, De Helling

Paul McCartney’s childhood home opened for undiscovered acts to write and perform

Charlotte Krol
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Paul McCartney’s childhood home opened for undiscovered acts to write and perform
Paul McCartney's childhood home is being opened up for unsigned artists to use as a base to write, perform and gain inspiration from. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Paul McCartney turns 80: a look back at the Beatle’s numerous accomplishm...

Paul McCartney’s childhood home is being opened up for unsigned artists to use as a base to write, perform and gain inspiration from.

The Forthlin Sessions initiative, backed by the former Beatle’s brother Mike, will see artists chosen by Mike and local partners to write music at the same place where Paul and John Lennon forged their distinguished songwriting partnership.

20, Forthlin Road in Liverpool is where the pair wrote hits including “I Saw Her Standing There” (from 1963’s Please Please Me) and “When I’m 64” (from 1967’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”). The property is now owned by the National Trust.

The scheme, which opens later this spring and closes at the end of the season, also comes amid a celebratory year of Beatles’ anniversaries including McCartney’s 80th birthday in June and the 60th anniversary of the The Beatles’ debut single “Love Me Do” in October.

The Beatles
Image: National Trust Images / Annapurna Mellor

Mike told Sky News: “This house to me, is a house of hope. And I hope it will be for the young people that come through the doors.

“I would be in the other room learning photography, but whilst I’m doing all that I could hear guitar noises coming from this room,” he said.

20, Forthlin Road, Liverpool
Outside 20, Forthlin Road, Liverpool, Paul McCartney’s childhood home. Image: Steve Hickey / Alamy Stock Photo

“In there were what turned out to be two of the world’s greatest songwriters, McCartney and Lennon. They were rehearsing from a school book on the floor, that’s why this house is so unique.”

Paul and Lennon would play the piano in the living room or rehearse in the bathroom due to its better acoustics.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” Mike added. “Inviting young people to this house and giving them the opportunity of doing the same as us, coming from nothing and seeing where it takes them.”

Fontaines D.C. launch scholarship at the Dublin music college where they met

Alex Gallagher
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Fontaines D.C. launch scholarship at the Dublin music college where they met
Fontaines D.C. are launching a scholarship at the BIMM Institute in Dublin, where the band's members all met while studying music. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Fontaines D.C. talk uprooting and having a sense of identity on Skinty Fia ...

Fontaines D.C. are launching a scholarship at the BIMM Institute in Dublin, where the band’s members all met while studying music.

The scholarship will cover course fees for the full four-year-duration of a student to complete a BA (Hons) Commercial Modern Music degree, worth €12,000. The band will be involved in the process of choosing the scholarship’s recipient.

Students who undertake the course receive guidance in their chosen field of songwriting, drums, vocals or guitar, along with knowledge about the music industry and performance opportunities, masterclasses, tutorials and chances to network and collaborate.

“We’re honoured to have a scholarship in our name,” Fontaines D.C. bassist Conor Deegan commented. “Our time [at] BIMM gave us time to figure out who we wanted to be as a band. We were given guidance on how to achieve our dreams. We’re looking forward to being able to help someone else succeed at their time there with this scholarship.”

BIMM Institute Dublin’s principal Alan Cullivan said the college were “thrilled” to be launching the scholarship with the band, “having watched their career grow with great excitement both before and since they completed their studies”.

He continued: “At BIMM, we are driven by a commitment to helping Ireland’s next generation of music talent achieve their creative goals and realise their ambitions as artists… to be able to offer that in collaboration with our former students is a bonus.”

In addition to Fontaines D.C., other BIMM Dublin alumni include The Murder Capital, The Academic frontman Craig Fitzgerald, Maria Kelly and Jafaris. Those who are interested in applying for the scholarship can learn more here.

Fontaines D.C. are currently gearing up to release third studio album Skinty Fia, with the follow-up to 2020’s A Hero’s Death set arrive on April 22. The band have previewed the record with three singles so far: “Jackie Down The Line”, “I Love You” and its title track.

Watch Joni Mitchell sing in public for the first time since 2013

Matt Doria
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Watch Joni Mitchell sing in public for the first time since 2013
Joni Mitchell has delivered her first public performance in nine years, taking to the stage at MusiCares’ 2022 Person of the Year benefit gala. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut Mitchell was bestowed this year’s titular honour on Friday night (April ...

Joni Mitchell has delivered her first public performance in nine years, taking to the stage at MusiCares’ 2022 Person of the Year benefit gala.

Mitchell was bestowed this year’s titular honour on Friday night (April 1), following in the footsteps of previous recipients Aerosmith (who were celebrated with the title in 2020) and Dolly Parton (in 2019).

Mitchell was not announced to be performing at the event, but joined the likes of Beck, Brandi Carlile, Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Stills, Jon Batiste and more to sing her 1970 classics “Big Yellow Taxi” and “The Circle Game”.

It marked her first time singing in public since June 2013, when she performed two short, impromptu sets at events being held in her honour, where she was initially booked to recite poetry. Prior to those, her last performance took place in 2002, with Mitchell having retired from touring altogether in 2000.

Watch Mitchell singing “Big Yellow Taxi” at the MusiCares gala below:

At other points during the event, which took place at the Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas, Mitchell was honoured with a sprawling roster of tributes.

Among them were a cover of “The Jungle Line” (from Mitchell’s 1975 album The Hissing Of Summer Lawns) performed by Beck, St. Vincent’s rendition of “Court And Spark” (from the 1974 album of the same name) and a take on “River” (from 1971’s Blue) by John Legend.

Other covers performed included Mickey Guyton’s rendition of “For Free”, Herbie Hancock and Terrace Martin’s take on “Hejira”, a performance of “Help Me” by Dave Grohl’s 15-year-old daughter Violet, Billy Porter’s spin on “Both Sides Now”, and “Woodstock” by Carlile and Stills. Carlile also served as one of the night’s artistic directors, alongside Batiste.

“When I heard that Joni was named Person of the Year, I knew I wanted to be involved in a meaningful way,” Batiste said in his opening speech. “Brandi and I worked with the producers to paint a beautiful picture of poetry and music through Joni’s eyes.”

Mitchell has largely kept out of the public eye since 2015, when she suffered a brain aneurysm that left her temporarily unable to walk or talk. She’s been making more appearances lately, though: the iconic singer-songwriter gave a speech at last year’s Kennedy Center Honors, where she received a lifetime achievement award, and presented Carlile’s performance at the 2022 Grammys Sunday night (April 3).

Mitchell herself won the Grammy for Best Historical Album, taking out the award for her five-disc boxset Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967). The effort compiles rarities from the years preceding the release of Mitchell’s debut album, 1968’s Song To A Seagull, including various live bootlegs, radio sessions, jams and demo tapes.

In January, Mitchell declared her support for Neil Young’s battle against Spotify, removing her discography from the streaming platform in protest of it platforming misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood announce Test Specimens art exhibition

Ali Shutler
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Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood announce Test Specimens art exhibition
An art exhibition showcasing the works of Thom Yorke and long-term friend and collaborator Stanley Donwood will open in London later this year. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut Test Specimens brings together 60 pieces of artwork that the pair created be...

An art exhibition showcasing the works of Thom Yorke and long-term friend and collaborator Stanley Donwood will open in London later this year.

Test Specimens brings together 60 pieces of artwork that the pair created between 1999 and 2001, while they were also working on Radiohead records Kid A and Amnesiac.

The exhibition will include workings of the Radiohead bear logo, lyrical drafts for songs like “Nude” as well as a cartoon featuring a sperm monster menacing some witch monkeys, which can be seen below.

The exhibition will be held at 8 Duke Street in London and will be open from May 25 to May 29.

‘Oh Shit’ by Thom Yorke
‘Volcano Erupts – Hideous Scenes, by Stanley Donwood
First lyrics for ‘Nude’ by Thom Yorke

Yorke recently released two new solo songs, written for the final season of Peaky Blinders.

“That’s How Horses Are”, a haunting and atmospheric cut driven by piano, was released Sunday (April 3) after ‘5.17’ came in March.

Yorke released his last solo album ANIMA in 2019, and has since been sharing new music as part of various projects. Last year, he debuted a new outfit called The Smile with Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, with the trio performing for the first time at Glastonbury’s Live At Worthy Farm livestream.

They’ve released four singles including “You Will Never Work In Television Again”, “The Smoke” and “Skrting On The Surface”, the first two of which will be released as a one-time single vinyl pressing.

The Smile recently released “Pana-vision” which was also featured in the Peaky Blinders finale and comes with a video, created by animator Sabrina Nichols and Donwood.

The Smile are set to embark on their first UK and European tour next month, with shows scheduled throughout May, June and July. Tickets for the shows are available here.

Watch Johnny Marr dedicate “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” to Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters

Arusa Qureshi
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Watch Johnny Marr dedicate “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” to Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters
Johnny Marr dedicated his performance of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" at this year's BBC 6 Music Festival to Taylor Hawkins. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Johnny Marr: “Nothing feels new to me” The Foo Fighters drummer die...

Johnny Marr dedicated his performance of “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” at this year’s BBC 6 Music Festival to Taylor Hawkins.

The Foo Fighters drummer died on March 25 at the age of 50. He was found in his hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia, hours before the band were were set to headline a festival in the city as part of a South American tour.

Marr played The Smiths classic at Cardiff’s Great Hall on Sunday (April 3). “This is a song that we’d like to dedicate to our friend Dave Grohl,” he said, introducing the track.

“Lots of love going out to you guys and all the Foos family. We miss you Taylor, we won’t ever forget you. God bless you. This is from all of us.”

Elsewhere, during his set, Marr played The Smiths’ “Panic” and “This Charming Man”, plus a cover of Depeche Mode’s “I Feel You”. He returned for an encore to play “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “How Soon Is Now?”.

The Grammys memorialised Hawkins with a special tribute at the Las Vegas ceremony Sunday night (April 3).

“This was the moment in the show when I was supposed to be introducing the Foo Fighters,” host Trevor Noah explained during the ceremony. “We would have been celebrating with them as they won three Grammy awards earlier today.

“But they are, of course, not here due to the passing of their legendary drummer Taylor Hawkins. Our thoughts go out to Taylor’s family, his friends, the Foo Fighter family and all of their fans around the world. We’d like to take a moment now to remember Taylor.”

In other news, Johnny Marr and Modest Mouse revealed last month that they had started working on new music together, which would be their first since Marr’s stint in the band from 2006-2008.

Unearthed footage shows 11-year-old Prince arguing for better pay for teachers

Will Lavin
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Unearthed footage shows 11-year-old Prince arguing for better pay for teachers
Newly unearthed footage of Prince arguing for better pay for teachers when he was 11 years old has made its way onto the internet - watch it below. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Inside the vault: Prince’s legendary lost albums The rar...

Newly unearthed footage of Prince arguing for better pay for teachers when he was 11 years old has made its way onto the internet – watch it below.

The rare footage – filmed in 1970 – was discovered in the archive room of Minneapolis television station WCCO by production manager Matt Liddy, who was searching the archives in order to place the teacher’s strike that took place in the same earlier this year into better context.

According to Stereogum, once Liddy came across the footage, he “immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?'”

WCCO then brought in a specialist to restore audio to the footage, and they tracked down a local historian and a childhood friend of Prince’s to confirm that the child in the footage was indeed Prince.

In the video, a young Prince is seen being interviewed about the Minneapolis teacher’s strike that occurred in 1970. “I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff,” he says.

You can watch the short clip of Prince below:

Meanwhile, Prince’s 1985 live concert film Prince and The Revolution: Live is set to be remastered for a new reissue.

The late artist’s gig at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York on March 30, 1985, which was part of the Purple Rain Tour, was broadcast live internationally via satellite at the time, and was later released as Prince and The Revolution: Live.

The singer’s estate has now partnered with Legacy Recordings to release a remastered reissue of the film, which will be available on vinyl (3xLP), CD (2xCD), Blu-ray and streaming services for the first time. Pre-order is available now from here.

In other Prince news, Prince: The Immersive Experience will debut in Chicago this summer, where fans can “immerse themselves fully in the music and life of Prince”.

Hear Mick Jagger’s new song “Strange Game”

Tom Skinner
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Hear Mick Jagger’s new song “Strange Game”
Mick Jagger has released a new solo track "Strange Game" – listen below. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: The Rolling Stones – The Ultimate Music Guide The song serves as the theme tune to the new Apple Original series Slow Horses, the...

Mick Jagger has released a new solo track “Strange Game” – listen below.

The song serves as the theme tune to the new Apple Original series Slow Horses, the first two episodes of which landed on Apple TV+ Friday (April 1). The Rolling Stones frontman co-wrote the single alongside Academy Award-nominated film composer Daniel Pemberton.

Teasing the collaboration last week (March 28), Jagger tweeted: “I’ve been working on a fun project with the composer Daniel Pemberton… look out for it coming soon!”

Pemberton said in a statement: “Working with Mick Jagger has been one of the most exciting collaborations of my professional career. I think we have managed to create an incredibly unique and original titles theme and I cannot wait for the rest of the world to hear it.”

“Strange Game” is described as a “poignant, moodily strutting theme tune” that is “underpinned by Jagger’s powerful and eery vocals”. It also references elements of the show’s original score and its multiple storylines.

Listen to the song below, released on Polydor/Universal Music:

Slow Horses‘ series director, James Hawes, said in a statement: “We always wanted a song to set the tone for the show and there was only ever one name in my mind – Mick Jagger. Hearing the track for the first time was utterly thrilling.

“Mick’s lyrics and performance have totally nailed the mood of Slow Horses, with all the humour and swagger I dreamed of.”

Starring Gary Oldman, Slow Horses is based on a series of acclaimed books by British thriller novelist Mick Herron.

“The show follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House on the outskirts of London,” a description reads. “Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes.”

The six-part series also stars Kristen Scott Thomas, Jonathan Pryce, Olivia Cook and Jack Lowden. You can watch the official trailer above.

The Rolling Stones recently shared details of their 60th anniversary UK and European tour, which kicks off this summer.

Elsewhere, guitarist Keith Richards confirmed that the Stones’ touring drummer Steve Jordan will help the band finish their forthcoming new album. Richards also revealed he’d been “playing a lot of bass” on the record.

Thom Yorke shares new single “That’s How Horses Are”

Greta Brereton
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Thom Yorke shares new single “That’s How Horses Are”
Radiohead's Thom Yorke has shared a new single titled "That's How Horses Are", written for the final season of Peaky Blinders. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut The song is a stunning piano-driven piece, that swells with the addition of strings about hal...

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has shared a new single titled “That’s How Horses Are”, written for the final season of Peaky Blinders.

The song is a stunning piano-driven piece, that swells with the addition of strings about halfway through. A haunting and atmospheric cut, it joins Yorke’s March release “5.17”, which also features in the Peaky Blinders sixth season.

Listen to “That’s How Horses Are” below.

 

Yorke released his last solo album ANIMA in 2019, and has since been sharing new music as part of various projects. Last year, he debuted a new outfit called The Smile with Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, with the trio performing for the first time at Glastonbury’s Live At Worthy Farm livestream.

They’ve released three singles, “You Will Never Work In Television Again”, “The Smoke” and “Skrting On The Surface”, the first two of which will be released as a one-time single vinyl pressing.

The Smile are set to tour the UK and Europe next month, with shows scheduled throughout May, June and July. Tickets for the shows are available here.

Listen to The Smile’s eerie new single “Pana-vision”

Greta Brereton
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Listen to The Smile’s eerie new single “Pana-vision”
Radiohead side-project The Smile have shared their third new single of the year, an eerie cut titled "Pana-vision". ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood on his film scoring career: “Getting access to an orchestra m...

Radiohead side-project The Smile have shared their third new single of the year, an eerie cut titled “Pana-vision”.

The trio – comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – shared the new song over the weekend. It’s built around haunting instrumentals, such as piano, strings and brass, and the ghostly refrain “like a newborn child”.

The single arrived alongside an accompanying music video with equally eerie graphics, courtesy of animator Sabrina Nichols and artist Stanley Donwood. It features ghoulish figures being replicated until they fill the screen, some of which take on human-like forms with two glowing eyes. Watch it below.

The song appeared in the Peaky Blinders season six finale, which aired over the weekend on BBC. Another Yorke and Greenwood track, “That’s How Horses Are”, was also featured in the episode, while a previous cut “5.17” appeared elsewhere in the show’s sixth and final season. Both were released separately to their work as The Smile.

“Pana-vision” marks the fourth single from The Smile since they debuted in 2021 at Glastonbury’s Live At Worthy Farm livestream. They went on to release “You Will Never Work In Television Again” later that same year, followed by “The Smoke” and “Skrting On The Surface” in 2022.

The Smile are set to embark on their first UK and European tour next month, with shows scheduled throughout May, June and July. Tickets for the shows are available here.

New Order launch new charity t-shirt to help the people of Ukraine

Tom Skinner
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New Order launch new charity t-shirt to help the people of Ukraine
New Order have launched a new official t-shirt in aid of the British Red Cross' Ukraine Crisis Appeal. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut Available through the band's official merch store, the shirt's design was inspired by the VHS label of their Taras Sh...

New Order have launched a new official t-shirt in aid of the British Red Cross’ Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Available through the band’s official merch store, the shirt’s design was inspired by the VHS label of their Taras Shevchenko concert film, which was designed by the Peter Saville Associates agency.

The gig in question was filmed in late 1981 at the Ukrainian National Home in New York City. The film was named after Taras Shevchenko, the 19th century writer, poet and painter whose works championed the formation of an independent Ukraine.

You can purchase the white t-shirt for £25, with a minimum of £10 from each sale being donated to the Red Cross.

Last November, New Order marked the 40th anniversary of their debut album Movement by sharing the aforementioned NYC show on YouTube in its entirety. In the description, the group are now encouraging viewers “to unite and help those affected by the crisis in Ukraine”.

The Red Cross is continuing to urge the public to donate to the people of Ukraine, saying on its official website that “the humanitarian situation is increasingly dire and desperate”.

New Order's new Ukraine charity t-shirt
New Order’s new Ukraine charity t-shirt. Image: Press

“Millions of people have no safe place to call home,” the post reads. “More than 3 million have already left Ukraine, while countless more are still trapped underground, taking cover from the shelling, and desperate for a safe escape.

“Hundreds of thousands of people still have no food, no water, no medical care, and no heat or electricity.”

It continues: “Red Cross teams have been working around the clock to get critical care to those who need it most, both in Ukraine and its bordering countries. But with recent freezing temperatures, and ongoing violence, an enormous number of people urgently need help right now.”

New Order’s decision to help the Ukrainian people amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country comes after The Cure launched a new charity t-shirt and Massive Attack announced plans to sell off new artwork in aid of the cause.

You can donate here to the Red Cross to help those impacted by the conflict, or via a number of other ways through Choose Love.

“There was no warm-up or follow-on… we had to deliver”: Jimmy Page looks back on his illustrious career so far

Peter Watts
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“There was no warm-up or follow-on… we had to deliver”: Jimmy Page looks back on his illustrious career so far
Jimmy Page is calling from the countryside outside Reading, where he moved in the early stage of the pandemic. This is almost home territory for Page. Six miles east of Reading lies Pangbourne – the Berkshire village where Led Zeppelin were born in 1968. Back then, Page invited Robert Plant to his...

Jimmy Page is calling from the countryside outside Reading, where he moved in the early stage of the pandemic. This is almost home territory for Page. Six miles east of Reading lies Pangbourne – the Berkshire village where Led Zeppelin were born in 1968. Back then, Page invited Robert Plant to his riverside home and the pair bonded over a shared love of “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”. Today, though, Page describes his move to the country as “cathartic”. “I can walk out and about in nature without necessarily bumping into people, really appreciating things for what they are rather than what they were.”

For our 300th issue, Page has agreed to revisit his personal highlights from the last 25 years through the prism of his previous Uncut encounters – beginning in April 1998 with the release of Walking Into Clarksdale, continuing through the Led Zeppelin reunion at the O2 in 2007, the remastering programme seven years later and beyond. “I am an Uncut reader,” he says. “Three hundred issues is quite an achievement. I’ve seen so many things change when it comes to print media, but Uncut has done so well and I compliment you on that. There’s a hardcore of music fans who really care about their music, and Uncut is part of that. Those fans are still there and I am one of them.”

Zeppelin’s lengthy afterlife has allowed Page to re-present this indomitable body of work in new ways – the latest of which, a documentary, premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival. Meanwhile, he has also found time to curate  other elements from his career – from his esoteric Lucifer Rising soundtrack to a joyous live document of the Yardbirds in their imperial phrase. And new music? As we discover, Page confirms that, for sure, something will be forthcoming… sometime.

Yet for now Page is happy to wander back through the last quarter of a century – the duration of Uncut’s lifetime in other words – and relive some of his illustrious highs. Page is relaxed and engaged. He thinks carefully before answering each question but is soon taken up by enthusiasm of whatever subject he is discussing, peppering the conversation with “Goodness gracious me” as he hits his stride. But he’s never casual, focusing on the question at hand and politely cutting off further inquiries when he feels he’s made his point.

“Let’s get started, then,” he says. “And see where this goes.”

John Lydon distances himself from new Sex Pistols compilation, The Original Recordings

Sam Moore
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John Lydon distances himself from new Sex Pistols compilation, The Original Recordings
John Lydon has spoken out against the newly announced Sex Pistols compilation, The Original Recordings. Universal Music are set to release the record, which contains 20 of the pioneering band's recordings from 1976-1978, on May 27. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest iss...

John Lydon has spoken out against the newly announced Sex Pistols compilation, The Original Recordings.

Universal Music are set to release the record, which contains 20 of the pioneering band’s recordings from 1976-1978, on May 27.

Following the announcement of the compilation, a statement was published on Lydon’s Facebook page denouncing the record.

“Universal Music Group have announced the release of a new Sex Pistols compilation entitled The Original Recordings,” the statement from the former Pistols singer reads.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, John Lydon has not approved this compilation and does not endorse or support it. He has not approved the artwork or tracklisting.

“He and his team were not involved in producing this compilation and consider it substandard compared to previous Universal releases since 2012.”

Universal Music Group have announced the release of a new Sex Pistols compilation entitled ‘The Original Recordings’….

Posted by John Lydon on Wednesday, March 30, 2022

The compilation will arrive just ahead of the premiere of the new Disney+ Sex Pistols biopic Pistol, which is set to air on May 31.

“The furious, raging storm at the centre of this revolution are the Sex Pistols – and at the centre of this series is Sex Pistols’ founding member and guitarist, Steve Jones,” a synopsis for the series reads.

“Jones’ hilarious, emotional and at times heart-breaking journey guides us through a kaleidoscopic telling of three of the most epic, chaotic and mucus-spattered years in the history of music.

“Based on Jones’ memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, this is the story of a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with ‘no future’, who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.”

Lydon similarly refused to endorse Pistol, and was taken to court by his former bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook last summer after the singer refused to license the Sex Pistols’ music for inclusion in the show.

“John Lydon did not ask for the recent proceedings,” a statement posted on Lydon’s website read after he lost the legal battle against Jones and Cook. “He was asked to allow the Sex Pistols works to be used without any prior consultation or involvement in the project. He took a stand on principle for what he sees as the integrity of the Sex Pistols legacy and fought for what he believed and continues to believe was right.”

The Rolling Stones’ 60th anniversary to be marked with BBC docuseries of unseen footage

Charlotte Krol
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The Rolling Stones’ 60th anniversary to be marked with BBC docuseries of unseen footage
The 60th anniversary of The Rolling Stones is to be celebrated with a special BBC docuseries and a radio programme featuring exclusive interviews with the band members. ORDER NOW: Paul McCartney is on the cover in the latest issue of Uncut READ MORE: The Rolling Stones – The Ultimate Musi...

The 60th anniversary of The Rolling Stones is to be celebrated with a special BBC docuseries and a radio programme featuring exclusive interviews with the band members.

The four-part series My Life As A Rolling Stone will air on BBC Two and iPlayer this summer, with each one-hour episode dedicated to the legendary rock band’s four members: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts.

New interviews with the musicians (except for the late Watts, who died last year) and unseen footage will form “intimate portraits” in which they’ll reflect on their busy careers.

For the Watts-focused episode, his story will be told via archive interviews and tributes from his fellow bandmates and musical peers.

The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones. Image: Helmut Newton

Other Rolling Stones admirers including P.P. Arnold, Chrissie Hynde, Slash, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner and Steven Tyler will feature across the episodes.

The series, which is produced by Mercury Studios for the BBC, will also include footage of old performances interwoven with interviews new and old.

The Rolling Stones’ manager Joyce Smyth said in a statement: “We are thrilled to celebrate 60 years of The Rolling Stones with these four films which give fans around the world a new and fascinating look at the band.”

Lorna Clarke, Controller, BBC Pop, said: “What better year for the BBC, in its centenary year, to pay tribute to and celebrate one of the world’s most significant rock groups, in their 60th anniversary year.

“The Rolling Stones have been ambassadors for great British rock ‘n’ roll for decades and are loved the world over, so I’m thrilled that the BBC is able to present this very special season of programming, including the world-exclusive TV series, to our audiences.”

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones performing live. Image: Gary Miller / WireImage

Mercury Studios CEO, Alice Webb, added: “Every now and again, as filmmakers we get to work on extraordinary projects – this is one of those moments. We know their music, their swagger, their unrivalled stage presence – and through these beautiful, intimate films you’ll see the band in all their glory as we explore what makes them truly great.

“It’s been an honour to work with The Rolling Stones to shine a light on their incredible lives and careers – we can’t wait for audiences around the world to see them.”

In addition to the series, a curated collection of landmark concerts and documentaries will be available on iPlayer this summer, including Crossfire Hurricane (2012) and The Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped (original version 1995, re-versioned edition 2016).

Along with the documentary films the celebrations will also include a two-hour audio documentary Rolling With The Stones on BBC Radio 2, which will also air this summer.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – Crooked Tree

Rob Hughes
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Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – Crooked Tree
Crooked Tree feels like the album singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle was destined to make. Her previous two solo releases – 2019 debut When You’re Ready and all-covers effort …but i’d rather be with you – carried traces of the music she grew up with, but now she’s fully immersed herself in t...

Crooked Tree feels like the album singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle was destined to make. Her previous two solo releases – 2019 debut When You’re Ready and all-covers effort …but i’d rather be with you – carried traces of the music she grew up with, but now she’s fully immersed herself in the bluegrass so beloved of her father Jack (like Tuttle, a skilled multi-instrumentalist) and her banjo-playing grandfather.

In addition to her live band, Golden Highway, she’s also joined here by a crack studio collective that includes co-producer Jerry Douglas on dobro, upright bassist Viktor Krauss and fiddler Jason Carter. There’s plenty of top-drawer help elsewhere too, her guests ranging from Old Crow Medicine Show and Margo Price to Gillian Welch and Dan Tyminski. This sense of joyous communion is perhaps best illustrated on “Big Backyard”, a hillbilly hoedown that strives to celebrate our differences rather than use them for divisive means. And while songs like “Nashville Mess Around” heighten the good-time vibes, Crooked Tree’s often playful manner is balanced by deeper considerations. The sprightly “She’ll Change” is a hymn to female strength and independence of spirit; cowgirl tale “Side Saddle” (with Welch on choruses) feeds off Tuttle’s determination to be acknowledged for her ability, regardless of gender.

It’s not all up-tempo either. Musically, “Dooley’s Farm” feels like a broody latter-day cousin of Neil Young’s “Ohio”, borrowing from The Dillards on a dark tale involving a secret cannabis farmer in the Blue Ridge Mountains: “He’s got a strain that’ll punch your lights out/ Old Dooley’s gonna blow your mind”. Pensive waltz “San Francisco Blues” bemoans the steep rise in cost of living that’s forced so many people to leave the Bay Area, where Tuttle was raised, in recent years. But Crooked Tree ends on a warm note, with “Grass Valley” recalling four-mile excursions to bluegrass festivals with her father as a child, intoxicated by the music filling the campgrounds. “I didn’t know it then”, she sings, utterly transformed, “but my life had turned a page”.

Hank Williams – I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings

Alastair McKay
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Hank Williams – I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings
Hank Williams enjoyed a simple metaphor as much as he liked a drink, so let’s compare him to a fine liquor. How would you like him served? On the rocks? Neat, undiluted? Two hundred per cent proof? I’m Gonna Sing is all of that and, swallowed whole, it makes an intoxicating case for a re-evaluat...

Hank Williams enjoyed a simple metaphor as much as he liked a drink, so let’s compare him to a fine liquor. How would you like him served? On the rocks? Neat, undiluted? Two hundred per cent proof? I’m Gonna Sing is all of that and, swallowed whole, it makes an intoxicating case for a re-evaluation of Hank’s gifts.

Since his death, the life of Hank Williams has been turned into a parable in which the singer’s life of pain – of the spine as much as the heart – was reflected in his music. Hank was 29 when he died in the back seat of his Cadillac in 1953, but his voice was ancient. The tragedy of Hank’s passing framed his reputation, and while he exists in the broader public imagination as the author of the jaunty country novelty “Hey, Good Lookin’” (a Southern-fried version of a Cole Porter ditty), the depth of his talent is to be found in his broader catalogue, where Williams walks the thin line between hurt and bottomless misery. In marketing shorthand, Hank Williams is sometimes referred to as “the hillbilly Shakespeare”, but the profound simplicity of his worldview is actually closer to the existential comedy of Samuel Beckett. Hank knows, even in his lighter moments, that life is a lonely pursuit; that buckets tend to have holes in them; that the best hope for happiness is to be found in the numbed void of the endless thereafter, in death.

The material on this 40-track compilation is drawn from the extraordinary Mother’s Best Radio Recordings, which arrived like messages from the other side in 2011, and have been released in various formats, including a 15CD box, complete with cathedral-style toy radio (with “working knob”) and a jigsaw. The comprehensive release aimed to recreate the carefree mood of the times, where Hank and the boys would drop in to sing a few numbers and sell the benefits of Mother’s Best flour on the Nashville radio station WSM 650. The recordings only survived because they were recorded onto 16-inch acetates to be played when Williams was out of town, and they captured the band in a more informal mode than the more familiar studio recordings.

This edit of the Mother’s Best recordings cuts back on the levity, focusing instead on the religious songs played by Williams at the end of his 15-minute morning segment. These were often dedicated to “sick and shut-in friends” and were mostly drawn from the hymns Williams encountered as a child raised on Southern gospel in Alabama. In the sleeve notes, Williams’ biographer Colin Escott quotes from an interview the great man gave shortly before his death. “My earliest memory,” he says, “is sittin’ on that organ stool by momma and hollerin’. I must have been five, six years old, and louder ’n anybody else.”

The recordings are from 1951, a good year for Williams, but also a terrible one. He scored six Top 5 hits, toured with Bob Hope and appeared on Perry Como’s TV show. But he was hospitalised for alcoholism and had surgery on his spine following a hunting accident. In this context, to hear Hank and the boys pouring the ethanol of harmony singing onto the fire and brimstone of “I Am Bound For The Promised Land” is to enter into a church where death is a blessed relief. Though lighter in tone and brisker in tempo, “I’ll Fly Away” has the same theme, a yearning for that bright morning, “when the troubles of this life are o’er”. Even when the tune is over-familiar, as on “the old-timer” “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In”, the acidic harmonies faithfully pick out the 19th-century tune’s apocalyptic intent.

You want it darker? “That Beautiful Home” is delivered complete with Hank’s intro, in which he notes his back pain. When he sings of a blissful place far over the sea, and of a saviour upon a white throne, the agony is evident.

There are upbeat moments – notably the title track, “I’m Gonna Sing”, and Hank’s own “I Saw The Light”, a song he wrote when emerging from a hangover after a late dance in Alabama. On that tune, Williams demonstrated how faithfully he had absorbed the manners of gospel. Without making a fuss, or breaking with the plainspoken directness that is the hallmark of all of Hank Williams’ work, “I Saw The Light” delivers sin, redemption, and Jesus arriving like a stranger in the night. “No sorrow inside”, Hank sings, as if such a thing might be possible.

Jon Spencer & The Hitmakers – Spencer Gets It Lit

Erin Osmon
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Jon Spencer & The Hitmakers – Spencer Gets It Lit
Before there was Jack White, there was Jon Spencer, the original underground white boy rock’n’roll freak force with jet-black hair and an encyclopedic knowledge of the blues. In 1991, after playing in Pussy Galore, he formed The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with Judah Bauer, Russell Simins and a ...

Before there was Jack White, there was Jon Spencer, the original underground white boy rock’n’roll freak force with jet-black hair and an encyclopedic knowledge of the blues. In 1991, after playing in Pussy Galore, he formed The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with Judah Bauer, Russell Simins and a theremin. The band blasted a scuzzed-out amalgam of garage rock, punk, blues, R&B and occasionally hip-hop, with no bass guitar, unwitting progenitors to the garage revival of the new millennium and bass-free acts like the White Stripes and The Black Keys.

Spencer has always followed his offbeat instincts, seemingly allergic to the requirements of a commercial crossover. His particular aesthetic – monster-movie camp meets a record collector’s studiousness and a charismatic preacher’s howls – has endeared him to a host of likeminded but more famous oddballs, everyone from the late Anthony Bourdain to the director Edgar Wright. But it has also placed him firmly in the margins, in spite of a few hits like “Bellbottoms” (used in Wright’s film Baby Driver) and funk burner “Calvin” from 1998’s Acme. Instead of moving zillions of units, he built his reputation as a live act, one of the most wild and magnetic to ever launch from New York’s sonic underbelly.

Since the ’80s, Spencer has been an unwavering force on the Downtown scene, a living antidote to the myth that underground rock in New York was dead near the turn of the century. It couldn’t have been, because Spencer has always been very much alive. With him, there’s never been a lengthy hiatus or calculated retirement and then comeback. So it’s no surprise that his latest feels like the natural extension of a decades-long arc, ringing of Spencer’s singular aesthetic with subtle updates to the template. It grooves, but it doesn’t jam. It’s junked out, but never trashy (Pussy Galore alum Bob Bert in fact plays a collection of trash cans and scrap metal). It’s moody and strange, but never unlistenable. Spencer is a showman, after all, a sonic witchdoctor who’ll blow your mind but not make you work too hard for it.

The album trades the theremin for Sam Coomes’ Farfisa organ and other buzzing synths, and the singer’s signature “bluuuuuues exploooosion” interjection for an amped-up, often terrified, narrator. “You talk about gold/But you’re selling trash/You’re just a junk man”, he insists on the album’s opening track, an indictment that applies to any number of modern leaders oblivious to everything but personal gain. In “The Worst Facts”, Spencer takes stock of his own mortality as an aged rocker in a future time: “People don’t play that way anymore!” he blurts over a twisted drone. “Worm Town”, the album’s sixth track, finds Spencer’s character in a “…big dirt nap, six feet deep”.

Though the album’s lyrics are often sobering, its music, with its deep groove and pulsating fuzz, is notably energising, a duality that offers just the right amount of weight. It also relays a palpable sense of urgency, the feeling that even if the world is ending, we should have fun on our way out. For a man who finds his mojo onstage, two years of lockdown was particularly deadening, which makes the liberating effects of this music that much more palpable, its wild freakbeat a freeing force. “There are songs to sing, noises to make, places to go – y’know, got a lot of living to do!” Spencer says.

The aleatoric energy running through the record also aids its revitalising quality, teetering on the precipice of unhinged without outright toppling over. Throughout, there is the sense that the performances were recorded in those fleeting moments when a new song tips from chaos to cohesion. It also portends the truly enticing promise of a new Spencer release: the live show. And this time around, it promises Sleater-Kinney alumnus Janet Weiss behind the drum kit, joining her Quasi partner Coomes.

Spencer Gets It Lit is the strongest recorded offering from the rocker since the Blues Explosion’s 2012 album, Meat + Bone. But outside of its individual merits, it fulfills another need in a society prone to homogeneity via viral trends and fast fashion: a world with Jon Spencer in it.

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