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Uncut

Launched in 1997 by editor Allan Jones, previously an editor of Melody Maker, Uncut is a monthly UK music magazine.

1,499 articles

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Laura Nyro: Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best Of Laura Nyro

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

AT THE age of 21, she was the most sought-after writer in America, a one-woman hit factory, providing songs for everyone from Sinatra to Aretha. ...

Counting Crows

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 1997

A DUSTY, OCHRE ATLAS FROM THE THIRTIES. An old dictionary in two huge volumes complete with illustrations. A history of the Civil War in three ...

Flying Burrito Brothers: The Gilded Palace Of Sin/Burrito Deluxe

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, June 1997

IN CONTRAST to the pure country of Gram Parsons' seminal early Seventies solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel, his work with the Burritos at the ...

Iggy Pop: Iggy And The Stooges: Raw Power

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

LOOK OUT, honey, cos they're using technology. Or rather, remixer Iggy Pop is.  ...

Jacques: How To Make Love

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 1997

ANTHONY Reynolds, a Welshman, singer in Jack, has teamed up with Nick Currie, a Scotsman, also known as Momus, to make an album, in 10 ...

Jimi Hendrix: Jim Hendrix: Reissues

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1997

Higher than the sun ...

Manic Street Preachers: Manic Stations: Manic Street Preachers: Brighton Centre ****

Live Review by David Bennun, Uncut, June 1997

THE SURVIVING REPRESENTATIVE of The Culture Of Despair sits on the drum riser, bass on his knees, fingers every which way across the fretboard, laughing ...

Paul McCartney: Flaming Pie

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 1997

PERHAPS Anthology holds the key. Not just the CDs and the videos, but the whole hullabaloo surrounding the project and the full-scale reassessment of The ...

Prefab Sprout: Andromeda Heights

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

Andromeda heights ...

Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1997

SPIRITUALIZED albums, like the Hale-Bopp comet, swoop in from the heavens at highly irregular intervals. Their opiated drones and over-reaching pretensions are usually greeted with ...

Supergrass: In It For The Money

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1997

The Three Tenners ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: The Bizarre Life And Lonely Death Of Billy Mackenzie

Retrospective by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

TOP OF THE POPS, MARCH 3, 1982. A relatively unknown band from north of the border are about to do what David Bowie, Roxy Music ...

The Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake; The Small Faces & The Autumn Stone

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, June 1997

CHECK OUT how many column inches The Small Faces warrant in rock encyclopaedias, compared to the space given to the likes of The Kinks or ...

The Who: The Who Sell Out

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1997

Tommy and Quodrophenia were louder and longer, but the psychedelic pop irony of this 1967 album remains Pete Townshend's masterpiece ...

Tricky: Rock City, Nottingham

Live Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 1997

THE END of the millennium is nigh! Most men will perish and the rest will get extremely stressed out and have to take lots of ...

Wilco: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

Live Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 1997

"WE SAW all those teenage girls outside and we assumed they were here for us. Hey, man, what gives?" ...

Yello: Pocket Universe

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1997

YELLO HAVE been into electronica since their inception in 1980, when only the most wilfully avant-garde dabbled in synthesisers for any purpose other than the ...

Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 1997

AS OFT-used tags go, "The New Velvet Underground" is so wide-ranging, it's almost become a genre in itself. Got a penchant for dark clobber and ...

Beck: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, July 1997

HOWDY. America is always new. The world is always new. Go ask Beck. If you can catch him! ...

Dwight Twilley: XXI

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

OH, THE injustice. Had the release of Dwight Twilley's brilliant power pop debut not been delayed by a year, it would have beaten the first ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Hanover Grand, London

Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, July 1997

Echo & The Bunnymen: honesty and openness ...

Geneva: Further

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 1997

GENEVA ARE not puddings. I approve of this. So many chap-bands today (Tuesday) are puddings. Big, soggy, lumpy puddings just sitting there, wobbling every now ...

Tupac Shakur: Hour Of The Gun: The Wasted Life And Brutal Death Of Tupac Shakur

Profile by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1997

EVEN BY THE BRUTAL STANDARDS OF thug life, his was a particularly merciless encounter. It took less than two minutes for Mike Tyson to pummel ...

Bon Jovi: Jon Bon Jovi: Destination Anywhere

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, July 1997

THE ONLY living American to get the hang of TFI Friday. The hardest-working man in, oh, several industries. The pin-up pop star who dared to ...

Laura Nyro

Retrospective by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

"This sorrow is so deep that I really can't help myself. Somehow I think she knew that we loved her as if she was our ...

Lewis Taylor: Sweet Insanity

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

"I'M FASCINATED WITH THE IDEA OF ART born of a disintegrated mind," says Lewis Taylor, all coal-black curls and kohl-kissed eyes, crouched in the semi-darkness ...

Mansun: Kilburn National, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 1997

THE FOUR million music journalists present at Mansun's big "triumphant" London show, tongues loosened by EMI's beer, tell me repeatedly that it's not OK for ...

Mark Eitzel, R.E.M.: Mark Eitzel and Peter Buck

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 1997

'People liked it when I was drunk and fell over onstage all the time. That was very popular in Europe for a while' ...

Michael Jackson: Blood On The Dance Floor

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 1997

HISTORY IS written by the victors. Or, in our times, is remixed by the fashionable. ...

Monaco: Music For Pleasure

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1997

IN THE absence of any definite New Order activity for the foreseeable future, Peter Hook's latest project shamelessly recreates his pop past without even bothering ...

Prefab Sprout

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

Absolutely Prefabulous: Far from the sonic mainstream with Paddy McAloon ...

Radiohead: OK Computer

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, July 1997

HELLO. It seems that I am meant to give Radiohead's new album – their "other" album, their brainwashed nerve-scathed translunar completely assumed third masterpiece where ...

Spirit: The Mercury Years

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

California Dreaming ...

Supergrass: Live review

Live Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, July 1997

GAZ COOMBES inadvertently summed the whole thing up himself earlier this year. Speaking of his newly-shedded hair, the Supergrass singer professed his absolute astonishment at ...

The Jayhawks: Sound Of Lies

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

IF, LIKE me, you thought The Jayhawks were just another bunch of New Country journeymen, then prepare to have your mind radically, brutally altered. ...

Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Forever

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1997

THEY LIVE in a house, a very big house, in the country. But considering that much of their energy, vision and ground-breaking ferocity derives from ...

Brian Eno: The Drop

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1997

WHERE MOST folk in this business work on instinct, rarely pondering how to maximise their talent, supposing they have any, Eno is one of a ...

Bruce Springsteen: Le Palais des Congres, Paris

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 1997

BRUCE IS telling a story (and I am scribbling furiously). "This is a song about men and women. I didn't write about men and women ...

Can: Automation For The People

Guide by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1997

A DEEP DISTANT DETONATION ECHOED by an aftershock and a seething high-frequency fallout of fire and rain. Out of this drizzle rises a robotic one-bar ...

Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 1997

Cheap Trick: meta-metal power pop ...

Cheap Trick: Light of the Trick

Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, August 1997

 The return of the pioneering power-pop band. ...

David Bowie: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 1997

HE LOOKS spectacular; anyone who's told you different is jealous, insecure, myopic. Yet he wants us to love his new music, and it's hard to ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Echo and the Bunnymen: Manhattan Chancer

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, August 1997

IT'S A HOT AND sticky sunday afternoon in the Little Italy district of Manhattan, and every street corner resembles an expanded version of the wedding ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Various Reissues

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1997

A LOT of claims are being made for Yoko Ono. That those first albums she made with Lennon in the late Sixties weren't the random ...

John Lydon: Psycho's Path

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1997

THIS IS Lydon's first solo album, recorded before and after the calamitous reunion of The Sex Pistols. You'd have thought his cup of derision would ...

Junior Delgado, Augustus Pablo, Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee Scratch Perry: Arkology, Volumes 1-3; Augustus Pablo and Junior Delgado CDs

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1997

Junior Delgado: Dance A Dub (Big Cat); Augustus Pablo: Augustus Pablo Presents DJs From 70s-80s (Big Cat) ...

The Go-Betweens: The Fleadh, Finsbury Park, London

Live Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, August 1997

SOME BANDS just seem to outgrow their natural life through sheer influence. Something profound dictates that as their reputation accumulates people remember them as a ...

The Prodigy: The Fat Of The Land

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, August 1997

CHRIST ALMIGHTY. It moves vertically through salted pressures with a head that can see sideways. It is red in tooth and claw. It swoons and ...

Tindersticks: Curtain Raiser

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 1997

OH, AND ONCE AGAIN TINDERSTICKS have made the grandest, greatest record on earth. You hear it and the love pours out of you. It's really ...

Morrissey: A Lost World: Morrissey: Maladjusted (Island) ***

Review by Bob Stanley, Uncut, September 1997

WHEN I WAS first introduced to the grimy world of record fairs at the start of the Eighties, the places were almost entirely populated by ...

Baby Bird: Happy Sad

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 1997

Baby Bird's Stephen Jones talks to David Stubbs about life after 'You're Gorgeous' ...

Dr. John: The Forum, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 1997

Dr John: organic groover ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Earth Wind & Fire: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997

NO ONE levitates tonight. Nor are there any Sphinxes. And the sequinned Egyptological-spaceman costumes are conspicuous by their absence. But we do get 12 instrumentalists ...

Edwyn Collins: I'm Not Following You

Review by Everett True, Uncut, September 1997

WHAT IS it they say? "The first million is the hardest." If that's the case, then Edwyn Collins – quiffed-up maverick, sometime lush, inspiration for ...

Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 1997

NOTHING COULD be more wrong than to align the wanton, inspired Bush with boring English rock "aristocrats" such as Sting, Collins and Clapton. There's a ...

Oasis: Be Here Now

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997

YOU'D THINK Oasis were at war. The sense of urgency is palpable. Be Here Now. It's all in the video to the single: Oasis, the ...

Pet Shop Boys: Savoy Theatre, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, September 1997

Neil Tennant: vaudevillian existentialist? ...

The Blue Nile: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 1997

THE NEAREST thing music has to Venice is the embodiment of melancholy in this aptly baroque setting. The melancholy, in all its lush romantic self-indulgence, ...

Michael Jackson: The Starman Who Fell To Earth: Michael Jackson: Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield *****

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997

THE MOST FAMOUS performer on Earth has just been introduced, as per protocol, as "the King Of Pop", by the Chief Barker of the Variety ...

Todd Rundgren: Up Against It!

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997

Todd Only Knows ...

Brian Eno: We Have Ways Of Making You Talk: Brian Eno

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 1997

...on Russia, Roxy and tennis players' bottoms ...

The Beach Boys: Beach Boys: The Pet Sounds Sessions

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, November 1997

The Beach Boys: tampering with the impact of time ...

Billy MacKenzie: Beyond The Sun

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 1997

BEYOND THE Sun is a fitting tribute to Billy Mackenzie, who committed suicide this year, although it was nearly a completely different album. This posthumous ...

Bjork: Homogenic (One Little Indian)

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 1997

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR being what it is, I've already heard half a dozen journalists declaring this, Bjork's third solo album, to be no great shakes. I'm ...

Janet Jackson: The Velvet Rope

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 1997

THIS TIME, it's raining the spectrum of starfish and streaming with tiger snakes. The last Jacksoness album, 93's janet, was a slink-fest of extraordinary ambition ...

Oasis: Westpoint Arena, Exeter

Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, November 1997

CERTAIN elements of the tabloid press can't be too happy. Whispers around the Street of Shame suggested that some hacks were being despatched to Devon ...

The Pixies: Death To The Pixies

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 1997

The Pixies: grievous, greedy and groundbreaking ...

Todd Rundgren: Todd in Heaven

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 1997

Todd Rundgren, interactive pioneer and, For 25 years, the mad uncle of electronic pop, talks to Paul Lester ...

The Zombies: Zombies: Zombie Heaven (Big Beat/Ace)

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 1997

WHAT'S POP magic? A certain quality of feeling; quelque chose de je ne sais quoi; a little bit of soul. To be prosaic: something indefinably ...

The Zombies: Zombies: Baroque'N'Roll Music

Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, November 1997

Zombie Heaven claims to include 99.5 per cent of everything you ever recorded. There must be a few unheard demos that slipped through the net. ...

The Kinks, Ray Davies: Kinks: The Singles Collection/Waterloo Sunset — The Songs Of Ray Davies

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, December 1997

It's a shame about Ray: Classic chartbreakers and their creator's solo furrow ...

Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne: Ozzy Osbourne: His Satanic Majesty Repents

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 1997

JOHN "OZZY" OSBOURNE, FORMER HELL raiser, outrageous roister-doister, Dark Lord of Metal and rough diamond geezer extraordinaire has sung much about death, visited it summarily ...

Robert Wyatt

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 1997

ROBERT WYATT'S career has meandered long and strange, like an underground driver. He's played alongside Hendrix, Mike Oldfield and Phil Manzanera, as well as avant-garde ...

Sparks: Plagiarism

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 1997

Dynamic duo revamp their quirky oevre with wit and irony ...

The Doors: Box Set

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, December 1997

History of the LA group ...

The Slits: Cut

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 1997

I remember very clearly the first time I heard Cut – it was the summer of '79, I was staying at my aunt's in the ...

Joy Division: Torn Apart: Joy Division and the death of Ian Curtis

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Simpson, Uncut, December 1997

Joy Division were the most crucial of all the post-punk bands. But, on the eve of their first US tour, lead singer Ian Curtis committed ...

Billy Joel

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, January 1998

BILLY JOEL on his heavy metal past, the music biz, covers, his heroes and getting free tickets for the Superbowl... ...

Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall & Oates: Marigold Sky

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 1998

The rock'n'soul duo return with their first album for seven years ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon: So This Is Christmas…

Retrospective by Richard Williams, Uncut, January 1998

UP ON THE 17TH FLOOR OF THE St Regis Hotel in New York City, John Lennon is learning to type. P...I...M...P, he types. I AM ...

Joy Division: Heart & Soul

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 1998

JOY DIVISION were the last British band who mattered, for whom something was truly the matter. Forget Oasis' last-gasp efforts to bring the rock community ...

Metallica: Re-Load (Vertigo)

Review by Neil Kulkarni, Uncut, January 1998

Heavy metal muthas in peak form shock ...

Ray Davies

Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, January 1998

How do you feel about this so-called line of classic quintessentially English songwriters starting with you, continuing with Paul Weller and ending with Damon Albarn? ...

Roger McGuinn: Born To Rock And Roll

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, January 1998

The former Byrd's mid-Seventies solo years ...

Tanya Donnelly

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 1998

IS THIS the best job you've ever had?"Oh yeah, definitely. It's still a pain in the ass sometimes, but by and large it's the most ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono on John Lennon

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, January 1998

AND SO THIS is Christmas. Well, nearly. The stores in Manhattan are already sparkling with trees and tinsel, and here in Central Park, the traditionally ...

ABC: Beauty Stab

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, February 1998

The Lexicon Of Loathe: ABC's flawed second LP, reissued with one extra track ...

The High Llamas: High Llamas: Cold And Bouncy

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, February 1998

SEAN O'HAGAN of, first, Microdisney, and now The High Llamas, has been one of our finest melodicists for 15 years. Along with Paddy McAloon of ...

Ian Brown: Unfinished Monkey Business

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 1998

Urbane Gorilla: The Stone Rose, back from the dead ...

Isaac Hayes: Spread The Word

Retrospective by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 1998

AN INSURANCE salesman, David Porter, visited a Memphis meat-packing factory in 1965. He tried to sell a policy to one of the meat-packers, a big ...

The Associates: The Affectionate Punch

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 1998

THIS is impossible music. It's impossible to mimic its myriad uniqueness, impossible to place in pop time, impossible to imagine how such music could ever ...

Ian Brown, The Stone Roses: The Rise And Fall Of The Stone Roses

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Simpson, Uncut, February 1998

In his first major interview since The Stone Roses split, Ian Brown looks back on the career of a band who could have had it ...

Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Who: Monterey International Pop Festival

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, March 1998

Four-CD box set of the 1967 Summer Of Love festival ...

Bob Dylan: Time Again

Essay by Paul Williams, Uncut, March 1998

"Oh honey, even after all these years, you're still the one!" – Bob Dylan, 'Can't Wait', December 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20, 1997, El ...

Altered Images: Clare Grogan

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 1998

Clare Grogan "arrived" in 1980, with Gregory's Girl and Altered Images – the group had a series of hit singles ('Happy Birthday', 'Don't Talk To ...

Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix: Gary Carner (Ed.): Miles Davis Companion; Chris Potash (Ed.): Jimi Hendrix Companion (Omnibus)

Book Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 1998

THESE TWO volumes comprise anthologies of journalism, contemporary and retrospective, about two great black musicians of the 20th century whose brilliance was not usually matched ...

Godley & Creme: Godley And Creme: Consequences (Mercury)

Retrospective and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, March 1998

KEVIN Godley and Lol Creme were the edgier, brighter half of the astoundingly fertile smart-pop quartet that was 10cc, 1973-1976. They were film-obsessed hipster pasticheurs, ...

The Nazz: Nazz: From Philadelphia

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, March 1998

Odds'n'sods collection from Todd Rundgren's power poppers ...

Nick Heyward: The Apple Bed

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 1998

Core, fruits you, Sir! Heyward's sixth post-Haircut 100 LP, and his debut for Alan McGee ...

Nick Lowe: Dig My Mood

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, March 1998

The Godfather of pub rock returns with his best collection yet ...

The Pixies: Pixies Reissues

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, March 1998

Come On PilgrimSurferrosaBossanovaTrompelemonde Boston scree party: incredible back catalogue from the precursors of grunge ...

Sagittarius, The Millennium: Sagittarius: Present Tense; The Millennium: Begin

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, March 1998

TO GET THE full scope of these groundbreaking recordings, released within weeks of each other in the summer of '68, it's vital to know that ...

Chris Rea: The Blue Café

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, April 1998

SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL movies (La Passione) and life threatening illnesses (collapsed colon and peritonitis) out of the way, Chris Rea is back making music like nothing has ...

David Bowie: Reissues

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 1998

Bowie: the good, the bad and the ugly ...

Flaming Lips: Zaireeka

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, April 1998

Four-CD set from Oklahoma experimentalists, requiring four stereos for playback ...

Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow/Crown Of Creation/Volunteers

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, April 1998

"COUNTRY blues at deafening volume," was the verdict of one English pop star on Californian acid-rock in 1967, a view then widely held among his ...

Madonna: Ray Of Light

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 1998

La Ciccone's latest embarks on a course of 'techno' therapy ...

Nick Lowe: The Jazz Café, London

Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, April 1998

Following rave reviews for his new LP, NICK LOWE last month played his first London show for three years, at Camden's Jazz Café ...

Simple Minds: Neapolis

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 1998

Return to electronic form for the New Gold Dreamers ...

The Delfonics: La-La Means I Love You – The Definitive Collection

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, April 1998

THOUGH THE Delfonics are now seen as archetypal icons of '70s kitsch, they recorded their best stuff, including their three big hits, before the '60s ...

The Waterboys' Mike Scott

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 1998

MIKE SCOTT, singer/songwriter and former leader of The Waterboys, gushes over his formative influences, from Gaelic roots to gospel, from Van Morrison to Dylan ...

Tom Waits: Bourbon, Bullets And Blues

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 1998

Gavin Martin heads downtown on the trail of Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones ...

Tortoise: TNT

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 1998

Test card music for the Gods. Band at vanguard of American 'post-rock' developments ...

Bryan Ferry, Elton John, Noel Coward, Paul McCartney, Suede: Twentieth Century Blues: The Songs Of Noel Coward

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 1998

PAN-GENERATIONAL tribute to The Other Noel, benefiting International AIDS-prevention projects ...

Bernard Butler: People Move On

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, May 1998

Ex-Suede/McAlmont & Butler guitarist's solo debut ...

The Beatles, George Martin: George Martin: In My Life

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, May 1998

The "fifth Beatle" signs off with a little help from his friends ...

Rialto

Report and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, May 1998

IT'S A CHILLY, misty morning, as dawn breaks across old London town. Terence Stamp, tie loosened and top shirt button undone, lounges in the back ...

Suicide: Darkness Visible

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 1998

Before the Chemical Brothers, before Ministry, before even Soft Cell, there was SUICIDE, the original electro-duo. DAVID STUBBS meets the synth-terrorists whose noise still provokes ...

The Bay City Rollers

Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, Uncut, May 1998

Ahh, those much-mimicked hedgehogian coxcombs; those calf-chafing, tartan-trimmed trews with half a yard of surplus flapping flare to spare; those cheery, cheeky chipmunk grins and ...

Van Morrison: Van The Man: 1979-88

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 1998

Van arm-chair heaven ...

Willard Grant Conspiracy: Rustic Grunge

Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, May 1998

LOG CABINS. Big coats. A stroppy Tindersticks undercut with ghostly suspense. Damp, misty woodland. Autumn. These are the things Flying Low, the second album by ...

David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds: Dancing in the Street

Film/DVD/TV Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, June 1998

THE ROCK'N'ROLL documentary is in fine shape in the Nineties, thanks mainly to the BBC. Second series of both Rock Family Trees and Classic Albums ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brain Wilson: Endless Bummer

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1998

"HI, I'M BRIAN WILSON." You do not expect this. You do not expect the head of America's most important ever rock band to have to ...

Garbage: Version 2.0

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1998

THERE ARE surprisingly few bands like Garbage, bands operating in that shadowy, uncertain zone between the flesh of rock and the metal of techno. They're ...

Gomez: Grim North Meets Crazy South

Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 1998

THE INITIAL sensation sits somewhere between inspecting the tonsils of a vast, mythical reptile from The Land That Time Forgot and stepping around the mouth ...

Julian Lennon, Sean Lennon: Julian Lennon: Photograph Smile; Sean Lennon: Into The Sun

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, June 1998

IT'S HARD ENOUGH for musicians to get out from under the shadows of the giants, but if your father was one of the most loved, ...

The Kinks: Kinks: Pye Label Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 1998

Ray Davies and Co's first five LPs ...

The High Llamas: Hump Up The Volume

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1998

"THERE ARE TWO STRANDS OF HEROIN rock consciousness," says Sean O'Hagan, the man who Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, with mock reverence, has called ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: Welcome to the Resurrection

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1998

The most fearsomely iconoclastic anti-rock band since The Sex Pistols are back with a blistering new album. Stephen Dalton meets THE JESUS ANF MARY CHAIN ...

Tori Amos: From The Choirgirl Hotel (East West)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, June 1998

Fourth album from singer/songwriter with a fan base of two million. ...

Tricky: Angels With Dirty Faces

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 1998

HEROES DON'T last long these days. Partly because the scene is shallow and restless; partly because cynicism is always muttering, "Why do we need heroes ...

Van Morrison: The Philosopher's Stone

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 1998

AS HE'S an artist soaked in mystique, renowned for a hard-headed approach to both his work and the business around it, expectations for this, Van ...

Courtney Love, Nirvana: Kurt and Courtney: Love Will Tear It Apart

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998

"I'M INTERESTED IN forbidden stories," says Nick Broomfield of his latest project, Kurt And Courtney, his drawling English vowels tanned with West Coast inflexions from ...

Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain: Kurt and Courtney; dir Nick Broomfield

Film/DVD/TV Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998

Starring Nick Broomfield, Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love Directed by Nick Broomfield Opens July 3, Cert tbc, 99 mins ...

Wild Style: Hip Hop Don't Stop

Retrospective by Neil Kulkarni, Uncut, July 1998

Re-released this month after 15 years, WILD STYLE isregarded as the seminal rap movie. Director Charlie Ahearn puts needle to the groove with Neil Kulkarni ...

Dr. John: Dr John: Voodoo Lounge

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998

MAC REBENNACK, IS SLUMPED ON A chaise longue in an elegant London hotel suite, the ubiquitous walking cane by his side, a straw Homburg tilted ...

Dusty Springfield Re-releases

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, July 1998

Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty/Where Am I Going/Songbooks Three more re-releases from the undisputed Queen of UK pop-soul ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Echo and the Bunnymen: Ian McCulloch's Favourite Things

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, July 1998

ABBA"I REALLY DO think they're great. 'The Winner Takes It All' is so sad – the video's fantastic, Agnetha's blue eyeliner runnln' – and it ...

Embrace: The Good Will Out

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 1998

Belated, soul-stirring debut from justifiably hyped Yorkshiremen ...

Frank Sinatra 1915-1998

Obituary by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998

IN A SENSE, Frank Sinatra represented a lie. Much as beneath Bing Crosby's ambling, indolent persona lay a pointedly less easy-going character, Sinatra was actually ...

Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett: Julian Palacios: Lost In The Woods

Book Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998

POSSIBLY THE most quixotically gifted musician of his generation, Roger Syd Barrett – son of the Cambridge flatlands and short-lived London underground starchild – is ...

Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68: Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (Sony/Columbia)

Review by Chris Ingham, Uncut, July 1998

6 CD set of innovative, hugely influential jazz group covering ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Water Babies, Miles In The Sky and Filles De Kilimanjaro ...

Neal Casal: Out-duding the early James Taylor

Profile and Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, July 1998

NEAL CASAL grins craftily — he's been careful to bring his electric guitar to Uncut's photo session and not his acoustic. "No Nick Drake shots ...

Public Enemy: He Got Game

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998

Slam funkers: sixth release from rap collective once called "the greatest rock'n'roll band on the planet". ...

Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom/Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 1998

Overdue CD reissue of Seventies English avant-rock classics ...

Steve Miller Band: The Joker's later work revisited

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 1998

BY THE time of his 1976 UK chart breakthrough, Fly like An Eagle, Steve Miller's many attributes had been established on the impressive series of ...

Sunhouse

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, July 1998

ROB BROOKS stumbles into the hotel lounge, nursing a hangover and a half-finished bottle of red wine with equal tenderness. The bass player is followed ...

Asian Dub Foundation

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1998

"BRITPOP IS AN ATTEMPT TO REASSERT A sort of mythical whiteness," asserts Aniruddha Das, aka Dr Das, bassist of Asian Dub Foundation, leaning forward in ...

Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick At Budokan: The Complete Concert

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, August 1998

NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED, full version of the candy-coated metal superheroes' finest hour ...

Grace Jones: Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1998

Pop's most formidable iconette of electro-dance ...

Ian Dury

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, August 1998

Sweet Gene Vincent, sozzled Max Wall, sexy Marilyn Monroe, and the stiff upper lips of Dickie Attenborough and Johnny Mills are among Blockhead IAN DURY's ...

Pulp: Jarvis Cocker

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 1998

The Pulp frontman takes a stairlift to heaven as he reflects on post-coital guilt and post-Britpop blues ...

John Mayall: Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, and; The Best Of (As It All Began)

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

WANT TO know what the fuss was all about? Drop the old laser-beam on track 21, the stereo version of 'Have You Heard?', John Mayall's ...

Morrissey, The Smiths: Manchester's Answer to the H-Bomb: How It All Blew Up For Morrissey and The Smiths

Report by Dave Simpson, Uncut, August 1998

THE PHONE RINGS at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, Los Angeles. ...

Motown: Stop! In The Name Of Love

Overview by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

SECOND ONLY to The Beatles' catalogue as the finest single coherent body of pop music ever recorded are the records made in Detroit for Motown ...

Randy Newman: Here Comes The Rain

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

Ian MacDonald salutes Randy Newman's first solo album as a flawless masterpiece. ...

Soft Cell: Reissues

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 1998

THOUGH THEY'RE often lumped in with other early Eighties techno-tarts as shiny and superficial, Soft Cell had a soot-black heart, a vicious edge, and an ...

Sparklehorse: Good Morning Spider

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 1998

Second LP from highly rated alt country act with edge and attitude. ...

The B-52s: Time Capsule: Songs For A Future Generation

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1998

HISTORY OF Athens perfect popsters with two new tracks. ...

The Kinks

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

MORE SEMINAL Englishness from the kings of Britpop ...

R.E.M., Radiohead: Tibetan Freedom Concert: People Have The Power

Report by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 1998

MONDAY, JUNE 15, THE CAPITOL BUILDINGIt is 10 days before Bill Clinton's historic first presidential visit to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. An ...

Willie Nelson: The Barbican, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 1998

THE GREAT FEAR of seeing a hero in their twilight years is that their powers will have deserted them and they'll be unable to reach, ...

Baby Bird: There's Something Going On

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 1998

STEVEN JONES'/Baby Bird's biggest sounding and best offering to date ...

Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Super Furry Animals: Consuming Passions: Howard Marks

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, September 1998

Skinning up from Lennon's stash box, securing dentures with a luxury adhesive, and watching lizards drown in brandy — a typical evening at home with ...

Curtis Mayfield: Superfly (Two-CD Special Edition)

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, September 1998

ORIGINALLY RELEASED in 1972, Curtis Mayfield's album of music for one of the most notorious blaxploitation films of the Seventies is typically compassionate, melancholic, and ...

Genesis: Archive 1967-75 (Virgin)

Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, September 1998

4CD box mainly featuring the Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford incarnation of seminal progressive band with live cuts, a rare ...

Neil Young: "You're All Just Pissing In the Wind"

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, September 1998

RIGHT NOW, Neil Young is in kind of an invidious position. On The Beach is his equivalent of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album in terms ...

Rave: Countdown to Ecstasy

Book Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1998

Simon Reynolds: Energy Flash – A Journey Through Rave Music And Dance Culture (Picador Books) ...

Adam Cohen, Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Wainwright; Adam Cohen: Adam Cohen

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 1998

Impressive, capricious debuts from two sons of Sixties troubadours ...

Sparklehorse: The Spider's Strategy

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 1998

VIRGINIAN MARK Linkous' recent second album, Good Morning Spider, confirmed the promise of his acclaimed '96 debut, Vivadixiesubmarlnetransmisslonplot, while bringing a new psychedelic spin to ...

The Monkees: Daydream Believer Film

Film/DVD/TV Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, September 1998

Stephen Dalton profiles Daydream Believers, a new documentary tracing the lives of Hollywood wannabes who flunked the audition to join the most famous manufactured pop ...

Transister

Profile and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, September 1998

MR GARRISON, lies awake in his bed, unable to sleep. ...

Booker T & The MGs, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave: Various Artists: The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-68

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, September 1998

Epic set of Sixties soul classics, formerly import-only ...

Waylon Jennings: Honky Tonk Heroes

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 1998

FOR WAYLON Jennings – born into a dirt poor cotton-picking West Texas family – the wanderlust began as far back as he could remember. ...

David Bowie: White Lines, Black Magic

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 1998

'I ran across a monster who was sleeping by a tree. And I looked and frowned and the monster was me'(David Bowie, 'The Width Of ...

Gomez's Ben Ottewell

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, October 1998

Spark up a snout, let the songs of Joni Mitchell soothe you to sleep, and watch out for Homer's gut with that cannonball. BEN OTTEWELL ...

Janis Joplin: The Ultimate Collection

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

ROCK'S HOTTEST mama revisited in a comprehensive 32-track retrospective. ...

Jimi Hendrix: Through Gypsy Eyes by Kathy Etchingham and Andrew Crofts (Orion)

Book Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

JIMI HENDRIX flew into London for the first time in 1966, with a guitar and a bag containing a change of clothes, a jar of ...

Lambchop: What Another Man Spills

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 1998

FOURTH ALBUM from mutant soul-country oddities. ...

Manic Street Preachers: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 1998

Fifth album, and long-awaited follow-up to Everything Must Go ...

Mansun

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 1998

PAUL DRAPER has been inspired by some of the climactic moments of post-War culture – David Bowie's "Berlin" trilogy, mid-Eighties Prince, Talking Heads' art beat, ...

Mercury Rev: Deserter's Songs

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, October 1998

Divine stratospheric trip from sentimental gadgeteers ...

Rory Gallagher Reissues

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998

DeuceIrish TourCalling CardPhoto-FinishFresh Evidence Random selection of work from late Irish guitar hero ...

Rufus Wainwright

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 1998

THE LAUGH is marginally less startling than his debut album, a cabaret of flamboyant songs about April fools, matinee idols and imaginary loves, as big-time ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Theaudience: theaudience

Profile and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, October 1998

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR is bored. Not, as you might expect, with the endless media references to her parentage – she's the daughter of former Blue Peter ...

Afghan Whigs: Will To Live

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 1998

"I DIDN'T START UP A BAND BECAUSE I COULDN'T get laid," says Greg Dulli with that suave, Satanic leer of his. "I started a band ...

Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello: Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach: Painted From Memory

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 1998

ONLY FIVE years ago in the UK, it needed to be reaffirmed that Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest popular musicians of the second ...

David Bowie, Marc Bolan: Glam Revival

Comment by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 1998

Why the frightening prospect of a full-scale Glam revival fills David Stubbs with dread… ...

Glam Rock: Scary Monsters, Super Freaks #1

Special Feature by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, November 1998

THE FREAKS ARE OUT IN FORCE TONIGHT. Squeezed into lurid outfits, hair dyed every artificial hue imaginable, braying and squealing and jostling for position. ...

David Bowie, Roxy Music, T. Rex: Glam Rock: Scary Monsters, Super Freaks #2

Special Feature by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 1998

TWENTIETH CENTURY BOY ...

Mott the Hoople: All The Young Dudes: The Anthology

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 1998

Boxed set full of rarities and goodies from self-conscious stylists of Glam ...

Republica: Speed Ballads

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 1998

Second LP from Big In America, 'Ready To Go' hitmakers ...

Paul Weller, The Style Council: The Style Council: The Complete Adventures Of The Style Council

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, November 1998

FIVE-CD overview of Paul Weller's "Cappuccino" years. ...

Alanis Morissette: Alanis Morrisette: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 1998

Follow-up to Jagged Little Pill is big, bold and belligerent ...

Beck: Mutations

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 1998

Downbeat apocalypse: US master of ironic eclecticism unearths a diamond in the trash. ...

Curtis Mayfield - A Gently Sensitive Observer

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 1998

SIX MAYFIELD albums on three CDs, from the great to the grottyCurtisGot To Find A WayRootsSweet ExorcistBack To The WorldLove ...

Dar Williams

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, December 1998

"IT'S THE teachers who are to blame, if you ask me. Probably more so than parents, because they're kinda paid to shape young minds — ...

DAF: Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft: Reissues

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 1998

Overdue reissue of Eighties German minimalist synth duo's electronic pop albums ...

Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 1998

Former Housemartin turns Big Beat pioneer ...

Film Pop-Stars: This Much Talent!

Guide by Terry Staunton, Uncut, December 1998

SECONDS BEFORE surrendering to self-inflicted, drug-induced unconsciousness, reclusive rock singer Jim MacLaine turns to his friend and manager, Mike, to reminisce about the old days ...

John Lennon: The John Lennon Anthology

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 1998

WE GET USED TO THE VOICE. THE SOUND of a largely self-educated, rawly-talented, troubled and often wildly erratic Englishman who, by means of the various ...

Jools Holland: These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, December 1998

Fire up the steamroller, jangle the old Joanna, and fall off your chair when Terry-Thomas enters the room. Welcome to the world of JOOLS HOLLAND ...

The Jam, Paul Weller, The Style Council: Paul Weller: Last Man Standing

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 1998

"YOU SHOULD WRITE THAT LETTER," Paul Weller' is telling his press agents, Pippa Hall and Jane Wilkes of Monkey Business PR, referring to a particularly ...

R.E.M.: Up

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 1998

Unexpected return to peak form after 1996's disappointing New Adventures In Hi-Fi ...

Semisonic: Finding Joy through Pain and Difficulty

Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 1998

DAN WILSON is greeted at the New York offices of Semisonic's record company like a conquering hero. My brief audience with him is constantly interrupted ...

The Paradise Motel

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 1998

"THIS NOTION that we make miserable records just seems a bit shallow. They're more complete than that. On a cursory listen, they might be depressing, ...

XTC: Transistor Blast: The Best Of The BBC Sessions

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, December 1998

FOUR-CD set of BBC sessions 1977-89 and In Concert 1978/9 ...

Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years (Capitol)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, January 1999

Box set featuring all twenty Capitol albums 1953-61 plus rarities disc ...

Roky Erickson

Profile by Ian Fortnam, Uncut, January 1999

While it's an established fact that an extended tour of duty within the darkest recesses of the psychedelic jungle will extinguish myriad illuminations within the ...

Yes: Open Your Eyes

Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, February 1999

TO ANYONE growing up through the punk era, Yes were the ultimate enemy. In those primitive cool days, laser shows, flowing locks, portentous mysticism, flamboyant ...

Blondie: London Sound Republic

Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, March 1999

MADONNA turned 40 last year and marked the occasion with the most critically-acclaimed album of her career. The biggest selling single in the UK was ...

Mercury Rev: Corn Exchange, Cambridge

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 1999

THAT MERCURY Rev have not only survived a turbulent decade but emerged from it as the alterno-rock world's darlings and champions is heroic, funny and ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Will Oldham: Prince of Darkness

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 1999

WILL OLDHAM is supposed to be the Mr Misery of new country. So what's he doing on GLR trying to persuade Sean Hughes that Aerosmith ...

Lauryn Hill: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, April 1999

FOLLOWING THE phenomenal success of The Score, in some critics' eyes the time was right for a Fugees backlash. After all, what was so great ...

Smog: Play Misty For Me

Interview by Simon Price, Uncut, May 1999

Smog's Bill Callahan is to Nineties USA what Morrissey was to Eighties Britain: the undisputed bard of smalltown melancholia. Simon Price meets the pea-souperman. ...

Ultrasound: The Big Picture

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 1999

Of course, everyone usually goes on about tne size of their singer, Tiny — but what s really vast about ULTRASOUND is their boundless musical ...

David Sylvian: We Have Ways of Making You Talk: David Sylvian

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 1999

DAVID SYLVIAN'S first solo album for 12 years, Dead Bees On A Cake, is his most personal and accessible work to date, and features Talvin ...

Cornelius: Beck to the Future

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1999

CORNELIUS is a pick 'n' mix match retro-futurist whizz-kid. Stephen Dalton meets the boy they're calling the Japanese Beck ...

Basement Jaxx: First Cuts: Today's New Names, Tomorrow's Big Stars... Basement Jaxx

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1999

Hedonistic, house-based groovers with attitude ...

Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: The Soft Parade

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1999

THE FLAMING LIPS have just made a contender for Last Great Album Of The 20th Century. But are they really a bunch of nutters on ...

Belle and Sebastian: Tigermilk (Jeepster)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, August 1999

Legendary debut by elusive Glasgow eight-piece pop co-operative, remastered, first time on CD; an original vinyl copy will part you with £250. ...

Aztec Camera, Roddy Frame: Aztec Camera: The Best Of (Warners)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, September 1999

Roddy Frame’s hits and misses 1983-98 For a while, in the early ‘80s, there were emerging young songwriters — among them Messrs. Frame, ...

Earth Wind And Fire: The Ultimate Collection/Gratitude/All ‘N’ All/That’s The Way Of The World (Columbia)

Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, September 1999

THE SNAZZIEST, JAZZIEST dance crew of the period. Their ‘one world’ spirituality, sunny mysticism and conspicuous musicality makes them a real genre one-off. Never as ...

Aztec Camera, Roddy Frame: Roddy Frame

Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, September 1999

You were such a formed writer so young. Do you rate that stuff now? ...

Roxy Music: Roxy Music/For Your Pleasure/Stranded/Country Life/Siren

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, September 1999

Their first five LPs lovingly remastered for your pleasure In 1969's Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboorn, Nik Cohn simultaneously celebrated and mourned the mythic era of "Superpop, the ...

The Jam, Ocean Colour Scene: Steve Cradock on Jam tribute album Fire and Skill

Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 1999

KA: What did The Jam mean to you? ...

Supergrass: Supergrass (Parlophone)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 1999

Third album from the scampish Oxford trio ...

Bryan Ferry: As Time Goes By (Virgin)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, November 1999

Standard time for legendary art-rocker and model ...

Beck: Midnite Vultures (Geffen)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, December 1999

Beck out-hips himself with his fourth album for Geffen, his sixth in all ...

Bernard Butler

Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, December 1999

BERNARD Butler’s had a bad back. According to his osteopath, he has songs hidden in his shoulders, "He’s really lovely, a natural healer. Guitar posture, ...

Billy Mackenzie, Paul Haig: Haig/Mackenzie: Memory Palace

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 1999

ON THE NIGHT of Wednesday, January 22, 1997, Billy MacKenzie, outrageously gifted vocalist with the Associates and writer of some of the most extraordinary music ...

U2: In the Name of Love

Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 1999

Twenty years ago next month, four teenagers from Dublin played their first British date in a north London pub, in front of less than a ...

Bauhaus, The Mission: Bauhaus: Gotham – Live/The Mission: Resurrection – Greatest Hits: Various Artists: Night Creatures –The Best Of Gothic Rock

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2000

MOCK AT your peril: word oozing from the bat-infested, lightning-flecked towers of the grown-up music press suggests that the year 2000 will spawn a goth ...

The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: The Sounds Of Science

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2000

Extensive compilation of their greatest hits, finest moments and rarities ...

Big Star: The Best of Big Star

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 2000

Fourteen cuts from troubled pop-rack demigods' first two LPs, remastered, at mid-price ...

Birth: Gotten Bold

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 2000

ONE OF the extra songs on Birth's debut EP Sweet Idol, is a cover version of perennial summer radio hit 'Groovin' by The Young Rascals, ...

Cousteau

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2000

Honey-throated singer begs comparisons with Scott Walker ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals: Mimosa

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000

NEW YORK wiseguys get on the laidback lounge-core tip. ...

Go-Kart Mozart: Instant Wigwam And Igloo Mixture (West Midlands)****

Review by Bob Stanley, Uncut, January 2000

No reservations: Former Felt and Denim singer Lawrence presents unsettling novelty electronica ...

Muse

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2000

West Country trio reach for the skies ...

Pete Townshend: The Lifehouse Chronicles

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000

Legendary follow up to Tommy — abandoned by The Who in 1971 — finally unveiled in a six-CD box set featuring a radio play, original ...

Public Image Ltd: PiL: Three's Company…

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2000

David Stubbs takes a shine to the mesmerising remorselessness of PUBLIC IMAGE LTD's post-punk Metal Box... ...

Prince: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2000

Guest star-filled major label return for the man who may yet be regal again. ...

R.E.M.: REM: Man On The Moon — Soundtrack

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2000

R.E.M.'s ASSOCIATION with Andy Kaufman goes back to 1993 when they penned 'Man On The Moon', Stipe's achingly personal tribute to the late comedian. ...

The Isley Brothers: It's Your Thing – The Story Of The Isley Brothers

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2000

A COLOSSAL, combustible funk-fest; enough for a throbbing theme-night in your very own living room. Furry kaftans and diamante-encrusted bomber jackets optional. Emerging from Lincoln ...

Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel Of Love; Human Touch; Lucky Town; The Ghost Of Tom Joad,

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000

DISILLUSIONED GROOM, LA-based newlywed and folk conscience of a nation – Springsteen after superstardom subsides ...

Bryan Ferry: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2000

This man swings fundamentally ...

Cabaret Voltaire

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2000

THE CROWD ARE ALREADY PRETTY fired up when the steamingly drunk weirdo trapped in flashing fairy lights tosses his guitar into the audience. This is ...

David Bowie: The Astoria, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2000

The live shows you really shouldn't have missed ...

Josh Rouse, Kurt Wagner: Josh Rouse & Kurt Wagner: Dog Day Afternoons

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000

Highly-acclaimed American songwriters JOSH ROUSE & KURT WAGNER have collaborated on a new, brillian mini-LP, named after a dog one of them never had. ...

Norman Cook

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2000

IN 1999, THE former Housemartin's career went supemova, earning him millions from his FATBOY SLIM records, remixes and DJ sets. Following the death of big ...

Primal Scream: XTRMNTR

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2000

Their sixth album kick starts the Millennium in angry electric jazz/punk/funk style. Significantly, the sleeve thanks Jaki Liebezeit of Can and The Prodigy's Liam Hewlett ...

Sonic Youth: Goodbye 20th Century

Review by Everett True, Uncut, February 2000

IN THE trade, this is known as noodling. Noodling occurs when a bunch of undeniably talented musicians gather together and decide they've had enough of ...

The Auteurs, Luke Haines: The Auteurs: Live in Paris

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2000

AS LUKE Haines builds up an ever-expanding oeuvre, replete with cross-references and self-mythologising manifestos, one wonders what the French might make of this superficially haughty ...

The Handsome Family: Live in the UK

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2000

BEFORE A note's been sung or a chord struck, Rennie Sparks has invited the audience back to her shoebox-sized dressing room for shrimp cocktails. As ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: 2Pac & Outlawz: Still I Rise; Notorious B.I.G.: Born Again

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2000

NO REST for the wicked – more posthumous releases from the slain linchpins of East and West Coast gangsta rap. ...

Bellatrix: Live in Reykjavik, Iceland

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2000

THINGS DO tend to get adequately surreal the second you step off the plane into the snowy lunar landscape of Iceland, so by the time ...

Jimmy Webb: Tunesmith: Inside The Art Of Songwriting

Book Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2000

GENIUS BEHIND 'MacArthur Park' and 'Wichita Lineman' examines his craft, peruses his muse, and almost makes sense of it all ...

Oasis: Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2000

Change of producer and change of mood for long-awaited fourth album ...

Oasis: Titanic!

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2000

OASIS, if you hadn't noticed, have just resurfaced. But will they sink or swim? After the druggy excesses of Be Here Now, following the departure ...

Raissa

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2000

RAISSA, WHOSE seductive single, 'How Long Do I Get', is currently raising a rumpus, spent Christmas swimming in the Red Sea. She's travelled before. She ...

Steely Dan: Two Against Nature

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2000

First album in two decades from America's premier cerebral jazz-pop twosome ...

The Cure: Bloodflowers

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2000

POSSIBLE SWANSONG from crying-on-the-inside clown prince of Stadium Goth. ...

The Who: BBC Sessions

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2000

Re-generation… From amphetamine mod-yobs to hairy rock messiahs on Radio Auntie ...

Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, The Who: The Who: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2000

WELL, YOU can't accuse them of being pompous, of inflating their legend. The Who shuffle distractedly onstage as if they're playing a mate's house party, ...

Neal Casal, Lou Ford, Jonny Kaplan, Knife in the Water, Midnight Choir: Western Promise: Glitterhouse albums by Neal Casal, Lou Ford, Knife in the Water et al.

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2000

Knife In The Water: Plays One Sound and Others Midnight Choir: Amsterdam Stranded Sunshine Club: Home Jonny Kaplan: California Heart Neal Casal: Anytime Tomorrow Lou ...

Palace Music, Will Oldham: Will Oldham: Guarapero / Lost Blues 2

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2000

WHERE OTHERS seek the high ground to illuminate themselves and their work, Will Oldham has persistently covered his tracks and found refuge in the shadows, ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Community Music

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2000

Storming new set of eclectic agit-pop from best live band in Britain ...

Doves: Experimentalists' Melodic Journey

Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Uncut, April 2000

THINGS FINALLY fall apart for Doves about a year ago. They've spent five years writing and recording, but very little material has been released. Their ...

June & The Exit Wounds: A Little More Haven Hamilton, Please

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2000

DEBUT ALBUM of so-normal-it's-strange pop-rock from latest American boy wonder. ...

Kelis: Kaleidoscope

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2000

Captivating Macy-worrying debut remarries hip hop and soul ...

Kelis: The Harlem Hurricane Blows Up A Storm

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2000

IT'S SCARILY early on a Monday morning and she says she's as out of it as I am ("I love the night, it just seems ...

Kelly Joe Phelps: Live in London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2000

KELLY JOE Phelps' slide guitar seemed to spring into independent life at the multiple climaxes of 1997's breakthrough LP, Roll Away The Stone, to ripple ...

Oasis: Liam Gallagher

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, April 2000

THE LOCATION IS LONDON'S flashy Landmark Hotel, a place where palm trees loom over drinkers in the lobby and there's a better class of toiletry ...

Smashing Pumpkins: Machina/The Machines Of God

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2000

MONOLITHIC GOTH-metal comeback from crisis-hit Mr Happy of alternative rock. ...

Talk Talk: Laughing Stock

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2000

THE MUSICAL JOURNEY undertaken by Talk Talk, from centre-right pop to the far, fan left of post-rock, remains unique in music history. ...

The Handsome Family: In The Air

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2000

SERENE MEDITATION on life-amid-death and fourth album from Chicago-based alt. country duo ...

The Handsome Family: Tales Of Extra Ordinary Madness

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2000

Welcome to the dark, disturbing world of Brett and Rennie Sparks, otherwise known as THE HANDSOME FAMILY. ...

Black Box Recorder: The Facts Of Life

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2000

LIKE THE ABSINTHE which Black Box Recorder's John Moore has busied himself importing since last year, BBR are an unusually toxic pleasure. Here, once more, ...

Elastica: The Menace

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2000

Stretching the imagination: Frischmann's answer-album to Blur's relationship-dissecting 13 ...

DMX, Jay Z, Juvenile, The Lox: Jay-Z, DMX, Juvenile and The Lox Albums

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2000

Huge over there, ignored over here – the state of the rap art, US-style: Jay-Z: Volume 3...Life And Times Of S Carter; ...

Lou Ford: Sad, But Familiar

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2000

THE ALBUM cover's a telegraph pole, wires strung across the horizon. A shoe's been tied to one, drunkard's wit. The title? Sad, But Familiar. Welcome ...

Max Tundra - Whizz-kid to watch

Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2000

"WHEN I was growing up, I'd go through my mum's record collection –things like 10cc, Nik Kershaw – and make these mixes on a tape ...

Patti Smith: Gung Ho (Arista)

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2000

The eighth album from garage rock's warrior queen tackles Vietnam, slavery, the American Civil War, corporate control and dreams of future freedom ...

Smog: Dongs Of Sevotion

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2000

Ninth dry—lipped album from the Buster Keaton of sadcore ...

Wah!: Wah & Peace

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2000

NINE YEARS AGO, Pete Wylie, who is The Mighty WAH!, was considered hot. Again. He leaned on a railing in Liverpool. It gave way and ...

Air: "If We Don't Surprise People Any More, Then We Will Die"

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2000

"THE FIRST time I was in LA," says Nicolas Godin, "I was in a very cool hotel. And in front of that hotel was a ...

Andrew Loog Oldham, The Rolling Stones: Andrew Loog Oldham

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2000

As manager of The Rolling Stones for most of the Sixties, ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM became almost as famous as the band themselves. Modelling himself on ...

Calexico: Hot Rail

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2000

Fourth outing from prolific Giant Sand rhythm kings and assorted playmates ...

Chic: The Very Best Of Chic

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2000

Another Chic anthology — why buy? An intelligent sleevenote with participation from Nile Rodgers, full-length album cuts where applicable. La musique elle-meme. ...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Godspeed You Black Emperor!: Live at The Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2000

"MISS CELINE Dion sings love songs while our cities burn". intones an awkward-looking man by way of greeting. "Kill her!" a woman in the crowd ...

Jeff Kelly: Melancholy Sun

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, June 2000

MAMMOTH BOX set from Green Pajamas frontman, covering "lost years". ...

John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: The Heart Of Things — Live In Paris

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2000

EX-MAHAVISHNU whizz and legendarily virtuosic cosmo-prog funk-jazz extrapolator in cool comeback shock ...

Calexico, Lambchop, Wheat: Kings Of Americana: Lambchop, Calexico, Wheat

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2000

Lambchop THE GREAT AMERICAN Music Hall is an exotic relic in the middle of San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Outside, the streets are full of junkies, hobos ...

Romanthony: R.Hide In Plain Site

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2000

BRILLIANT RETRO-futurist funk from New Jersey house sensation. ...

Ian Dury: The Life and Rhymes of Ian Dury 1942 — 2000

Obituary by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, June 2000

At the peak of his late '70s success, Ian Dury was one of this country’s most beloved entertainers. He kept busy in his post-stardom years ...

The Sex Pistols: Anarchy In The UK

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2000

THE EARLY SEVENTIES have been a golden age for the homegrown British pop single. The pan-stick and yob fraternity, which includes T-Rex, Sweet, Slade, Mott ...

Various Artists: Machine Soul: An Odyssey Into Electronic Dance Music

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2000

From Kraftwerk to BT, via Throbbing Gristle, Moby and the Chemicals – the history of synthpop ...

XTC: Wasp Star: Apple Venus Volume 2

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, June 2000

Magnificent guitar-centric follow-on set to the orch-pop of Volume 1 ...

Badly Drawn Boy: The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

Could Damon Gough's long-awaited debut be the indie Pet Sounds? ...

Birth: Gotten Bold

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

DEBUT FROM Bournemouth 'blue-eyed soul' Seventies revivalist. ...

Jimi Hendrix: Black Secret Technology

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, July 2000

Hendrix wasn't just the original firestarter, all flash and dazzle. He was a scientist of sound. ...

Jimi Hendrix: New Rising Son

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

Where Jimi Hendrix came from and where he would have gone next, had he survived, Hendrix expert Charles Shaar Murray talks to David Stubbs ...

Jimi Hendrix: Public Image Unlimited

Essay by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

Hendrix the black radical. Hendrix the glam dandy. Hendrix the icon. Hendrix the man. ...

Moby: The Story So Far/Ambient/Early Underground/ Rare: The Collected B-Sides 1989 — 1993

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2000

Feted techno munchkin's prolific past catches up with him ...

Moby: Whale Of The Century

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 2000

This year, MOBY's Play has dominated the UK LP charts. So who is this bald man singing the techno-blues? Paul Lester met the enigmatic American ...

Pearl Jam: Binaural

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2000

Patchily thrilling sixth effort from grunge vets ...

Phoenix: United

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, July 2000

THEY'RE FRENCH, they're pals with Air – and they sound like Steely Dan. ...

Saint Etienne: St Etienne: Sound Of Water

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

BACK IN the early Nineties, St Etienne were ubiquitous, perhaps a little too ubiquitous. Rarely out of the music press, constantly hovering on the edge ...

Max Tundra, Tele:funken: Tele:funken: A Collection Of Ice Cream Vans Vol 2

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2000

LIKE LABELMATE Max Tundra's debut last month, Tele:funken, aka Tom Fenn, here attempts electronica disconnected from the dancefloor, skipping round the looped conservatism of current ...

Tim Buckley: Starsailor

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, July 2000

Driven to despair by commercial neglect, his visionary genius unrecognised, TIM BUCKLEY died of a heroin overdose at the age of 28. On the 25th ...

Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget, Giorgio Moroder, Japan, Kraftwerk, Soft Cell, Suicide: Various Artists: Dawn Of Electronica

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2000

Founding fathers of technopop come together in electro land ...

High Fidelity

Film/DVD/TV Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 2000

Cusack and crew Americanise Nick Hornby's novel with suss and style ...

Beenie Man: Bennie Man: Art & Life

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2000

Flava floods out of dancehall ubermensch ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: Billy MacKenzie

Profile by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

"MacKenzie's real fear was the banal actuality of pop success…to keep his perfect, impossible-past-and-future pop fantasy intact, it was necessary to destroy Associates" ...

Black Sabbath: The Best Of Black Sabbath

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

TWO-CD compilation of Brummie metallurgists' grimmest, finest moments. ...

Chris Bell

Retrospective by Tom Cox, Uncut, August 2000

BASED ON the bittersweet songcraft of Big Star's "lost" classic debut, No 1 Record, Chris Bell is often referred to as the McCartney to Alex ...

Devo

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

DEVO'S FIRST single, 'Jock Homo', was released in 1977. An instant hit, it expounded the group's theory of de-evolution, that mankind is regressing, rather than ...

Garage: Pure Garage: Mixed Live By E-Z; Underground Explosion: The Real Garage Mix

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2000

Garage — the sound of the UK underground goes mainstream ...

Joy Division: Ian Curtis

Profile by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 2000

IAN CURTIS has amassed more disciples since his death 20 years ago than he ever attracted as singer with Manchester post-punk legends Joy Division. ...

Chris Farlowe, The McCoys, P.P. Arnold, The Small Faces: Immediate Records: Happy To Be Part Of The Industry Of Human Happiness

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

Sudden impact: Best of the label that brought us the Small Faces…and Jimmy Tarbuck. ...

The Carpenters: Karen Carpenter

Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 2000

KAREN CARPENTER possesses such iconic value now — feminist totem, camp death-cult, Prozac Nation suffragette — it is increasingly difficult to assess her unique musical ...

Kurt Cobain, Nirvana: Kurt Cobain

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

WHEN ROCK stars die, it's usually as a result of living too well, taking too much, going too fast, getting too high. ...

Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland: Lost Boys and Fallen Angels: Kevin Rowland

Profile by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000

With Dexy's Midnight Runners, he got to Number One twice, but his self-esteem was minus zero ...

Lou Reed: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000

BACK IN the Seventies – revelling in junkie debauchery – Lou Reed shows were a notoriously ghoulish spectacle, He was the wayward poet of sleaze, ...

Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

"It's about detesting the body. That's why you choose to mark it...all my life I've felt weak compared to others. If they want to crush ...

Marvin Gaye

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

"His fears mounted — nuclear apocalypse, gunmen out to get him…" ...

John Coltrane, Miles Davis: Miles Davis and John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

TIME SASHAYS on and Miles Davis, who was still with us only a few blinks of an eye ago is already becoming history. Hence Sony's ...

Nick Drake

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

"I was born to sail away into a land of forever/not to be tied to an old stone grave/in your land of never" — Nick ...

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left****; Bryter Layter****; Pink Moon*****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

Lost poet's main works re-released ...

Laura Nyro: Oh My Love-Trumpet Soul: Laura Nyro's New York Tendaberry

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

AND A GREAT tenderness came forth from the unforgiving streets of the East Side. It's easy to dislike Laura Nyro. Your first requirement is to ...

Phoenix

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 2000

SEVENTIES CALIFORNIA meets Y2K Paris. ...

Scott Walker: Scott/Scott 2/Scott 3/Scott 4/Boychild: 1967-1970

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

The Arctic explorer's '60s solo oeuvre remastered with new pix and full lyrix. ...

Shivaree

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 2000

BRILLIANTLY ECLECTIC musical mix from new US trio. ...

Stevie Wonder: The Electrification Of Soul

Overview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2000

"THERE'S NEVER BEEN a time when Stevie Wonder hasn't been relevant," said an associate of Wonder's on Channel 4's recent Top 10 Seventies Soul run-down. ...

The Associates: Reissues

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2000

Legendary Scottish duo — featuring late, great Billy MacKenzie — issue best work and pre-fame material ...

The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus and Mary Chain: Crash And Burn

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2000

FEBRUARY 2000. Seventeen months after the corpse of The Jesus And Mary Chain finally stopped twitching. In the claustrophobic interior of London's 12-Bar Club, a ...

Thea Gilmore

Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2000

Fiercely-independent young singer-songwriter looks to past for inspiration. ...

Tom Waits: The Rex, Paris

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2000

WAITS JUNKIES are everywhere — filling the bars, and brasseries around the venue, queuing up around the block in the rain-drenched Parisian streets. ...

Tupac Shakur

Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 2000

TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR seemed to consider himself immortal, and there are certainly many who still refuse to believe the 25-year-old rapper died after a Las ...

Warren Zevon: Live

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2000

THE GREATEST night of Warren Zevon's performing life was in the hometown of the boxer, Buster Douglas, after Douglas had become the first man to ...

Badly Drawn Boy

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2000

IN AN ANNOYINGINGLY loud Oxford Street pub, Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, is struggling to make his voice heard above the raucously assertive blare ...

De La Soul: Art Official Intelligence (Mosaic Thump)

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2000

NO ONE who saw the packed, mostly young, black crowd reveling in the house party atmosphere of De La Soul's last UK gig in 1997 ...

Lewis Taylor: Lewis II

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2000

Long-awaited second album from R&B retro whiz in lovelorn mode. ...

Mansun: Little Kix

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, September 2000

THREE IS the magic number for Britrock alchemists ...

Radiohead: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2000

CONFUSED, SCHIZOPHRENIC, sneering and intense yet sometimes transported by innocent joy – Radiohead's audience sure are a strange crowd. The crossover-cult idols' first English gig ...

Cocteau Twins

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2000

"Some people know why they make music, I suppose. But we never talk about what we're doing. Ever" – Simon Raymonde, 1990 ...

Craig Werner: A Change Is Gonna Come – Music, Race & the Soul Of America

Book Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2000

Potent history of black American music, from Gospel-fuelled Civil Rights-era freedom marches, through Motown, Monterey, The Million Man March and much, much more. ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Dexy's Midnight Runners: Anarchic In The UK

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2000

Gavin Martin celebrates the 20th anniversary of Dexys Midnight Runners' ground-breaking Searching For The Young Soul Rebels ...

Art of Noise, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Art Of Noise et al: A Force From Above

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000

MAXIMUM JOYPROPAGANDAA SECRET WISHTHE ART OF NOISEWHO'S AFRAID OF THE ART OF NOISE ...

Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 2000

LOUD, FLASHY, purple, wild, a danger to the nation's daughters. Face it, if personalities like JM Hendrix didn't exist, life would be rather boring. (And ...

Leila: Courtesy Of Choice

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2000

ANOTHER SUPERLATIVE ambient/techno album from former Bjork collaborator ...

Madonna: Music

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000

Her Madgesty's eighth studio album is a clinical future-dance monster ...

Monaco: Papillon

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2000

BELATED SOPHOMORE opus from Wallace And Gromit of Manc disco-rock. ...

Oasis: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000

MY GOD, they plod. The paucity of ideas would be staggering, were it not so dull. ...

Sparks: Balls

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2000

FIRST ALL-NEW flurry since 1994's Gratuitous Sax And Senseless Violins ...

Paul Weller, The Style Council: The Style Council

Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2000

WELLER'S cappuccino-drinking years ...

The Webb Brothers: Maroon

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2000

CHIPS OFF the old block deliver first album 'proper', produced by Smiths/Blur helmsman Stephen Street. ...

Brian Wilson, Wondermints: Wondermints: Bali

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, October 2000

UK RELEASE at last for second LP from Brian Wilson's "backing band." ...

Bob Dylan: The Point Depot, Dublin

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2000

YOU CAN trust in Bob, the magnificent minstrel and incredible icon, the prime preserver and arch plunderer of 20th century Americana, to pull a surprise ...

Chris Morris: Blue Jam

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2000

'Is Morris operating from a high plane of disgust or from some pit of personal rage?' Compilation of best bits from the dark ambient comedy ...

Cocteau Twins: Stars And Topsoil

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2000

AFTER THE singles box set, a single-CD retrospective from the unique trio. ...

David Bowie: Bowie At The Beeb

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2000

TRIPLE-CD gathers The Dame's sessions for 'Auntie', both contemporary and historical. ...

David Sylvian, Japan: David Sylvian: Everything And Nothing

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, November 2000

COLLECTED OUEVRE of Japan's finest ...

Howard Devoto, Magazine: Howard Devoto: Shot By Both Sides

Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, November 2000

AND THEN, in 1976, when Howard Devoto was 24, he wrote and recorded four fast songs with the group Buzzcocks, and they became the EP ...

Radiohead's Kid A: Revolution In The Head

Essay by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, November 2000

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE STATE OF BRITISH ROCK, AND HOW COME RADIOHEAD'S KID A HAS GOT IT SO RIGHT? ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: Roni Size & Reprazent: In The Mode

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, November 2000

FOLLOW-UP to 1997's New Forms ...

Teenage Fanclub: Howdy!

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2000

EIGHTH LONG-player from Glasgow's finest, produced by Norman Blake & Co ...

The Beatles: The Death Of The Beatles

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2000

JANUARY 2, 1969. They are probably the four most famous people in the world, but this morning at the raw beginning of the last year ...

The Doors: The Lizard King's life's work digitally remastered and packaged as vinyl replicas

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2000

Strange DaysWaiting For The SunThe Soft ParadeMorrison HotelLa WomanEssential Rarities ...

Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers: The Twlight Singers: Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2000

SIDE PROJECT from The Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli, featuring Fila Brasilia and Pigeonhed's Shawn Smith ...

Willard Grant Conspiracy

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2000

They say that everything will turn out right/It never seems that way, this time of night ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam And The Ants: Stand And Deliver

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2000

TRIPLE-CD box set honours Prince Charming man. ...

Chilly Gonzales: The Entertainist

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2000

Sleazy post-party grooves from original prankster ...

Fatboy Slim: Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2000

Can't Cook, Won't Cook: Macy Gray guest slot aside, disappointing follow-up to You've Come A Long Way, Baby ...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Godspeed You Black Emperor!: Levez Vos Skinny Fists Comme Antennae To Heaven

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 2000

ANOTHER BRILLIANT sprawl of ambient indie-rock from the Montreal 10-piece ...

John Martyn: Emotional Rescue

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 2000

DAVID STUBBS SWOONS OVER THAT POIGNANT PRECURSOR OF TRIP HOP, JOHN MARTYN'S SOLID AIR ...

Kid606: ps i love you

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2000

Mixed bag of tricks from latest Electronica whiz ...

Lambchop: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, December 2000

"THERE'S SO many of you!" Peering out uncertainly from under a peaked work-cap, what Lambchop's Kurt Wagner sees is his biggest British crowd to date, ...

Laura Nyro: The Essential Masters

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2000

DEEP ARTIST travestied by shallow "Greatest Hits" package. ...

Chic, Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2000

FIRST RELEASE on CD for Chic-album-in-all-but-name from 1978 ...

PJ Harvey: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2000

Self-produced sixth album is curate's egg ...

Sonny Rollins: The Freelance Years

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2000

COLTRANE'S GREAT tenor rival gets another boxed-set boost. ...

The Beach Boys: Wave Culture…

Overview by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2000

SunflowerSurf's UpCarl And The Passions – So ToughHollandThe Beach Boys In Concert15 Big OnesThe Beach Boys Love YouM.I.U. AlbumLA (Light Album)Keepin' The Summer AliveThe Beach ...

U2: All That You Can't Leave Behind

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2000

Corn without authenticity. Bono and Co rediscover the importance of being earnest ...

The Boo Radleys, The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis: Various Artists: Creation Records - International Guardians Of Rock'n'roll 1983-1999

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2000

Best of the late, legendary indie label ...

Radiohead and Whose Army

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, 2001

THE TOWERING inferno is visible from miles away. Thom Yorke drives towards the horizon, the acrid stench of toxic smoke filling his car. He cranks ...

Bad Company, Free: Almost Famous

Film/DVD/TV Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001

Shrewdly sweet eulogy to rock'n'roll fandom ...

Cameron Crowe: Bringing It All Back Home

Profile by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2001

"If people have a problem with Almost Famous, what they're saying is they have a problem with my life." ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band/Double Fantasy

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, February 2001

The dream is over… ...

Madonna: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001

The live shows you really shouldn't have missed - a transcendent pop moment ...

Miles Davis: Big Fun; Get Up With It; On The Corner

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, February 2001

CONTROVERSIAL FUSION megastructures from the early Seventies. ...

Moby: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001

IT'S A CASE of premature elevation. Of shock promotion to the Premiership with a make-shift squad. Moby shouldn't be playing this soulless aircraft hangar. ...

Stephen Malkmus: Stephen Malkmus

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2001

Pavement ex-frontman goes solo ...

The Byrds: Outlaw Chic

Retrospective by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2001

ROB HUGHES SALUTES THE BYRDS' GEM THE NOTORIOUS BYRD BROTHERS ...

The Slits: Cutting Edge

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, February 2001

I AM A LITTLE nervous as I approach Viv Albertine's house. She was a Slit. For anybody of a certain age who has a penis ...

Dr. Dre, Eminem, Ice Cube, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Dr Dre/Snoop Dogg/Eminem/Ice Cube: The Up In Smoke Tour (Eagle Vision)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2001

IN WHICH THE meanest mf-ers in contemporary hip hop, now wallowing in a gargantuan trough of dollars, give themselves 10 times more than enough rope, ...

Ladytron: 604

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2001

BACK TO the future with enigmatic pop androids. ...

Albert King, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Mavis Staples, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, William Bell: Stax: The Stax Story

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2001

Four-disc overview for the label that brought you sweet soul music ...

The La's: The La's

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2001

LONG OVERDUE re-release of debut by great lost Britpop precursors ...

The Mekons: New York: On The Road '86-'87

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2001

LEEDS PUNKS' Cold War-era Country Invasion Of The States in all its ragged glory ...

Daft Punk: Discovery

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2001

Gods of "filter disco" finally issue follow-up to 1997'strailblazing Homework. ...

Eileen Rose: Live at Borders Bookshop, London

Live Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2001

BOSTONIAN EX-PAT Eileen Rose continues to rack up plaudits for her mesmeric debut album Shine Like It Does and so it was that, flanked by ...

Eminem: The London Arena, Docklands

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001

FOR A FEW days there, between Internet babies and new genetic codes, Eminem's UK tour made him the leading media talking-point. ...

Grandaddy: Manchester University

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2001

STRANGE TALES of exploding androids, lost loves, graveyards for household gadgets, crashed spaceships, sunken dreams and cock-and-bull tourist authorities. Welcome to the bevelled woodchuckery of ...

Jim White: In God's Country

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2001

ON HIS EXTRAORDINARY NEW ALBUM, NO SUCH PLACE, HE HAS CONTRIVED AN ASTONISHING MIX OF SPOOKILY DEMENTED COUNTRY, SKEWED ROCK AND HIP HOP THAT CHARTS ...

John Fahey: The Great San Bernadino Birthday Party And Other Excursions

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, April 2001

Solitary fingerstyle pioneer evokes the dark side of the Sixties ...

Kristin Hersh: A Kind Of Blue

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001

THE FRIENDLY, LAUGHING, jet-lagged, pale, charismatic Kristin Hersh says that odd combinations of words are the only way to get her attention. ...

Love: Forever Changes

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, April 2001

ONE OF THE many misleading ways in which writers born since the Sixties view that enigmatic decade stems from the modern habit of judging success ...

Michael Jackson: Greatest Hits – History Volume 1

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2001

ONCE UPON a time, wise critics dubbed Michael Jackson pop's Peter Pan. ...

OutKast: Live in London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2001

THE LAUREL And Hardy of phuture rap ...

PJ Harvey: Live in London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001

THE LAST rock star, dripping with dark poetry, mystery and unforced glamour, stands alone onstage in spectacular red dress and electric guitar, crying, "Lick my ...

The Divine Comedy

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001

THE ARCH COMBO RETURN WITH A NEW ALBUM, REGENERATION, PRODUCED BY NIGEL (KID A) GODRICH. HERE, FRONTMAN NEIL HANNON AND MUSICAL LYNCHPIN JOBY TALBOT TELL ...

The Divine Comedy: Regeneration

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2001

NEW SOUND but same ideals for polished popsmiths. ...

The Webb Brothers

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2001

'I'll make it through the show!' ...

The Who: Reissues

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2001

Soundtracks from three Who-derived Seventies films — something old, something borrowed and something horrible ...

Venus Ray: Chuck Berry vs IBM

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2001

SPRAWLED IN the baroque bohemianism of their singer-songwriter Diggory Kenrick's west London local, Venus Ray seem a lifetime away from the 18 days of madness ...

Aerosmith: We Have Ways Of Making You Talk

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2001

AEROSMITH HAVE JUST BEEN INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK'N'ROLL HALL OF FAME. WE ASKED MAIN MAN STEVEN TYLER ABOUT 25 YEARS ON THE EDGE, NEW ALBUM ...

The Beach Boys: Beach Boys: Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2001

Choral unevensong from the waywardly wondrous Wilson clan ...

Big Youth: Natty Universal Dread; and, Various Aritists: A Jamaican Story

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2001

IN JAMAICA, the DJ isn't the guy who spins the records (that's the selector), it's the bloke who chats over the music. As misnomers go, ...

Bill Evans: The Last Waltz

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2001

UNLESS YOU'RE hardline avant-garde (in which case, you'll vote for Cecil Taylor), Bill Evans (1929-1980) is the greatest jazz pianist of the post-bebop era. Classically ...

Bob Dylan: Liverpool

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2001

'THE PROBLEM OF an artistic life that now moves forward like a shark is there's no time to think' ...

Depeche Mode

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2001

DAVE GAHAN can't breathe. He can also hear nothing. Which is a little odd because there are 30,000 Depeche Mode fans just yards away, screaming ...

Faust: The Wumme Years 1971-73

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2001

THERE'S STILL nothing quite like the first side of Faust's eponymous debut album, recorded in 1971 and released by a bemused Polydor in 1972. These ...

Manic Street Preachers: Know Your Enemy

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2001

Tentatively experimental, hardline political stuff from Wire, Bradfield and Moore ...

Neu!: Reissues

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2001

Krautrock revisited and remastered: Bowie, Eno, Thorn Yorke, Damon Albarn, Stereolab and Sonic Youth pay sleevenote homage to the Lennon And McCartney of Teutonic boogaloo ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave: No More Shall We Part

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2001

Tenth solo album from Saint Nick ...

Stereophonics: Just Enough Education To Perform

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2001

ON THE extraordinarily long-winded new single 'Mr Writer', which plods like few records not made by Oasis have plodded, Kelly Jones exhorts music journalists to ...

The Avalanches: Since I Left You

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2001

YOU SHOULD HEAR the things people say about The Avalanches: "Basement Jaxx meets The Beta Band," "Stardust crossed with Stereolab," sample-based music with the freshness ...

Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys: The Soft Boys: The Three Kings, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2001

THE ONE-TIME freaks are out tonight, suited and booted for this biz-only reintroduction to Robyn Hitchcock's reconstituted Soft Boys, in the tucked-away, locked-up Clerkenwell pub ...

The Who: Go Figure…

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2001

THE WHO BY NUMBERS IS PETE TOWNSHEND'S MASTERPIECE. ...

Tindersticks: Subterania, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2001

"WE HAVEN'T found our feet yet, have we?" mutters Stuart Staples mid-set. A voice from the crowd is shy but clearly audible: "Yes, you have!" ...

Various Artists: Back To Black (Universal)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, May 2001

Ten-CD, 220-track History Of Black Music behemoth put together by Morgan 'Streetsounds' Khan in tandem with 35-strong industry committee ...

Tupac Shakur: 2Pac: Until The End Of Time; Various Artists: Death Row Records — Greatest Hits

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2001

Flawed flashbacks to a turbulent chapter in hip hop history ...

ABC, Tears For Fears: ABC & Tears For Fears: Compilations

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2001

Tears For Fears: between two stools. ABC: cool disco sheen. That was then. Early Eighties pop revisited Hello! — An Introduction To ABC The Working Hour — ...

Alpha: A Profile

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2001

BRISTOL, LIKE Manchester, was once synonymous with nervy, wired, dark white funk – The Pop Group, Rip Rig & Panic. Then the drugs changed (skunk, ...

Bob Dylan: In My Time Of Dyin'…

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2001

ON ITS RELEASE IN 1962, BOB DYLAN'S FIRST ALBUM BLEW MINDS ALL OVER THE WORLD. IAN MACDONALD RECALLS ITS IMPACT ON HIS OWN TEENAGE YEARS ...

Bright Eyes: Letting Off The Happiness (Wichita) ***

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2001

Prequel to last year's impressive Fevers And Mirrors from Omaha wunderkind ...

Bruce Springsteen: Live In New York City (Columbia 2CD)****

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2001

SCINTILLATING DOCUMENT of The Boss reunited with His Gang last year at Madison Square Garden. ...

Ed Harcourt: Borders, Oxford Street, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2001

THE CROWD for One of Uncut's biggest Borders night so far are backing up from the DIY department into History. Some are still in line ...

Howe Gelb: Confluence (Loose)***

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2001

TWENTY YEARS in, the Giant Sand guru's songwriting torrent courses stronger than ever. ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone 1951-2001

Obituary by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2001

'Life to me is an adventure and you've got to experience everything' ...

Air: Mild is the wind…:Air: 10,000 Hz Legend (Virgin) **½

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, June 2001

Follow-up proper to Moon Safari features Beck on two tracks ...

Orbital: The Altogether (ffrr) ****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2001

ON THE techno calendar, the present era isn't so much AD as AD&B – the post-drum'n'bass era. That genre followed a curious arc – it ...

OutKast: Stankonia

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, June 2001

IN A RECENT diatribe, American theorist Joe Carducci blamed digital studio techniques for extinguishing rock's vital spark. And he lambasted contemporary black music, "an 'R&B' ...

Television: Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2001

IT WAS the Sixties that divided London and New York punk: just traces to be kicked over, fathers to be killed, went the official line ...

To Rococo Rot

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2001

Soothing German trio ...

Bob Dylan: Wild Mercury: A Tale Of Two Dylans

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2001

"Lotta people seeing double tonight.From the disease of conceit"– 'Disease Of Conceit' (Oh Mercy, 1989) ...

XTC: Reissues

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, June 2001

Their Virgin albums 1978-1991, digitally remastered and available either as limited edition Japanese-import miniatures or full-artwork, extra-tracks British releases ...

Zero 7: A Profile

Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2001

"PEOPLE ASSOCIATE us with groups like Lemon Jelly and ask, 'Is there a scene? Where do you all hang out together?' We've heard maybe one ...

Zoot Woman: Living In A Magazine (Wall Of Sound)****

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2001

PRISTINE ROBO-pop from Madonna's favourite retro-futurist. ...

Air, Daft Punk: Daft Punk & Air: Disco Tech

Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2001

DAFT PUNK AND AIR ARE THE BEATLES AND STONES OF THE INTERNATIONAL DANCE SCENE. SO WHY IS THE FRENCH ESTABLISHMENT – SO PROUD OF ITS ...

Gene Clark: Flight Fantastic

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, July 2001

GENE CLARK'S NO OTHER IS ONE OF THE GREAT LOST ALBUMS. ...

Hamell On Trial: Upstairs At The Garage, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2001

"EVERYONE HERE'S very nice to me. Shutthefuckup when I'm talkin'!" The self-described "bald, sweaty fucker on stage", Ed Hamell, of Syracuse, New York, is dressed ...

Laura Nyro: Angel In The Dark (Rounder)****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2001

THE LAST recordings from the 'Bronx Bronte', covered by everyone from Sinatra to Streisand. A live album's imminent, too. ...

Madonna: Madonna****; Like A Virgin***; True Blue**** (Maverick/Warner)

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2001

THE MAKING of a modern icon – her first three LPs remastered with extra remixes. ...

Marvin Gaye: Trouble Soul Man

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, July 2001

13 of the 30-odd albums released in the his lifetime: five twofers from the Sixties, an expanded 30th anniversary edition of his 1971 classic and ...

Paul McCartney: Wingspan (EMI)***

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2001

MACCA'S FIRST post-Fabs decade. ...

Pernice Brothers: The World Won't End

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2001

DESPITE THE previous year's flawless neo-country masterpiece Massachusetts, Joe Pernice quit the Scud Mountain Boys in 1997 in pursuit of new horizons and a craving ...

Perry Farrell: Song Yet To Be Sung (Virgin)****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2001

FIRST SOLO album from ex-Jane's Addiction frontman in half-century celebratory mode ...

Pet Shop Boys: Reissues

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2001

First six studio albums plus Tennant's extra ...

Radiohead: Amnesiac (Parlophone)****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2001

DISGUST, DESPERATION, desolation, derision – all of these were once key qualities in what constituted left-field/indie. From The Birthday Party to PiL, from Elvis Costello ...

Richard Hawley: Richard Hawley

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2001

Former Pulp guitarist makes dynamic debut with mini-album of spectral ballads ...

Roxy Music: Re-make Re-model

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 2001

"PEOPLE ALWAYS apply this word 'cool' to me, and I'm far from it, really," says Bryan Ferry. "I'm very hot-blooded. It's strange. But then there's ...

Tim Buckley: The Dream Belongs To Me (Manifesto)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, July 2001

NO COMPILATION HAS ever been adequate to the task of representing Tim Buckley in his full groove, strangeness and charm; this is a man responsible ...

Tindersticks: Live at The Botanique, Brussels

Live Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2001

AH, EUROPE. Given the increasingly infantile world of Anglo-American rock and pop culture, it's heartening to know there are giant pockets of pre-post-modern, un-ironic reverentiality ...

Turin Brakes

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2001

AS FIRST gigs go, it was an almost surreal baptism. Happily for them, the Queen was impressed. "She came over and said hello. I just ...

Plaid, Prefuse 73, Squarepusher: Warp Records: Various Reviews

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2001

Don't all rush at once, alt.country fans – a triple-whammy of Warp techno  Plaid - Double Figure Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies And Uprock Narratives Squarepusher - Go ...

Arthur Lee, Love: Arthur Lee: We Have Ways Of Making You Talk

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2001

ONCE DESCRIBED by fellow band-member Brian MacLean as 'the baddest guy on the West Side of LA, the Cassius Clay of the streets' – Arthur ...

Blue Oyster Cult: Blue Oyster Cult/Tyranny & Mutation/Secret Treaties/Agents Of Fortune

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2001

WITH ITS de rigueur darkside lyrics, bugaboo blues-monster riffs, and hypermacho pose-striking, heavy metal was always the dumbest member of the rock family. ...

Buffalo Springfield: Buffalo Springfield Boxed Set (Rhino)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2001

MASSIVELY DETAILED retrospective packed with previously unreleased material ...

Butthole Surfers: Crust Of A Wave

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

THEY STARTED musical life riding the first wave of US punk rock in the early Eighties, Texans purveying lo-fi snotballs of geetar with titles like ...

Cannibal Ox: The Cold Vein

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2001

Hot from the States: hip hop meets electronica ...

Destiny's Child, Missy Elliott: Destiny's Child: Survivor (Columbia)***; Missy Elliott: Miss E…So Addictive (Elektra)*****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2001

Two blasts of future freak-funk ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: Echo and the Bunnymen: Crystal Days (1979-1999)**** (Warner Strategic Marketing)

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, August 2001

MAC LADS' four-CD retrospective ...

Ed Harcourt: Live at The Borderline, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2001

THE SINGER-SONGWRITERLY hush of bookshops doesn't, it turns out, bring out the best in Ed Harcourt's combative soul. His recent Borders acoustic show may have ...

Brian Eno: Eno: The Man Who

Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, August 2001

After he left Roxy Music in 1973, Brian Eno became a key figure in the development of electronic music – in the nineties, NME ...

John Oswald: Plunderphonics 69/96 (Fony)****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

Sample Minded… Sampladelia run rampant from the USA ...

Neil Young: Sheffield Arena

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2001

THE LIGHTS go down, and they amble onstage, gradually gathering together in a scrum, or pow wow. ...

Pernice Brothers: The World Won't End

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2001

SUN-BAKED melancholy from Boston ...

Simon & Garfunkel Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2001

Wednesday Morning, 3am*/The Sounds Of Silence****/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme***/Bookends*****/Bridge Over Troubled Water*** (All Columbia) Sixties folk-rock digitally done up and decorated with extra tracks ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Stone: Back On The Right Track*** and Ain't But The One Way*** (Warner)

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

REISSUE OF Sylvester Stewart's last two albums to date ...

Songdog

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2001

Welsh champions of the Beats ...

The Beta Band: Hot Shots II

Readers' Letters by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2001

Both Barrels Blazing - Follow-up to 1999's notoriously disowned eponymous debut ...

Roy Harper: The Spirit Lives: Roy Harper

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

"I DON'T THINK I'm very good at interviews, because I have too many thoughts going off at the same time to be able to explain ...

Travis: The Invisible Band (Independiente)****

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, August 2001

A FOLLOW-UP of quality and distinction, inventively produced ...

Tricky: Blowback (Anti)**

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

Trip hop supremo Adrian Thawes returns, restored to health, and helped by guests Cyndi Lauper and Red Hot Chili Peppers ...

Emmylou Harris: Anthology (Warner Archives/Rhino)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, September 2001

ALTHOUGH RARELY FORWARDED as a "woman in music" icon, it’s hard to think of a more exemplary career - male or female, consistent and daring ...

Graham Parker

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2001

FROM CAMBERLEY petrol pump attendant to punk-soul supremo: GP's golden era repackaged and remastered. ...

Luke Haines: The Oliver Twist Manifesto

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, September 2001

Solo debut from sometime Auteur, Black Box Recorder and Baader Meinhof pop terrorist. ...

Mercury Rev: All Is Dream (V2)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, September 2001

THIS IS AN AFTER record in all senses: after loving the highs and lows and then learning to disavow that love, after going through the ...

Mercury Rev: Dream Of A Lifetime

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2001

"WE WERE NEVER interested in placing ourselves, in saying that we were a band that started in the late Eighties and were the musical emissaries ...

N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D": In Search Of...

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, September 2001

R&B production team turn out politically-infused black rock'n'soul album ...

Prefab Sprout: The King Of Rock'n'Roll

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2001

FOR SOMEONE who's only ever strived to bring a little wistful beauty into our pop lives, with an honest and artisan approach to the craft ...

Pavement, Preston School of Industry: Preston School of Industry: All This Sounds Gas (Domino)****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2001

PAVEMENT FOUNDER member emerges from dark side of the Malkmus to release solo project, whose name derives from San Francisco-area reform school ...

Radiohead: South Park, Oxford

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2001

IT'S ALWAYS been easy to hate Radiohead, and I always have. There have been undeniable sparks of beauty on every album ('High And Dry' to ...

Roxy Music: Live at Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2001

BRYAN FERRY, surrounded by a dozen boa-trembling dancing girls on day release from Moulin Rouge, has sweaty armpits. This just doesn't happen! Or, at least, ...

The Band: Wheels On Fire

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, September 2001

IN TERMS OF scale and impact, rock music was born during Dylan's 1965-6 world tour with a group called The Hawks. Dylan's rig was by ...

The Doors: Bright Midnight/Live In America (Elektra)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, September 2001

ONE BRIGHT MIDNIGHT: 2 songs from 1969 & 14 songs from 1970, a moment of magickal cusp, a genuine celebration, a true revelation, a breathtaking ...

The Human League: Are Friends Electro?

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2001

JOANNE CATHERALL (the brunette one) has been relatively quiet throughout the interview, content to pick through her lunch while Susanne Sulley (the blonde one) and ...

The Lilac Time: Compendium — The Fontana Trinity (Universal/Fontana)*****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2001

FORTY-FOUR-TRACK twofer cherry-picked from first three albums – includes B-sides and rarities. ...

Zoot Woman

Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2001

EIGHTIES SYNTH-POP revisited with soul and style. ...

Abba: Reissues

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 2001

All the studio albums 1973-1981, digitally remastered with statistic-stuffed notes and bonus tracks previously only heard on 1994's Thank You For The Music box ...

Ben Folds, Ben Folds Five: Ben Folds: Rockin' The Suburbs** (Epic)

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, October 2001

FOR ALL the kick-ass live excitement and increasingly refined recorded achievements of his piano-led power trio, it was inevitable that the most musically literate pop ...

Björk: Super Fairy Animal

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, October 2001

SHE'S NOT A bit how you'd think she'd be. From the public persona of song and video, you might reasonably expect effervescence, an explosive extravagance ...

Bob Dylan: Love And Theft (Columbia)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, October 2001

ON 1997’s Time Out of Mind, Bob Dylan sounded like a man coming to accounts with himself, with the fact that anything from this point ...

Elton John: Rocket***

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2001

BACK TO basics, and partial return to form, on 28th studio album ...

James Brown: Live At The Apollo Volume II (Deluxe Edition) (Universal)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 2001

UNEDITED REISSUE of legendary 1967 double album. ...

New Order: Olympia Theatre, Liverpool

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2001

BY RIGHTS, they shouldn't be here at all. The acrimonious fallout from 1993's tempestuous Republic gouged a rift within New Order that seemed way beyond ...

Courtney Love, Nirvana: Nirvana, Courtney Love: Live Through This: American Rock Music In The Nineties By Everett True

Book Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 2001

Marking the 10th anniversary of Nevermind, True relives a turbulent life in grunge and Gullick and Sweet share their photographs ...

The Strokes: Road To Nowhere: The Strokes: Is This It? (Rough Trade)

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2001

Debut album from the year's other most talked-about new American band. ...

Spiritualized: Let It Come Down (Spaceman)

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, October 2001

"I WON’T GET TO Heaven the state I'm in," weeps Jason Pierce, but it sounds more like "I won't get as far as the Corn ...

Spiritualized: Urban Spaced Man

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2001

ON LET IT Come Down, the latest and greatest Spiritualized album, Jason Pierce utilises some 100 musicians, among them choristers, gospel singers and entire brass ...

T. Rex: Electric Warrior (Universal)*****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2001

SEMINAL BOLAN breakthrough boogies again – remastered by Tony Visconti himself ...

The Handsome Family: Twilight

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2001

CALL IT WHAT you will – proto-country, Southern Gothic, backwoods noir, Americana, cow-punk, insurgent twang, murderous balladry, Appalachian folk. Whichever way you slice it, The ...

The Who

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2001

AUGUST, 1969: Upstate New York. All along America's Eastern seaboard upright citizens of this great nation are starting to slowly stir from deep and uneventful ...

John's Children: Various Artists: Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire & Beyond (Rhino) ****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, October 2001

Golden Wonders: Latest instalment in renowned mid-Sixties rock anthology incorporates long-lost Brits ...

23 Skidoo: Seven Songs, Urban Gamelan

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, November 2001

Audacious avant-funksters re-released ...

Aphex Twin: Drukqs*** (Warp)

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2001

LATEST TWO-CD album from ageing boy genius shows hints of classical influence ...

Ben Christophers

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2001

VOCALLY GYMNASTIC British tunesmith overcomes that difficult-second-album syndrome... ...

Blondie: Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2001

New York new wave pop pasticheurs repackaged ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley CD Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2001

Catch A Fire*****Burnin'****Natty Dread****Live!****Rastaman Vibration***All Island Roots Of Passage: First instalment of definitive reissue programme ...

Santana: Carlos Santana: Divine Light — Reconstruction And Mix Translation: Bill Laswell (Sony Jazz)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2001

AMBIENT, HINDU-influenced, mystical jazz-rock spectacular. ...

Cat Power, Lift To Experience: Cat Power/Lift To Experience: The Garage, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2001

IT STARTS WITH guitars screaming, and ends in a whisper. The sadistic social experiment of putting Lift To Experience's apocalyptic Texan assault second on the ...

David Crosby

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2001

THE FORMER BYRD RECENTLY TOURED EUROPE WITH CROSBY, PEVAR, RAYMOND – RAYMOND BEING HIS SON JAMES, WITH WHOM HE WAS REUNITED IN 1995 – TO ...

Garbage: Beautiful Garbage (Mushroom)*****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2001

THIRD AND arguably best album yet from Madison's finest. ...

ABC: Martin Fry: When Martin Sings…

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2001

"IT WAS GREAT doing interviews when I first started, cos I'd just tell everyone what a brilliant, worldwide phenomenon ABC were going to be as ...

Miles Davis: Live At The Fillmore East (March 7,1970): It's About That Time (Columbia/Legacy)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2001

FIERCE PRE-Bitches Brew live date at a rock venue. ...

Pulp: We Love Life (Island) *****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, November 2001

After scrapped sessions and a delayed release date, Cocker & Co follow up 1998's This Is Hardcore, with Scott Walker at the controls ...

Songdog: Live at Borders, Oxford Street, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2001

SONGDOG'S LYNDON Morgans is unusually nervous before he starts to sing in the neutral atmosphere of this Uncut-sponsored gig. He knows most of the crowd ...

Starsailor: Love Is Here (EMI Chrysalis)****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2001

MUCH-TOUTED debut from new kings of pain. ...

Television: Lightning Strikes

Retrospective by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2001

Lightning strikes with Marquee Moon, Television opened the door to post-punk ...

The Bangles: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2001

THE FACT that these four LA women played their own instruments was much remarked upon in the Eighties, as was Susanna Hoffs' beauty. But as ...

Ashley Park

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2001

CLASSIC WEST coast sounds direct from Vancouver. ...

Black Sabbath: The Complete '70s Replica CD Collection 1970-78

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001

THE MYSTERY OF THE RIFF – so crucial to rock, so oddly neglected by critics. ...

Cabaret Voltaire: Various Compilations

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001

From post-punk to dance crossover: Sheffield pioneers' mid-Eighties revisited The Original Sound Of Sheffield — The Best Of The Virgin/EMI Years Conform To Deform — The Virgin/EMI ...

David Blue, The Dillards, Fred Neil, Judy Collins, Judy Henske, Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush: Elektra Label: Various Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2001

Twenty-album reissue programme commemorates a great Sixties label ...

Jackie Leven: Live at Borders Bookshop, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, December 2001

THE BIG denim-clad man sat in front of a generous generation-spanning audience looks at home surrounded by shelves full of books. This is to be ...

Jay Z: Jay-Z: The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001

Sixth album from Brooklyn rap don ...

Leonard Cohen: Ten New Songs

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2001

WHO DARES, whispers and doesn't boast. Listen to Leonard Cohen's The Future (1992) now and hear how certain awful futures are inscribed with Psalmic grace ...

Little Feat: Snakes On Everything

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, December 2001

FOR A FEW moments, it sounded just like old times. Little Feat were rolling unhurriedly through 'Day Or Night', embellishing it with their traditional lopsided ...

Michael Jackson: Off The Wall*****, Thriller**** and Bad**** (Epic)

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 2001

RE-RELEASED SOLO albums include interviews with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton plus demos and unreleased tracks. ...

Miles Davis: The Complete 'In A Silent Way' Sessions (Columbia/Legacy)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2001

Another episode in Columbia's complete reissue programme. ...

Mull Historical Society: Loss

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, December 2001

COLIN MACINTYRE on his messages from the edge of the world. ...

Paul Gorman: In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press

Book Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2001

Perceptive, hysterical history of rock journalism — from the horses' mouths ...

A Certain Ratio, Alternative TV, Cabaret Voltaire, Gang of Four, The Pop Group, Public Image Ltd, Scritti Politti, This Heat: Post-Punk: Lubricate Your Living Room

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001

FORGET ABOUT THE NOSTALGIA-MONGERING AND KITSCH REVIVALISM – THE POST-PUNK PERIOD OF 1979-81 WAS AN ASTONISHINGLY FERTILE TIME FOR BRITISH MUSIC, WHEN INDIE LABELS FLOURISHED ...

Radiohead: I Might Be Wrong — Live Recordings (Parlophone) ***

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2001

JAZZWANK ROADSHOW goes nuclear. ...

Scritti Politti: Everything's Gone Green

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, December 2001

David Stubbs on Scritti Politti's subversive pop-soul masterpiece, Songs To Remember ...

Soft Cell: The Twelve Inch Singles (Mercury)****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2001

TRIPLE CD pack of seminal sleazefests. ...

Soft Cell: Non-Stop Electronic Cabaret

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2001

BEHIND THE perky peroxide quiff and gym-toned body, Marc Almond is shitting himself. Almost two decades have passed since he last performed under the Soft ...

The Cure: The Cure Greatest Hits (Mercury) ****

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2001

GALORE UPDATED: more jam-smeared love muffin, vicar? ...

Tindersticks: Live at Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2001

THE ALBERT Hall was surely built for Tindersticks. Actually, no, I've just done some in-depth historical research and it was built for other reasons, but ...

Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground Bootleg Series, Volume One — The Quine Tapes

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2001

Audience recordings of rare live gigs from 1969 ...

X: Los Angeles *****; Wild Gift ****; Under The Big Black Sun **** (Rhino/Warners)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2001

REMASTERED, EXPANDED reissues from the dark heart of California. ...

Cowboy Junkies: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2002

ARGUABLY, TORONTO'S Cowboy Junkies were the Neil Armstrong of alt.country. Their Trinity Session album of '88, recorded live in a church, dragged the forlorn mannerisms ...

Jeffrey Lewis

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2002

BIZARRE BUT brilliant New York "anti-folk" singer. ...

Madonna: GHV2

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2002

Second decade of hits and myths from La Ciccone — but no 'American Pie' ...

Michael Jackson: Invincible (Epic)**

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2002

Distressingly dull comeback from disputed King Of Pop ...

Paul McCartney: Driving Rain (Parlophone)

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2002

ROCKIN' MACCA goes for live spontaneity. ...

Pink Floyd: Echoes: The Best Of Pink Floyd

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2002

Long-awaited greatest hits package from English progressive legends ...

Ryan Adams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, January 2002

I SAW rock'n'roll's future and its name is… all right, calm down everybody. ...

So Solid Crew: They Don't Know (Independiente/Relentless)****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, January 2002

Distinctive debut from UKG crew with colourful personal lives ...

Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: The Golden Road (1965-1973) (Rhino/Warner Bros) *****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2002

THE GRATEFUL DEAD are probably the most puzzling enigma in rock history. ...

The Handsome Family: Live at The Barbican, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2002

RENNIE SPARKS looks like a deep sea diver plucked out of water as she accompanies her husband on the miraculous 'Weightless Again'. There's a tube ...

Centro-matic: Distance And Clime

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2002

PROLIFIC LO-FI Texans have tape recorders at the ready ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Come With Us (Freestyle Dust/Virgin)***

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2002

PSYCHEDELIA-TINGED fourth offering from Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, featuring Beth Orton and Richard Ashcroft ...

Cornelius: Point (Matador)****

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2002

ECLECTO-POP renaissance ape goes forward to the past on second worldwide release ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: George Harrison

Obituary by Carol Clerk, Uncut, February 2002

'You know, life flows on within you and without you'– George Harrison ...

Goldfrapp: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2002

GOLDFRAPP, WHO like The Dandy Warhols have reason to be grateful to mobile phone ads, remain an enigma, despite burgeoning popularity. ...

John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (Pablo)****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, February 2002

MASSIVE BOX set of Coltrane's classic quartet in action. ...

Kelly Joe Phelps: Beat The Devil

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2002

KELLY JOE Phelps is on stage at the Knitting Factory in New York City, one month after the World Trade Center's destruction, in front of ...

Manassas: The Feast Of Stephen

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, February 2002

ADAM SWEETING ON MANASSAS, STEPHEN STILLS' GROUNDBREAKING 1972 MIX OF COUNTRY AND ROCK ...

Mary Gauthier

Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2002

FROM ALCOHOLIC to restaurateur to emotive songsmith ...

Paul Weller: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2002

HE COMES on jaunty, with a skip in his step, looking cool, refreshed, dapper, an upbeat northern soul soundtrack still ringing round the hall. He ...

Prince: The Rainbow Children (Redline Import) **

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, February 2002

SQUIGGLE GOES cosmo-Biblical. ...

Spoon

Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2002

SPIKY, POST-punk-inspired indie pop from Texas. ...

The Cash Brothers: Matt & Phred's Jazz Club, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2002

A SPARKLING jewel of one of Uncut's Unconditionally Guaranteed CD covermounts – along with star billing on the Loose 2 compendium – was The Cash ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, The Undertones: Various Artists: Cash From Chaos: The Complete Punk Collection

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, February 2002

Perverse selection – from New York Dolls to Gonads, Buzzcocks to Toy Dolls — misses chance to be definitive summary ...

Spoon: Britt Daniel: The Borderline, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2002

Spoon's Girls Can Tell was near to being last year's best album. It compressed new wave melodies and twitching post-punk rhythms into songs of pristine ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2002

LONDON: DECEMBER, 1968. Moscow Road, Bayswater, just off the rowdy casbah din of Queensway with its hippie boutiques, bars, restaurants, buzzing crowds. There are three ...

Elbow: Shadows & Light

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2002

"TELL YOU WHAT we watched the other night," mumbles Guy Garvey into the mic, while tuning up onstage between two intensely moving songs. "The Last ...

Jim O'Rourke: The Art Of Noise

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2002

HEAR AN EXPERIMENTAL, ELECTRONIC RECORD THESE DAYS AND CHANCES ARE IT WILL HAVE CHICAGOAN JIM O'ROURKE'S NAME ON IT. ROB HUGHES MEETS THE 21ST CENTURY ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone: Don't Worry About Me (Sanctuary) ****

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, March 2002

HIS LONG-awaited solo album, posthumously released. ...

OutKast: Kicking up a Stank (Arista) *****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2002

Best of dirty South rappers' first three albums interspersed with new material ...

Papa M: Whatever, Mortal (Domino)****

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2002

PRE-EMINENT US underground guitarist makes gothic country breakthrough. ...

Steely Dan: Decadent Diversions

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2002

IAN MacDONALD ON STEELY DAN'S DARK HORSE, GAUCHO ...

Tanya Donnelly: Beautysleep (4AD) ****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2002

LONG-AWAITED second album from former Throwing Muses/Belly star. ...

The Hives

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2002

STROKES? STRIPES? Fougeddabouddit! The swedes rock loudest. ...

Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, U2, Willie Nelson, Wyclef Jean: Various Artists: America: A Tribute To Heroes

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2002

Star-Spangled Bummer:  Record of benefit concert/telethon for victims of September 11 ...

Billy Bragg: England, Half English (Cooking Vinyl)****

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2002

FIRST ORIGINAL album in six years from Bard of Barking, celebrating joys of collaboration and national diversity ...

Brian Wilson: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2002

IT'S PRETTY impressive for a 60-year-old who's spent most of the past three decades in rock's twilight zone. A three-hour show comprising hits, album cuts ...

Departure Lounge

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2002

'PASTORAL' ENGLISHMEN become the toast of Tennessee. ...

Elvis Costello: Reissues

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2002

Second phase of Bonus-packed reissue programme for Costello catalogue ...

Factory Records and 24 Hour Party People

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2002

THEY SAID IT could never happen again. But here we are, trapped in a recurring dream. A chilly Friday night in a cavernous warehouse in ...

Howard Devoto, Pete Shelley: Shelley-Devoto: The Odd Couple

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, April 2002

YOU HAVE BEEN parachuted into the middle of 1976. Text messaging, Hear'Say and Osama Bin Laden belong to an unknowable future, but The Sex Pistols ...

Steve Earle: Highway Blues

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, April 2002

HOW STEVE EARLE'S GUITAR TOWN BROUGHT A NEW ATTITUDE TO NASHVILLE. ...

The Notwist

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2002

LAUGH ALONG to the post-rocking German boffins. ...

The Police

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2002

YOUR NAME IS Sting. You are the planet's biggest rock star. But lately you don't like what you see in the mirror. You seem to ...

The Sound: Destiny Stops Screaming

Retrospective by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2002

IT'S THE STUFF OF ROCK MYTH. GREAT MUSIC, CRITICAL ACCLAIM, A BLIGHTED CAREER THAT ENDS IN SUICIDE. CHRIS ROBERTS LOOKS BACK ON THE TRAGIC STORY ...

The Who: The Colosseum, Watford

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2002

'Tonight's show has The Who attacking and understanding their legacy more pointedly than at any time in the past 20 years' ...

XTC: A Coat Of Many Cupboards (Virgin) ****

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, April 2002

FOUR-CD box set offers alternative history of quintessentially English pop group. ...

New Order: 24 Hour Party People: Faç Or Fiction?

Film/DVD/TV Review by David Dalton, Uncut, May 2002

Directed by Michael Winterbottom; Starring Steve Coogan, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, John Simm Opens April 5, Cert 15, 110 mins**** ...

13th Floor Elevators: The Psychedelic World Of The 13th Floor Elevators (Charly)****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2002

BOXED COMPENDIUM of acid-fried Texan mindbenders. Includes lives, outtakes and alternate cuts on three remastered CDs. ...

A Certain Ratio: Early (Soul Jazz)****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2002

BEFORE A CERTAIN Ratio there was The Pop Group but, the latter apart, no one can claim to have played an earlier role post-punk's then ...

Badly Drawn Boy: About A Boy (XL) ***

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

LIGHTWEIGHT BRITFLICK score finds Mercury winner treading water. ...

Bryan Ferry: Frantic (Virgin) *****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

LIVELY RETURN to form on Roxy roue's 11th solo opus. ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Dexy's Midnight Runners: Grand Stand

Retrospective and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

SPRING 2002, and in a swanky London hotel bar men in suits still do a double take when Kevin Rowland walks past. They do that ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Gangsta Scrap: Nick Broomfield’s Biggie And Tupac

Film/DVD/TV Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2002

Suge Knight: the new Al Capone? Exposing the truth behind the Rap Wars ...

Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant-Lee Phillips: Grant-Lee Phillips

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

MICHAEL STIPE'S favourite band, Grant Lee Buffalo released four critically acclaimed albums through the mid-to late-Nineties, plus last year's "Best Of", Storm Hymnal. ...

Jack: Le Botanique, Brussels

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

THE BEAUTY of it, and also the pain, is that you never know quite what to expect from Jack's live shows. Loose-cannon bohemians, within 10 ...

Jimi Hendrix: Why Are You Experienced is Rock's Greatest Debut Album

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2002

'WE'LL WATCH THE SUN RISE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA...' ...

Josh Rouse: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2002

ON HIS SECOND LP, Home, Nashville-based Nebraskan Josh Rouse seemed to favour the brass-brushed country-soul sound of friend and fellow citizen Kurt Wagner. But new ...

Mull Historical Society: The Scala, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2002

THERE ARE blow-up sheep hanging from the ceiling, choirboys waiting in the wings and a brass section on stage, all auxiliary members of the rebel ...

Neil Young: Are You Passionate? (WEA) **

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2002

YOUNG GOES Stax, trips over shoe-laces. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Release (Parlophone)***

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2002

ON THEIR seventh album proper, PSBs go songful at home with Johnny Marr. ...

Position Normal: Goodly Time (Rum) *****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2002

VINYL-ONLY second LP from art-rock samplers in exclusive handprinted sleeve. ...

Simple Minds: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2002

David Stubbs commends Simple Minds' New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) ...

The Specials: Reissues

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2002

Digitally remastered and enhanced with two videos per disc, the Sound Of Young Coventry before The Streets ...

Bryan Ferry: We Have Ways Of Making You Talk: Bryan Ferry

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2002

AFTER LAST YEAR'S TRIUMPHANT REUNION TOUR WITH ROXY MUSIC, THE KING OF COOL RETURNS WITH A NEW SOLO ALBUM, FRANTIC, FEATURING SONGS INSPIRED BY MARILYN, ...

Buddy and Julie Miller: Buddy & Julie Miller

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2002

TEARS-IN-your-beer stuff from Nashville Mr and Mrs. ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Director's Cut: Nick Broomfield on Biggie & Tupac

Interview by Neil Kulkarni, Uncut, June 2002

THE DIRECTOR OF KURT & COURTNEY ON HIS BRILLIANT NEW DOCUMENTARY INVESTIGATING THE MURDERS OF RAP SUPERSTARS TUPAC SHAKUR AND BIGGIE SMALLS. ...

Larry Wallis, The Pink Fairies: Larry Wallis: I Thought You Were Dead

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2002

ONCE LABELLED "Hank Marvin on acid", Wallis was vocalist/guitarist in seminal UK space-rockers the Pink Fairies, penning 1973's classic Kings Of Oblivion. ...

Natalie Merchant

Comment by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2002

FORMER 10,000 Maniacs vocalist and lyricist on a record that changed her life: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust RCA 1972 ...

Pony Club: Home Truths

Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2002

HEART-WRENCHING bedroom symphonies from Dublin. ...

Rosie Thomas

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2002

TRAGEDY AND comedy from homecoming queen of heartbreak. ...

Tom Waits: Everything Goes To Hell

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2002

ON A SUNNY Californian morning, Tom Waits pulls his family-size Suburban Chevrolet into the car park of Santa Rosa's Flamingo Hotel and begins to unpack ...

David Bowie: Heathen (Columbia)

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, July 2002

HIGH INFIDELITY ...

Edwyn Collins: Blue Boy

Profile and Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, July 2002

HIS FIRST GROUP, ORANGE JUICE, MIXED TOGETHER VELVETS GUITARS AND CHIC RHYTHMS. THEN, 15 YEARS AFTER THEIR HEYDAY, EDWYN COLLINS HAD A MONSTROUS WORLDWIDE SOLO ...

The Vines: Grape Expectations: The Vines: Highly Evolved (Heavenly Recordings) ***½

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2002

Much-heralded thrashy Australians ...

The Flaming Lips: Waitin' for a superman

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 2002

The Flaming Lips, the world's most inventive band, have followed up Uncut's album of 1999, The Soft Bulletin, with a record about death, overcoming sadness, ...

The Pink Fairies: Neverneverland;What A Bunch Of Sweeties; Kings Of Oblivion

Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, August 2002

First three albums by heroes of early '70s UK underground. ...

Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Young: Shakey: Neil Young's biography by Jimmy McDonough

Book Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, September 2002

MOST ROCK stars realise they need to plug the new album and stir up column inches when concert tickets go on sale, but eventually it ...

Beth Orton: Daybreaker

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2002

Third album from Norfolk singer-songwriter, featuring numerous collaborators. ...

Bruce Springsteen

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, September 2002

IF ALL YOU'VE ever seen of New Jersey is Newark airport or the bits they show you in the opening sequence of The Sopranos, you ...

David Bowie: Move Festival, Old Trafford, Manchester

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2002

WE'RE ALL primed for the set of Low and Heathen (in full) which he'd played in London the previous week. That'd do, of course: no ...

Flying Burrito Brothers: Sincity — The Very Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers (Universal)****

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2002

ALTHOUGH THEY fit neatly into the silver-stitched seams on the patchwork quilt that became the country-rock heritage centre, The Flying Burrito Brothers were neither as ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole: Calypso Facto

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2002

OFF THE COAST OF ME***FRESH FRUIT IN FOREIGN PLACES*****TROPICAL GANGSTERS***DOPPELGANGER**(All Universal) ...

Liars: They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, September 2002

Sweet deceivers ...

My Computer: Vulnerabilia

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 2002

New Manchester duo fuse druggy songwriting and dance beats with astonishing results ...

New Order: Move Festival, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2002

SINCE SETTING aside old bones of contention four years ago, New Order's Indian summer has seemed one long, breathless, last-skitter-of-the-dice party. ...

Roddy Frame: Surf (Redemption)****

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, September 2002

UNPLUGGED SOLO outing from Glaswegian Peter Pan. ...

Warren Zevon: Life'll Kill Ya

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2002

PITTSBURGH, 1989: WEREWOLF IN THE MALL "I'd read things I didn't know I'd done/It sounded like a lot of fun..." (Warren Zevon, 'Trouble Waiting to Happen') ...

Bright Eyes: Lifted, Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (Wichita)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2002

Nebraskan boy wonder bunkers down for apocalypse. ...

Death In Vegas: Scorpio Rising (BMG) ***

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2002

Brighter follow-up to 1999's The Contino Sessions, featuring Liam Gallagher and Paul Weller on vocals. ...

Green On Red: Paisley Source

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2002

ROB HUGHES ON THE DARK AMERICAN GEM THAT WAS GREEN ON RED'S THIRD LP ...

MY COMPUTER: Vulnerabilia

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 2002

YOU COULD get the wrong impression about My Computer from Vulnerabilia, as raved about everywhere from Uncut ("the most original debut LP by a Manchester ...

Soft Cell: Cruelty Without Beauty (Cooking Vinyl) ****

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2002

ORIGINAL CHEMICAL brothers make timely comeback ...

Spoon: Kill The Moonlight (12XU) ****

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2002

FAST FOLLOW-UP to Texans' 2001 post-punk pop classic Girls Can Tell ...

The Coral: Everybody's Talking About…

Profile by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2002

...

The Fall: Totally Wired — The Rough Trade Anthology/The Rough Trade Singles Box (Sanctuary) ***

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2002

Northern white crap that talks back meets west London liberals: early-Eighties Fall on Rough Trade ...

The Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash/Stink EP/Hootenanny/Let It Be (Twin/Tone/Rykodisc)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2002

IT'S EARLY 1987. Amid a fug of coke-induced paranoia, unruly punk misanthropists the Replacements have snuck back into the Minneapolis studio of Twin/Tone Records. Convinced ...

The Who: My Generation Deluxe Edition (Polydor) ****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 2002

BEFORE NEW, larger sound systems ushered in rock in 1966-7, there was beat music, a tighter, more driving sound based on pushing club-scale amplification to ...

Underworld: A Hundred Days Off (JBO) ****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2002

FIRST ALBUM by electronic dance act now a duo since departure of Darren Emerson ...

Elvis Costello: Mighty Like A Rose

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2002

SUMMER 1991, AND Elvis Costello's kingdom was about to crumble. In the world outside, it was the year of Screamadelica, Nevermind, Blue Lines and dance ...

John Lennon: We All Shine On

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2002

Of all of rock's great legends, JOHN LENNON is the most widely-loved and sorely-missed. In this Uncut special, we look back on what he made ...

Sparks: Lil' Beethoven

Review and Interview by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2002

THIS IS SPARKS' 19th album, the follow-up proper to 1994's Gratuitous Sax..., and one might be forgiven for saying "So what?", since their work after ...

The Rolling Stones: Play With Fire

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 2002

Forty years ago, THE ROLLING STONES were the defining voice of teenage rebellion, rock 'n' roll outlaws, the anti-Beatles. With their digitally re-mastered 1960s albums ...

Badly Drawn Boy: The rough guide to genius: Badly Drawn Boy: Have You Fed The Fish? (XL) *****

Review and Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, November 2002

Follow-up proper to the 2000 Mercury Prize-winning album is a masterpiece of disjointed eclecticism ...

Beck on Sea Change

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2002

UNCUT: The forlorn orchestral folk of Sea Change is a radical departure from the postmodern funkadelia of 1999's Midnite Vultures. ...

Josh T. Pearson: Upstairs At The Spitz, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, December 2002

YOU CAN'T SEE his fearsome, feral face any more. It's covered by a beard so vast and wild at first you think Josh Pearson's become ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards: The Human Riff

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, December 2002

For 40 years, KEITH RICHARDS has been the soul of The Rolling Stones, a band he wouldn't let die even when he seemed to be ...

Pearl Jam: State Of The Union

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, December 2002

Grunge survivors PEARL JAM are back with a brave new album that dares to question the political hypocrises of America's post-9/11 moral posturing ...

Goldfrapp: Black Cherry (Mute)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2003

JUST WHEN WE thought there was nothing left in the moribund corpse of trip-hopping soundtrack Euromuzak, along came Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory to breathe ...

Bush Tetras, E.S.G., Scritti Politti, The Strokes: Various Artists: Yes New York/New York Noise/Post Punk 01

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2003

AH MANHATTAN, so much to answer for – and so in vogue as a rock metropolis after decades as a Hip Hop Mecca. Yes New ...

Bob Dylan: Live 1975 The Rolling Thunder Revue

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, January 2003

Twenty-two tracks from Dylan's legendary Rolling Thunder tour finally see official release. ...

David Bowie: Great Albums That Have Fallen Off The Critical Radar: David Bowie's Lodger

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2003

IN THE SO-CALLED "Berlin trilogy", Lodger is always thought of as an anticlimax after Low and "Heroes". Eno, who collaborated with Bowie on the album ...

New Order: Retro

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2003

Four CDs of Mancunian magic from New Order's back pages, including cherry-picked album tracks, B-sides, rarities, remixes and live performances ...

Peter Hammill: Clutch

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2003

Dark, worldly-wise solo return from Van der Graaf Generator man ...

Public Enemy: Revolverlution

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, January 2003

Eighth album from rap renegades is a 21-track jumble of new tracks, live performances and fan remixes. ...

Victoria Williams: Sings Some Ol' Songs

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2003

Beguiling collection of sepia-tinged ephemera spanning 1993-2002 from L.A. songstress, sometime Creekdipper and full-time fairer half of Mark Olson ...

Warren Zevon: Review of Genius – The Best Of Warren Zevon

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, January 2003

FATE DECIDED IT should be the sound of The Eagles which travelled around the world and defined the popular clichés of 1970s California, but Warren ...

Wayne Shorter: Footprints Live!

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, January 2003

Impressive-to-excessive live foray from quartet ...

Willie Nelson: Stars & Guitars

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, January 2003

Shotgun Willie recorded live in the country capital with a clutch of great names including Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris. ...

Alejandro Escovedo: The Borderline, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003

MIDWAY INTO HIS SECOND-EVER London performance — the hottest ticket in town after his rapturously received Barbican debut five days earlier — Escovedo dedicated a ...

Alison Krauss + Union Station: Live

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2003

Stunning two-CD document of last summer's Louisville, Kentucky shows ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles 1/Fuzzy Warbles 2

Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, February 2003

Frontman of much-loved — and much-bootlegged — eccentric English pop band clears out his compositional closet on the first two CDs of a 10-disc series. ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Master and Everyone

Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003

Literate hillbilly Bonnie "Prince" Billy — aka Will Oldham — raises his profile and lays the heart bare with a candidly beautiful album about the ...

Eminem: Taking Over Tinseltown

Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003

Is EMINEM the hip hop James Dean? ...

Josh T. Pearson: Josh Pearson: Upstairs At The Spitz, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003

The real fired-up deal — Lift To Experience frontman's acoustic solo debut ...

Josh T. Pearson: Upstairs At The Spitz, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003

The real fired-up deal — Lift To Experience frontman's acoustic solo debut ...

Lou Reed: The Raven

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, February 2003

Reed shows off "heavy bear" side on two-CD tribute to 19th-century poet ...

Richard Hawley: Lowedges

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2003

Big easy listening on second full-length album from Sheffield songsmith ...

The Concert For George Harrison: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2003

East meets West as Clapton, Shankar, Jeff Lynne and both surviving Beatles celebrate the life of The Quiet One ...

The Nazz: Open Our Eyes – The Anthology

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, February 2003

Comprehensive collection of Philly pop-soul boys, fronted by Todd Rundgren, who looked to Swinging London for inspiration and then blew up. ...

Calexico: Feast Of Wire

Review and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, March 2003

TAKE A TWIST of The Wild Bunch and some ghosts from The Alamo, wash down with tequila, then fall asleep on the back porch. That ...

Ed Harcourt: From Every Sphere

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2003

Further helpings of articulate and soulful intensity from highly-acclaimed British singer-songwriter on the follow-up to his Mercury Prize-nominated debut from 2001, Here Be Monsters ...

The Thrills: Five things you need to know about... The Thrills

Profile by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2003

1. THE THRILLS are probably the most raved-about new non-American — or non-Scandinavian — band of the last few months, after their debut single, 'Santa ...

LOU REED's new album…

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2003

… is a sprawling epic inspired by the work of drugged-up 19th-century horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Is it a marriage made in heaven, or ...

Massive Attack: 100th Window

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2003

Sombre fourth album, featuring guest vocals from Sinéad O'Connor ...

The Bee Gees: Maurice Gibb: Bee Gees Vocalist/Musician (1949-2003)

Obituary by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2003

Key works: Main Course, Saturday Night Fever, Greatest, ESP ...

My Morning Jacket: At Dawn

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2003

First UK releases for currently hot band ...

The Flaming Lips: Manchester Academy

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2003

PANDAS, ALIENS, GORILLAS, GIANT RABBITS and Jetsonesque robots. Enormous spinning glitterballs spewing kaleidoscopic prisms. Silver confetti, fluorescent strobes, glove puppets and vistas of Teletubbies. At ...

Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, April 2003

The mighty Lemonhead gets seven-year-itch and returns a much-changed man. ...

Johnny Marr on Boomslang and the Smiths

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

Hughes: The new album's been a long time in the making. Why the wait? ...

More Fire Crew: More Fire Crew C.V.

Review and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, April 2003

SOMEONE'S GOTTA COIN a snappy name for the genre represented by So Solid and the hordes of MC crews who came in their wake. UK ...

Mull Historical Society: Us

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2003

Darkly uplifting second album from Scottish pop visionary ...

Sly & The Family Stone: There's A Riot Goin' On

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2003

THE COVER SAYS it all. An American flag, the stars replaced by white flowers on a black backdrop, the stripes soiled by a brown stain, ...

Songs: Ohia: The Magnolia Electric Co.

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

Unheralded Chicago-based tunesmith comes of age ...

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Pig Lib

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, April 2003

Ex-Pavement kingpin condenses decades of rock'n'roll lunacy into one uneasy capsule ...

Teenage Fanclub: Ragged Glory

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

How TEENAGE FANCLUB became Kurt Cobain's favourite band, looked set to conquer the world, then decided they had better things to do… ...

Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses: Throwing Muses: Throwing Muses and Kristin Hersh: The Grotto

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2003

FOR DEVOTEES OFTHE RESTLESS Hersh muse (Dido/Lavigne fans can stop reading now), a double treat. Guns N'Roses, Springsteen and Waits did it; now Kristin, who ...

Turin Brakes: Ether Song

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2003

South London duo head out West to beef up sound for follow-up to The Optimist LP ...

Daniel Johnston: Use Your Delusion: Daniel Johnston: Fear Yourself (Sketchbook) ****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

Twenty-first album from America's startlingly original lord of lo-fi ...

Zwan: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, April 2003

MEET THE NEW BILLY, considerably more cheerful than the old Billy. The last time I saw The Smashing Pumpkins was in the chilly gloom of ...

Ed Harcourt: Ghost Writer

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2003

His new album's won critical raves on every front,
 so why is Ed Harcourt so spooked? ...

Fleetwood Mac: Say You Will (Reprise)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, May 2003

MORE THAN most bands, Fleetwood Mac elicit complex, unresolved feelings. On the one hand they're the ultimate mainstream soft-rock dinosaur, pass masters of glossy emotions ...

Lucinda Williams: World Without Tears (Lost Highway)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, May 2003

IT STARTS WITH A shivery vibrato guitar, straight off one of those '60s New York soul ballads – Betty Harris' 'Cry To Me', perhaps, or ...

Lucinda Williams: The Albums

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, May 2003

A concise guide to the Williams oeuvre before World Without Tears ...

MC5: Motor Boys Motor: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2003

What's left of the MC5 kick out those jams again with help (and hindrance) from Dave Vanian, Ian Astbury and a razor-sharp Lemmy ...

The White Stripes: Rock & Roll Animal: The White Stripes: Elephant (XL) *****

Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2003

Fourth album proves crowning glory of Detroit duo's meteoric career to date ...

Arab Strap: Monday At The Hug & Pint (Chemikal Underground)

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2003

More misery from Scots satirists ...

Lil' Kim: La Bella Mafia (Atlantic)

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2003

Rapper-turned-actress hams her way through third album ...

Pink Floyd: The Making of Dark Side Of The Moon

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2003

ROGER WATERS (BASS, VOCALS, VCS3, TAPE EFFECTS, LYRICS) ...

Throwing Muses: The Astoria, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2003

The reuinted US college rockers get startlingly heavy at what may be their final UK appearance. March 20, 2003 ...

Beck: The Apollo Theatre, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2003

Solitary refinement: Stunning one-man set as the eclectic troubadour of cool goes back to his folk-blues roots ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde: Back In The Ring

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 2003

After burying half the original Pretenders, CHRISSIE HYNDE bowed out of the rock'n'roll limelight to bring up her kids. Now she's made her best album ...

Dave Gahan on Paper Monsters

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, July 2003

AFTER 20-ODD years of Depeche Mode, how strange was it to record your new solo album, Paper Monsters? ...

De La Soul: Reissues

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2003

How New York's hippie hoppers ushered in the philosophical D.A.I.S.Y. Age. And then pronounced themselves Dead. ...

Lucinda Williams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2003

WHEN LUCINDA WILLIAMS FIRST CAME to London nearly 15 years ago to promote her eponymous third album, she was the most painfully nervous and self-conscious ...

Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells 2003

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2003

Deathless proto-ambient dinosaur that punk could not kill returns for 21st-century remake. ...

Radiohead: Hail To The Thief

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2003

Ungainly gothic masterpiece marks partial return to classic rock. ...

Steely Dan: Everything Must Go

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, July 2003

Not-quite-brilliant follow-up to Two Against Nature from US collegiate pop's Lennon & McCartney. ...

Todd Rundgren: Todd

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, July 2003

THE SINCERE generational belief in the socially transformative powers of love and peace which marked the peak of the high '60s had, by 1974, dissipated ...

Willard Grant Conspiracy: Regard The End

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2003

Glorious fifth album proper from ever-shifting Bostonians reaches down through the years ...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Crystal Palace Sports Centre

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2003

The Boss proves he's still rock'n'roll redemption personified. ...

Kings of Leon: Crown Pretenders: Kings Of Leon: Youth And Young Manhood (HandMeDown Records) *****

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2003

Fabulously fresh take on deep Southern white trash rock'n'roll ...

Steely Dan: Curbing Their Enthusiasm: Steely Dan

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2003

THIS IS TOO, TOO PERFECT: Steely Dan strolling into a sleek hotel suite in Santa Monica, the Pacific Ocean sparkling through the window behind them. ...

Gillian Welch: Soul Journey (Acony)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2003

GILLIAN WELCH, with her hard 'G', is indisputably a Good Thing. Tall and gawky, decidedly non-photogenic, Gillian gives hope to all of us who contend ...

Lloyd Cole: Music In A Foreign Language

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2003

Cynical, articulate UK singer-songwriter sends home thoughts from abroad. ...

Neil Young: On The Beach

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2003

At last, the Holy Grail to Neil Young collectors — the last part of the Doom Trilogy makes it on to CD. ...

Shaun Ryder: Amateur Night In The Big Top

Review by Jon Wilde, Uncut, August 2003

SHAUN RYDER'S weird artistic odyssey now appears to be forming some kind of pattern. Each new venture hits the ground running and burning with revolutionary ...

Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2003

IT MAKES some kind of super furry sense that Phantom Power - coming after the homegrown, lo-fi Mwng and the big-budget, all-bells-and-whistles Rings Around The ...

Kings of Leon: Almost Famous: Kings of Leon

Profile by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2003

Lauded Confederate rockers with an R&B, punk-junk difference ...

Barry White 1944-2003

Obituary by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2003

THOSE OF US who thought Barry White was God will now look on the bright side and consider it official. So often rendered a figure ...

Gillian Welch: A Kind Of Bluegrass

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2003

Don't be fooled by her old-time country music and rural folk imagery. Gillian Welch is no mountain girl… ...

Lisa Marie Presley: To Whom It May Concern (Capitol) **

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2003

The most famous scion in rock history aims for a spot in the sun ...

Neil Young: Greendale

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, September 2003

Narrative 10-song cycle about a fictional clan is Young's best work in a while. ...

Neil Young: Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2003

SO HE hasn't made a truly compelling record since 1994's Sleeps With Angels. So he's been treading water with sleepy albums like Silver and Gold ...

R.E.M.: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2003

Athens, Georgia's finest back at the Academy, facing the future, taking on all-comers ...

Elbow: Rock This Joint: Elbow: Cast of Thousands (V2) ****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2003

Manchester five-piece follow Mercury Prize-nominated debut with more evocative, cliché-free guitar rock ...

Shack: Here's Tom With The Weather

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2003

THEY'RE A LUCKLESS lot, Shack. They made Waterpistol, an album that might have been one of the defining recordings of 1991, had the studio not ...

Dizzee Rascal: Street Smarts: Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner (Dirtee Stank/XL) *****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, September 2003

Eighteen-year-old London MC — and recovering victim of a recent stabbing incident in Ayia Napa — forges the freshest urban sound of 2003 ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: The Ballad of John & Yoko

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, September 2003

IT'S THE summer of 1969, and John and Yoko are in bed in room 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal. They are in their ...

The Coral: Magic And Medicine

Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2003

TWO YEARS AGO, the Coral's eponymous first album introduced a group teeming with energy and a blaze of musical influences. The album was nominated for ...

Pernice Brothers: The Pernice Brothers: Yours, Mine And Ours

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2003

EVER SINCE THE Scud Mountain Boys shot their way into our consciousness like the eponymous missile via their Sub Pop discs (still available as Massachusetts ...

Elbow: Angels of The North: Elbow

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2003

CAN THIS REALLY be Manchester? Two days have passed since thousands of Italian footie fans flooded the city for the Champs' League Final and the ...

Damien Rice: O (East West) ***

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, October 2003

Poll-winning singer-songwriter in his native Ireland, Rice is about to crack America ...

David Bowie: Reality

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2003

BOWIE REMAINS the greatest living rock artist, even if what he does isn't rock so much as swing, think a bit, then swing again. ...

Japan, David Sylvian: David Sylvian: Whatever Happened to the World's Most Beautiful Man?

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2003

So, David Sylvian, you live halfway up a mountain in New England? "That's the way it is", laughs the singer (and yes, he does laugh. Asked ...

Elvis Costello: Get Happy!!/Trust/Punch The Clock [New Editions] (Edsel)

Review by Jon Wilde, Uncut, October 2003

"OH, I JUST DON'T know where to begin," Elvis Costello swooned in the opening line to his lusciously hummable 1979 hit 'Accidents Will Happen'. ...

The Chemical Brothers, Flaming Lips: King Coyne Meets The Chemicals Uptown: A Summit Meeting with the Lips and the Chems

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2003

SOMEHOW IT WAS inevitable that the Chemical Brothers – those High Priests of the rock/dance interface – would one day work with Oklahoma City's Finest. ...

Kraftwerk: Tour De France Soundtracks/Karl Bartos: Communication

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2003

Kraftwerk's first "proper" album since 1986, plus ex-member's solo outing ...

Patti Smith: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2003

IT ALL STARTS so politely, you could never guess the raw shock that's coming. When Patti Smith saunters on like a collision between the 17th ...

Spiritualized: Amazing Space

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, October 2003

Jason Pierce and co. blast back with album recorded in three weeks. ...

Neil Young: The Uncut Questionnaire: Neil Young

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, October 2003

UNCUT: When you played the songs from your new Greendale album in Europe, did you experience any anti-US hostility? ...

The Blasters: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2003

TONIGHT, DAVE ALVIN looks like a man out to settle an old score. With his gunslinger necktie and low-slung guitar, he fires off endless streams ...

Thea Gilmore: Avalanche

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2003

Fifth album from prolific, acerbic British singer-songwriter ...

Big Star: Big Star Story (Rykodisc)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2003

Mildly unsatisfactory smattering of tracks by genius Memphis quartet/trio – the acme of twisted '70s power pop. ...

Blondie, Debbie Harry: Deborah Harry: Art Of Class

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2003

Twenty-five years after Deborah — nee Debbie — Harry became the Warholian pop art fantasy made flesh, Blondie, progenitors of New York cool, are back ...

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003

Soul-searching partners on a trip to Dreamland ...

Elbow, PJ Harvey: Good golly Miss Polly: PJ Harvey/Elbow: Eden Project, Cornwall/Tate Modern, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, November 2003

West country girl's long-awaited return sees renewed quest for left-field status ...

Iggy Pop: Skull Ring

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, November 2003

Ageless rock'n'roll motherlode reconvenes Stooges, toys with Green Day and hooks up with art-rapper Peaches. ...

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Streetcore

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003

A valiant and moving last hurrah from the sadly departed Clash hero ...

Kevin Coyne

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2003

IN THE EARLY '70s, Derby-born bluesman Kevin Coyne's unflinching portraits of mental despair and emotional turmoil helped pave the way for punk. His songs were ...

The Strokes: Not So Different Strokes: The Strokes: Room On Fire (Rough Trade) ****

Review and Interview by Ted Kessler, Uncut, November 2003

Hotly-anticipated second album from New York's finest ...

R.E.M.: Radio Songs

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2003

As R.E.M release their first compilation — and 32nd single — for Warners, David Stubbs asks America's greatest band to talk about their 20 greatest ...

Randy Newman: Good Old Boy

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2003

RANDY NEWMAN, pop music's blackest humourist tells us why he's similar to Eminem, why make-up girls don't "get" him, and why he's just re-recorded a batch ...

Television: Marquee Moon (Expanded); Adventure (Expanded) (Rhino)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2003

BEFORE THE Sex Pistols there was New York's Lower East Side: trash aesthetes with short hair, kinky vixens in B-movie stilettos. Kids with minor drug ...

The Beach Boys: Surf's Up

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, November 2003

AMONG THE NUMEROUS highlights of Brian Wilson's extraordinary comeback concerts last year was his performance of 'Surf's Up' a track once destined for the mysterious ...

Moby Grape: Great albums that fell off the critical radar: Moby Grape

Retrospective by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2003

THERE'S UNLUCKY and then there's unlucky. In the case of '60s Bay Area five-piece Moby Grape, they were hounded by the hex from Hell. They ...

Hawksley Workman: Lover/Fighter

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2003

Cult Canadian dandy grapples with his dual personality on third LP. ...

Johnny Cash, 1932-2003

Obituary by Jon Wilde, Uncut, December 2003

Jon Wilde pays tribute to the Man In Black who made country rock'n'roll. ...

Josh Rouse: I ♥ 1972

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2003

He's just made an album of sublime early-'70s radio pop that could make him a big star. Now all Josh Rouse has to do is ...

Love: The Forever Changes Concert

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2003

FOREVER CHANGES is one of those "classic" albums that should have dated but miraculously hasn't. Heavy-handedly paranoid, the product of a strange rock/soul miscegenation, quaintly ...

Meat Loaf

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, December 2003

Jon Wilde: Mr Loaf... ...

Rickie Lee Jones: The Evening Of My Best Day

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2003

Cherished US singer-songwriter back on form ...

The Band Of Blacky Ranchette: Still Lookin' Good To Me

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2003

Fourth album in 20 years from Giant Sand's twisted country cousin ...

The Beatles: Let It Be… Naked

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, December 2003

The Beatles' 1969 back-to-basics project remade. In other words: de-Spectorised, remixed, re-sequenced. ...

The Innocence Mission: Befriended

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2003

Unheralded Pennsylvanian trio conjure up more quiet magic ...

The Band, Bob Dylan: Million Dollar Bash: Dylan and The Band

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, Fall 2003

A LOT OF MUSICIANS have played with Bob Dylan over the last forty-odd years, but none of them has quite had the special relationship with ...

Psych-Out

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

SUSAN (The Trip) Strasberg is a deaf Carole Chaplin döppelganger at large in Haight-Ashbury in this hilariously inept 1968 "look" at the counterculture. Jack Nicholson, ...

The Trip

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

BEFORE THE TRIP starts, an earnest middle-aged voice warns us that we’re about to witness "a shocking commentary on a prevalent trend of our time". ...

Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde (CBS, 1966)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

RADICAL AND then some: a double album in ‘66, with a blurred vertical Bob running horizontally across the sleeve and Nashville sessionmen playing behind a ...

Courtney Love: America’s Sweetheart

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

Lady Cobain emerges from rehab to release her debut solo album. ...

Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade (SST, 1984)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

IF PUNK WAS inherently anti-double-album, early ‘80s hardcore had no such qualms about going into extra time. When mighty Minneapolitans Hüsker Dü journeyed to the ...

OutKast: Speakboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

THE YIN AND YANG of epicene dandy André 3000 and straight-up, pit-bull-ownin’ Big Boi may yet prove OutKast’s undoing. If so, the duo at least ...

Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (Motown, 1976)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

BERRY GORDY’S former boy genius already had a string of single-album masterpieces under his belt when he put his signature on summer ‘76 with this ...

Charlatans, The (US): The Charlatans: San Francisco 1969

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

Reissue of the trailblazing Haight-Ashbury band’s official but very belated debut. ...

The Monkees: Head

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

The "Prefab Four" star in self-deconstructing Help!-on-acid, scripted by joker Jack Nicholson. ...

Wasn’t Born to Follow: Easy Rider

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004

THE COUNTERCULTURE B-movie that went overground and kick-started the rebellious auteurism of ‘70s Hollywood, Easy Rider is at once mildly dated and compellingly authentic. ...

Al Green: I Can't Stop

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004

AND HE CAN'T (STOP). The Reverend Al Green (some of his Memphis flock have to be told he was once a pop singer before he ...

Bob Dylan: PalaLottomatica (Pala Eur), Rome

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2004

November 1, 2003 ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Cecil Sharp House, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2004

PHOTOS OF MORRIS dancers adorn this home of the English Folk Dance & Song Society, and the atmosphere is pin-drop reverent as the Prince's legions ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Essential Bruce Springsteen

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004

HIS HUGE, mournful, wounded bear of a voice is so effective and emotive when placed against fresh backdrops that it remains a pity Springsteen doesn't ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004

HEARTS IN MOUTHS as the lights dim, shouts of, "C'mon Kev! Testify!" relieve the tangible tension. Dexys supporters are passionately loyal: we are rooting for ...

Explosions In The Sky: The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2004

A FOUR-PIECE COMPRISING just two guitars, bass and drums, Explosions In The Sky seek to capture, examine and elongate moments of high emotion, awe and ...

Johnny Cash: Unearthed (American Recordings/Lost Highway)

Review by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2004

Five-CD epitaph includes 64 never-before-heard tracks. ...

June Carter Cash: Wildwood Flower

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2004

Life-affirming swansong from Carter Family matriarch ...

Keith Richards: "I don't live totally nocturnally"

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2004

"WHAT A DRAAAAAAAAAG it is growin' o-o-o-ld," Mick Jagger sang back in 1966. The rubber-lipped one became a sexagenarian earlier this year. Now it's Keef's ...

Mark Olson & The Creekdippers: Creekdippin' For The First Time

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2004

ASPIRING SONGSMITHS Mark Olson and Victoria Williams first met in 1984. When they hooked up again, a little over 10 years later, things were different. ...

R.E.M.: In Time. The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2004

THIS COLLECTION spans the past 15 years and features songs covered extensively in the November 2003 issue of Uncut. There are few surprises, not least ...

Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: Carling Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004

OLD FAN OR NEW, it's a live show that blows your mind. Gaily-coloured balloons the size of space-hoppers assault and caress you from every direction. ...

Tori Amos: Tales Of A Librarian

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2004

DRAWING ON her albums from 1992's Little Earthquakes to 1999's To Venus And Back, this collection tracks the numerous crests and vicissitudes of Tori Amos' ...

Arthur Russell: The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz) *****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, February 2004

IT'S AN UNLIKELY STORY: avant-garde cellist sees the light in a disco glitterball at New York gay club The Gallery and decides disco is the ...

David Bowie: Changing Man: David Bowie: MEN Arena, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2004

So much to answer for… the Bard Of Bromley's back in fine forward-looking fettle with a scintillating combination of the old and the new ...

Emmylou Harris And Spyboy: Carling Apollo, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, February 2004

EMMYLOU'S WEARING A BODY-HUGGING black dress, high heels and radiating style, class and smouldering sensuality. The opening 'Here I Am' sets the scene aptly enough, ...

Gang Of Four: A Brief History Of The Twentieth Century

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2004

Reissued best-of follows renewed interest in scabrous post-punk politicos ...

My Bloody Valentine

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2004

Pre-Oasis, My Bloody Valentine were Creation's greatest band. Between 1988 and 1991, they reinvented electric guitar music before vanishing in a haze of white noise. ...

Franz Ferdinand: Almost Famous: Franz Ferdinand

Profile by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004

The big new big band of 2004. Resistance is useless... ...

Fleetwood Mac: Earls Court, London, Wednesday December 10, 2003

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004

There's a hip young gunslinger of Uncut's acquaintance in the audience tonight who normally writes about futuristic electronic dance music for a well-known weekly music ...

Grant-Lee Phillips: Virginia Creeper

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2004

Country-rock class from Rolling Stone's one-time "best male vocalist" ...

John Cale: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2004

RESCUED FROM his latest career cul-de-sac by an EMI Radiohead associate with clout and taste, Cale's unlikely major label comeback has attracted a relatively sparse ...

Laura Veirs: Carbon Glacier

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2004

LESS THAN ten years ago, Laura Veirs was struck on being a geologist. Then, exploring a remote desert corner of northwest China with a bunch ...

Moby Grape: Crosstalk: The Best of Moby Grape (Sony Music UK)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2004

YOU COULD SAY it was all there in the name: Melville’s white whale meets Dionysus, with suitably catastrophic results. But Californian quintet Moby Grape, the ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2004

YOU KNOW WHEN someone announces they're off their face on drugs, and after that, whether they're joking or not, you notice something a little askew ...

Franz Ferdinand: Smart Bomb: Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (Domino) *****

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2004

Delightful, dashing debut from Scottish punk-funksters ...

Spirit: Spirit of '76

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004

1975 double concept LP from Randy California's hippie-era West Coast legends — available for the first time on CD with original vinyl's full gatefold artwork. ...

James Brown: Super Bad: James Brown

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2004

JAMES BROWN’S road manager Charles Bobbitt takes me to one side and places a friendly paw on my forearm. ...

The Mountain Goats: We Shall All Be Healed

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2004

Latest album from Iowa-based erudite John Darnielle ...

The Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, March 2004

BEST REMEMBERED for the harpsichord heroin eulogy 'Golden Brown' (which reached No 2 in the UK singles chart in January 1982), the Stranglers and their ...

Bobby Charles' Bobby Charles

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2004

BY THE TIME he got to Woodstock in 1971, Robert Charles Guidry was a wanted man. ...

David Byrne: Grown Backwards

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, April 2004

New wave god turned worldbeat evangelist gets opera bug ...

Kraftwerk: OK Computer

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2004

KRAFTWERK's impact on electronic rock is incalculable, from Bowie's Low to Radiohead's Kid A. In this rare interview, mainman Ralf Hütter reveals all about this ...

Lou Reed: Animal Serenade

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2004

Yet another live album from that model of maturity, Library Lou ...

Mike Scott, The Waterboys: Mike Scott: The Big Music

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, April 2004

When The Waterboys made This Is The Sea, it was described as an Astral Weeks for the '80s, and MIKE SCOTT was touted as the ...

Randy Newman: Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2004

RANDY NEWMAN has elected to begin his 2004 solo tour of Europe on a Sunday night in Belgium, a country where his wry but devastating ...

The Shins

Guide by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2004

Power pop? Another bunch of Beatles nerds with '60s gear and no tunes, then? ...

The White Stripes: The Thin Red Line: The White Stripes: Alexandra Palace, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2004

Rock'n'roll's leading dysfunctional couple play their biggest UK shows yet ...

Lambchop: Tracks of His Tears: Kurt Wagner and Lambchop

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, April 2004

IT’S KURT Wagner who spots The Nipple. ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, May 2004

Heaven-sent innovation from the legendary Beach Boy, plus supporting cast ...

Explosions In The Sky: ICA, London

Live Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2004

Texan noiseniks battle big beards and beer monsters to find life in the old rock yet. ...

Jim White: Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2004

A YANKEE-BLOODED outcast in the Bible-thumping enclave of his adopted Pensacola, White has unwittingly spent his entire life foraging on the wrong side of the ...

Johnny Cash: Life

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, May 2004

Eighteen songs — chosen by Cash himself just before his death to represent "life lessons" spanning the period 1958-1988 that puts his reputation as a ...

Josh Rouse: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2004

ROUSE CLOSES the first of two nights here with a version of Neil Young's 'For The Turnstiles' so intense and intimate that when he sings ...

Lou Reed: The Uncut Questionnaire

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, May 2004

UNCUT: Didn't you once remark that being interviewed by an English journalist was the definition of abject misery? ...

Marvin Gaye: Motown Junkie

Retrospective by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2004

Marvin Gaye was the first superstar of soul. He was also a tortured narcissus in thrall to sexual and narcotic cravings. And then, on April ...

Mary Chapin Carpenter: The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, May 2004

The mould-breaking Nashville singer-songwriter gets a marvellous Best-Of. ...

Pink Floyd: The Final Cut

Review and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2004

Waters' last Floyd album is harrowing and still surprisingly relevant. ...

Todd Rundgren: Liars

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, May 2004

Twentieth solo album and full-scale return to form from the artist formerly known as TR-1. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Southern Accents

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, May 2004

IF YOU WERE COMPILING A LIST OF southern rock bands, you'd have The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The North Mississippi All Stars pencilled in ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Southern Accents

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, May 2004

IF YOU WERE compiling a list of Southern Rock bands, you'd have the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the North Mississippi All Stars pencilled in ...

Tom Russell: Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs

Review and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, May 2004

Nineteenth album from a great American storyteller ...

Will Oldham: Just William

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2004

Whether recording as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace Brothers or just plain Palace, Will Oldham is one of the most enigmatic, brilliant songwriters in America ...

Bergen White: For Women Only

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004

Lost soft-pop masterpiece from Nashville arranger and former Elvis cohort. ...

Calexico: World Drifts In: Live At The Barbican

Review and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, June 2004

Tucson's finest bring their unique compression of American musical styles to DVD with a London concert recording. DVD ALWAYS RUNS the risk of turning into a ...

Earth, Wind & Fire: The Promise

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004

Doyens of orchestral disco celebrate 35th birthday with best album for aeons. ...

Jerry Garcia: All Good Things – Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, June 2004

Superbly packaged box set of all five Garcia solo discs, plus oodles of outtakes. ...

Jolie Holland: Escondida

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, June 2004

Haunting back-porch quirkiness from former Be Good Tanya ...

Jon Rauhouse: Jon Rauhouse's Steel Guitar Rodeo

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2004

A HIGHLY ABLE sideman to the likes of Neko Case, Calexico, The Waco Brothers, Sally Timms and Kelly Hogan, Tucson-based Rauhouse's prior form included seven ...

Kaleidoscope: Pulsating Dream – The Epic Recordings (Acadia/Evangeline)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2004

The complete ‘66-’70 works of insanely eclectic LA ensemble beloved of Jimmy Page. ...

Kraftwerk: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004

The virtual electronic museum that is Kraftwerk bring their Man-Machine to London. ...

Loretta Lynn, Jack White: Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2004

Awesome rebirth of original Country Queen, produced and arranged by the White Stripes' Jack White. ...

Patti Smith: ULU, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2004

THE GREATEST living rock performer? It's hard to think of any of her peers who've managed to keep their live shows both physically thrilling and ...

Pink Floyd, Roger Waters: The Last Days Of Pink Floyd

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, June 2004

They called it The Final Cut, and that’s what it was for Pink Floyd – The last album they would make with Roger Waters. For the ...

The Who: Then & Now and Singles Box Set Volume 1

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2004

Two best-ofs, including first new studio recordings in 22 years ...

The Who: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2004

The 'Orrible 'Oo back in action with patchy but promising opener for a week-long series of Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concerts ...

Throbbing Gristle: The Taste Of TG – A Beginner's Guide To The Music Of Throbbing Gristle

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2004

Introduction to the work of recently reformed art/industrial/electronics collective. ...

Vivian Stanshall's Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead

Review by Rob Chapman, Uncut, June 2004

GENUINE ECCENTRICS don't fill out an application form to join the Eccentrics Club and then sit in wood-panelled drawing rooms trading well-honed anecdotes with fellow ...

Jim White: Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus ****

Film/DVD/TV Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2004

SHOWING FOR A limited time at London's National Film Theatre prior to an airing on television this is film-maker Andrew Douglas' road trip through America's ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Frankie Says Come Again

Retrospective by Max Bell, Uncut, July 2004

The T-shirts. The gay sex imagery. That BBC ban for 'Relax'. Nine weeks at No. 1 with 'Two Tribes'. For one amazing year — 1984 ...

The Chi-Lites: The Complete Chi-Lites on Brunswick, Vols. 1 and 2 (Edsel)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2004

Definitive comp of Windy City vocal-group soulsters beloved of Tony Soprano. ...

Morrissey: A Quiff of Nostalgia: Morrissey: M.E.N. Arena, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2004

The toast(ed teacake) of Tinseltown comes home. DVD to follow. ...

The Faces: Last Orders: The Faces’ Five Guys Walk Into a Bar… (Rhino)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2004

Ian McLagan-compiled 4-CD box of scattered odds/sods from ultimate ‘70s boogie’n’ballads lad-band fronted by Rod the (Ex-)Mod. Dedicated to the late Ronnie Lane. ...

The Blue Nile

Profile and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, August 2004

HIGH IS THE BLUE NILE'S fourth album in twenty one years. It is – and shame on you if you doubted – worth the wait. ...

Uncle Tupelo: Are you ready for the alt. country?

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2004

UNCLE TUPELO only recorded three albums, but their legacy is extraordinary. Here we talk to original members Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Mike Heidorn about ...

The Incredible String Band: The Incredible String Band/The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

THE FIRST ISB albums in a two-fer-one release. The ISB (1966) is a more-or-less conventional Scots-trad folk effort by the original trio of Robin Williamson, ...

The Associates: Boys Keep Swinging: The Associates’ Singles

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

All the 45s from the sublime Scottish duo who briefly threatened to run away with the ‘80s pop circus. ...

Burrito Deluxe: The Whole Enchilada

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

Inoffensive country rock featuring original Burrito Brother Sneaky Pete Kleinow plus Band deity Garth Hudson on keyboards. ...

Carly Simon: Anticipation

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

PRE-"YOU’RE SO Vain" and pre-marriage-to-James-Taylor, the leggy and large-mouthed Park Avenue Jewess made two pleasant 1971 albums of melodiously laid-back adult pop. LA-flavoured and sprinkled ...

Earth Opera: Earth Opera/The Great American Eagle Tragedy

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

THE NAME suggested some frightful prog entity, but Earth Opera were essentially Boston bluegrassers Peter Rowan and David Grisman, a pair intent on chucking tradition ...

Ed Harcourt: Strangers

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

Third set from Sussex singer-songwriter and follow-up to last year’s acclaimed From Every Sphere. ...

Lamont Dozier: Holland-Dozier-Holland

Interview by Roy Carr, Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2004

They were pop's most prolific hit factory, producing 70 US Top Ten singles and 20 No. 1s. On the 45th anniversary of Motown, we meet ...

Interpol

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2004

AT NO POINT during this interview do any of us snort intoxicants off the spines of tawny hookers or clamber naked to the top of ...

John Martyn: Mad Dog Days

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

Two-CD set of mainly live jazz-folk genius from the early ‘70s to the mid-‘90s, with bonus DVD interview from last year. ...

Judy Collins: Judy Collins 3/In Concert

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

ARGUABLY THE best female folk voice of the age, Judy Collins brought a fresh commercial edge to the early ‘60s East Coast folk revival. Her ...

James Brown, The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers/James Brown: Hyde Park, London, 20th June

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

JUST HOW SERIOUSLY can you take the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Or am I missing the point? ...

Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Butterfield Blues Band: The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw/In My Own Dream

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

THE 1967 departure of BB Band axedude Mike Bloomfield provided fellow Windy City man Elvin Bishop with the chance to come in and revamp Paul ...

The Dillards: Pickin’ and Fiddlin’/Wheatstraw Suite/Copperfields

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

WHEN DOUGLAS and Rodney Dillard’s quartet hit Los Angeles in 1963 they blew everyone’s minds. Playing bluegrass with fuck-you rock’n’roll attitude, they wasted the competition ...

The Saints: All Times Through Paradise (EMI)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

4-CD box set of bolshy Ozpunks' three late '70s albums and unreleased Live in London set from late '77, plus numerous out/alternate takes, B-sides and ...

Teenage Fanclub: Various Artists: What a Concept! A Salute to Teenage Fanclub

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

HOW DO WE love Teenage Fanclub? Let us count the ways on this fine tribute album, which consists of 24 mainly Yank versions of Fannies ...

Jeff Buckley: Grace (Legacy Edition) (Columbia)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2004

Remastered version of the original 1994 album with second CD of outtakes/rarities and DVD of Grace vids and footage of Buckley in Bearsville, New York. ...

Elliott Smith: From a Basement on the Hill (Domino)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2004

WHEN ELLIOTT SMITH died last year, he left behind a large number of tracks from which he was assembling the follow-up to 2000's Figure 8. ...

Elvis Costello & The Imposters: The Delivery Man (Mercury)***

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, November 2004

EMERGING FROM AN uneven middle period of marital discord, free-range experimentation and ill-advised beards, the artist formerly known as Declan MacManus appears to have upped ...

Elliott Smith: Shooting Star: Elliott Smith

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2004

A YEAR AGO I was sitting in the Los Angeles living room of Mr. Roger Steffens, curator of a huge Bob Marley archive that was ...

Tom Waits: Real Gone (Anti/Epitaph)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2004

SINCE IT’S HARD and possibly verboten to say a bad word about Tom Waits, unholy shaman of whacked-out Americana, I’ll content myself with expressing a ...

U2 and the Making of Achtung Baby

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, November 2004

TOYKO, LATE 1993, somewhere in the fast-forward blur of the dying 20th century. As the biggest, loudest, most expensive and technically ambitious rock tour in ...

John Peel RIP

Obituary by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2004

LONG BEFORE we met, John Peel felt like a good friend. For those millions of us who spent our adolescence glued to his late-night radio ...

Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: The Achievement of Madness: Performance

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, Summer 2004

PERFORMANCE only gets better with the passing years. A key late ‘60s text, Donald Cammell and Nic Roeg’s film brings two Swinging London worlds together ...

Sufjan Stevens: Illinois

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, 2005

IN AN AGE when the commercial imperative has reduced the notion of ideal musical production to one of recycling old techno riffs, slapping a treated ...

Dolly Parton: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2005

WILDE: People were writing you off a few years ago. Did you start to believe your time was finally up? ...

Girls Aloud: What Will the Neighbours Say?

Review by Bob Stanley, Uncut, January 2005

THE 'LOUD'S FABULOUS run of hits to date is as close to a 21st Century Blondie as we're likely to come: two of them — ...

Nirvana: With The Lights Out

Review by Marc Weingarten, Uncut, January 2005

At last, the Cobain motherlode: three CDs and one DVD, with 81 songs, 68 unreleased. ...

Bob Dylan: Shelter from the Storm: The Inside Story of Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2005

FEBRUARY 13, 1977. Bob and Sara Dylan are screaming themselves hoarse. Sara has just walked down to breakfast in their Malibu mansion to find Bob ...

The Sound: From The Lion's Mouth

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2005

Great albums that have fallen off the critical radar ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers, The Wailers: The Wailers: Burnin’ (Deluxe Edition) (Tuff Gong/Island)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2005

CATCH A FIRE set the world alight but Burnin’ got it blazing. By the time Eric Clapton took the album’s ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ to ...

Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian Jones: Death of a Rolling Stone

Retrospective by Carol Clerk, Uncut, February 2005

Without guitarist BRIAN JONES, there would have been no Rolling Stones. And yet the golden boy of the '60s was also the first rock casualty ...

LCD Soundsystem: Liquid ecstasy: LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI) *****

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2005

New York's disco infiltrators put the "cross" in crossover ...

Low: The Great Destroyer (roughtrade)

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2005

Rage before beauty: Eighth album sees one-time slowest band in the world in bitter, take-no-prisoners mood ...

Mercury Rev: The Secret Migration (V2)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2005

Follow-up to 2001's All Is Dream, recorded in the band's own Kingston studio by the core Rev trio of Jonathan Donahue, Grasshopper and Jeff Mercel. ...

Tom Waits: Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2005

SO MANY desperate, disappointed people loitered without hope outside the Apollo for this show that one felt vaguely ashamed being in possession of a ticket. ...

Doves: Some Cities (Heavenly) *****

Review by Bob Stanley, Uncut, March 2005

Wings of desire: Deeper excursions into melancholy from Manchester's most adventurous ...

Drive-By Truckers: Gangstabilly, Pizza Deliverance

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2005

Early, essential albums from Alabama-bred rockers. A BURGEONING REPUTATION as the most vital Southern band since Skynyrd and the paint still drying on blistering sixth LP ...

Elliott Smith: Roman Candle, Elliott Smith, Either/Or

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2005

First three from masterful songwriter who committed suicide in 2003. ...

The Residents: Four-legged trends: The Residents: Animal Lover (Mute) ****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2005

Latest concept album from cryptic Americans ...

Josh Rouse: Nashville

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2005

Fifth album from soft-rock maestro: a bittersweet farewell to his hometown. EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO Josh Rouse, born in 1972, released a sunbaked album named after that ...

Laura Veirs: The Triumphs And Travails Of Orphan Mae

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2005

First UK release of Veirs' second album, in wake of hugely acclaimed Carbon Glacier. ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Transistor Radio

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2005

Fourth album from Portland dream-catcher follows up 2003's Transfiguration Of Vincent. ...

Ozzy Osbourne: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, March 2005

WILDE: Your house in Buckinghamshire was burgled in November 2004. What was that like? ...

Queen: Killer Queen

Retrospective by Jon Wilde, Uncut, March 2005

They're responsible for the nation's favourite song, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', as well as its favourite live performance — Live Aid in '85. Now, more than a ...

Kim Fowley: Welcome To The Weird World of Kim Fowley

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2005

"I can kill people, cheat, seduce, amuse and abuse. When they drop a bomb, I'll get a hard-on, go out into the street and I'll ...

Beck: Guero

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, April 2005

Funky-go-lucky yin to the mournful Drake-meets-Gainsbourg yang of Sea Change. ...

Sun Ra: Cosmic Relief: Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra: The Magic Sun

Film/DVD/TV Review by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2005

Important documentary artefact of late-'60s avant-garde jazz ...

Hal: Irish Nostalgists Crossing The Harmonic Pop Divide

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2005

Who are they and what do they sound like? Hal were formed by brothers Dave (vocals/guitar) and Paul Allen (bass/vocals), whose parents were a double act ...

Judee Sill: Spirited Away

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, April 2005

UNTIL RECENTLY, Judee Sill and her two Asylum albums were all but forgotten. Her story is so tragic as to be nearly unbelievable, the antithesis ...

Rufus Wainwright: Want Two

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, April 2005

LATE LAST YEAR, Rufus Wainwright was a guest on Tom Robinson's BBC6 radio show, answering questions about music, life and celebrity while pointedly avoiding allusion ...

Scritti Politti: The Sweetest Boy

Retrospective and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, April 2005

From the post-punk squat-crusties to pristine '80s pop-funkers, Scritti Politti underwent one of the most radical transformations in rock history. Uncut meets the band's mastermind, ...

Hal: Hal

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2005

TWENTYSOMETHING BROTHERS Dave and Paul Allen, offspring of folk musician parents and raiders of their record collection, aren't shy about revealing their love of Sixties/Seventies ...

Roky Erickson, 13th Floor Elevators: Roky Erickson: I Have Always Been Here Before – The Roky Erickson Anthology

Review and Interview by Luke Torn, Uncut, May 2005

Astral Peaks: thirty years of incandescent psychedelia from rock's mercurial "madman". ...

Van Der Graaf Generator: Present

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2005

ALTHOUGH CUSTOMARILY associated with prog, Van der Graaf Generator were always a world away from the ridiculous likes of Yes and Jethro Tull. ...

Jimmy Webb: Almost Blue: Jimmy Webb

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2005

JIMMY WEBB is sad. He looks around him at the world we inhabit and sees culture nose-diving everywhere. Subtlety is squeezed, ambiguity flattened. People don’t ...

Stevie Wonder Takes His Time

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2005

BY THE SMALL HOURS of Saturday morning, L.A.'s Koreatown district is hushed and still. The odd car rattles along Western Avenue, but most of the ...

Alice Cooper: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, July 2005

UNCUT: Am I speaking to Vincent Furnier or his alter-ego, Alice Cooper? ...

Cream: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Rob Chapman, Uncut, July 2005

ONE OF THE most fascinating spectator sports these past few years has been watching rock music finally coming to terms with its sense of legacy. ...

Ry Cooder: Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2005

AFTER A DECADE of travels that's taken him from Timbuktu to Cuba, Ry Cooder has come home to shine a light on a shameful episode ...

Van Morrison: Into The Mystic

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, July 2005

For 40 years, his music has inspired and astonished. Yet he has remained a silent, enigmatic figure, shunning the media. Now, at long last, VAN ...

Brian Eno: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, August 2005

UNCUT: When did you first realise you were strange? ...

Curtis Mayfield: Soul Brother No. 1

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2005

Ghetto-funk pioneer, civil rights activist, blaxploitation soundtrack master — the late Curits Mayfield is one of the all-time soul greats ...

Frank Black: Honeycomb

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2005

MUCH HAS changed in the world of Chester Thompson, aka Frank Black, in the last two years. He's parted company from trusty sidekicks the Catholics, ...

Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron: Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson: Winter in America (Charly)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2005

A MASTERWORK of ghetto melancholia and stark political gravitas, Winter in America showcases Scott-Heron and Jackson at their most witheringly unsentimental but also their most ...

Kurt Cobain: Suicide Blond

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, August 2005

Gus Van Sant befriended Kurt Cobain during his rise to global stardom. Now the director has made a film based on the grunge superstar's harrowing ...

Ry Cooder: Man of the World: Ry Cooder

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2005

RYLAND PETER COODER is a man out of time – at the very least a fish out of water. In London to promote his superb ...

Kanye West: Street Smarts: Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella) ****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2005

Second enthralling album from hip hop's new multi-faceted main man ...

Goldfrapp: Supernature (Mute)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2005

GOLDFRAPP took a big chance when they abandoned the swoonsome muzak of 2001's Felt Mountain for the kinky machinery of 2003's glamtastic Black Cherry. Few ...

Elbow: Leaders of the Free World (V2)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2005

Third album from Mancunian quintet, self-produced at the city's Blueprint studio. ...

Fire Engines: Codex Teenage Premonition

Review and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, October 2005

Unreleased treasure trove from Sound Of Young Scotland's prickly outriders. ...

The Only Ones: Another Boy, Another Planet

Retrospective and Interview by Nina Antonia, Uncut, October 2005

If you thought Pete Doherty and the Libertines were the ultimate in glorious, shambling rock 'n' roll then try THE ONLY ONES, the brilliant late-'70s ...

Editors: The Mercy Lounge, Nashville

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2005

Brum gloom-rockers triumph in C&W's capital city. Saturday, September 17, 2005 ...

Marah: If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2005

Rip-snorting return of Nick Hornby's beloved Philly kids. ...

Scott Walker: Classics and Collectibles

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2005

THE SCOTT WALKER of the '60s and '70s - of Classics and Collectibles - is all about tragic grandeur colliding with Easy Listening: Bergman movies ...

Bill Withers: The Very Best of Bill Withers (Sony/BMG)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2006

19-track mixed-bag from funky L.A.-based singer-songwriter, beloved of Dr Evil and Mini-Me. ...

Judy Henske, Jerry Yester: Judy Henske & Jerry Yester: Farewell Aldebaran (Radioactive)

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2006

AMONG THE ODDITIES released on Frank Zappa's Straight label at the end of the '60s, none was more exotic than the one conceived by a ...

Nik Cohn: Rock Dreamer

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2006

He inspired Townshend and Bowie to create Tommy and Ziggy Stardust, wrote the article that became Saturday Night Fever and penned the greatest pop book ...

The National: Heaven Knows They're Miserablist Now

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2006

Brooklyn-based five-piece THE NATIONAL talk to Uncut about their fourth album, Alligator, a mesmerising blend of melancholy and mischief ...

Neil Diamond: The uncool ruler: Neil Diamond: 12 Songs (Columbia) ****

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2006

After reinvigorating Johnny Cash, producer Rick Rubin turns his attention to another American icon ...

Jenny Lewis: Almost Famous: Jenny Lewis

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, March 2006

Kentuckey-fried Rilo Kiley frontwoman goes solo ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash/Daylight Again

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2006

CSN WAS BORN of dissolution, the fruit of fragmenting times. They kicked off a second wave of post-Sunset Strip/British Invasion music, loose affiliations of longhairs ...

Kiss: Masters of the Universe

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, March 2006

They came from Detroit City but could have leapt from the pages of a DC comic. Thirty years ago, KISS — the biggest and trashiest ...

The Lovin' Spoonful: Singles As and Bs

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2006

DO YOU BELIEVE in the magic of a great pop song? The Lovin' Spoonful did. On 1965's jaunty 'Do You Believe In Magic', their first ...

Bill Wyman: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, April 2006

THE LEGENDARY STONES BASSIST ON HOW HE NEVER GOT THE CREDIT(S) HE DESERVED ...

Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2006

THERE WAS SOMETHING so ultimate about the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, emphasized by its release in the last year of the 20th Century, you ...

Graham Coxon: The Jon Wilde Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, May 2006

The former Blur guitarist tries to forget the Britpop circus, Damon Albarn's megalomania and stealing sausages in a denim skirt ...

Kris Kristofferson

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2006

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON is tough to nail. Uncut first catches him, fleetingly, en route to the airport at his home in Maui. ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sultans Of Swamp

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2006

LORD KNOWS, Lynyrd Skynyrd had seen it coming. On the flight from Florida to South Carolina, the band's Convair 240 tour plane had begun spewing ...

Primal Scream, The Stone Roses: Primal Scream: An interview with Mani

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2006

LEGENDARY HEDONIST and bassman Gary 'Mani' Mounfield talks about Primal Scream, Roses reunion rumours and the "Mexican stand-off" between his former bandmates... ...

Ian Brown: Q&A with Ian Brown

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2006

MARCH 2006, and King Monkey is swinging from the ceiling of his record label offices, grinning as he tapes over the smoke alarm for an ...

Ronnie Spector: Be My Baby?

Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, May 2006

When Phil Spector didn't have her under lock and key, she was being seduced by Lennon and getting wild with Bowie, Ronnie Spector, the ultimate ...

Morrissey: The Last Temptation of Morrissey

Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, May 2006

With Steven Patrick re-anointed St Morrissey following reviews for his latest album Ringleader Of The Tormentors, can Uncut's journalist, a devilishly nosey fellow Mancunian, tempt ...

The Streets: The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living (679) ****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 2006

MIKE SKINNER'S EXISTENCE has been transformed by success and fortune. It's a fortune accrued by observing, in startlingly prosaic detail, a life of Wetherspoons and ...

Shack: Heads Down: Shack

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2006

MARCH 2006, and in Liverpool feral rat-faced folk with the lean and hungry look seem to be everywhere. Junkies – on the street or selling ...

The Stone Roses: The Resurrection of the Stone Roses: Ian's Story

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2006

MARCH 2006, and King Monkey is swinging from the ceiling of his record label offices, grinning as he tapes over the smoke alarm for an ...

Kanye West: Late Orchestration (Mercury/Def Jam) ***

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2006

Superstar rapper reinvents his sound at intimate London show ...

Led Zeppelin: Stairwell to Headley: Led Zeppelin's Fourth Album

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2006

THE SCENE IS Atlantic Records' HQ in New York City, the date early September 1971. The event is a tense standoff between, on the one ...

Judee Sill: The Stars That Fame Forgot: Judee Sill

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2006

LA's doomed lady of the canyon who lost her genius to drugs ...

Dusty Springfield: Complete As and Bs

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2006

OF ALL THE overused terms that blight today’s pop culture, "icon" surely grates the most. In these inane post-Warhol times, everybody is an icon and ...

P. F. Sloan: The Stars That Fame Forgot: P. F. Sloan

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2006

"P.F. Sloan gave us arguably the first real 'protest rock'. It wasn't folk music anymore, it was ROCK AND ROLL protest music. 'Eve of Destruction' ...

Malcolm McLaren: An Audience With… Malcolm McLaren

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, September 2006

This month, you plus a handful of star names grill the self-styled "ultimate rascal" on who killed Sid, pissing on Richard Branson's carpet, and whether ...

Kasabian: Empire (Sony/BMG) ****

Review and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, September 2006

Leicester's dance-rock ruffians continue their plan for global takeover with second album ...

Lambchop: Damaged

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2006

THERE WAS a time when Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop dwelled in the very eye of the alt.Americana hurricane: a folksy but literate Nashville troupe making highbrow ...

Syd Barrett: A Blind Date With Syd

Retrospective by Chris Welch, Uncut, September 2006

Former Melody Maker writer Chris Welch recalls a brief encounter with Barrett in 1967 ...

The Runaways: Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways ****

Film/DVD/TV Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, October 2006

ILL-STARRED SCHOOLGIRL ROCKERS LOOK BACK IN ANGER ...

Kasabian: Sweet & Tender Hooligans

Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, October 2006

With a swaggering new album, and a killer live reputation, megaphone-mouthed Kasabian are a band so in demand that even Pete Townshend is prepared to ...

Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah (Polydor) ****

Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 2006

BIG APPLE GLAM POPSTERS HAVE "SECOND ALBUM SYNDROME" LICKED ...

Amy Winehouse: Back To Black (Island) ****

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2006

The first wasn't a fluke. Fine follow-up to Frank ...

John Phillips: John Phillips (John, The Wolfking of L.A.)

Review and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2006

HIPPY DREAMS DEFILED, HOLLYWOOD AFFAIRS, HERCULEAN DRUG USE: THE LONG-LOST SOLO ALBUM FROM MAMAS & PAPAS LYNCHPIN. ...

Oasis: "The plan was always to become the biggest band in the world"

Interview by James Brown, Uncut, November 2006

Next month, Oasis unleash their first greatest hits compilation. In this exclusive interview, Noel and Liam tell the true stories of the songs that shaped ...

Arctic Monkeys: It's great when you're ape… yeah!

Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, December 2006

In just 12 months, Arctic Monkeys have become the biggest band in the land. Uncut took the boys back to where their incredible story began ...

Jarvis Cocker: Jarvis (Rough Trade) ***

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2006

Everyone's favourite Britpop idol returns with uneven, ultimately transcendent solo debut ...

The Raconteurs and the making of 'Steady, as She Goes'

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2006

IF EVER A record begged to be released on 7" vinyl it was the Raconteurs' 'Steady, as She Goes'. Redolent of an era when people ...

Tom Verlaine: Songs and Other Things/Around (Thrill Jockey)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, Spring 2006

Dual release of vocal and instrumental albums: the Television leader's long-overdue solo return. ...

Free: "Your Average Bloke Chatting Up Your Average Chick": Free's 'All Right Now'

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2007

'ALL RIGHT NOW' is one of the quintessential cock-rockers – a cruder, more pub-rockish 'Whole Lotta Love'. It's the sound of the longhaired male predator ...

Josh Ritter: Girl In The War

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2007

Delicate Mini-Album From Idaho Minstrel ...

Lee Hazlewood: Cake or Death

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2007

BARTON LEE Hazlewood remains the cult artist's cult artist, an American maverick who's operated by his own supremely offbeat rules ever since producing Sanford Clark's ...

Lily Allen: An Interview

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2007

The girl who would be Gandhi mouths off about beating up the Sugababes, balling Becks, torturing spiders and unicorn sex. ...

Neil Young: Live at the Fillmore East

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2007

IN THE CONTINUING absence of his Archives we clutch at any morsels dispensed from Neil Young's table. Long a live bootleg classic - as well ...

Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2007

SURE, HORSES was one tough act to follow. Smith's 1975 debut — one of the great, breathtaking, burn-it-down debuts — tore such a hole in ...

The Doors: Perception

Review by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2007

The Compleat Jimbo and co on six CDs and six DVDs… "No one here gets out alive!" ...

Norah Jones: Not Too Late

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2007

Come Away With Me, Norah Jones' landmark 2002 debut, stands as this decade's Tapestry. Though she wrote very little of the album, the material was ...

Norah Jones: Not Too Late

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2007

MOR Superstar's Third Album: Subtle, Political, Surprisingly Radical ...

Pentangle: The Time Has Come

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2007

4CD Connoisseur Collection Of Rare Mercurial Magic From British Folk/Blues/Jazz Supergroup. ...

Peter Perrett

Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2007

The Only One wants to cut one more LP "before death comes". ...

Ray LaMontagne: Til The Sun Turns Black (14th Floor) ***

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2007

New Hampshire star's long-awaited second sneaks into UK shops ...

Ray LaMontagne: The Outsider

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2007

He had the sleeper hit of 2006 with debut LP Trouble. But what will Ray LaMontagne's fanatical audience make of its follow-up, the confessional, haunting ...

Tinariwen: Aman: Water Is Life

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2007

WHEN THEY FIRST formed in the Libyan guerilla camps of the late ‘70s, Tinariwen referred to their music simply as "guitar". And no wonder. Electric ...

Lucinda Williams: West

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2007

MUCH IS MADE of Lucinda Williams the writer, the poet of southern aches and pains. Time magazine called her "America's Best Songwriter" and the New ...

Nico: The Frozen Borderline 1968-1970

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, March 2007

The Ice Queen Sets Sail: The Marble Index and Desertshore On Two CDs, Plus Demos And Out-Takes ...

Richard Swift: Dressed Up For The Letdown

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2007

CONNOISSEURS OF grand American pop will love Richard Swift. Like the young Van Dyke Parks or Harry Nilsson, his baleful, piano-led cabaret sounds like an ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Sermon On Exposition Boulevard

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2007

Startling Return Of L.A.'s Duchess Of Coolsville. ...

Metallica: The Making of 'Enter Sandman'

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2007

The Black Album's anti-lullaby proved a massive hit for the leaner, meaner Metallica, helping them become the biggest metal band on the planet ...

The Stooges

Retrospective and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, March 2007

It's 2007, OK! Got a war across the USA! What better time, then, for Iggy Pop and the Stooges to return to their first album ...

Nick Cave, Grinderman: Grinderman: Grinderman

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, April 2007

THE NEW NAME – the alter ego, the Bad Seeds doppelganger – sounds like some hideous Saw-style horror flick: Nick Cave recasts The Hitcher in ...

Guns N' Roses: The Endless Wait For Chinese Democracy

Report by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2007

It has been 5650 days since Guns N' Roses last released an album of original material. 24 musicians, 8 producers and 15 million dollars later… ...

Kings of Leon: "The only people we could be completely honest with was family… It was us against the world!"

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, April 2007

After a righteous support slot on Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour, Tennessee's true band of brothers Kings of Leon are back with a new album, ...

Madness: The Making Of 'Our House'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007

The Nutty Boys nailed their "English Motown" sound on this infectious classic — one of the lasting monuments of '80s pop. Suggs and the band ...

Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007

From Archives: A Spellbinding 1971 Solo Homecoming Show ...

Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2007

"WITH THIS ALBUM," Wayne Coyne revealed to Uncut last year, "I wanted to tell people that I know life is beautiful because I've seen how ...

The Horrors: Strange House (Loog) ****

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, April 2007

SHOCK HORROR! SOUTHEND GOTHS' REMORSELESS FIRST ...

Arctic Monkeys: Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) ****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2007

Whatever you think they are... They're better! The triumphant, funky return of Alex Turner's troupe ...

James: "We sold 30,000 T-shirts a month!"

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2007

IT'S EASY TO FORGET how huge James were. And still are — eager fans snapped up 25,000 tickets for their reunion tour in just half ...

Kings Of Leon: Because Of The Times (Columbia) ****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2007

SWAMPY RETURN OF THE "SOUTHERN STROKES" ...

Wayne Kramer, MC5, John Sinclair: MC5: The making of Kick Out The Jams

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, May 2007

How Wayne Kramer and his Detroit proto punks turned a stage heckle into a battle cry to herald the death of the hippy dream ...

Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen (Kitchenware/Sony)

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2007

Remastered '85 masterpiece with extra acoustic disc. ...

Trees

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, May 2007

How a sample reunited west London's wyrd electric-folk troubadours... ...

Air: Pocket Symphony

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2007

SO HIP THEY'RE passé, sexy geekboys Air continue to mine the seam of elegiac futurism wowed ten thousand ad executives back in '98. After the ...

Carbon/Silicon: "It's Not About The Past, It's About The Future"

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2007

First Paul Simonon resurfaces. Now Mick Jones joins up with Generation X's Tony James in Carbon/Silicon. Welcome back! ...

Elliott Smith: New Moon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2007

Astonishing Two-Disc Trove Of Unreleased Mid-'90s Vintage. ...

Joe Strummer

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2007

JOE STRUMMER was a fascinating bunch of guys. The former Clash frontman was both romantic idealist and career opportunist, anarchist rebel and proud patriot, hippie ...

The Beach Boys: The Making of 'Good Vibrations'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2007

Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine guide Uncut through their perfect "pocket symphony", three minutes and thirty-six seconds of avant-garde pop. ...

The National: Boxer

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, June 2007

TWELVE YEARS AGO, the five members of the National left their native Cincinnati and headed east for New York. As mid-westerners who can never think ...

Doll By Doll: The Stars that Fame Forgot: Doll by Doll

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2007

Too dangerous for punk! The mad, bad story of Jackie Leven's Celtic Soul rebels. ...

The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2007

JACK WHITE was certainly ready and prepared for the media storm that greeted The White Stripes' arrival on the international stage with their third album ...

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, June 2007

Tweedy and Co.'s Surprising Soft-Rock Therapy. ...

Bruce Springsteen: Live In Dublin With The Sessions Band

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2007

Boss Man's 'Leave The Preaching To The Choir' Policy Reaps Live Jackpot ...

Nick Drake: Family Tree

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2007

LISTEN TO NICK DRAKE with one ear and you'll hear a (self-)parody of the Sensitive Young Troubadour – the posh Poor Boy, long ways from ...

Queens Of The Stone Age: Step Inside The Best Little Whorehouse In Rock

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, July 2007

FOR THE PAST DECADE, Queens Of The Stone Age have been the premier destination for wild, sexually charged rock, frequented by everyone from Dave Grohl ...

Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2007

Boy Wonder Eases Up: Only His 9th LP In Seven Years ...

Squeeze: The Making of 'Up The Junction'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2007

"We almost had a shining toward each other..." Master songwriters Difford  and Tilbrook recall their '79 hit, where art would come to imitate real life. ...

The Libertines: Up The Bracket

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, July 2007

Before the supermodels, the drug busts and the tabloid fallouts, Doherty and Barat cooked up a little cracker. ...

The White Stripes: Icky Thump

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, July 2007

Heavy Riffage! Celtic Folk! Mariachi Blues! Meg And Jack Rock Back With A "Compellingly Weird" One... ...

Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Traveling Wilburys: Traveling Wilburys: Volume1/Volume 3

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2007

Five Legends Roll Together On Memorable Sidetrip ...

Crowded House: Time On Earth

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2007

Pure, quiet quality from the reunited Kiwi Beatles ...

Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons: Emmylou Harris: Album By Album

Retrospective and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2007

FEW SINGERS are more universally revered than Emmylou Harris, whose glorious alto has serenaded us for the past 35 years. Her shimmering body of work ...

Oasis: The Making Of 'Don't Look Back In Anger'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2007

How Noel Gallagher's 1996 Lennon-loving No. 1 fuelled the brothers' simmering rivalry and became the new yardstick for British stadium rock. ...

Queens of the Stone Age: Era Vulgaris

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2007

Fifth studio platter from QOTSA, boasting cameos from Julian Casablancas et al. ...

Bob Lind

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, September 2007

The 'Elusive Butterfly' collector, immortalised by Jarvis Cocker. ...

Fairport Convention: Come all ye rolling minstrels

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, September 2007

They were a bunch of uptight Londoners who wanted to be the Byrds. But after a tragic road crash, Fairport Convention holed up in the ...

Hawkwind: The Making Of 'Silver Machine'

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, September 2007

Drugs, insanity and a "Chuck Berry riff played backwards"; Hawkwind tell the story of 'Silver Machine', the only Top 3 single ever recorded entirely on ...

Love: The Blue Thumb Recordings

Review by Mick Houghton, Uncut, September 2007

Love's Post-Elektra Albums Plus Intriguing Rediscovered Live Recordings. ...

Richard Hawley: From Sheffield….to Eternity!

Profile and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, September 2007

It's taken 25 years for Richard Hawley to be celebrated as the "Sheffield Sinatra". But how did Pulp, death and a diet of "Grolsch and ...

Stephen Stills: Just Roll Tape – April 26th 1968

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2007

Post-Springfield, Pre-CSN Stills in Magisterial Solo Mood ...

Flying Burrito Brothers: The Flying Burrito Brothers: Gram Parsons Archives Vol 1 – Flying Burrito Brothers Live At The Avalon 1969

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2007

GP & Co, Free At Last After Being Locked Up In The Dead Vault For 38 Years. ...

George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys: The Inside Story of the Traveling Wilburys… Rock's Greatest Ever Supergroup

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2007

George Harrison hid in the bushes with a video camera. Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne sang harmonies on the porch. And Bob Dylan? ...

The Mekons: Mekon…And On…And On…

Report and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2007

They wanted to be punk's slowest band. They ended up accidentally inventing alt.country and sticking around for 30 years. Raise your glasses, please, to the ...

The Verve: Urban Hymns

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, September 2007

As we await the comeback album, the Wiganites' third still soars. ...

Hard-Fi: Once Upon A Time In The West

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, October 2007

The Sound Of The Suburbs: Leone-Inspired Second Album From Staines Asbo Rockers. ...

Ian Brown: The World is Yours

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2007

A DECADE INTO his post-Stone Roses career, Ian Brown has recruited a heavyweight coalition of the willing for his fifth studio album. ...

PJ Harvey: White Chalk (Island)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2007

IN THE AGE of Amy Winehouse it's worth remembering the shock that was Polly Jean Harvey when she blasted out of the West Country 15 ...

Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, October 2007

Messed-Up, blissed-out '90s Psychedelia. Still Haunting, Still Huge. ...

Steve Earle: Washington Square Serenade

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2007

LIKE TOM RUSSELL AND DAVE ALVIN, Earle is a songwriter who sharpens with age. Jerusalem (2002) and The Revolution Starts... Now (2004) found him politically ...

The Doors: Album by Album

Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, October 2007

"We were delving into the realms of the psychedelic... We created a new American music that was universal." So says keyboard player Ray Manzarek, deftly ...

The Specials: The Making of 'Ghost Town'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2007

Spring 1981: the Coventry boys' eerily funky hymn to their home city nailed the spirit of the times, and remains the best piece of political ...

Moby Grape: You Had To Be There: Moby Grape's reunion show at The Fillmore East, June 1971

Live Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, October 2007

IT WAS THE middle of the afternoon, and four of us were sitting dead centre in the otherwise empty Fillmore East. Beside me was fellow ...

Beirut: The Flying Club Cup

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, November 2007

Globetrotting Folk-Pop Prodigy Gets Gloriously Lost In Translation. Again... ...

Bruce Springsteen: Magic

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2007

PROBABLY AS EARLY as his fifth album, 1980's The River, Springsteen reached that sparsely populated stratosphere of artists recognised by surname alone, with a personal ...

Carbon/Silicon: The Last Post

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, November 2007

Punk Veterans Unite To Unleash Raw, Roaring, Back-To-Basics Debut. ...

John Fogerty: Revival

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2007

Finally at peace with his past, Creedence legend makes storming return. ...

Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2007

EVIDENTLY WARY of the heavy-handed earnestness that blights many an acoustic singer-songwriter, Josh Ritter has lately been looking for ways to extend his range. Last ...

Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2007

Poetic, Eclectic, Atmospheric: A Grammy-Winning Snapshot Of The South. ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: Ray Davies: Album By Album

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2007

"MY SONGWRITING has been my ally through life," Ray Davies muses, "because I ain't got much else." As the creative force behind the Kinks, Davies ...

Joy Division: Torn Apart: The Legend Of Joy Division

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 2007

One of Britain's most influential bands is now the subject of a compelling new film. Paul Lester talks to Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard ...

Blue Cheer

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2007

How three Summer Of Love acid-heads became the heaviest band on the planet. ...

The Band, Levon Helm: Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2007

LEVON HELM was the southern heart of that essentially Canadian group The Band, the drummer/singer/mandolinist who gave Robbie Robertson's songs their corn-starch authenticity. Helm it ...

Neil Young: "I've learned a lot about the trail I've left and the debris behind me…"

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, December 2007

As he puts the finishing touches to his momentous Archives retrospective, Neil Young escorts us on an unusually revealing journey through his past. From car ...

Six Organs Of Admittance: Shelter From The Ash

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, December 2007

OVERUSED PHRASES such as "freak folk" or "acid folk" tend to play up the potential gonzo overtones of America's current underground scene. ...

Steve Earle: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2007

PLAYWRIGHT, NOVELIST, activist, actor... when Steve Earle has found a moment over the past couple of decades, he has also managed to string together a ...

The Eagles: Long Road Out Of Eden

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, December 2007

THE STANDARD-BEARERS of L.A. rock's second wave, the Eagles were a streamlined hybrid of proven rock strategies. ...

Warren Zevon: The Wind

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, December 2007

Affecting all-star valediction from an American original. ...

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, 2008

THE PAIRING OF the wily old tomcat and the classy country thrush turns out as magically in reality as it seemed unlikely on paper. ...

Arcade Fire: The Unforgettable Fire

Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2008

Uncut has said for two years that the Arcade Fire are one of the best bands in the world. But how are they coping with ...

David Bowie: Lodger

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2008

The Dame's sonic sketchpad — restless, inventive and thrillingly experimental. ...

Donald Fagen: The Nightfly Trilogy (The Nightfly/Kamakiriad/MorphThe Cat)

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, January 2008

Steely Dan man's smooth tales of paranoia, boxed. ...

Mott The Hoople: The Making Of 'All The Young Dudes'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2008

Breakups! Bowie! Gay roadies! The strange tale of glam rock's glorious singalong ...

U2: The Joshua Tree – remastered edition

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2008

20th anniversary reissue of an oft-maligned masterpiece. IT IS VEXINGLY DIFFICULT to improve upon the summation of The Joshua Tree offered by longtime U2 confidant Bill ...

U2: The Joshua Tree (remastered edition)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2008

20th anniversary reissue of an oft-maligned masterpiece ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono: Special Occasions

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, January 2008

THOUGHTS FROM YOKO ONO ON THE EVE OF JOHN LENNON'S BIRTHDAY (OCTOBER 9, 2007) IN ICELAND, WHERE SHE INAUGURATED THE IMAGINE PEACE TOWER IN HIS ...

Dawn Landes: Fireproof

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2008

UNLESS YOU'RE A REGULAR at New York's anti-folk dives or a particularly avid student of engineering credits on records by Ryan Adams or Philip Glass, ...

John Hiatt: Bring The Family

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, February 2008

Harrowing '87 confessional enhanced by Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner. ...

Eels: The Eels: Meet The Eels: Essential Eels Vol 1 (1996-2006)/Useless Trinkets: Rarities And Unreleased (1996-2006)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2008

E's are good: revisiting a brilliant back catalogue ...

Buzzcocks: The Making of 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008

Treasured by John Peel, the 1978 powerpop perennial by Manchester's melodic punks ...

Mark Eitzel: Doctor Eitzel's Hellraising, Heartbreaking True-Life Songs Of Love And Hate – Satisfaction Guaranteed Or Your Money Back

Profile and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2008

When American Music Club play live, frontman Mark Eitzel has to be kept away from the cash; if he thinks it's been a bad show, ...

Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2008

Improbably, they find a way to get better than ever. ...

Madness: Album By Album

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008

2008 WILL SEE Madness' first album of new material for nine years. The Liberty Of Newton Folgate is a concept LP of sorts, inspired by ...

The Beach Boys: Mister Optimism: Mike Love Talks

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2008

OVER 45 YEARS have passed since three Californian brothers and their first cousin formed a rocking little combo that harmonized angelically on classic songs about ...

Shelby Lynne: Just A Little Lovin'

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2008

Shelby does Dusty In Memphis... almost. ...

Adele: The Great White Hype: Adele's 19

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2008

SOME DAYS it feels like we've time-traveled back to the early Eighties, when every other month coughed up a new BEST WHITE SOUL VOICE YOU'VE ...

The Prisoners: The Last Fourfathers

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, March 2008

IN 1985, GRAHAM DAY was 21. His band, the Prisoners, had already made a name for themselves as part of the Milkshakes-led Medway Scene — ...

Bauhaus

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, April 2008

They came from Northampton, in a hearse. They posed as bats, "improved" 'Ziggy Stardust', and battled malevolent energies within their own band. As another comeback ...

Shirley Collins

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2008

A fearless explorer, a radical traditionalist, and one of England's greatest folk singers — but why hasn't she performed for 30 years? ...

Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, April 2008

Britpop alumni enter their Berlin period. Sort of. ...

The Black Crowes: Warpaint

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2008

No irony. No significant changes. No problem! ...

The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2008

GREG DULLI AND MARK LANEGAN share much common ground. After troubled teenhood, each passed through Seattle's emergent Sub Pop label at the turn of the ...

Thin Lizzy: The Making of 'The Boys Are Back In Town'

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, April 2008

The shit-kicking '76 hit that saved Phil Lynott's bad-boy brawlers in the nick of time. ...

Van Dyke Parks's Song Cycle

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2008

BY THE TIME of his 1968 debut, Van Dyke Parks already had pedigree. Mississippi-born and Louisiana-raised, as a child actor he starred in 1956's The ...

The Byrds, Gene Clark, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Gene Clark remembered: "Genius and insanity hand in hand…"

Retrospective by Luke Torn, Uncut, May 2008

IT'S ANOTHER DAY in the busy life of one of the biggest bands in America. The Byrds have just recorded 'Eight Miles High', and are ...

Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2008

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. ...

Pentangle: Album By Album

Guide by Rob Young, Uncut, May 2008

OF ALL THE British folk groups of the late '60s, Pentangle were the most commercially successful. Where Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span chose a more ...

T-Bone Burnett, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: T Bone Burnett: Brother, Who Art Thou?

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, May 2008

WHO EXACTLY IS T Bone Burnett? Is he really the man who turned Dylan onto Christianity and split Costello from the Attractions? As the producer ...

Felice Brothers: The Felice Brothers: The Felice Brothers

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2008

Killer second from rural New York siblings ...

The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age Of The Understatement

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, May 2008

NOW IT ALL makes sense. Anyone who, on hearing Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare, wondered where Alex Turner had mislaid his melodies now has their ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Making of 'Hong Kong Garden'

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2008

The oddly light debut smash that shoved punk's dark primitives out of the shadows ...

Flaming Lips: Album By Album

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2008

THINGS HAVE CHANGED monumentally for the Flaming Lips over the course of their 23-year career. "We were just dorks who liked music," says sonic ringmaster ...

Half Man Half Biscuit

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2008

The indie bards of daytime TV. They could've been contenders — if it weren't for Tranmere Rovers... ...

Steve Winwood: Nine Lives

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, June 2008

Have (Blind) Faith! A '60s-style Stevie is back! ...

Willard Grant Conspiracy: Pilgrim Road

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2008

Opulent seventh from Robert Fisher's ever-evolving collective. ...

Dave Edmunds: Subtle As A Flying Mallet

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, July 2008

WAS THERE EVER a more reluctant pop star than Dave Edmunds? The common practice for almost anyone who's scored a big hit is to roll ...

Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue (Legacy Edition)

Review by Pete Paphides, Uncut, July 2008

A lost career collected: his solo masterpiece, plus its follow-up. ...

Mudcrutch: Mudcrutch (Reprise)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2008

Tom Petty's glorified Florida bar band gets around to cutting its debut album after 35 years. ...

The Hold Steady

Profile and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, July 2008

They started the band as "a positive jam", but now The Hold Steady have become one of the best in America. With an astonishing fourth ...

The Waterboys: The Making Of 'The Whole Of The Moon'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2008

"Big Music", a massive hit, and the anthem the band are still arguing about. ...

Little Feat: Album By Album: Little Feat

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2008

Lowell George was a Hollywood one-off: a swarthy movie-brat beatnik with a white-negro larynx and a keeningly sensual slide-guitar style. In late '69 he formed ...

Blondie: The Making Of 'Heart Of Glass'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2008

A reggae song? By a "cult folk band"? Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and taskmaster/producer Mike Chapman relive the disco-punk boot camp that built a gleaming, ...

Randy Newman: Harps & Angels

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2008

Back with a blinder after almost a decade. ...

Ry Cooder: I, Flathead (Nonesuch)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, August 2008

Final instalment of Cooder's "trilogy" time-traveling back to '40's/'50s California, here exploring a lost world of steel guitarists and salt-flat drag racers. Comes complete with ...

The Turtles

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, August 2008

The L.A. pop maestros whose subversive career involved Frank Zappa, T.Rex — and the Care Bears! ...

Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, September 2008

Brian's back! Again! A Californian song-cycle — Van Dyke Parks contributes words. ...

Solomon Burke, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Buddy Guy, Al Kooper, Steve Winwood: Eric Clapton: The Return of God

Profile and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2008

To the faithful, Eric Clapton's guitar playing has always been sacred. But in 2008, from a Blind Faith reunion to a host of blazing session ...

Radiohead: In Rainbows Discbox/CD Seven Album Box/USB stick

Review by Pete Paphides, Uncut, September 2008

The Parlophone years in a box, plus an In Rainbows you can hold. Like the universe itself, it starts with an explosion and expands to barely ...

Randy Newman: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, September 2008

"CHRIST, I'M getting old," notes Randy Newman, distracted momentarily by his troublesome back. There is nothing, fortunately, wrong with his memory, as he trawls through ...

Shirley & Dolly Collins: The Harvest Years

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, September 2008

Remastered recordings dust off the crowning glories of English folk's Indian summer. ...

Teddy Thompson: A Piece Of What You Need

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2008

The son also rises. A great, Orbison-inspired piece of work. ...

The Walker Brothers: Nite Flights (1978)

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2008

Chilling, Bowie-beloved experiments in ambient pop. ...

New Order Reissues

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, 24 September 2008

THERE'S A FILM by mardy avant-garde writer BS Johnson called You're Human Like The Rest Of Us, whose title expresses how many of us came ...

Alejandro Escovedo, The Nuns: Alejandro Escovedo

Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2008

The cowpunk who survived Sid Vicious and Hepatitis C to duet with Springsteen, and become a legend of Americana. ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Déjà Vu Live

Review by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, October 2008

Military madness! Live album, to accompany documentary film. ...

George Jones: The Grand Tour

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, October 2008

Hard-living legend's monument to heartbreak. ...

Giant Sand: proVisions

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2008

Deconstructionist country-blues from Arizona hero ...

Glasvegas: Glasvegas

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, October 2008

Scots rockers' impassioned throwback to pop's golden age. ...

Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, October 2008

Intriguing and perplexing solo salvo from Rilo Kiley mainstay. ...

John Martyn: Ain't No Saint

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, October 2008

Outtakes and unreleased live recordings shine new light on the angels and demons at war in a 40-year career. ...

Kings Of Leon: Only By The Night

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, October 2008

WHEN THE KINGS Of Leon recorded their Holy Roller Novocaine EP in 2002, they were musical novices ranging in age from 15 to 22, but ...

Lindsey Buckingham: Gift Of Screws

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, October 2008

Mac man's punchy pop-rock manifesto ...

Metallica: Death Magnetic

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2008

Troubled Dark Knights of metal return to form. ...

Public Image Ltd: PiL: The Making Of 'Public Image'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2008

With old scores to settle, John Lydon kicked off his post-Pistols career with an explosive first single. "Some say it's dub, but we all loved ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Reissues

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2008

40th Anniversary editions of the first six platters by John Fogerty's Bay Area swamp-billies, complete with bonus tracks and authoritative liners. ...

Echo & the Bunnymen: The Making of 'The Killing Moon'

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, November 2008

1984's shimmering indie-pop epic is part Elvis, part Leonard Cohen, and part Bing Crosby, according to Ian McCulloch and co. Oh, and it's also "the ...

Lambchop: Oh (Ohio)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2008

Best in nearly a decade from newly-trimmed Nashville collective. ...

Lambchop: Album by Album

Retrospective and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2008

There are few bands that this magazine has championed as long and ardently as Lambchop. This fluctuating collective have dramatically broadened the palette of country ...

Lucinda Williams: Little Honey

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2008

Nine albums in, the queen of heartbreak tempts fate by cheering up. ...

The Undertones: Teenage Dreams, So Hard To Beat

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2008

For the Undertones, living the rock'n'roll dream meant visits to church and McDonald's, and adopting pigeons when they could've been partying with the Clash. But ...

Traffic: Getting It Together In The Country

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, November 2008

Dust down the Tibetan Book Of The Dead and buy in the "apple yoghurt". In 1968, Traffic — four blazing talents of rock, R'n'B, jazz ...

Dawn Landes: Dawn's Music

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2008

Reissued early stuff from Kentucky-born folkstress. ...

New Order: The Making Of 'Blue Monday'

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2008

A stone classic, for sure, but the best-selling 12" of all time was a bastard to play live and lost money on first release. "We ...

Paul McCartney: Electric Arguments

Review by Pete Paphides, Uncut, December 2008

YES, HE MAY HAVE HAMMERED the point home a little gracelessly at times. But nevertheless, Many Tears From Now — the 1997 biography virtually dictated ...

Paul Weller: Paul Weller At The BBC

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, December 2008

4-CD set proves he's more changing man than Plodfather. ...

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: Cardinology

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2008

Intermittent greatness from Americana's hardest-working man.  ...

Blue Magic, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Walter Jackson, The Voices of East Harlem: The Specialist: Soul reissues

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, Fall 2008

WHEN JERRY Wexler convinced the young Aretha Franklin to defect from Columbia to Atlantic in late 1966, few grasped that the signing was in fact ...

Drive-By Truckers, The Hold Steady: Drive-By Truckers/The Hold Steady: Rock'N'Roll Means Well…

Profile and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2009

… that's the name of Autumn 2008's premium tour, a raucous Stateside double-header featuring Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady. From Atlanta to Tallahassee, Uncut ...

Guns N' Roses: Chinese Democracy

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2009

Long-promised, finally delivered. Axl and co's first new album since 1991. ...

Lucinda Williams: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2009

"SNOW COVERS the street lamps and the windowsills," sang the alt.country queen on 2003's 'Minneapolis'. When Uncut calls her in that same city on her ...

Jimi Hendrix: Mitch Mitchell, 1947-2008

Obituary by Keith Altham, Uncut, January 2009

Jimi's mercurial drummer, remembered by his friend and publicist Keith Altham. ...

The Kinks: The Making Of 'Waterloo Sunset'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2009

The timeless 1967 hit, regarded by many as the most beautiful pop song every written, was something so personal that Ray Davies didn't even want ...

Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2009

His first classic, midwifed by L.A.'s rock royalty, plus a disc of extras. ...

Graham Nash: Reflections

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2009

The nice guy with the soaring voice finally gets his due. ...

R.E.M.: Murmur

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2009

A deathless debut, and the first indie-rock album, says Andrew Mueller ...

The Incredible String Band: Tricks of the Senses

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2009

Two CDs of lost sounds from the Scottish folk starsailors. ...

The Psychedelic Furs: Talk Talk Talk

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2009

IT'S PERHAPS FITTING that a curious, intriguing band whose career was jinxed by ifs and buts should have their second, arguably defining album later hijacked ...

13th Floor Elevators: Sign Of The 3 Eyed Men

Review and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, March 2009

EVEN IF THEIR music had not been great, the bizarre history of the 13th Floor Elevators would have earned the band a place in rock ...

Bruce Springsteen: Working On A Dream

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2009

After the furious state-of-the-union of Magic, the Boss returns to the home front — where things are rather better, says Andrew Mueller. ...

Gillian Welch: Gilllian Welch: Revival/Hell Among the Yearlings/Time (the Revelator)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2009

Reissues of first three albums by the high priestess of "American Primitive" and partner David Rawlings. ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Hold Time

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, March 2009

Lo-fi tinkerer completes his transfiguration into major artist. ...

Magazine: The Making of 'Shot By Both Sides'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2009

Powered by a razor-riff, nihilist lyrics, some classic-rock chops and an infamous showing on Top Of The Pops, this ferocious anthem was the closest thing ...

Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition

Film/DVD/TV Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2009

CHAS CHANDLER, whose avuncular Geordie tones weave in and out of this absorbing "Making Of" doc, recalled the sessions for Electric Ladyland as "a long-drawn-out ...

The Louvin Brothers

Retrospective by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2009

Charlie, his hellraising late sibling Ira, and a 16-foot plywood Satan. The confessions of a country legend... ...

Little Feat: Dixie Chicken

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, April 2009

RELEASED IN a year that also produced Steely Dan's Countdown to Ecstasy, The Eagles' Desperado and Jackson Browne's For Everyman, Little Feat's Dixie Chicken still ...

Neko Case: Middle Cyclone

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2009

Freewheeling sixth from the loud Virginian. ...

Pete Doherty: Peter Doherty: Grace/Wastelands

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, April 2009

The Libertine has landed, with a proper solo debut, says David Quantick. ...

PJ Harvey, John Parish: PJ Harvey & John Parish: A Woman A Man Walked By

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2009

Grunge! Banjo! Dub! Swearing! Old friends play at musical double-dare, says Rob Young. ...

The Decemberists: The Hazards Of Love

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, April 2009

Whip-smart concept album twists the esoteric into arresting new shapes, makes a compelling case for the album as enduring art form. ...

The Specials 2009. But Where's Jerry?

Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2009

SLIGHTLY DOWNWIND of Pentonville Prison in a north London photographer's studio, six Specials are posing for their first pictures since 1981. ...

U2: No Line On The Horizon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2009

Rock juggernauts' 12th studio album is a grower, says Andrew Mueller ...

Will Oldham – album by album

Profile and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2009

WILL OLDHAM has developed a forbidding reputation since first attracting attention as part of the Palace Brothers in the early '90s. Whether glowering from album ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Will Oldham: Album by Album

Retrospective and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2009

Will Oldham has developed a forbidding reputation since first attracting attention as part of the Palace Brothers in the early '90s. Whether glowering from album ...

David Bowie: The making of 'Starman'

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2009

In 1972 this space-age hit — and an onstage "electric blow job" — turned Ziggy and his Spiders From Mars into megastars. "But the outfits... ...

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2009

Confident country-soul from former Drive-By Trucker. ...

Madness: The Liberty Of Norton Folgate

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, June 2009

AS THE SPECIALS reunion — reunion, my copious arse — gets more publicity, one can only hope that this far more interesting 2-Tone-related event will ...

Steve Earle: Townes

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2009

All-covers homage to his mentor, Townes Van Zandt ...

Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt: Steve Van Zandt: "We said we'd walk together, come what may…"

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2009

Forty years of friendship: Miami Steve Van Zandt on Bruce Springsteen ...

U2: Remembering The Unforgettable Fire

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2009

YOU TOO COULD love U2, if you could only transport yourself back to a time when their fundamental pomposity and crusading bad faith weren't such ...

Elvis Costello: Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2009

WHEN ELVIS COSTELLO and T-Bone Burnett first crossed acoustic guitars in 1984 in the guise of the Coward Brothers, each was seeking a new direction. ...

Blur: From the life of Leisure to inside the Think Tank...

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2009

As BLUR prepare for 2009's biggest comeback, Uncut goes behind the scenes of the sessions that produced their classic albums and reveals the conflicts that ...

Iron & Wine: Around The Well

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2009

ON THE SECOND DISC of this sumptuous collection of oddities is a cover of New Order's 'Love Vigilantes', in which a soldier returns home to ...

The Lemonheads: Lemonheads: Varshons

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2009

THE COVERS ALBUM is traditionally either or both an indicator of complete creative stasis, or of the onset of monumental hubris. It's why any credible ...

Trembling Bells: Carbeth

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, July 2009

Raggle-taggle Glasgow ensemble let freedom ring in the church of folk-rock. For the past six or seven years, a loose collective of Glaswegian musicians have been ...

Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music

Film/DVD/TV Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2009

4-DVD, 2-Blue-Ray set comprising the original 1970 documentary of the ultimate rock festival, with two hours of new footage plus a new 50-minute documentary about ...

Billy Childish: Archive From 1959 – The Billy Childish Story

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, August 2009

IT USED TO BE 1979. It's now 2009. Billy Childish — author, poet, painter, musician, influence on everyone from Tracey Emin to The White Stripes ...

Patterson Hood: Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2009

APRIL 1994 was clearly a crucial time in Patterson Hood's life. He'd just moved to a strange new town (Athens, Georgia) in the aftermath of ...

Richard Thompson: Walking On A Wire

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, August 2009

Atop the emotional tightrope... an expansive, career-spanning four-CD set for Anglicana's finest guitar warrior. ...

The Duke & The King: Nothing Gold Can Stay

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2009

DRUMMER AND SOMETIME SINGER Simone Felice always seemed the least predictable of The Felice Brothers. It was Simone, for instance you'd most likely find dangling ...

7 Worlds Collide, Neil Finn: 7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2009

Neil Finn's very own supergroup — involving Radiohead, Wilco and Johnny Marr.  ...

Michael Jackson

Memoir by Ben Fong-Torres, Uncut, September 2009

A personal memoir of "the hands-down premier entertainer of his generation". ...

The Jayhawks: Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2009

Roots-rockers' double-disc retrospective, with excellent extras ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Oil City Rockers

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2009

A fierce, gritty riposte to early-'7Os excess, Dr Feelgood weren't just trailblazers for punk but, fleetingly, the biggest band in England. With a new Julien ...

Kraftwerk: Album By Album

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, October 2009

HE MIGHT have spent most of the past two decades cocooned in the Kubrickian perfectionism of his secret Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf, but Kraftwerk's ...

Monsters of Folk: Monsters Of Folk

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, October 2009

Indie supergroup rewrites the country-rock bible. ...

The Band, Levon Helm: The Shape I'm In: Levon Helm

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2009

IF LEVON HELM'S studios have a Green Room, then this must be it. A ramshackle den leading off a homely wooden kitchen, it's currently crawling ...

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band: Between My Head And The Sky

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, October 2009

Violent, but tender, Sean Lennon's mum is back! ...

The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, Jack White, The White Stripes: "There's a Voice in Me Saying Slow Down": Jack White Looks Back

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2009

WE'RE COMING to the end of a punishingly intense set by the Dead Weather, the second side-project band formed by Jack White of the White ...

Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2009

The freak-folk messiah confronts pop conventions on his first album for a major label. ...

Seasick Steve: Man From Another Time

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2009

More hobo blues, ruthlessly pared on fourth LP. ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Album by Album: Rickie Lee Jones

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2009

THOUGH SHE will always carry the pop albatross that was her Top 5 hit 'Chuck E's in Love' (1979), Rickie Lee Jones remains one of ...

David Rawlings, Gillian Welch: Dave Rawlings Machine: A Friend of a Friend

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2009

ANYONE WHO EVER felt that David Rawlings hid his light under Gillian Welch's bushel – never getting the full credit he merited as her partner ...

Dead Confederate: Wrecking Ball

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, December 2009

'90s grunge rears its woolly head in the American South... ...

Dinosaur Jr.: Dinosaur Jr: The making of 'Freak Scene'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, December 2009

"We were just shitty." J Mascis and his bandmates recall the strained relations that led to their 1988 US breakthrough hit. ...

Mark Eitzel: Klamath

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2009

YOU COULD never accuse Mark Eitzel of having an inflated sense of self. He recently claimed to have no idea how to write a song, ...

Davey Graham: Davy Graham: A Scholar And A Gentleman

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, January 2010

Perfectly tuned survey of the dad of DADGAD's musical wanderings. ...

Frank Fairfield: Frank Fairfield

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2010

FRANK FAIRFIELD certainly looks the part: stiff back, suit, Brylcreem'd hair, banjo cradled high on his chest like some weapon of murderous intent. LA residents ...

Laura Nyro — Tender is the Nyro

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2010

With her sophisticated, soulful lullabies of Broadway, Laura Nyro was an incongruous figure at the late-'60s hippy love-in. Eventually, though, she would be acclaimed as ...

Laura Veirs: July Flame

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2010

Peachy "comeback" from Portland nature-lover. ...

Neil Young: Dreamin' Man Live '92

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, January 2010

Those Archives throw up another wrenching, revealing solo exploration, says Bud Scoppa. ...

The Gaslight Anthem: Baby He Was Born To Run!!

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, January 2010

Raised a few miles from Asbury Park and a few blocks from E Street, Brian Fallon is Springsteen's latest, feistiest and best-qualified heir apparent. In ...

The Special AKA: The Making Of 'Nelson Mandela'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2010

"ALL I DID was write a song. People in South Africa gave up their lives..." Jerry Dammers & Co on 1984's earth-shaking political hit. ...

Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Live

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2010

Nighthawks at the arena: potent two-disc set of The Mule's onstage artistry, drawn from his 2008 tours of America and Europe. ...

David Bowie: David Bowie

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2010

The Dame's debut: an enduringly curious dispatch from "Gnome-man's land", expanded and remastered. ...

The Edge, Jimmy Page, Jack White: Davis Guggenheim's It Might Get Loud

Film/DVD/TV Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2010

Riveting doc about the magical powers of the electric guitar, starring Jack White, Jimmy Page and the Edge. ...

Eels: End Times

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2010

EELS' MARK EVERETT, usually known as E, has not deployed an unconsidered word in seven previous albums, but the title of his eighth is exquisite ...

Jimmy Page: "I want to make sure that I do this music. It's most important that it sees daylight."

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2010

John Paul Jones has Them Crooked Vultures. Robert Plant has Alison Krauss. But what, exactly, is Jimmy Page planning for 2010? As a new movie ...

Marc Bolan, T. Rex, Tyrannosaurus Rex: Reborn to Boogie: Marc Bolan

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2010

THERE IS ONLY one Starman in the room right now and his name is David Bowie. Flying high after his Top 5 astral novelty hit ...

Spoon: Transference

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2010

Texan guitar-pop underdogs triumph on dark, deadly efficient seventh. ...

Spoon: Transference

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2010

IN 2001, BRITT DANIEL AND JIM ENO — the Austin-based founders of Spoon — hit upon the sound that would carry them through the ensuing ...

Tindersticks: Falling Down A Mountain

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2010

The return of a cherishable British band. ...

The Nazz, Todd Rundgren: Todd Rundgren: Album By Album

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, February 2010

TODD RUNDGREN IS the Philadelphia-born whizzkid who could and should have been the biggest star of the '70s. Next month, the man John Lennon referred ...

Rain Parade: Unsung Heroes: The Rain Parade

Retrospective by Terry Staunton, Uncut, February 2010

Pioneers of LA's '80s "Paisley Underground" — it's warring psych revivalists the Roback brothers! ...

Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away – The Complete Studio Recordings And More

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, March 2010

IN A 50-YEAR recording career, Buddy Holly, who died last Christmas at the age of 74, influenced everyone from the Beatles to Bob Dylan, and ...

Hot Chip: One Life Stand ****

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2010

Beguiling fourth from the impressively unclassifiable London brainiacs. ...

Joy Division: "Ian was a normal, happy guy. We didn't know he was approaching his breaking point…"

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2010

Thirty years ago, Joy Division arrived in London. Their mission: to escape Manchester, have a laugh and make a classic second album. Now, Bernard Sumner, ...

The Low Anthem: Children of the Evolution

Profile and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, March 2010

In the world of Americana, 2009'ss Oh My God, Charlie Darwin marked out the Low Anthem as true originals of the species. In Washington D.C., ...

The Strokes: The Making of The Modern Age

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2010

"Suddenly, there were boys with leather jackets carrying guitars": how New York's finest reclaimed the streets for rock music in 2000. ...

Bob Gibson: Unsung Heroes: Bob Gibson

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, March 2010

From the dawn of the folk revival – a clean-cut junkie troubadour... ...

Bill Fay: Apocalypse When?

Profile and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2010

The return of a remarkable English visionary. ...

Carly Simon: The Making of 'You're So Vain'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2010

Just who was this massive '73 hit about? Jagger? Beatty? Taylor? Or some guy named 'David'? "You're missing the point," Carly tells us... ...

Joanna Newsom: After The Gold Rush

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, April 2010

In the remote Californian gold mining town she calls home, Uncut is granted a rare and exclusive audience with JOANNA NEWSOM. In the four years ...

John Hiatt: The Open Road

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2010

Nashville-based veteran rips through the gears. ...

The Incredible String Band: Reissues

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2010

Scottish psych-folkies seek (and find) enlightenment. Praise be, says Rob Young. ...

The Triffids: Album By Album

Guide by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2010

WHEN FRONTMAN David McComb died in 1999, aged 36, from heroin toxicity, it might have been expected that the band's reputation would dwindle. ...

Wanda Jackson: You Know I'm So Good!

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2010

Elvis Presley, Jack White, Amy Winehouse... and the return of Wanda Jackson, first lady of rock'n'roll. ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam And the Ants: The Making Of 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2010

The 1980 manifesto, with two parts tribal drums, a pinch of twangy guitar, and plenty of punk attitude. "We had our sound!" ...

Bill Callahan, Smog: Bill Callahan: Album by Album

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2010

"I'M SOMEWHERE between a gumshoe and a journalist," Callahan says. "A writer, not a symbol. I don't want to be a performer who gets applause ...

Emitt Rhodes: An Interview

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2010

Thwarted! He could have been L.A.'s McCartney. Instead, he ended up "ashamed of being human". ...

Sparklehorse: Mark Linkous: Singer-songwriter, Sparklehorse leader (1962-2010)

Obituary by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2010

OF ALL THE tributes that followed the tragic death of Mark Linkous, who shot himself through the heart in Knoxville, Tennessee, none was more concise ...

Merle Haggard: I Am What I Am

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2010

The return of the Hag... in imperious form ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey, The Good Son, Henry's Dream

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, May 2010

The dark masters caught in transition, and all the better for being reissued, says David Quantick. ...

Rufus Wainwright: All Days Are Nights – Songs For Lulu

Review and Interview by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, May 2010

Just voice and piano. Not as simple as it sounds, says Adam Sweeting. ...

Band Of Horses: Infinite Arms

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, June 2010

Ben Bridwell's promise is fulfilled – his handpicked band fashion a thrilling artistic breakthrough. ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power

Review and Interview by David Quantick, Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2010

Fine 3-CD reissue with live bootleg and much more ...

The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, June 2010

More righteous, redemptive, endlessly literate rock'n'roll. But this time, things are rather more personal. ...

The National: High Violet

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2010

The Brooklynites set sail for the big time with their fifth LP. ...

Willie Nelson: Country Music

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2010

Legend revisits his roots, aided by Grammy-magnet T Bone Burnett It really is impossible to second-guess Willie Nelson. The recent past has seen some unlikely detours ...

Grand Funk Railroad: We're An American Band

Retrospective and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, July 2010

Grand Funk Railroad shared drugs with Hendrix, helped Janis Joplin play tricks on the Stones, immortalised groupies, worked with Zappa and Rundgren, had the most ...

Grand Funk Railroad: We're an American Band

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, July 2010

Grand Funk Railroad shared drugs with Hendrix, helped Janis Joplin play tricks on the Stones, immortalised groupies, worked with Zappa and Rundgren, had the most ...

Jackson Browne, David Lindley: Jackson Browne & David Lindley: Love Is Strange

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2010

Reunited with his '70s musical Mr Fixit, Browne delivers a great career-spanning live set — his best album in years. ...

The Acorn: No Ghost

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2010

Quietly excellent indie-folk alchemy, inspired by the Quebec wilderness. ...

The Cure: Disintegration (Deluxe Edition)

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, July 2010

Smith & co's America-conquering eighth album. Its brilliance is in its confidence, says David Quantick. ...

The Stranglers: The Making of 'No More Heroes'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2010

The "punk" outcasts' abrasive '77 classic: "Totally on the button for now, and it always has been," says former frontman Hugh Cornwell. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: Mojo

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2010

NINE TRACKS INTO MOJO, Tom Petty's first album with The Heartbreakers for eight years, the band fire up a plodding blues groove, and Petty makes ...

Willie Nelson For President?

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2010

Onboard his battle bus, Uncut is granted a conference with the laid-back potentate of country music, Willie Nelson. On the agenda: Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, ...

Devo: You Say You Want A De-Evolution

Retrospective and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2010

Well, you know, Devo changed the world. Uncut hears the story of Ohio's plantpot-hatted chroniclers of human absurdity. Or: how five snarky art-rockers consorted with ...

Jackson Browne: Album By Album

Retrospective by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2010

"MUSIC HAS AN impact because a lot of people experience it at the same time, and that can't happen exactly the same way again " ...

Lissie: Catching A Tiger

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2010

State-hopping Americana, primed for the mainstream. ...

Sandy Denny, The Strawbs: Sandy Denny & The Strawbs: All Our Own Work

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, August 2010

Early recordings of English folk's finest voice, definitively remastered. ...

Pulp: The Making of 'Common People'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2010

From three chords on a cheap Casio keyboard, via Glastonbury, to the huge summer anthem of 1995. It's the song that broke Jarvis and co! ...

Grinderman: "Low on acting ability and charisma, but high on facial hair and exhibitionism"

Interview by David Quantick, Uncut, September 2010

And now, it's Cave's other deranged blues band! Uncut gatecrashes a chaotic video shoot to meet..Grinderman! ...

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan: Hawk

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2010

Rock's enduring odd couple hit their stride. ...

Josh Ritter: So Runs The World Away

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2010

THERE'S A FAIRLY PLAUSIBLE THEORY that an artist's entire career can be defined by their debut album, and that everything that follows is merely a ...

Los Lobos: Tin Can Trust

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2010

East LA's finest return to their roots and deliver a landmark album ...

Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon: Mark Kozelek: Album By Album

Guide by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2010

NEARLY 20 YEARS into a career spanning Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and several solo records, singer; songwriter, producer and label boss Mark Kozelek ...

The Dream Syndicate: Unsung Heroes: The Dream Syndicate

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2010

Bad medicine! The dark lords of the Paisley Underground revisited. ...

James: The Making Of 'Sit Down'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2010

It took a while to hit, but this Manc anthem of "madness and frailty" was inescapable in 1991. "It can still be an amazing, healing ...

John Martyn: Live At Leeds

Review by David Cavanagh, Uncut, October 2010

Previously unreleased document of 1975 concert in its entirety. ...

Manic Street Preachers: Postcards From A Young Man

Review and Interview by David Quantick, Uncut, October 2010

Their 10th album is a glam belter, full of fire and thunder, gospel choirs and orchestras. But still not pompous, says David Quantick ...

Paul Simon: "He is a foreign man. He is surrounded by the sound"

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, October 2010

25 years ago, PAUL SIMON was going nowhere, until a bootleg cassette from Soweto inspired him to set off on a fantastic South African adventure. ...

Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs: God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, October 2010

Impassioned, old-fashioned soul-blues, and all the better for it, says Graeme Thomson. ...

Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay: Sandy Denny: "I don't think she ever gave the future the time of day…"

Retrospective by Rob Young, Uncut, October 2010

When Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention at the height of their success, she seemed destined for solo stardom. What went wrong? With the help of ...

The Duke & The King: Long Live The Duke & The King (Loose/Silva Oak) ****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2010

Dashing country-soul from Felice Brother's lively ensemble ...

Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter: Unsung Heroes: Robert Hunter

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, October 2010

The man who put the words into Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia's mouths... ...

Blue Öyster Cult: The Making of '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'

Retrospective and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, November 2010

Riff approaching! Buck Dharma and co's "trans-awesome" tune, and the spookiest FM staple ever. "Nothing like the Byrds," apparently... ...

Elton John, Leon Russell: Elton John/Leon Russell: The Union

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2010

Elton reconnects with his original mentor, under the watchful eye of T Bone Burnett. And Neil Young guests! ...

Kings of Leon: The Once And Future Kings

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, November 2010

These are good times for KINGS OF LEON: an imperial lifestyle, attentive fans in Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder, and the likelihood that, any day ...

Cortney Tidwell, Kurt Wagner: Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell Present... Kort: Invariable Heartache

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2010

The Kurt'n'Cortney of country do Nashville's back pages, beautifully. The revival of the boy-girl duet, more or less a forgotten strand of classic country, has been ...

Daniel Lanois, Neil Young: Neil Young and Daniel Lanois: It's A Big Explosion

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2010

Join us by the fire at the Mountain House restaurant in California, where Neil Young is hanging out with his new collaborator, Daniel Lanois, and ...

Talking Heads: And The Heat Goes On

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, November 2010

A long hot summer in New York 30 years ago, and Talking Heads are heading into dangerous new territory. It will involve intense relationships with ...

Mickey Newbury: Unsung Heroes: Mickey Newbury

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2010

Glory Glory Hallelujah! It's the original Nashville rebel... ...

America: The Making of 'A Horse With No Name'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2010

The early '70s anthem of Californian hippiedom — all the way from Staines, Surrey. "A Satanic drug song? All I'd had was a cup of ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, December 2010

The original classic remastered. A documentary. Two more live DVDs. Oh, and 21 outtakes... The Great Lost Springsteen Album, found at last. IN 1978, Springsteen broke ...

Doug Paisley: Constant Companion

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2010

DOUG PAISLEY is a relative newcomer, but he and his music are both steeped in history. He spent 10 years in a duo that evolved ...

Giant Sand: Blurry Blue Mountain

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2010

25 years on, Howe Gelb's band are still a vital force. ...

The Jam: Sound Affects Deluxe Edition (Universal)

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, December 2010

1980: THE JAM are at their creative and commercial peak, after the career-saving All Mod Cons album and the brilliant 'Eton Rifles' and 'Going Underground' ...

Charlie Louvin: The Battles Rage On

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2011

Old stager returns to his post for military-decorated album ...

Duffy: Endlessly (A&M Records) ****

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, January 2011

Welsh songstress excels — with the help of Albert Hammond and The Roots, says Graeme Thomson ...

Iggy Pop & James Williamson: Kill City

Review by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2011

The odd-one-out in the Stooges catalogue, with the duo at their lowest ebb. Remixed, it's a vital, powerful, hard-rocking listen, says David Cavanagh ...

John Grant

Profile and Interview by David Quantick, Uncut, January 2011

John Grant overcame religious bigotry, homophobia, drug addiction and depression to make one of the greatest albums of 2010. But why does one of his ...

R.E.M.: REM: Live From Austin TX

Film/DVD/TV Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2011

Greatness restored – a fine 2008 performance from a reinvigorated band ...

Terry Reid: What Is And What Should Never Be

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, January 2011

He could have been the frontman of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Spencer Davis Group. Instead, Terry Reid embarked on a remarkable musical adventure ...

Iron & Wine: "It ruins something for me when I know all the answers"

Profile and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, February 2011

PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, there is little privacy in Sam Beam's house, an octagonal behemoth one hour's drive from Austin, Texas. ...

Joan As Police Woman: The Deep Field

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2011

Goodbye heartache, hello fun — and the rich, warm vibes of '70s soul. Beauty comes in many guises. On 2006's Real Life, Joan Wasser's first ...

Old 97's: The Grand Theatre (Volume One)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2011

Raw-blooded rock'n'twang from veteran Texan four-piece There was a time when Old 97's looked set to reap the same dividends as their peers Whiskeytown and Wilco. ...

Thin Lizzy: Phil Lynott — Vagabond Of The Western World

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2011

The story of Phil Lynott reads like one of the Irish fables he loved. A buccaneering tale of wine, women and rock'n'roll that mixes poetry ...

The Edgar Broughton Band: The Harvest Years 1969-1973

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2011

Out, hippies, out! Four CD set captures the righteous, blues-rocking anger of Warwickshire's counterculture warriors. ...

The Fugs: Tenderness Junction and It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, February 2011

Underground, overground: two subversive major label salvos from New York's folk-punk-poets. Of their time, sure, but still worth yours. For an underground band, in their ...

Death: Unsung Heroes: Death

Retrospective by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, February 2011

Resurrected! A remarkable, uncompromising proto-punk band from Detroit! ...

Wire: The Making Of 'I Am The Fly'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2011

1978's deathlessly spiteful singalong, from a quartet of art-punk outsiders "desperate to get on Tiswas"... ...

Cherry Vanilla: Nymphomaniacs Anonymous

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2011

Whatever happened to the celebrity groupie? Legendary '70s party animal Cherry Vanilla has a few theories. ...

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2011

THE FIRST OF Polly Harvey's eighth studio album was heard in April 2010, when she made a memorably peculiar appearance on The Andrew Marr Show. ...

Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers

Film/DVD/TV Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2011

The quixotic songwriter, profiled in relentless close-up. ...

The Decemberists — Reconstruction Of The Fables

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2011

COLIN MELOY grew up with "Paul Westerberg in one ear and Morrissey in the other". As hyperliterate frontman of The Decemberists, he has made rock ...

The Low Anthem: Smart Flesh

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2011

THERE'S AN OLD BUDDHIST PROVERB that goes something like this: "Before you speak, ask yourself, 'Will it improve upon the silence?"' It's not a question ...

The Louvin Brothers, Charlie Louvin: Charlie Louvin, 1927-2011

Obituary by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2011

THE PASSING OF Charlie Louvin on January 26,2011, aged 83, from complications associated with pancreatic cancer, detaches country music from a vital living root. ...

Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead: Jonny Greenwood: "What do I do? I just generally worry about things…"

Report and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2011

THE CAR PULLS into the courtyard of a small complex E of offices in the middle of a housing estate on the fringes of Didcot, ...

R.E.M.: REM: Collapse Into Now

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2011

AS RECENTLY as three years ago, it looked like REM were done. The first certifiably poor record of their astonishing career, 2004's Around The Sun ...

The Unthanks: Last

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, April 2011

The Northumbrian five-piece shatter folk's borders, as this expansive yet austere fourth proves. THE UNTHANKS SEEM to regard folk music the same way Miles Davis regarded ...

Thousands: The Sound Of Everything

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, April 2011

Acoustic gem from Seattle duo makes Fleet Foxes sound brash. THOUSANDS ARE Kristian Garrard and Luke Bergman, two veterans of Seattle's ad hoc, off-radar music scene ...

Traffic: John Barleycorn Must Die (Deluxe Edition)

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2011

Winwood and pals' pastoral funk apogee, remastered. ...

David Bowie: Turn and Face The Strange: David Bowie and the Making Of Hunky Dory

Retrospective by Bill DeMain, Uncut, April 2011

JANUARY, 1971. There was trouble in outer space. Major Tom's signal was growing fainter by the day. And Ziggy Stardust was still an undefined blip ...

Alison Krauss And Union Station: Paper Airplane

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2011

ALISON KRAUSS' STOCK has never been higher. Forget the sales figures, soundtracks and groaning sack of Grammys — 26 to date, the highest for a ...

Bill Callahan: Apocalypse

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, May 2011

LAST YEAR Bill Callahan described his two most recent albums to Uncut as "sturdy" and "direct". After almost two decades working as Smog, moving from ...

Johnny Thunders: The Heartbreak Kid

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, May 2011

"Everything JOHNNY THUNDERS touched broke," says one of his old bandmates. On the 20th anniversary of Thunders' death, Uncut pieces together the story of a ...

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live At The Main Point, 1975

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, June 2011

Much-booted concert lives up to its legendary status in first "official" release. IN EARLY 1975, rock fans could have been excused for being puzzled by ...

John Martyn: Heaven And Earth

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, June 2011

IN LATE 2006 I interviewed John Martyn in the beer garden of his local in Thomastown, Kilkenny. In between bombing pints of cider laced with ...

Mickey Newbury: An American Trilogy

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2011

An overdue monument to overlooked songwriter. 'AN AMERICAN TRILOGY' is the Mickey Newbury track you'll know if you know one, though he didn't so much ...

Felice Brothers: The Felice Brothers: Celebration, Florida

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2011

FOR ALL THE Felice Brothers' recent acclaim, they're sometimes accused of being too derivative. Detractors ignore the verve and originality of their piquant story songs ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2011

"Folk" prodigy steps outside the cabin, and engages with the world. Widescreen, intimate and glorious, says Bud Scoppa. ...

Gillian Welch: The Harrow & The Harvest

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2011

This is a reaping song! Eight years on from Soul Journey, Welch and David Rawlings return with another timeless country classic... ...

My Morning Jacket: Circuital

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2011

Kentuckians' collective sense of identity reinvigorated on sixth LP, says Graeme Thomson ...

Frank Fairfield: Out On The Open West

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2011

FRANK FAIRFIELD looks and sounds like a transplant from another age. All starched collars and hair oil, he plays vintage hillbilly folk on similarly vintage ...

Dawes: Nothing Is Wrong

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2011

Roll-'em-easy roots-rock from well-connected Californians ...

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Mirror Traffic

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, September 2011

The cryptic professor of American indie leads his Jicks to a fifth. ...

Kasabian: Velociraptor! (Columbia) ****

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2011

Leicester's psych-lad rockers shine on ambitious fourth ...

Laura Marling: A Creature I Don't Know

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, October 2011

A prodigious talent finds new intensity on her third album, says Graeme Thomson ...

Richmond Fontaine:The High Country

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2011

Murderously good rural-noir from Willy Vlautin and co ...

The Thrills: 2002-2007 (EMI Catalogue)

Review by Kate Allen, Uncut, October 2011

Going back to Big Sur with Dublin's lost psych-poppers ...

Wilco: The Whole Love

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, October 2011

Self-released, and self-assured. Tweedy and co's redemptive return. ...

Feist: Metals (Polydor)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2011

LESLIE FEIST'S career path has been a zigzag. The Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based artist played guitar with rapper Peaches (who nicknamed her Bitch Lap Lap) and ...

Ryan Adams: Ashes & Fire

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2011

He's back. Stirring return to form from the lost boy of country... ...

Tom Waits: Bad As Me

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2011

Growling, whooping, yelping and crooning: a swaggering, multifarious tour-de-force, says Andrew Mueller ...

The Last Poets: Waiting For The Revolution

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, December 2011

From the volatile streets of Harlem in the late '60s, THE LAST POETS were among the earliest voices of radical black youth in America. With ...

Kate Bush: Album by album: Kate Bush

Guide by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, January 2012

It would be inadvisable to get carried away, but two album releases in 2011 suggests Kate Bush is returning to a more agreeable rate of ...

Birdy: Birdy

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2012

Fifteen-year-old piano wunderkind debuts with sagely chosen set of covers  ...

Dave Davies, The Kinks: Dave Davies: The Dedicated Follower

Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2012

Dave Davies swashbuckled his way through the '60s, a teenage musical revolutionary and provocative dandy about town. But in the early '70s, the Kinks guitarist ...

Elvis Costello & The Imposters: The Return of the Spectacular Singing Songbook

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, January 2012

REVIVED IN summer 2011 on a lengthy series of dates across America (and coming to the UK in May 2012), The Spectacular Spinning Songbook is ...

INXS: Greatest Hits

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2012

AS THE LATEST post-Hutchence lineup prepares to tour, Oz rockers polish silver Reality TV shows, Terence Trent D'Arby, Rob Thomas and recent Irish recruit Ciaran ...

Jim Ford: Demolition Expert

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2012

Ravishing set of unheard demos from fabled US country-soul brother THE STORY OF Jim Ford is steeped in Southern myth. Revered by good buddies Bobby Womack ...

Jonathan Wilson: Meet Jonathan Wilson, the new king of Laurel Canyon

Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, January 2012

He jams with David Crosby and Jackson Browne and has Charlie Sheen's Chevy in his garage. He's a sought-after producer who builds beautiful guitars. His ...

The Black Keys: El Camino

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, January 2012

TEN YEARS into the game, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach add funk and soul to their potent blues-rock brew, with triumphant results. ...

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2012

Fired up by disco and punk, Jagger's swagger returns, with a disc of unreleased songs. ...

The Black Keys: Black Keys: Keys to the Kingdom

Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, February 2012

How an unassuming garage blues duo from Akron became the biggest new rock band of the decade. With a little help from Danger Mouse, two ...

Craig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2012

Hold Steady man's impressive solo flight. ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bad Blood Rising

Retrospective and Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, February 2012

AT THE DAWN of the '70s, Creedence Clearwater Revival were the biggest band in the world — a brilliant and driven hit machine with deep ...

Jackie Leven, 1950–2011: "I'm too connected to the pain of other people. It really breaks me up."

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2012

In his life as in his music, the Scottish singer-songwriter who died last November found inspiration in the raw extremes of human behaviour, which he ...

Kathleen Edwards: Voyageur

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2012

THE CANADIAN went looking for a new producer. What she found, on her fourth album, was love. ...

Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, February 2012

His first studio album for eight years finds Cohen addressing love on a larger moral scale. ...

Cardinal: Unsung Heroes

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2012

Reunited — the foremost indie control freaks of the early '90s. "Instead of Simon & Garfunkel, we were more like Simon & Simon..." ...

David Sylvian: A Victim Of Stars, 1982-2012

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, March 2012

WHEN DAVID SYLVIAN first became a presence on the pop scene on the cusp of the '80s, it was obvious that, like many of that ...

Jim White: Where It Hits You

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2012

JIM WHITE'S extraordinary first two records, 1997's Wrong- Eyed Jesus! and No Such Place (2001), were modern signifiers of a new kind of Southern gothic, ...

Shearwater: Animal Joy

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, March 2012

SINCE JONATHAN MEIBURG and Will Sheff splintered off from Okkervil River in 2001, the reason was ostensibly to create a backwater in which they could ...

Stiff Little Fingers — The Making Of 'Alternative Ulster'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2012

The sound of young Northern Ireland in '78 — a punk clarion call for peace in Belfast that led to death threats for the band. "THE ...

Feist: Heavy Metal

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, April 2012

1-2-3-4 Feistodon! Is Feist one of the most intimate and gifted singer-songwriters of her age? Or a more complex, hard-rocking beast? Uncut interrupts her latest ...

Lee Ranaldo: Between The Times And The Tides

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2012

SOLO SONIC YOUTH albums often act like a colour filter that reveals hidden patterns in a picture by blocking out certain aspects of the spectrum. ...

Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2012

Assured full-length debut by precocious spawn of Muscle Shoals. THERE IS MUCH to admire about Boys & Girls, the full-length debut by Alabama Shakes, not ...

Alex Chilton: O My Soul!

Retrospective by David Cavanagh, Uncut, May 2012

Evil spirits. "Trotsky. Machiavelli. Sports. Astrology." Sessions with the Cramps and Tav Falco. Periods without shoes. Dishwashing and tree-climbing. And a heroic last stand against ...

Simone Felice: Simone Felice

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, May 2012

Felice Brother's hushed and haunting solo debut. AFTER UNDERGOING EMERGENCY open-heart surgery in 2010, Simone Felice appears to have taken solace in first principles. Having stepped ...

Beach House: Bloom

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, June 2012

The Baltimore duo stitch a blue velvet tapestry. WHEN BEACH HOUSE released their self-titled debut album in 2006, it was readily embraced by the Pitchfork-reading ...

Alabama Shakes: Earthshaking!

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, July 2012

The South has risen again! How Alabama Shakes became the best — and the biggest — new band of 2012. "They make me think of ...

New Order: Usher Hall, Edinburgh, May 6, 2012

Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2012

The bassist might be playing Hooky, but the technique remains impeccable... "WHERE'S HOOKY?" It takes only two songs for the Edinburgh crowd to raise the spectre ...

Dawes: An Interview

Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, August 2012

"SOMEONE TOLD ME that Bruce Springsteen is aware of our band." At the end of a telephone wire some 5,000 miles away, 25-year-old Taylor Goldsmith ...

Old Crow Medicine Show: Carry Me Back

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2012

SINCE 1998, WHEN old-time music buffs Ketch Secor, Critter Fuqua and Willie Watson first joined forces as travelling buskers, the Old Crow Medicine Show have ...

The Gaslight Anthem: Handwritten

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2012

WHEN THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM's Brian Fallon last spoke to Uncut, as he drove home to New Jersey from Nashville after finishing work on Handwritten, he ...

Donald Fagen: An Interview

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, September 2012

Here's Donald Fagen in New York to discuss his latest solo album, Sunken Condos. "It's a metaphor for my current phase of life," the 64-year-old ...

Ry Cooder: Election Special

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2012

IN A RECORDING career that stretches back more than four decades, Ry Cooder has never before made an album as immediate as Election Special. And ...

The Lumineers: The Lumineers

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2012

A RAMBUNCTIOUS BAND based, rather incongruously, in Colorado, The Lumineers create primal, pounding folk music which lead singer Wesley Schulz has likened to the sound ...

Patterson Hood: Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2012

Drive-By Trucker lifts the lid on his crisis years. Seems like Patterson Hood's been dusting down old memories of late. His last solo LP, 2009's Murdering ...

Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2012

MORPH THE CAT, the final volume of Donald Fagen's Nightfly trilogy, which appeared in 2006, is introspective and jittery, reflecting the cumulative impact of 9/11 ...

R.E.M.: REM: Document — The 25th-anniversary reissue, accompanied by a contemporaneous live show

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2012

"I DON'T KNOW if I have any commercial expectations for this one at all," Peter Buck told Rolling Stone prior to the release of REM's ...

Rickie Lee Jones: The Devil You Know

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2012

LITTLE OVER A MINUTE into her funereal version of 'St James Infirmary', Rickie Lee Jones lets out a sudden cry of anguish. Such is the ...

The Velvet Underground & Nico – Boxset

Review by David Cavanagh, Uncut, November 2012

AN EXHAUSTIVE, ENTHRALLING BOXSET reissue of the iconic album — with rare and live cuts galore! The banana's back. Not before time. Late last year, Lou ...

Bob Lind: Finding You Again

Review by Mick Houghton, Uncut, December 2012

Solid return from American singer-songwriter who penned 'Elusive Butterfly'". Bob Lind's last studio album, Since There Were Circles, was released back in 1971. It flopped and ...

Dead Can Dance: Back From The Grave!

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2012

Resurrected after 16 years – the high priest and priestess of global goth-ambience, Dead Can Dance. ...

Beck: Song Reader – Twenty New Songs By Beck

Review and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, January 2013

TALK ABOUT RETRO… a beautiful reminder of Beck Hansen's talents — via the medium of sheet music! ...

The Blue Nile: River Of No Return

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, January 2013

Over 20 long years, the Blue Nile made four albums of uncanny beauty and emotional heft. Behind the pristine veneer, however, lay another story: of ...

X-TG: Desertshore: The Final Report

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, January 2013

RADICALLY REWORKING a Nico album, Throbbing Gristle leave Genesis behind. ...

Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer: Child Ballads

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, February 2013

THE FOLKSONGS accumulated by the 19th-Century Harvard professor of rhetoric and oratory Francis Child have become an endlessly malleable core of material upon which each ...

Caitlin Rose: The Stand-In

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2013

CAPTIVATING SECOND ALBUM from the uncrowned queen of new Nashville. ...

Eels: Wonderful, Glorious

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2013

EELS' 10TH ALBUM lives up to its fate-tempting title. ...

Endless Boogie: Long Island

Review and Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, March 2013

EVOLVING OUT OF informal jam sessions in late-'90s Brooklyn. Endless Boogie have no image, no Wikipedia page, no careerist long-termism. Instead they have day jobs ...

John Fullbright

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2013

AN OKLAHOMAN FARMBOY joining the dots between Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt. ...

The Black Crowes, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood: The Black Crowes: Rook Back In Anger!

Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2013

IT'S A BEAR! It's a leviathan! It's The Black Crowes, back together. ...

Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell: Old Yellow Moon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2013

A COLLABORATION at once overdue, and worth the wait. ...

Low: The Invisible Way

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, April 2013

MORE RAW BEAUTY from the Duluth veterans, heightened by lashings of piano and Jeff Tweedy... ...

My Bloody Valentine: m b v

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2013

ARRIVING IN THE week the skeleton of Richard III was identified, receiving m b v is similarly akin to coming face to face with history. ...

Iron & Wine: Ghost On Ghost

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, May 2013

THE LATEST CHAPTER in Sam Beam's evolution is a work of immense beauty and scale. ...

Michelle Shocked: "My reputation was sacrificed years ago!" The strange return of Michelle Shocked

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2013

AS LIVE MELTDOWNS GO, it wasn't quite up there with George Jones announcing he was Donald Duck or Grace Slick goosestepping across a Hamburg stage. ...

Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle (Virgin)

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2013

The "English Joni" ruthlessly dissects her love life on confessional fourth. ...

Primal Scream: More Light

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, June 2013

BOBBY & CO run the gamut from cool to cringe on 10th LP. ...

Van Dyke Parks: Songs Cycled

Review and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, June 2013

The pint-sized pope of pop candy­coats his protest songs. ...

George Jones: 1931-2013 — "He could make you cry with his voice..."

Obituary by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2013

HIS FANS RANGED from Gram Parsons to Frank Sinatra, while Roger McGuinn calls him "more than just the greatest country singer ever". Yet, for much ...

Guy Clark: My Favorite Picture Of You

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2013

Deeply personal return for seasoned Texan ...

Mark Mulcahy: Dear Mark J. Mulcahy, I Love You

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2013

INFLUENTIAL FORMER Miracle Legion mainstay breaks a long silence. ...

Beck: Barbican & Union Chapel, London

Live Review by John Lewis, Uncut, September 2013

Where he's at… Beck tackles his backlog of songs, with a little help from his friends  ...

Harry Nilsson: I Sang My Balls Off For You, Baby!

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2013

"I'D JUST CALL Harry Nilsson a genius," says Van Dyke Parks. "And by the way, I haven't met any others. He redefined what a song ...

Julian Cope: Revolutionary Suicide

Review and Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, September 2013

ARMED WITH intellectual acumen, the arch-drude baits religion — and the Turks. ...

Civil Wars, the: The Civil Wars: The Civil Wars

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, September 2013

THE FINAL CONFLICT? Roots revivalists find harmony in discord on self-titled second album. ...

Okkervil River: The Silver Gymnasium

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, October 2013

WILL SHEFF goes back to the future... ...

Arcade Fire: Reflektor

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, November 2013

A GRAND — sometimes cacophonous — inquisition into what comes next. ...

Morrissey: "The reports of my death have been greatly understated...".

Report by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2014

EVEN BY HIS STANDARDS, 2013 has been a bizarre year for noted author and sometime recording artist Steven Patrick Morrissey. After 11 months of chaos, ...

Tom Waits: The Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California, October 27, 2013

Live Review by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, January 2014

In which a failed restauranteur — specialities: eel, donuts, fish scales — repays his debt to Neil Young. Lucky day! ...

Barefoot Jerry: Watchin' TV/You Can't Get Off With Your Shoes On and Barefootin'/Keys To The Country (Lemon)

Review by Mick Houghton, Uncut, February 2014

TAKING THEIR NAME from a grocery store, Barefoot Jerry evolved out of Area Code 615, a group of top-notch young sessioneers who saw the light ...

Broken Bells: After The Disco

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2014

BROKEN BELLS' second full-length album, which arrives 10 years after Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, first made his mark on pop culture with the cut-and-paste ...

Bruce Springsteen: High Hopes

Review and Interview by Richard Williams, Uncut, February 2014

Good-time title, sombre message on The Boss' 18th studio album proper. ...

The Nice, Davy O'List: Davy O'List

Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, February 2014

Davy O'List was in with the in-crowd — a prog prodigy in The Nice, a founder of Roxy Music, the proud owner of Judy Garland’s ...

Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway: Donny Hathaway: Never My Love: The Anthology (Atco) 9/10

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, February 2014

Superb overview of the soul man's tragically short career ...

Snowbird: Moon (Bella Union)

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2014

Simon Raymonde and Stephanie Dosen's mysterious, Cocteaus-y nightscapes. ...

St. Vincent: St Vincent on St Vincent (Caroline)

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2014

Annie Clark's explores our "digital reality" on fourth LP ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench: Benmont Tench: You Should Be So Lucky

Report and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, March 2014

THE HEARTBREAKERS KEYS MAN debuts - with a little help from his friends. ...

Robert Ellis: The Lights From The Chemical Plant

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, March 2014

RAZOR-SHARP DISSECTIONS of the human condition. ...

Afghan Whigs: Flip Your Whigs!

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, April 2014

SIXTEEN YEARS after their last album, grunge-soul titans The Afghan Whigs have returned, as debonair and dissolute as ever. In the company of Greg Dulli, ...

Dr. John: Dr John, The Night Tripper: Gris-Gris

Review by David Cavanagh, Uncut, April 2014

ROCK HAS TRADITIONALLY looked to Louisiana with an envious eye. The history. The imagery. The swamps. Songwriters who didn't know one end of an alligator ...

Elbow: The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, April 2014

FOR THEIR SIXTH album, Elbow opted for a new working method, recording in small combinations rather than all together, with the remaining members chipping in ...

Pete Seeger: 1919-2014 — "He wanted everyone to be involved..."

Obituary by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2014

JUST UNDER A week after his death, Pete Seeger's family organised a public memorial near his home in Beacon, New York. Visiting hours were scheduled ...

Robert Ellis

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2014

NASHVILLE'S NEWEST STAR, a Paul Simon-loving purveyor of "atheist bluegrass anthems"! ...

The Hold Steady: Teeth Dreams

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2014

A LEANER, KEENER Hold Steady return from hiatus. ...

Delines, The , Richmond Fontaine: Willy Vlautin – an interview

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2014

A TIMELY CATCH-UP with Americana renaissance man, Willy Vlautin. Pending: a fourth novel, a first movie and a new band, too... ...

Bobby Charles: Bobby Charles

Review and Interview by Luke Torn, Uncut, 12 May 2014

Swamp-pop goes Woodstock: Louisiana legend's rarely heard '72 masterpiece with The Band... ...

Chuck E. Weiss: Chuck E Weiss: Red Beans and Weiss (Anti)

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, June 2014

SoCal boho's "alternative jungle music" finds its groove. ...

Roddy Frame: Seven Dials

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, June 2014

IT'S BEEN EIGHT years since Roddy Frame's last album, Western Skies, and over 30 since his arrival as a precocious prodigy from East Kilbride, the ...

Sturgill Simpson: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (Loose)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2014

Anyone for metaphysical prog country? Nashville songwriter heads for the stars ...

The Black Keys: Turn Blue (Nonesuch)

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, June 2014

Following the triumph of El Camino, Auerbach, Carney & Danger Mouse roll the dice, play it where it lays.  ...

Conor Oberst: Upside Down Mountain

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2014

A DECADE AND A half has passed since Conor Oberst popped into view as an 18-year-old lo-fi Heartland prodigy with a barely contained torrent of ...

Ethan Johns : The Reckoning

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, July 2014

HIS CREDENTIALS as a top-flight producer firmly established over a broad range of jobs (Kings Of Leon, Laura Marling, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones), winning a ...

First Aid Kit: Stay Gold

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2014

Singing sisters' major-label debut is a glittering folk-pop tapestry of Scandi-angst. ...

Felice Brothers: The Felice Brothers: Favorite Waitress

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2014

THE FELICE BROTHERS' previous proper album, 2011's Celebration, Florida was by far their least characteristic to date — and, for that reason, arguably their most ...

John Fullbright: Songs

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2014

IT'S BEEN A dizzying couple of years for John Fullbright. First came studio debut From The Ground Up, a record that set him up as ...

John Hiatt: Terms Of My Surrender

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2014

FOR WRITER/ARTISTS of a certain age, the sands of time can be like quicksand, sucking them under as they grasp at their past achievements. John ...

Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL: SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, August 2014

"Animals strike curious poses!" The inexhaustible beautiful one celebrates 30 years of Purple Rain. ...

Nick Cave, Marianne Faithfull: Marianne Faithfull: Give My Love To London

Review and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, October 2014

Recuperating from serious injury, the veteran chanteuse puts her back into one of her most personal records... ...

Eric Clapton: Planes, Trains and Eric (Castle Rock)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, November 2014

"IF I DON'T do it, I get cravings to come out and do it," says Clapton at the start of the ungainly titled, but revealing, ...

Harry Belafonte, Lord Kitchener: Various Artists: Calypso Craze – 1956-57 and Beyond (Bear Family)

Review by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2014

173 cuts from calypso's thrilling, if brief, mainstream heyday. ...

Vashti Bunyan: Heartleap (Fat Cat)

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, November 2014

One more diamond day: an elusive singer-songwriter's beautiful, last (probably) album. ...

The Band, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: Lo and Behold!

Retrospective by Clinton Heylin, Uncut, December 2014

Forty-seven years on from the fabled sessions in Woodstock, BOB DYLAN'S complete Basement Tapes finally see the light of day this month — all 138 ...

Sharon Van Etten: "You'll never understand love. It's infinite."

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, December 2014

TWO DOORS DOWN from Dylan's old place in the West Village, Sharon Van Etten opens up her apartment and bares her soul. To be discussed: ...

Sid Griffin: The Trick is To Breathe

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, December 2014

SINCE THE demise of the Long Ryders at the beginning of the '90s, Kentucky native Griffin has made London his musical base, cutting records mostly ...

Blake Mills: Heigh Ho

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, January 2015

"PHENOMENAL" (says E Clapton) guitarist fashions an instant classic. ...

Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias, The Durutti Column, The Fall: Into The Valley! The Deeply Vale Festival

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2015

1978. Hippies and punks come together at an idyllic free festival near Rochdale: "It was a really transformative moment!" ...

Swamp Dogg: The White Man Made Me Do It

Review and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2015

IN 1970, JERRY WILLIAMS was a writer, performer and producer, whose clients included Gene Pitney and Doris Duke — for whom he masterminded the deep ...

Father John Misty: Play Misty For Me

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, February 2015

THE STRANGE TALE of how Josh Tillman, hirsute drummer of the Fleet Foxes, became dapper solo sensation Father John Misty. Involves threesomes in LA, ghosts ...

Blake Mills

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, March 2015

Recommended this month: a prodigious L.A. multi-tasker, anointed as Chosen One by Jackson Browne, Rick Rubin, Benmont Tench et al. ...

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2015

UNTIL RECENTLY, Josh Tillman was best known for drumming in Fleet Foxes between 2008 and 2012. Before and during that time, Tillman made several slow, ...

Steve Earle & The Dukes: Terraplane

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2015

STEVE EARLE has earned the indulgences and deferences of statesmanhood: the discography he has assembled these last thirty years is marvellous and important. Not for ...

Calexico: Edge Of The Sun

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2015

OVER NEARLY twenty years of existence on the fringes of Americana, Calexico have not paid for guitar-shaped swimming pools for their constituent members. But they ...

Townes Van Zandt: The Nashville Sessions

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2015

IT COULD HAVE been the record that made him; maybe, even the record that saved him. ...

Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell: The Traveling Kind

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2015

THE ADAGE which holds that you get your whole life to make your debut album, and barely a year or two to furnish your second, ...

Little Richard: Directly From My Heart – The Best Of The Specialty & Vee-Jay Years

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2015

Richard & Bumps had a baby and they called it rock'n'roll... ...

Natalie Prass: The Future And The Past

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2015

IN TUMULTUOUS times, artists face big choices. To confront, deflect or ignore; to drill down into the darkness; or find alternative sources of light. Some ...

Jason Isbell: Something More Than Free

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2015

2013's Southeastern, was, give or take the odd playful moment, a gripping description of the self-dug pit from which its composer had recently hauled himself. ...

Sleaford Mods: Key Markets

Review and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, August 2015

IF SLEAFORD MODS didn't exist, one gets the impression that the music press would probably have invented them. Journalists of a certain age love interviewing ...

The Decline of Western Civilization: Parts I–III (dir. Penelophe Spheeris)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, 4 August 2015

Lauded LA trilogy finally gets its own boxset ...

Destroyer: Poison Season

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2015

DAN BEJAR'S 19-year climb from lo-fi-bedroom obscurity to wider acclaim was slowed somewhat by the defiantly abstruse nature of his early recordings. But over time ...

Iris DeMent: The Trackless Woods

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2015

IRIS DEMENT AND Anna Akhmatova would appear to have very little in common, at least on the surface. Anna Akhmatova was a Russian aristocrat whose ...

Taste: I'll Remember

Review and Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, September 2015

WHEN MELODY MAKER'S Roy Hollingworth broke the news to his readers in 1970 that Taste, the popular Irish trio, were disbanding, his tone was one ...

Janis Joplin: Janis: The Way She Was (dir. Howard Alk)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, 3 September 2015

Howard Alk's intimate 1974 portrait of Janis Joplin reissued ...

John Grant: Grey Tickles, Black Pressure

Report and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, November 2015

WHEN JOHN GRANT was nominated for "Best International Act" at last year's Brit Awards, it seemed like the latest improbable chapter in an increasingly surreal ...

Patty Griffin: Servant Of Love

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2015

IT'S TEMPTING to transpose the lyrical themes of Servant Of Love onto Griffin's recent split with Robert Plant, with whom she first became acquainted as ...

The City: Now That Everything's Been Said

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2015

Carole King's missing link between songwriter and solo superstar. ...

PJ Harvey & Seamus Murphy: Royal Festival Hall, London, October 9,2015

Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2015

TONIGHT'S WORLD PREMIERE of PJ Harvey's latest work, The Hollow Of The Hand, is an exciting, occasionally electrifying, 30-minute rock'n'roll show — which, unfortunately, is ...

The Chills: Silver Bullets

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2015

NEW ZEALAND HAS had an inestimable impact on The Chills. Had singer, guitarist and songwriter Martin Phillipps hailed from certain other countries, he would perhaps ...

Miracle Legion: Promised You A Miracle

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2016

At last! Mark Mulcahy and Ray Neal plot the second coming of Miracle Legion. ...

The Velvet Underground: The Complete Matrix Tapes

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, January 2016

The live motherlode from San Francisco, 1969 ...

Emitt Rhodes: Rainbow Ends

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2016

Cult American singer-songwriter delivers his first new album in 43 years ...

Grant-Lee Phillips: The Narrows

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2016

THE AMERICAN SOUTH has exerted a lifelong fascination for Grant-Lee Phillips. "Some of it's a family thing," he explains. "My dad was from Arkansas, my ...

Loretta Lynn: "If you're good to the ghosts, they'll be good to you."

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, March 2016

WELCOME TO HURRICANE MILLS, the second-most-haunted house in Tennessee and, for the past 50 years, home of the supematurally gifted Loretta Lynn. Here, the Queen ...

Stick in the Wheel: What's Cookin', Leytonstone Ex-Servicemen's Club, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2016

From the London riots to 18th-century laments on English injustice, the critically acclaimed band bring folk back home. ...

Tim Hardin: Black Sheep Boy

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2016

50 years on from his debut, Uncut considers the extraordinary music and harrowing life story of Tim Hardin. A tale of blood, arson, rooftop chases, ...

The Eagles, Glenn Frey: Glenn Frey (1948-2016) — Take It To The Limit.

Obituary by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2016

THE INDEFATIGABLE EAGLE remembered by J D Souther, Don Felder and more: "We all looked to him for direction." ...

Violent Femmes: We Can Do Anything

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, April 2016

NOT SO MUCH a boast as an expression of amused incredulity, the title of Violent Femmes' ninth studio album is an acknowledgement that few comebacks ...

White Denim: Jeans Genius

Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, April 2016

WELCOME BACK the new, improved White Denim, supercharged and adventurous riff-manglers from the Lone Star State. In Austin 's premier barbecue joint Uncut reconnnects with ...

Band Of Horses: Why Are You OK

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2016

BAND OF HORSES' Ben Bridwell has muttered elsewhere his dissatisfaction that Why Are You OK will be heard for the first time largely in spring ...

Nina Simone: What happened, Miss Simone?

Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Williams, Uncut, November 2016

The often harrowing life and times of a musical and political force. ...

Aaron Lee Tasjan: Silver Tears (New West)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2017

Dope-smoking nomad's dazzling bag of tricks  ...

Ronika

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2017

The Madonna of the Midlands' expresses herself ...

Nikki Lane: Highway Queen (New West)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2017

Bruising third from Nashville songstress ...

Run the Jewels: Run The Jewels 3

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, March 2017

Alt-rap activists Killer Mike and El-P rage against the obscene on politically charged third album.  ...

Wand: Plum

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2017

CORY HANSON didn't hang about when he formed Wand with fellow art school chums Lee Landey and Evan Burrows in 2013. ...

Jeff Tweedy: Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, April 2018

One man and his mic'd up acoustic guitar, "singing songs to humans..." ...

Dan Auerbach:"I don't think I'm that much of a control freak any more..."

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, May 2018

Musician, label boss, entrepreneur, empire builder... Will the real Dan Auerbach please stand up? As Jaan Uhelszki joins Auerbach and his Easy Eye Sound crew ...

James Blake, Kendrick Lamar: Kendrick Lamar plus James Blake: Genting Arena, Birmingham, Feb 9

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, May 2018

This dazzling, audacious arena show will be talked about for years to come, but the rapper at the centre of it all stays humble  ...

Jon Hopkins: Singularity (Domino)

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2018

Versatile collaborator follows up Immunity with ambitious psychedelic epic.  ...

Sudan Archives: I'm new here: Sudan Archives

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, July 2018

This month: heady, Afro-futurist R&B from the violinist and singer otherwise knownas Brittney Denise Parks   ...

Mahmoud Guinia, James Holden: Moroccan gnawa: "It's a healing sound"

Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, August 2018

Why Moroccan gnawa music continues to seduce Western artists, from Hendrix to Holden ...

Run-DMC: Run DMC: Won't stop rockin'

Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, August 2018

They've survived splits, breakdowns and the unsolved murder of DJ Jam Master Jay, but Run-DMC are still causing hard times for sucker MCs ...

Amanda Shires: To The Sunset

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, September 2018

Prolific enlivener of other people's records returns to centre stage. ...

Delines, The : The Delines: The Imperial

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2019

IT'S BEEN a long way back for Amy Boone. In March 2016, the singer was hit by a car as she walked through a parking ...

Delines, The : The Delines: Imperial

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, 11 January 2019

IT'S BEEN A long way back for Amy Boone. In March 2016, the singer was hit by a car as she walked through a parking ...

Kaia Kater: Grenades (Smithsonian Folkways)

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, February 2019

Twentysomething Canadian embarks on a deeply personal voyage of discovery.  ...

The Comet is Coming: Trust In The Life Force Of The Deep Mystery (Impulse!)

Review and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, April 2019

Spiritual synths meet sax for pioneering, futuristic jazz.  ...

De La Soul, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan: Gods of Rap: Manchester Arena, May 11

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2019

Believe the hype: Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul deliver a hip-hop masterclass ...

Tyler Childers: Country Squire (Hickman Holler/RCA)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2019

Kentucky's latest emergent star proves his worth  ...

Coldplay: Everyday Life

Review by Johnny Sharp, Uncut, January 2020

Exit pop glitterati, enter lo-fi eclectica on Martin & co's eighth  ...

Steve Earle & the Dukes: Ghosts Of West Virginia

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2020

ON APRIL 5, 2010, 300 metres beneath Raleigh County, West Virginia, methane seeping from the coal seams of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine ignited ...

Music in lockdown

Report by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2021

WHILE IT'S been a highly challenging year for the music industry – particularly in terms of cancelled tours, venue closures and a disrupted retail market ...

St. Vincent: Daddy's Home

Review and Interview by Laura Barton, Uncut, June 2021

AT LAST YEAR'S SUNDANCE, Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein premiered a mockumentary they named The Nowhere Inn. Playing augmented versions of themselves, the film cast ...

Little Simz: Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Review by John Lewis, Uncut, October 2021

Epic fourth album by the award-winning north London rapper ...

The National: First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Review by Laura Barton, Uncut, June 2023

A turbulent tale continues… ...

Tinariwen: Amatssou

Review by John Lewis, Uncut, June 2023

Desert rockers still militant but more approachable. ...

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