After the amiable twang of their 1995 debut A.M. and the more ambitiously conceptual rock’n’roll of 1996’s Being There, Wilco went straight-up pop on 1998’s Summerteeth, trading the pedal steel for an orchestra and treating The Beach Boys as their new Gram Parsons. Country, even alt.country, was far too restrictive, too conservative both musically and culturally, for many bands identified with that movement, and some of the biggest acts – The Old 97s, Joe Henry, The Jayhawks – were toying with power pop and art rock. Few, however, went as far or as hard as Wilco, who by the...
“There was a point a year and a half ago when I wondered whether I would be doing this again,” admitted Thom Yorke on stage at the Albert Hall last October. “I’m a British musician, and I was told during the pandemic, like all British musicians, that I should consider retraining. And after we finally left they told us we didn’t really need to tour around Europe anyway, did we? So perhaps I’m one of a dying breed… who knows?” ORDER NOW: Queen are on the cover of the latest issue of Uncut That classic Radiohead sense of...
In Steve Jones’s splenetic autobiography, Lonely Boy, the Sex Pistols’ guitarist does his best to puncture the fables which have grown up around the group. He admits to being hazy about the facts – relying on a radio interview he did with manager Malcolm McLaren in 2005 for the chronology of how the band evolved. Jones’ tenure as the frontman of Kutie Jones And His Sex Pistols ended when McLaren was urged by Vivienne Westwood to look out for a good-looking boy called John. John Lydon is hired, though it transpires that the John that Westwood had in mind...
Once, Chatham Dockyard on the River Medway was one of the biggest dockyards in the country, employing thousands of men and women to make boats for the Royal Navy. Closed in 1984, the dockyard has since been converted into a museum; its silent acres filled with industrial skeletons in the form of cranes, anti-aircraft guns, wooden figureheads, rusting anchors and long corridors of warehouses. Above one such warehouse, up a fire escape next to a naval bookshop, you will find the painting studio of Billy Childish, musician, artist, writer and poet. ORDER NOW: Queen are on the cover of the...
A God among Gods, ZeXzy is clearly not your average artist. With well-over 3M views on Youtube alone and a few other millions on Spotify with his previously released music videos for the singles “TROWAY” and “My Mind,” the established artist is hungry for more. He just unveiled his new single titled “Obsession,” an infectious song in which he beautifully depicts his magnetic aura that attracts every single woman he meets. Colorful, exotic, and extremely sensual, his new single well-reflects ZeXzy’s natural charisma and sultry energy. The singer-songwriter hails from the ancient city of Benin, in the Edo state...
HAVE A COPY SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR HOME Queen, The Clash, King Crimson, Joan Shelley, Nancy Sinatra, The Delines, Billy Childish, Norman Whitfield, Yo La Tengo and Dennis Bovell all feature in the new Uncut, dated July 2022 and in UK shops from May 19 or available to buy online now. This issue comes with an exclusive free CD, comprising the best tracks of the month. QUEEN: Welcome to Uncut’s deep dive into Queen’s 30 greatest songs – from glam smashes to arena-sized anthems, deep cuts and more. Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert share with John Lewis tales behind...
Andrew Dominik’s second documentary about Nick Cave begins with a feint worthy of This Is Spinal Tap. “I’ve retrained as a ceramicist,” Cave tells the camera, deadpan, “because it’s no longer viable to be a musician.” And it’s true. Inspired by his collection of Staffordshire pottery, Cave has diversified into trinkets. Not just any trinkets. After a flawed attempt to cast a mantelpiece ornament of a saint boiling in oil, Cave has moved on to a series of 18 figurines telling the story of the Devil. Here is the (unglazed) Devil as a baby. ORDER NOW: Miles Davis is on...
What is Americana, exactly? Since its birth in the margins of Nashville, and in off-lying corners of the American South and Midwest, it’s become a vast, amorphous catch-all for American music that is vaguely rootsy, twangy and aware of tradition, but that does not purport to be country or blues. Today, in America at least, it’s swelled beyond a discernible sound or identity, making way for legions of imitators in brimmed hats and put-on Southern accents – working-class cosplay in search of a record deal on Music Row. ORDER NOW: Miles Davis is on the cover of the latest issue...
The Americans’ profile is still pretty low-key, but the band comes with high-end endorsements. Greil Marcus was swept up by 2017 debut I’ll Be Yours and was left hankering for more. T Bone Burnett and Jack White commandeered them for The American Epic Sessions, with Burnett singing their virtues as “genius 21st-century musicians that are reinventing American heritage music for this century. And it sounds even better this century.” ORDER NOW: Miles Davis is on the cover of the latest issue of Uncut Belated second album Stand True reveals the West Coast threesome of Patrick Ferris (vocals/guitar), Jake Faulkner (bass)...
Kikagaku Moyo seemed like a band going places. After initially struggling to make headway in their native country – despite tapping into a noble lineage of Japanese longhairs stretching back through Acid Mothers Temple to Happy End and Flower Travellin’ Band, Kikagaku bandleader Go Kurosawa complained to MonsterChildren.com that “most people don’t like this kind of thing, they like following the rules” – they’d been steadily building a worldwide following since relocating to Amsterdam in 2017. They toured with Wooden Shjips and hooked up with Ryley Walker at Le Guess Who? for a heady live improv set,...
