г NEW YORK SIGITY RIOT! gos. WAR! = | POETRY!S The agony and (he ecstasy Of 22. So ROLLINS qi RK JA, BITTE! Я АСК KEYS Ё BEER, WINGS... HITS! ae MC5 AND ME DAVID BOWIE SALUTES HIS HEROES PLUS! FLEET FOXES JANE WEAVER BOOTSY COLLINS COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM OUT NOW DIGITALLY “ ANOTHER SENA МВТУ WORLD FOR US-TO DIVE) INTO? 6s) U М CÛ Ж p С $ | | К i y EY Sst ya "№ Г a i ч f . E a ha i ы i LM FLEETFOXES. CO А ӨМД "Everybodyknowsit's coming apart/Take onelastlook at this Sacred Heart” CCASIONALLY, in the years since his death, I’ve found myself idly speculating on what Leonard Cohen would have made of the cynicism and chaos around us: Trump, Brexit, Covid... I’ve found his benedictions strangely comforting, their contemplative maturity, wisdom and humanity otherwise lacking elsewhere during a crisis-strewn and deeply weird 2020. This month we revisit an earlier incarnation of Leonard Cohen, as he faces aseries ofimpossible challenges during the 1970s. It’s no spoiler to reveal that he overcomes them, of course; butit’s the striving that counts. Looking back through my inbox, Stephen Troussé, the writer of our cover story, sent mean email early onin our discussions about the piece, where he says, “It feels thematically very rich — it’s Len’s own personal Season In Hell, going from the Mandrax appearance at the Isle Of Wight Festival to the craziness of the tours depicted in Bird On A Wire, the bleakness of Songs Of Love And Hate to the madness of the Spector sessions for Death Of A Ladies’ Man. Not to mention the mad escapades to Nashville, Israel and Ethiopia..." You'll find allthis and more, then, starting on page 64. I’m thrilled, too, thatthisissuealso contains arareinterview with Sonny Rollins -the last ofthe true jazz titans, whose music Dylan once described Onthecover: Leonard Cohenby JillFurmanovsky The Clash by Allan Tannenbaum/ Getty Images as “big league sound, covering all bases”. John Lewis’s superb interview reads like history unfolding, as Rollins takes us through his memories of some of the 20th century’s most profound musical and cultural revolutions, including jazz, the civilrights movement and more. What else? I mentioned this last month, but print subscribers should have received two free CDs with this issue: their regular round-up of the month’s new music and also an exclusive five-track Weather Station CD. You should be familiar with Tamara Lindeman’s work by now, butifnotI think this is a fine introduction toa singular talent —andifyou’re already a fan, the CD should whet your appetite for her newalbum, Ignorance, which Richard Williams reviews with typical insight on page 36. I very much hope we'll be able to bring our subscribers more gifts in future. You'll find a trove of other great stuffin the issue, of course. The Clash, Alice Cooper, The Black Keys, Jane Weaver, Bootsy Collins, Courtney Marie Andrews, David А L d Bowie, Kraftwerk, Fleet Foxes and more. Further ahead, ‘© we've gotaton of great features lined up for 2021. Join us... Michael Bonner, Editor. Follow me on Twitter @michaelbonner н с е амын еее: е ei 4Instant Karma! FleetFoxes, BadBrains, Brinsley Schwarz, DavidBowie, SunburnedHand Of TheMan,Cassandra Jenkins 16 Bootsy Collins Anaudience with the P-Funker 20 New Albums Including: Cory Hanson, Tindersticks, Julien Baker,Mush, Mogwai, Taylor Swift, The Weather Station, FooFighters, 40 The Archive Including: Nirvana, Warren Zevon,Bob Marley, The National, John Mayall 52 Jane Weaver Thelate-bloomingspace-pop sensation talks influences, from Kate Bush andHawkwind to Can and Paul Weller Subscribe online at uncut.co.uk/store 58 Ihe Clash Summer 1981:the punkrockers take Manhattan, causingriotsin TimesSquare 64Leonard Cohen Turbulenttours and firearms:key players mapthe singing poet'scrucial 70s 78 Ihe Black Keys Themakingof`Tighten Up" 82 Sonny Rollins Arare audience with the saxophone colossus, nowinhis 91st year 88 Alice Cooper The originalshockrocker winds back the clock to his wild Motor City heyday 94 Arab Strap AlbumBy Album ne E e ve РЕ! Ме. Or call 01371 851882 andquote code UCPR2021 For enquiries please call:01371 851882 or email: support@uncut.co.uk. 98 Kraftwerk Wecelebrate the 40th birthday of Computer Love withaclassic European odyssey from the NME archives 104 Lives Courtney Barnett, Lindsey Buckingham 109 BOOKS Bessie Smith 110 Films stardust Sound Of Metal 112 DVD, Blu-ray and TV Frank Zappa, Small Axe 111 Not Fade Away Obituaries 116 Letters... Plusthe Uncut crossword 118 My Life In Music Courtney Marie Andrews МАВСН2021 UNCUT:3 INSTANT KARMA THISMONTH' S REVELATIONS FROM THE WORLD OF UNCUT FEATURING... Bad Brains Brinsley Schwarz Bowie Cassandra Jenkins Midwinter hymnal -eet oxes celebrate the solstice witha stunning performanceinaBrooklyn church N the autumn equinox, 9 Robin Pecknold beamed alittle ray ofhopeintoa miserable year by releasing the terrific Shore - Uncut's No 2 album of2020. Sticking to thelunar calendar, he chose the winter solstice (December 21) to air some ofthose songs live for the first time inwhat was the most compelling livestream event since Nick Cave's Idiot Prayer. Recorded in St Ann & The Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, the show opened with a rapturous version of Shore's *Wading In Waist-High Water", Pecknold joined by members ofthe Resistance Revival Chorus - А. 4. ОМСУТ-МАВСН2021 acollective of women and non-binary singers - socially distanced among the pews. He then ascended to the organ balcony for an acoustic set in the half-light of the church’s electric chandeliers, playing songs from across the Fleet Foxes catalogue as well as a cover of the Bee Gees’ *Morning Of My Life". *Even with all ofthe difficulties that Covid presented - testing, distancing, singing with masks on -this was a really fun one to do,” says Pecknold. *St Ann'sissucha beautiful space with incredible acoustics. The Resistance Revival Chorus brought a great energy - one of my favourite parts was the impromptu rehearsal ofa Celia Cruztrack that broke out, which you see at the end after the credits." The performance was dedicated to Love As Laughter's Sam Jayne, who passed away earlier in December and who Pecknold describes as an “inspiring hero”. Yet as with the list of other prematurely departed peers saluted on “Sunblind”, Jayne received a rousing send-off. Shore's bruised optimism has proved to be something ofa beacon in these troubled times, and Pecknold concluded his set with the album’s warm, “Even with all the difficulties Covid presented, this wasa really fun one to do” ROBINPECKNOLD consolatory centrepiece “I’m Not My Season”: “We’re weak but a leaf is turning...” Let’s hopeso. © SAMRICHARDS i i 4 Ew LS Ln = LT Pw - " i г 8 ь PE & k m m Ty p жь “= =~ - № = D == ^ а №. т. -— = — E = m = Ez = Ls — = E LJ pu RobinPecknold and members of the Resistance Revival ChorusatStAnn& | The Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, December 2020 MARCH2021 * UNCUT:5 E JOHNMOUSHEGIAN; GLENE.FRIEDMAN INSTANTKARMA Untangling the messy history of DC punk firebrands HEN people talk about Bad Brains shows ofthe late 19708, it’s often in the same sort of language that you might use to describe a UFO landing in your backyard. The band were an instant phenomenon: four young black men in sharp mod suits and skinny ties, playing the fastest, most technically proficient punk rock you ever heard. Remembering their show supporting The Damned in Washington DC in 1979, Henry Rollins told Australia's Double] radio: “All these people at the front ofthe stage looked at each other as if to say, ‘What the hell was that?’ We could not figure out how humans did what we just heard.” p P TT ТЕ 7 brotherhood will Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer laughs when he recalls the intensity of those early performances. “We would play house shows, where the band would be in the crowd and the crowd would bein the band - that's what punk rock was in the early days.” But for Bad Brains, punk was about more than chaos - it was a calling. Starting outin DCin 1976 as the jazz fusion group Mind Power, they gravitated to the speed and energy of punk, fusing the musical complexity ofthe Mahavishnu music the way we intended." Along with exceptional chops, Bad Brains also brought their own philosophy to the party – specifically the concept of PMA (positive mental attitude), borrowed from Napoleon Hill's 1937 self- improvement book Think And Grow Rich. But their increasingly rowdy performances put some noses out of joint: "At one show, we were playing upstairs, the crowd started pogoing and everything broke. The club owner Said, ‘Get the fuck out - I'm Orchestra with the not having any punk ferocious pace of г. bands here, I’m not The Damned and having any black Ramones. Discipline punk bands here.’ was their watchword. Because that was “T was focused on the way back then.” taking what we did The result was the in rehearsal and group’s mighty bringing it to the “Banned In DC”, a stage,” says Jenifer. whirlwind of snotty “Tt was about defiance that skidded executing the between hardcore thrash and chugging breakdowns. | DARRYL JENIFER — 829 таз n existence was as turbulent as their music. Over the next decade they relocated to New York, converted to Rastafarianism, experimented with dub reggae (best heard on 1983’s Ric Ocasek-produced ‘ce Rock For Light) and = | released four studio 4% | albums, before the Е e originallineup began |- = E uu [I | “awhirlwindof | d defiance" Em to fracture. Despite periodic reunions, a succession of bad deals and poor management decisions left Jenifer rueing the parlous state of Bad Brains’ legacy. “We werea real band, and when you're real, you're not paying a lot of attention to the business side of things." Finally, after 10 years of legal work, the band have reclaimed ownership of their back catalogue and 2021 will see an extensive campaign of reissues on their own Bad Brains Records via Org Music, remastered and presented with a wealth of extras. In recent years, Bad Brains members have struggled witha variety of health issues. Guitarist Dr Know suffered a heart attack in 2015, while vocalist HR has battled schizophrenia. Jenifer confirms they will never play live again, but Bad Brains - as an example, aninspiration, a shared state of mind - persists. "We went through alot,” says Jenifer. “It’s almost as if you had four soldiers in the Vietnam War and they’re still out here, they still love each other. Friendship is something that never was in our make-up. We may not like each other or agree with each other, but our brotherhood will remain eternally intact.” © LOUISPATTISON Bad Brains’ ee debut is reissued by Bad Brains Records/ Org Music in April, followed by the rest of their 1980s catalogue Haar J0 KUWEMRER . 1115 BUE n рл ТЕ Ё } ШЕЛІ. (n Bus > ! A Eai Brinsley Schwarz _inAmsterdam, 1974:(I-r) Brinsley eee Schwarz, Billy ıı FF Rankin, Bob "mi. Andrews, Nick IE s Lowe, lanGomm Fifty years on from the infamous New York press trip fiasco, has finally foundhis voice as asolo artist HE man whose name became synonymous with overblown music-biz hype 50 years ago keeps a considerably lower profile in the 21st century. Brinsley Schwarz didn't do any interviews to promote 2017's solo debut Unexpected, and is only tentatively sticking his head above the parapet for its forthcoming follow-up Tangled. It wasn’t always so. In 1970, the band who took their guitarist’s name were the focus of a notorious publicity stunt when their management and label chartered a plane to fly 150 journalists from London to New York to witness Brinsley Schwarz play their debut US gig at the Fillmore East, opening for Van Morrison. However, acombination of plane delays and limo crashes on the way into Manhattan resulted in most of the assembled hacks missing the Brinsleys’ set altogether. Speaking today, Schwarz puts a positive spin on the doomed caper. “It gave us акпа b of GIJSBERTHANEKROOT/REDFERNS; TOMHILL/GETTY IMAGES fm я. | unwanted notoriety, a shorthand by which the music press would describe us, but I honestly never felt it was an albatross around our necks. If anything, the fact that the scheme saddled us witha large debt made it more difficult for the label to drop us, and we went on to make six albums in order to recoup the losses." Paradoxically, what might have hastened the demise of other bands is remembered by Schwarz as a creative turning point. Blissfully unaware of what had happened to the press pack, inthe wings ofthe Fillmore he and the group's chief songwriter Nick Lowe saw a way forward: “We went on to develop a reputation on the pub rock scene as being a fairly righteous band, andI think you can trace it back to that night and watching Van Morrison. We’d previously made records as what you might calla WithGraham Parkerat The AgoraBallroom, шш Мау 1979 | straight ‘pop’ band [Kippington Lodge], but the way Van incorporated so many elements - folk, soul, R&B - into his songs really opened our eyes. It gave us a blueprint, a path to follow." After following that path until 1975, Schwarz and keyboard player Bob Andrewsregrouped as partof Graham Parker's backing band The Rumour, atlastachieving the sales and chart placings that had always eluded the Brinsleys. Schwarz continued to tour with Parker until 1990, when a sudden bout of aerophobia at LAX — “I was genuinely panic-stricken, one of my fellow passengers had to literally push me onto the flight” — prompted him to retire from performance. He spent the next 20 years repairing guitars rather than playing them, until Parker persuaded him to join The Rumour's reunion tour in 2010. Schwarz's confidence finally restored, he's poised to release Tangled, the mellow Americana of its self-penned originals augmented by a delicate cover of Parker's high-water mark, “Love Gets You Twisted”. The next big step is for the 73-year-old to take centre stage for the first time on tour, Covid vaccines permitting. “Tm nota natural frontman,” Schwarz admits. “I did a casual gig with some friends in New York a couple of years ago, and after singing lead for three consecutive songs I was absolutely exhausted, so the challenge now is to get match fit for those demands." And if he has to board a planefor a potential foreign tour? “Oh, that’s behind me now. Рт actually acard-carrying frequent flier these days.” © TERRY STAUNTON табиа zer Bijsm Tangledis released byFretsore inFebruary — E шы. FULL РЕ “ІШЕ! т Catchabrightstar! Celebrating 50 years of T.Rextasy" - the momentin 1971 when appliedthe glitter andtookthe nation on a thrilling glam rock ride - we present the to .Featuringan exclusive foreword by Bolan’s producer ,itsinshopsnow oravailable from uncut.co.uk/single... Pluslook outlater this month for the third part of our in which we conclude the definitive Bowie timeline with our customary blendof rareartwork,new interviews and eyewitness accounts... (above)arethe latest namesbooked to play the . The virtual show on Jan 28 will also feature in conversation with and .Meanwhile, have beenaddedtothe bill for the preceding Ye Gods! havesuddenly regenerated with their firstreleasein25 years: alimited edition 8xLP archivalboxset from MARCH2021 UNCUT :7 GIJSBERTHANEKROOT/REDFERNS; TOMHILL/GETTY IMAGES;DAVID GAHR KEVINMAZUR/WIREIMAGE; ANTHONY COX/KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES INSTANT KARMA How came torecordhis covers of Mother" and ‘Tryin To Get ToHeaven" FJohn Lennon's *Mother" was born in harrowing Primal Scream therapy sessions, David Bowie’s version originated in rather more luxurious circumstances. A request for a Lennon cover arrived at his Bermuda home in 1997 from Yoko Ono, who was planning a tribute album to herlate husband; Bowie and guitarist Reeves Gabrels discussed the idea with drummer Andy Newmark on a night out at Newmark’s club to watch 70s white soul band Kokomo. As Gabrels recalls, "Andy found adrummer and a bass player from a local gospel church and we recorded it with a mobile digital thing." Yet despite the scratch set-up and breezy island vibes, Bowie was determined to tackle one of Lennon's most intimate and traumatic songs. "It was a personal song to David too," says Gabrels. “His own relationship with his mother got vented through that song. John was a reference point for David. He had a box that John had given him and I remember one day he was taking something out of it and saying, ‘It’s ashame that John’s not still alive because you and he would get along great.” As Ono's tribute project stalled, Bowie's version of *Mother" lay dormant until he reunited with his 70s foil Tony Visconti in New York the following year. “Tony was being managed by May Pang,” says Gabrels, “so while we were in the studio David thought of finishing off ‘Mother’. I think there was maybe a bit of aconvergence in David’s mind 8: UNCUT - MARCH2021 Jumper they say: Bowiein 1997, the year he was asked by Onotorecorda JohnLennoncover REEVES GABRELS of people that were connected with John, having May Pang around.” The previously unreleased cover has now emerged as a 7" single to celebrate what would have been Bowie's 74th birthday on January 8, as well as marking the fifth anniversary of his death on January 10. It's backed by a gently industrial take on Bob Dylan's *Tryin' To Get To Heaven", recorded in February 1998, after Bowie was struck by the timeliness oflyrics like *The air is getting hotter/There's a rumbling in the skies" whenever Gabrels blasted Time Out Of Mind on the tour bus. “That song had a world-weariness and acertain ennui, like, ‘I’m just trying to do the right thing here’,” Gabrels recalls. “It seemed to suit the end of the millennium for us. That song expressed a lot for us collectively... We were trying to do the right thing and get out of here with our accounts in the black.” Tantalisingly, Gabrels reveals it probably won’t be the final Bowie/Dylan mindmeld to see the light of day. He mentions an “Now hear this, Robert Zimmerman": Bowie with BobDylan, Nov 1985 Gabrels is happy to see Bowie’s birthday marked by the release of the previously unheard material. “A lot ofthe celebratory aspect ofit has gotten damaged by the continual Bowie celebration tours,” he contends. “It’s getting a little Butlins-esque. [With this single] people get to hear David’s actual take on certain things, what he was thinking at the time, as | unreleased Tin Machine song with the title *Mellow Blue', with opposed to people retreading| Г = entitled “Rashomon”, recorded lyrics by Dylan. It’s sitting with the past.” © MARK BEAUMONT LAG for their 1989 debut: “David was about eight other Tin Machine е Ё202 ҮР " МобағапоҒ"Вийіпе- joking and doing halfway between studio tracks and 10 other mixed "Mother 7"Tryin' To Get esque’ celebrations: me Reeves Gabrels on a Dylan anda Marc Bolan vocalonit. | and mastered live tracks. We're To Heaven' is out now stage with Bowie, WesentittoDylananditcameback | tryingtogeta boxset together." onParlophone/ISO i October 14, 2007 KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE: ANN CLIFFORD/DMI/ THELIFE PICTURE COLLECTION VIA GETTYIMAGES SARAHGIBBONS E е v ^ M dia: # Sunburned: 5% anewsense |1y 7^ ofdirection E y Г Т L b: ш New weird Americans areback with their best albumin more thanadecade OHN Moloney, drummer of the free-flowing Massachusetts group Sunburned Hand Of The Man, also doubles as their archivist. For him, presiding over a collection of 300-plus hours of video and recordings of every psych-folk-funk jam in their 24-year existence is only partly about historical documentation. It also offers, in awild and unknowable landscape ofimprovisational music, something like a map. “Memory would not help us out,” says Moloney. “I can listen to something and not remembera minute of it. Yesterday I founda bunch of handbills in a folder and there were a couple of shows I don't remember being at. We played Tonic in New York [in 2004] with Chrome Hoofand Sunn O))) - Idon't remember anything about it!" As muchas itis about their past, the Sunburned archive is also, it turns out, the key to their present. 10-UNCUT - MARCH2021 Although largely absent for some years from the worldwide touring circuit, the band has kept up a fairly regular stream ofimprovisational dispatches ($30 will secure you 141 digital releases from their Bandcamp). The recent Headless from 2019, for example, is a ROBTHOMAS longform transmission of analogue synth and guitar meditation. This year, as part ofthe 20th anniversary celebrations for Three Lobed Recordings, they will release the great Pick A Day To Die, probably their most focused and immediate album since 2007's Fire Escape. It’s an occasion that prompts the band to field nearly a full squad on Zoom to chat about a record that evolves seamlessly from bucolic acoustic guitar mode into pulsating motorik grooves with absurdist declamations (“We’ll do a Baltic salt therapy!”), digital funk, and out the other side into a menacing freeform psychosis. Ron Schneiderman, among the seven musicians on the call, has the measure of the thing: “Tt really turns a corner. It catches me off-guard every time — ‘Oh right, that's where we're going..." Sunburned co-founder Rob Thomas credits Moloney with galvanising the band on this latest release. Often they might enter arecording studio and simply generate more material for their already overflowing archive: quarrying the marble without carving the statue. Instead Moloney found *backbones" for new tunes from session recordings made in 2016 and 2017, delving as far back as 2007 for other suitable material before moving things on to the next level of present-day playing. “There was a lot of good stuff to work with,” says Thomas. “It’s a large group soit was about getting people together to listen and discuss. John kept the schedule tight, he did alot of editing and kept the ball rolling. Over the arc of the album it transforms from something pretty tranquil and languid to increasingly a little more paranoid, until at the end it’s flat-out berserk. It’s a fitting testament to 2020.” Now, after a year of confinement, Sunburned Hand Of The Man are fired up with future plans. “I feel creative,” says Thomas. “I don’t knowifIcan use the word optimistic any more, but I feel inspired. And our plane tickets are open.” © JOHNROBINSON Pick A Day To Die willbe released by Three Lobed Recordings on March 12 I CONT MIND ALITONONTY D EH HAPPY NOWADAYS КЕТТЕ шая Ға ажа “а р : Contains all 12 re zcocks с J by d j Е T ^ pA LEES съ 2 аа InN ^ f e ^ ^c Ann Шор" "E ^m "Jai D ^ | IN Ana a "m ml р ro Ға < | AOJE p Re- master e Ir OITI t ne ori g inal t apes ana in t ne original М асо | m ( rel d SIeeves _ =. П la ~ pu m E EE rad са тра AT Also includes a 36-page booklet written by accl ы ae Б 9 T c vacet econdhand Orchestra The Wide, Wide River A collaboration born out of the friendship between the Scottish singer-songwriter & the free-wheeling Swedish collective. An instinctive, loose-limbed and joyful listen. 22 January 2021 * LP/ CD / DL / JIGSAW — a _— ms E] WYNDHAMBOYLAN-GARNETT; ADAMPARSHALL Teamplayer for Purple Mountains, Eleanor Friedberger andothers strikes outboldly alone asked to join David Berman’s band Purple Mountains. A long-standing fan of Berman’s work, she immediately cleared her schedule and began rehearsals for a three-month tour. Jenkins had been drafted in to cover Berman’s own guitar parts, “in case he stopped playing, or needed a night off”, she explains. “He was really struggling at that time.” But three days before the tour, Berman took his own life. Jenkins was knocked sideways: “I only knew him for four days but he radically changed my life in that short period." Jenkins grew up in New York, the daughter of musician parents who soon drafted her into the family band, touring the country in a 1956 GMC passenger bus. Later, she studied at Rhode Island School Of Design and worked on the picture desk at The New Yorker before throwing herself into music: playing banjo in an all-female string band, playing bass for Eleanor Friedberger, singing with Kevin Morby and Craig Finn. At one point, she notes, she was in eight different bands while also holding down a job as a teacher. In 2017 she released her first solo record, Play Till You Win, a collection of polished-up country songs complete with strings anda horn section. Today she speaks about it cautiously: “I ended up witha record that I’m proud of, but I also think there was some air sucked out of it by my lack of spontaneity." Following Berman's death, Jenkins |. late summer 2019, Cassandra Jenkins was “Cassandra's artistry is unique initsopenness Cassandra Jenkins: “l'm clearingoutthe pathaslgo" her friend Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, Muzz), arriving at the studio with a Word document filled with notes from her phone and her journal, ready to make her second album. An Overview On Phenomenal Nature is surely one of the most affecting records 2021 will have to offer. Capturing Jenkins’ post-Berman state of flux and bewilderment, it carries shades of Aimee Mann, Suzanne Vega and Laurie Anderson, and ranges across chamber pop, jazz and spoken word. Itis an intensely impressionistic, sensuous, and surprising collection of songs. “I thought I was going to go into this session with a pretty Spanish guitar and a vocal," Jenkins says. “Butin the end it was very much like wandering through the woods and realising that I’m clearing out the path as I go. In no way did I expectit to sound like this.” “Hard Drive” opens with a voice memo recording of a security guard at the Met Breuer speaking about Mrinalini Mukherjee’s exhibition Phenomenal Nature, before unfolding into a spoken-word masterpiece. Jenkins had been struck by a sequence of encounters with strangers, and by listening to the work of Jonathan Richman and Lou Reed with their fondness for writing characters. Before recording, she took her lyrics to Craig Finn. "And he went through them with a red pen, “This is interesting but maybe mention specifically what town you're in...” She laughs. “I almost look to him like a professor.” The result is songs that feel not only ripe and experiential but also richly peopled. “I think about it like if you’re reading tarot cards,” Jenkins says of her album’s curious assembly of characters. “Once they’re sitting there on the table you can interpret them together, and suddenly there’s spent the autumn of 2019 travelling -sheseemsto meaning there." After so many years of alone “and feeling pretty unmoored bothseekand playing with other artists, it seems that by the whole experience”. In October, embrace change” Jenkins is more than ready to be a lead she bookedarecordingsessionwith ^ CraigFinn character herself. © LAURA BARTON 12:UNCUT -MARCH2021 Onthestereo this month... ISRAEL NASH Topaz LOOSEMUSIC Hirsute troubadour summons the big music onslow-burning, soulful sixth, throwinginhorns, strings, choir andkitchen sink tostunning effect. CLARK PlaygroundIn A Lake THROTTLE/DEUTSCHEGRAMMOPHON Impressivereinventionfor the Warp electronica stalwart, now a conjuror of eldritch cinematic wonder on the axis where Oneohtrix Point Never meets ArveHenriksen. NIK TURNER & YOUTH Interstellar Energy YOUTHSOUNDS/CADIZENTERTAINMENT Exactly what you'dhope for from aHawkwind/Killing Joke face-off: pounding, dubby space-rock meteors, liberally adorned withflailing sax. ELECTRIC JALABA ElHal/TheFeeling sm: Frenetic Anglo-Morrocan sextetinfusegnawatrance rituals with Cometls Coming- stylesynth-jazz prophecies. Goodattitude! NATALIE BERGMAN Mercy THIRDMAN Otherwiseknownasonehalf of brother/ sister duo Wild Belle, Bergman adds gospel power toher upscale folk-rock onelegantsolo debut. MADLIB “Road Of TheLonely Ones” MADLIBINVAZION MaverickLA hip-hop producer returns witha trademark salvo of obscure spiritualsoulsamples andlogic-defying beats, gussied upby Four Tet. MARINA ALLEN “Belong Here’ rr New Fire signing emerging from the same Cali folk haze as Lael Neale, although leaning abit moreLindaPerhacs/White Magic. Consider usintrigued... VARIOUS ARTISTS Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds Of Japan 1980-1988 LIGHTINTHEATTIC Notcity pop, notambient, butmaybe somethingevenbetter - fromthe burbling synths of Yoshio Ojimato the bizarre kabuki dub-jazz of Wha-ha-ha. DEAN McPHEE Witch's Ladder HOODFAIRE/FOLKLORE Bradford'sone-man Mogwaidelivers another masterclassofreverberant, landscape guitar. Think EveningStar meets Gordale Scar. JIMSCLAVUNOS "Holiday Song LOWEAMUSEMENTS ‘Iguess the gift of being young/ls having muchlesstolookbackon..."DrollNew Year reflections fromthe BadSeedsman. LIMITED EDITION 50 ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS PRESENTING THE DEFINITIVE STORY BEHIND TWO OF HIS MOST BELOVED ALBUMS. BOTH DELUXE BOX SETS CONTAIN CD & BLU-RAY DISCS, EXCLUSIVE VINYL LP AND EXCLUSIVE 12” EP BURSTING WITH NEW REMASTERS, 2020 MIXES, UNRELEASED DEMOS, LIVE RECORDINGS AND VIDEO FOOTAGE PLUS A BEAUTIFUL HARDBACK BOOK AND UNIQUE MEMORABILIA Mona Bone Jakon Tea for the Tillerman CAT STEVENS 4CD+BD+LP+EP 5CD+BD+LP+EP AVAILABLE DECEMBER 4 (6 oF NIC CHAPMAN; PUSPAL OHMEYER; BRIANNA CAPOZZI; GUILLAUMEBOG INSTANT KARMA 12 tracks of the month's bestnew music 1 Lines Discontinued Weopen this month’s selection with asong from the thrilling Lines Redacted, the upcoming second album from Leeds trio Mush. You can read more about the group and their sound, with its shades of Pavement, Television and Blur, in our full review on p30. Heartlow Weaver has been making music since the'9os but her new LP, the diverse, grooving and colourful Flock, recorded around Covid lockdowns, could be her finest yet. Luxuriate in its cosmically wistful opening track while reading our feature with Jane on p52. 3 Blue Vein This Los Angeles-based singer- songwriter explores the unknown possibilities ofthe retro-futurist Omnichord on her second album, Acquainted With Night. *Blue Vein" is a perfect example of Neale's dreamy nocturnal reveries. 4 Man Alone (Can t Stop The Fadin’) There have been a generous amount of Tindersticks songs for us to wallow in over the decades, but this is surely one of the finest: a deep, dark 11-minute rumination, witha skeletal drum machine underpinning Stuart A Staples’ deathless, multi-tracked voice. 5 Thine ls The Kingdom This dusty Tucson troupe certainly share some DNA with their forebears Calexico, but this cut from their Genesis album demonstrates their unique mix of nylon-stringed Mariachi swagger, South American grooves and National-esque dynamic power. 6 Yüce Dağ Başında A reworking ofa traditional Anatolian song, this cut from the Amsterdam-based collective’s new Yol LP is a fine slice of synth- powered Middle Eastern disco-pop with just enough weirdness to keep the vibe the cooler side of kitsch. a pop am BTE mo n ІМ FEATURING TINDERSTICKS „М CASSANDRA JENKINS « Им COUNTRY, NEW ROAD 12 TRACKS OF THE MONTH'S BEST MUSIC ЄТОВЇЕ$З ОЕЛТНЕ $ТВЕЕТ. OUSE ON MARS « АНЕ ЧТЕДА\МЕН ALTIN GÜN « LAEL NEALE MIR E е АЕНІЛІ. EAST AHO MORE 7 StalkingHorse Alsoasideman to Cass McCombs and others, the NY-based guitarist has crafted a gorgeous, meditative instrumental album, Three Rivers. There are all kinds of surprises inside its enchanted framework of picked acoustic and electric guitars, synths and more, as the otherworldly, baroque “Stalking Horse” demonstrates. 8 Katharine The latest LP from Texan-born, New York-based songwriter Aerial East, Try Harder is an exploration of groundlessness and a depiction of her country in flux. “Katharine” displays the weightlessness of the solo piano music that has recently inspired her. Read East’s take on p29. 9 Track X The chaotic seven-piece have long been touted as one of Britain’s best new bands — not least in these pages — and For The First Time proves to be astrong debut, mixing post-punk clatter with the pastoral, eccentric textures of the Canterbury Sound. 10 Hard Drive An Overview On Phenomenal Nature finds Purple Mountains and Kevin Morby collaborator Jenkins dousing her Lambchop-esque chamber-pop with a healthy dose of weirdness and, as on this intriguing selection, discombobulated spoken-word. Flick back to p12for an interview. 11 Up AllNight Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is the Ohio chameleon’s ‘proper’ follow-up to 2018's Karma For Cheap, and it sees the glitter-spangled cowboy mixing the heartland rock of Tom Petty with the glam of T.Rex and a handful of shiny pop production techniques. 12 Artificial Authentic Jan St Werner and Andi Toma return to play Holly Herndon at her own game, collaborating with artificial intelligence across their 12th album, AAI. As much IBM as IDM, "Artificial Authentic" is an otherworldly, disorientating journey into the heart of an electronic wonderland. © жж. IN YOUR SHI mm 0 ENJOY RESPONSIBLY 16. ОМСУТ-МАВСН2021 + اا ر ا “IfThadn’t started‏ taking LSD ata young age,‏ Iprobably wouldn't‏ have started writing"‏ INSTANT KARMA ee Youarefunky - mavbe vou just dont know i( 99 T'Stestament to Bootsy Collins' long-standing commitmentto The Funk that, even from the depths of quarantine, he’s still managed to turn out an album that sounds like a party. The Power Of The One, released in October on his own Bootzilla Records, boasts an impressive array of guest stars — from George Benson to Larry Graham, Branford Marsalis to Snoop Dogg - who certainly don't sound inhibited by having to contribute remotely. *The whole concept was to bring in musicians who were not supposed to play together," explains Collins down the line from Cincinnati. “Once you get the party started, anybody else that jumps in, they just gonna add on to that party. They gon' getloaded with you, they gon' have a blast, you know? It don’t matter if you love jazz music, rock music, metal music, ballads, R&B... none ofthat mattered on this record. It was all about showing the world that our differences don’t matter. What really matters is us getting along, and knowing that we are one.” Sadly, Collins was forced to retire from touring in 2019 due to the strain it was putting on his ears and the muscles of his right hand. But he hopes that after two years of rest, he might be able to make the odd live appearance once that kind of thing is permitted again. “Who knows? When it’s time to go back, I might be 150 per cent.” His optimism is infectious — he even manages to put a positive spin on the pandemic: “Even though we look like we’re falling apart, I think that in the end we're gonna come closer together.” Whatis The One and whyisitso powerful? Nathan Cawley, Liverpool It started off with me learning ‘the one’ from James Brown when IJ joined his band in 1970. The first beat of every measure is ‘the one’ and that’s what he wanted us to The No 1 Funkateer on his crazy times holding down ‘the one’ for James Brown, George Clinton and Keith Richards Interview by SAM RICHARDS Below: James Brownlivewith The JB's,including Bootsy Collins (left) and Catfish Collins (right), London, March 1971 emphasise. I took it over to Parliament- Funkadelic, and George [Clinton] thought it was so cool that he wanted to make aconcept out of it. That's when people started getting hip to ‘the one’. From there, through life experiences and everything going on, I started to realise that ‘the one’ was bigger than just a musical ‘one’. ‘The one’ is inside of all of us, ‘the one’ is what makes us breathe and live and gave us this opportunity to become one, like “One Nation Under A Groove”. ù The power of ‘the one’ is that all of us, collectively, can handle anything. We give it different names, spiritual names, and then we let all of that get in the way. But none of that has nothin’ to do with the power of ‘the one’, ’cos ‘the one’s gon’ be there no matter what you call it. And so I wanted to show on this record, no matter who you are, you still have the power of ‘the one’ in you. You can funk, and you are funky — maybe you just don’t knowit, or you don’t wanna admit it. We all were born between an ass and a pee- hole! And ifthat ain’t funk, then what is? How much of "Sex Machine” was JamesBrown andhow much was you, Catfish and Jabo Starks? Jamie Okumu, uia email When we got there, James was looking for a new sound, ayoung energy. I guess hewas counting on us as much as we were counting on him, but he didn't want everybody to know, ’cos it was gonna be him in the end that wrote the song. He brought the lyrics, I brought the bassline, Catfish brought the guitar strokes, and Jabo brought the drumbeat. And James Brown ‘wrote’ it! At that time, we didn't know nothin’ about writers and publishing. In fact, we were more happy to be in the studio with James Brown than to get any credit, or to get paid. Because we didn’t get paid for doing sessions — we got one set fee for playing on the road and recording. Soit was more about, ‘Man, we are with James ‘The Funk’ Brown!’ This is something we would never have dreamed of, playin’ with the Godfather Of Soul. We weren’t thinking about who was making the record and how we were gonna split it. It was more about becoming the best band in the world. All of that took precedence over the smaller stuff like making money. What's the biggest fine you ever got from James Brown? Michael Ballstau, Sweden Well, he would fine us five, ten, 25 dollars on stage. But he soon figured out that money didn't affect us. When we got with him, we had nothin’. The only responsibilities we had — because we were young, right off the > MARCH2021- UNCUT ° 17 NICK PRESNIAKOV; DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; STEVEEICHNER/WIREIMAGE; LYNN GOLDSMITH/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES Starpower: Collins circa 1980 street — was acting a damn fool and making music and gettin’ the girls. So taking our money didn’t mean nothin’. The band before us, they got tore up with the fines, but it never worked with us, the original JB’s. We was motivated before we got with him. We’d been recording for top artists at King Records — Arthur Prysock, Bill Doggett, Hank Ballard - so we were onthe way up. It was a cocky attitude: we just as bad as you are! I mean, we didn't saythat! Butit was obvious we didn't really care what nobody thought because we cameinto get down and make the people havefun, that was our whole thing. Did youhaveanyreservations about joiningFunkadelicin 1972, given their reputation for craziness? Heather Peel, Hay-On-Wye That’s funny, because that’s exactly what we was in search of: the craziest muthas on the planet! With James it was all about the suit, clean and pressed, your shoes shined, your Afro combed. That was getting on our nerves, because at the time Jimi Hendrix was showing a new way, the free love and the hippies was in, and we out there playing with James Brown - which was a greatthing, butthetime was changing. So when we got with George Clinton, it was like, ‘This is it”. We had no reservations about how crazy they were, we fitted right in. The challenge was to be even more crazy! It was a beautiful hook-up. What did you learn from taking LSD every day for two years? EdStinson, via email Oh, man! I can say this: if hadn't started taking LSD ata young age, I probably wouldn't have started writing [my own songs]. Because of the LSD, I started singing and visualising all these colours, all kinds of fantasy stuff. I was livingina whole ’nother world while I was still here, waking up in my mother’s house. I had to ease through that reality in a way that wouldn’t freak any of the family out. It 18: UNCUT -MARCH 2021 Ж r “US > i т, „ Cube, Wetlands, к а New York, E ( | ~~ + George Clintonhas Nice Costing [ШШ i is. M C beenreleasingnew А "d 4 7» music withParliament/ ^ — "p RATHER BE WITH ҮШ (Edit) ° ‘Funkadelic lately. Are you ү ром > planningon collaborating li. c Bur cedi I with them on any tracks? Joe Hiles, via email At the moment, no. When we was doing all of that [P-Funk] stuff, it was a chemistry going on between everyone. And without that chemistry... it ain’t like we couldn’t doit, but the chemistry of | was difficult, butI \ is so important. It would have to mean tiptoed through it more to me because of whatIsaw and I think it really happen to all the boys in Parliament/ Funkadelic. The last one to go that tore me up was Bernie Worrell - the way things went down, it wasn’t too good. SoI would say no, not at this point. To enlightened my whole outlook on the world, people, clothes... as if] was walking in come back and do what we did, it seems two worlds at the | like going backwards to me. same time. One was Parliament- A b. the reality world, i (о a € What did you think when NWA but the one I loved thirdleft И" mM tuned'l'dRatherBeWith You' into the best was the Ға E ee < somethingmore X-rated? tripping world. AndyRathbone, Stirling That’s where I was They actually said what I wanted to say! The difference is that funk was a bad word when I was coming getting off. [wouldn't advise nobody to doit, but at that time it really worked for me. up, sol had to say “I’d rather be with you”. When NWA did it, they What wasitlike playing didn't care about getting radio play, withKeith Richards it was all about street play, so it was different times. I [had to] develop my own curse words, those things made you get creative. Nowadays you can justsay what's on your mind and they don't have to put no creativity on “Big Enough”? John Riemenschneider, Atlanta That was one of the most enlightening times I’ve had in the studio with another artist. It’s like when you walk Қаршы ы ] init. And it'd probably sell much intheroom and you feel like "s а l A2 i. more than what we sold! But it was a you're at home. We talked for with Collins j | beautiful feeling to have the younger generation clocking into what we'd done and bringing it to a bigger audience. That's why we never dogged the rappers out. We all standing on the other generation’s back, whether we admit it or not. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin Wolf... no matter how new the P-Funk was, we knew we had been influenced byallthese great people before us. Soaslongas we keep that in mind, the music will continue to grow. There are some incredible young players coming out now - that means more to me than anything, to see the kids getting off. © a good hour anda half, just vibin’ and rappin’ and kinda getting loaded. Once we got into the groove and started playing music, [drummer and co-writer] SteveJordan was telling me he wanted me to go back to what I would play with James Brown. I said, “Oh, you mean that tiptoe funk?” And that made me feel good, it was a blessing. We both hada great time with each other. The Power Of The Oneis outnow on Bootzilla Records/Sweetwater Studios VIRGINIA WING FIRE RECORDS LP / CD One of the year’s most daring and true pop records that speaks clearly about hope, desperation, impulse, addiction, urge and shame, private LIFE knocks hard. "Revelatory" Pitchfork. "Visionary, totally idiosyncratic" The Guardian CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH LP / CD With Alec Ounsworth's heartfelt lyrics and unique, eclectic music and voice, New Fragility is another classic entry in the career of one of independent music’s brightest, and most durable artists. “BUCK MEEK KEELED SCALES LP / CD The second solo album from Big Thief's Buck Meek, recorded with his band in New Orleans is a naked confession of heartbreak, resiliency, and enchantment. DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO COLEMINE RECORDS LP / CD The sophomore effort from this fiery organ trio from Seattle. This Billboard-charting group is looking to make their claim as the dominant organ trio in the world. AN AMALGAMATION OF DUBLIN - SPINDIZZY / KILKENNY - ROLLER COASTER RECORDS RECORDS / CARMARTHEN - TANGLED PARROT / CARDIFF - SPILLERS / NEWPORT - DIVERSE / SWANSEA - DERRICKS ACTION RECORDS STILL CORNERS WRECKING LIGHT RECORDS LP / CD Still Corners return with a shimmering, atmospheric album about the open road. Clean-tone guitar and Tessa Murray's smoky voice turn desert noir into dreamy technicolor. M0JO (****) Uncut (8/10). RATS ON RAFTS FIRE RECORDS LP / CD A psyche-fuelled journey into the id punctuated with rhythmic kabuki modal mood swings, digital beeps & beautiful cacophonous reverb-drenched sound. 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RECORD $Н0Р$ AND LABELS BELFAST - STRANGE VICTORY RECORDS RAT COLUMNS TOUGH LOVE LP David West's underground pop band, Rat Columns sees the band plunge headfirst into an azure sea of power pop, rock’n’roll & indie. The tones are bright & optimistic, though fans of confusion & gloom will still find SURE in the album's жы moments. KATY KIRBY KEELED SCALES LP / CD Katy Kirhy’s debut album is driving literary indie-pop and a breath of fresh Texas air. Includes “Traffic!,” “Cool Dry Place,” and “Juniper”. WEDDING PRESENT ( J АА Ih h STRIPPED Вх ы | THE WEDDING PRESENT SCOPITONES LP / CD ‘Locked Down And Stripped Back’ features brand new semi-acoustic home re-recordings of Wedding Present classics plus two previously unreleased songs — including a duet with Louise Wener from Sleeper. ТШТ DOUMBIA AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA LP / CD Nahawa Doumbia's long-anticipated new album Kanawa deals with serious issues affecting Malians while re-affirming her place among the musical country's greatest singers. VARIOUS ARTISTS COLEMINE RECORDS 2LP / CD A compilation truly horn out of the pandemic, looking forward to a day when tours happen again, but providing music comfort in the meantime. DALE CROVER JOYFUL NOISE RECORDINGS LP / CD As drummer/hassist for the Melvins & contributions to Altamont, Redd Kross & Nirvana, Dale Crover has built quite the body of work. His new solo output is an eclectic mix, one that draws on song fragments he's had for years. iau a T0 SULLA TOUGH LOVE 12" A collaboration between Faris Badwan (The Horrors / Cat's Eyes) & renowned guitarist John Coxon (Spring Heel Jack / Spiritualized / Treader). Limited to 400 copies in stores February 5th. 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By Peter Watts VER the course of five albums with LA-based psych five-piece Wand, frontman Cory Hanson has charted a trajectory from the Ty Segall- approved 2014 garage-rock debut, Ganglion Reef, to 2019’s artier and more thoughtful Laughing Matter. The sense of change and development has been palpable, but even so nothing quite prepares you for the sumptuous beauty of Pale Horse Rider, his second solo album. Recorded with a three-piece in December 2019 at a home studio in Joshua Tree and then refined and enhanced by Hanson through January and February 2020, it’s an album that offers epic sound onan intimate scale, with country-influenced songs awash with steel guitar and spotted by delicate ambient textures that maintain a sense of sonic drama and defy genre. If Wand feel likea band on an endless, exciting and unpredictable journey, Pale Horse Rider offers the completeness, consistency and confidence that comes from arrival. Hanson had originally tried to bend the songs for Pale Horse Riderinto shape with Wand, but when that didn't work decided to use them for a solorecord. Wand had formed asatrio who mainly played songs written by Hanson, but by 2017's Plum they had developed into a more collaborative vehicle. That gave Hanson space to branch into solo albums, the first of which appeared in 2016. The freaky, string-laden folk of The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo was a clear departure from Wand anda fine record inits own right, but one that still paid service to psych stylings as if Hanson couldn’t quite abandon the Wand universe entirely. Pale Horse Rider sees him travel a lot further down this new road and with much more conviction. You can hear that self-assurance in the arrangements, the production and the lyrics but most clearly in the vocals, Hanson’s best singing to date. While on Unborn Capitalist he seemed to affect a voice, on Pale Horse Rider there's a natural and unselfconscious vulnerability to tracks like "Angeles", a hymn to his hometown ofLA, and the sparkling *Bird Of Paradise". Other songs - including the powerful trinity of “Pale Horse Rider”, “Another Story From The Center Of The Earth” and “Pigs” — require a more forceful but still moderated delivery that’s typical of the control Hanson demonstrates over all aspects of the record for its duration. Asense of place has always been important to Hanson’s music. Pale Horse Rider was > CoryHanson: revealing another side tohisnature MARCH2021 : UNCUT : 21 JIMNEWBERRY O NEW ALBUMS Hanson: "Alotmore happening beneath the surface” recorded in the desert, surrounded by cacti, and the songs have an epic and uncluttered quality, stretched out and flecked with tiny detail like the gorgeous pedal steel of “Another Story...” that comes in like a sharp intake of breath, or the clip-clop rhythm that opens “Paper Fog”. Even the urban-set songs have this panoramic quality. On “Angeles”, Hanson wanted to celebrate LA but he wrote from the perspective ofa drone, hovering over the city, studying it from afar rather than amid the bustle of the streets. Several songs were written in the ultimate desert city, Las Vegas, including the most populated track, “Vegas Knights”, a gentle lilt with strings and sly references to cards, slots, blackjack and whiskey. “Angeles” contains the single most memorable lyric: “Your mama, she was a psychoanalyst/Until she egged my car; and then she was my nemesis”. It’s something that could have come from the pen of David Berman, Hanson’s Drag City labelmate. Berman’s spirit hovers over Pale Horse Rider — the album is literally dedicated “to David, for the good haunting”. That’s a reference to the fact Berman sought out Hanson in summer 2019 to offer support and advice, telling him to write 20 lines every day. This process would hone his lyrical instincts and give him a bank of material todraw on when he was making a record. Hanson dutifully followed that advice for Pale Horse Rider. Hanson was on holiday when he learnt of Berman's death and spent a couple of weeks driving round Greece listening exclusively to Silver Jews. That inevitably feeds into the sound ofthe record. Like Silver Jews or Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent, Hanson borrows affectionately from country music without ever putting himself dangerously in debt to genre tropes. No songs here could be described outright as country, but the sounds, rhythms, shades and themes of country & western are ever present, shadows against which Hanson has etched a more personal and distinctive vision. Those country flavours come through most clearly with the pedal and lap steel played expertly by Tyler Nuffer, but it’s present too in Heather Lockie's string arrangements and the backing vocals, multi-tracked to create what Hanson describes as the “Nashville choir”. There’s a countrypolitan element to the fluidity of the playing, with Hanson, Nuffer and Evan Backer tracking the album live in their isolated home-studio -and that band elementis crucial to Pale Horse Rider's success, giving ita more expansive and fuller sound than Unborn Capitalist.... Hanson then added texture after the rest of his band had departed, taking time and working alone to hone, file, edit and improve the songs using pedals, effects, found sounds and evena dog’s pig-shaped squeeze toy. He draws on country for his lyrical themes, focusing on amoral “losers and suckers” and “rambling gambling lowlifes” and then creating non-narratives featuring drifters, riders and 04919 1019 1Paper Fog 2 Angeles 3Pale Horse Rider 4Necklace 5Bird Of Paradise 6Limited Hangout 7 VegasKnights 8 Surface To Air 9 Another Story From The Center Of The Earth 10Pigs =] Recordedby:Cory Hanson, Robbie Cody and Zac Henderson Recordedat: Cactopia, Lander, California, and Pine Room, Mount Washington, LA Personnel:Cory Hanson (guitar, vocal, sustained steel, Sherman filterbank, pig, space echo), Tyler Nuffer (lapsteel, pedal steel, bass), Evan Backer (drums, percussion, piano, Wurlitzer, bass, wah-wah steel) Heather Lockie (viola), Shelby Jacobson (backing vocals), Sofia Arreguin (tambo). runners who flit through “Paper Fog”, the title track, “Limited Hangout” and “Another Story...”. From these four songs emerge fragments and shards of images featuring horses, ghosts, dust and sunsets. Hanson refuses to corral these into anything resembling a coherent story, and the elusive qualities are further enhanced by Hanson’s use of effects pedals. In the single most Wand- like moment on the record, “Another Story...” soars into a distorted, crunchy Crazy Horse desert jam, while effects are prominent in the two non-vocal tracks, “Necklace” and “Surface To Air”, which act as extended intros, setting the scene for the songs that follow. Hanson names Brian Eno as one influence on the ambient texture of the album, and “Surface To Air” and “Necklace” both have an Eno-esque quality — these are moments of sound and atmosphere rather than conventional instrumentals. Animals are another recurring motif. From his desert location, Hanson was inspired by the Native American folklore featuring humans turning into animals as well as the way the desert wasteland can teem with life despite its inhospitable appearance. As a result, there are horses, dogs, birds of prey and “Birds Of Paradise”, while the superb closer, “Pigs”, plays with the idea of pigs as policemen and children dressing as pigs for Halloween, but with the feeling there’s alot more happening beneath the surface as the narrator sings, “I’m high on codeine/And digging up shadows in the backyard/Setting fire to their graves”. It’s not entirely clear what’s taking place, but Hanson is confident enough to know that it doesn’t really matter as long as the music sustains and the images are arresting. It’s that confidence that makes Pale =a ч Horse Rider such an impressive record. {HANSON FAMILY WAND Ganglion Reef GOD?, 2014 This excellent psychrock and sludge debut was released onmentor Ty Segall's label (Hansonhas played with Mikal Cronin and was inSegall's 2016 touring band), drenched in echo andreverb. The acid-rock template isn't a million miles removed from Osees, and the band'ssense of adventure and pummelling rhythms are infectious on tracks like “Clearer” and ambitious “Fire On The Mountain”. 8/10 22 ° UNCUT : MARCH 2021 WAND 1000 Days DRAGCITY, 2016 Coast version of Woods. 7/10 Wand released two albums in six months after Ganglion Reef, starting with the heavy-rocking shredder Golem and then adding the diverse andintriguing 1000 Days. This showcased more of their folky and bucolic sound on songs like the gorgeous "Morning Rainbow” and the title track, recasting them as something closer to a West The best records from Wand and beyond While Wand can be defined by their playful experimentation, veering wildly and thrillingly between genres from track to track, Hanson has imbued this LP witha thematic and musical cohesiveness that makes it the finest record of his career to date. Given his nature, it’s unlikely that he will make a record quite like this again, but its timeless qualities make it one to savour. CORY HANSON The Unborn Capitalist FromLimbo DRAGCITY,2016 Hanson's first solo record saw him delivering 60s-style psych- folkthatharked back to Nick Drake, with winsome vocals sitting atop string arrangements by Heather Lockie. A little patchy, therecordstill contained several melodic gems - "Replica", "Evening Class", "Ordinary People". Above all, it was sufficiently different from Wand to show that Hanson's talent could work outside the vehicle of aband. 6/10 Cory Hanson on the luxury of time and being outnumbered by cacti When did you write these songs? The songs were kicking around fora while and I was going back and forth trying some of them out with Wand but they didn’t really fit. Then in December 2019 we grabbed all the gear we could - me, Robbie [Cody] from Wand and Zac [Henderson] who engineered Laughing Gear — out to the desert in Joshua Tree and built a studio into this house and made the loosest record I’ve ever done. I made it with Tyler [Nuffer], who played pedal and lap steel, and Evan [Backer], who played drums and mostofthe bass and the extrainstruments. We recorded with them and Heather [Lockie] played some viola, and then they went home and I was left to play with the music and do what Ineeded for a couple of months. Whatsthe difference between this andprevious records? Thad the luxury of time, which I haven't had before. I had the time to sculpt and do things exactly as I wanted. The force of gravity is the live band - they are all live takes and they are all first takes, so we didn’t think too hard about anything; we allowed ourselves to play. Evan and Tyler are super-talented musicians and can jump in and get the vibe very quickly. That was very freeing and it allowed it to flow. But it's not an | NN -— e — TP ——— = Му 1 m i TM І Hanson: "Time and spacehavebeen veryimportantto thisrecord" Напѕопапа Wandin2019 — Е е UY. 3 ЗЫ Ж E " = Pip P. Жы ы АЁ,” improv-heavy record - the songs are very structured and lyrically they are the most developed songs I’ve ever done. In terms of playing and interpreting the music, it was very instantaneous. But time and space have been very important to this record. Without that natural breath it would have suffocated. One of the hard things about working in a studio is you have to mix straight after tracking, so you don’t have time to comb through the stuff you have created - this time we had space and time to do that. How did the desertinfluence therecord? The desertis death. There’s nothing. It’s a big blank page but then there is tons of life that somehow thrives there very minimally. My friend collects cacti, so he had all these 6ft and 7ft cacti, hundreds of them everywhere and they completely outnumbered us. That was a good scene to be around. When I was writing the record I was going to Vegas a lot, and as my interest peaked I stayed in a hotel in Vegas where I wrote for a while. I havea lot of funin Vegas always and even abad time is romantic, as there’s such a great 4 © history offeeling some — L real human emotionsin a placethatis so absolutely artificial. WhenItalk Wa. a LJ Р PT E sag HEEE “I like the idea of che Old West as a place of moral uncertainty” CORY HANSON NEW ALBUMS Ө about the desert as a dead thing that you can project onto and animate, Vegas is even deader. It's likestarting into a very colourful void. What were your other influences? Igotsome advice from David Berman. We hung outin his car when heset up an impromptu meeting about 10 minutes before I went on stage in Chicago, just before his last record came out. He talked to me about the practice of writing, coaching me alittle bit. It was this thing, I guess he had been doing since the 1990s, which was to write 20 lines a day and then think about it— do that every day and you will work out your writing muscles. You get stronger, more confident and natural, then you go through your notebooks and select the best ones. That was almost entirely how! constructed the record. Lyrics can be sucha bummer as you are forcing yourself to be natural and that is impossible – this allowed me to do that. David had such a defined speaking voice; I can still hear him in my head as if he was harassing me in a positive way. What does the pedal andlap steel mean to you? It’s my favourite instrument. My mum played country music so I grew up going to cowboy bars and square dancing and all that stuff. That was one of the first instruments I was introduced to, even before the electric guitar. On this we play with the rhythms of country. There are some shuffles, there are some things you could file under Americana or folk, but I was not setting out to make a country record. I am just attracted to the instruments and what they evoke. Did thataffectthe storytelling? Lyrically, Iwas coming from the angle ofthe classic country music records, writing about a bunch of lowdown losers, suckers and all the people that somebody like Donald Trump would describe as the average American, people living free lives. In the country & western tradition they would be gambling, rambling lowlifes and train robbers likein a Marty Robbins epic, where they are eventually held accountable. What I like about country is for such a conservative form of music they idolise these peoplein a direct and morally erased way; they just explain whatthey do and have done within this idea ofthe Old West as a place of moral uncertainty. Every new townis a new ethical bubble that you are passing through. That gave mea lot of space to play with whatever kind of psychedelic storytelling I was crafting. And the great thing about writing songs is you can begin a narrative but you never haveto finish it, because the song will eventually resolve itself. INTERVIEW:PETER WATTS MARCH 2021 : UNCUT · 23 ASALSHAHINDOUST, TARALYNTHOMAS O NEW ALBUMS StuartStaples: "Thisisnota lockdownalbum" TI N D [- RSTI CKS XPLAINING how Tindersticks' И | 13th studio album came together, ПМПЕК5ПСК5 frontman Stuart Staples is adamant: quem Distractions isn’t to be considered a Dist га ctions - lockdown album. Yes, naturally the CITYSLANG ý events of the last 12 months have had 8 /10 | a | | a bearing on how this new collection ofsongs was born. But the groundwork for the record [ — was laid way back in a burst of writing in February % тағ: | 2020, when the idea of an international pandemic қ p" might still have seemed a fanciful proposition. : | Therecording, meanwhile, was completed last September at Staples' own Le Chien Chanceux studio in Limousin, France, with the full Tindersticks band JULIENBOURGEOIS 24- UNCUT - MARCH2021 NEW ALBUMS Ө present for a brief window before the shutters clanged back down once more. Staples no doubt felt the need to point this out because Distractions feels like a step change for Tindersticks, a record that disposes with many of the old methods, and ushers in a few new ones. The Staples’ nervy vocal brings to group’s last album, 2019’s No Treasure But Hope, was asensuous and sumptuously orchestrated outing that found Staples — an incorrigible romantic, albeit one with a long pessimistic streak — creeping towards some sort of contentment. Distractions, on the other hand, sounds rather different. Lean and stripped back ofinstrumentation, possessed ofa prickly temperament and - by Tindersticks’ rather lugubrious standards — a fire burning in its belly, it proves that even this rather venerable band still have the capacity to surprise. For a taste of this, look no further than the opening track. It clocks in ata remarkable 11 minutes in length, but “Man Alone (Can’t Stop The Fadin’)” is alean and urgent thing, characterised by stripped-back electronics and asimmering, coiled-spring tension. Staples’ nervy vocal brings to mind the manic ululations of Suicide’s Alan Vega, and every now and then, as his voice falls out ofnarrative and slips into chant (“Can’t stop the fadin’/Can’t stop the fadin’...”) itis suddenly interrupted by asonic intrusion: a cacophony of car horns, ora burst of torrential rain. Equally sparse is the following “I Imagine You”, which finds Staples lost in a reverie of remembrance, his husky whisper swaddled by the lilting tones of David Coulter’s musical saw. Tindersticks have long been recognised for their bold cover versions, and Distractions’ mid-section is given over to three audacious reinterpretations. Staples is joined by regular collaborator Gina Baker for a cover of Neil Young's *A Man Needs A Maid", the lonely sentiments ofthe original transmuted into a sleek electronic torch song with shades of Angelo Badalamenti. A take on Dory Previn’s “Lady With The Braid”, meanwhile, feels more playful. Previn’s original is aseduction monologue that grows in desperation with every passing line, and Staples warmly embraces mind Alan Vega SLEEVE NOTES 1Man Alone (Can't Stop The Fadin’) 2llmagine You 3AManNeeds A Maid 4Lady With The Braid 5 You'll Have To ScreamLouder 6Tue-moi 7 TheBoughBends e$ Producedby: Stuart AStaples Recordedat:Le Chien Chanceux, Limousin Personnel:Stuart A Staples (vocals, guitar), David Boulter (Juno 6, Mellotron), NeilFraser (guitar), Dan McKinna (bass, piano), Earl Harvin (drums), Lucy Wilkins (violin), Calina De La Mare (violin), Rob Spriggs (viola), Sarah Willson (cello), David Coulter (musicalsaw), David Kitt (guitar), GinaFoster (backing vocals) of Television Personalities’ “You'll Have To Scream Louder” marks a rare burst of political rage for the band, pointedly drawing lines between the iniquities of the post-punk age, and our current moment. “I’ve got no respect for/People in power/They make their decisions/From their ivory towers,” seethes Staples. But Distractions saves its most moving moments ’til last. Tindersticks were regular performers at Le Bataclan, the Paris theatre which became the site of aterrorist attack in 2015. *Tue-Moi" isa tribute to the venue and those who died there. Staples sings itin French, backed only by Dan MacKinna’s Rachmaninoff- inspired piano, and the result is deeply moving, imbued with noble sadness and a glimmer of rage. Finally, there is “The Bough Bends”. The album’s closing track, it adopts a gentle pace, its soft drum machine adorned by Boulter’s twinkling Mellotron and Neil Fraser’s softly rugged guitar. Lyrically, it has the feeling ofasummation ora weighing of the past, Staples shifting between husky croon and spoken word as he dwells on past romances, missed opportunities, and the smile of a loved one. The song ends, as it begins, with thetwitter of bird song, although such isthe sense of heavy emotional weather that it lingers a little after the album draws to a close. This deepinto a band's career, you rather come to expect familiar moves — the soundtrack work, the theatre shows, the occasional new albums that further deepen and build on those early themes. In many ways, Distractions is an enigma. In years to come, we may both the song’s tragedy and its levity: “Would you care to stay ’til sunrise/It’s completely your decision/It’s just the night cuts through me like a knife...” Finally, a grooving, dub-tinged reworking look back on this record as transitional, or a product of its times. But to hear a band of this vintage still listening — and responding - to their instincts is a joy in itself. Stuart A Staples: "Right from the beginning it felt like aleft turn..." How did youenvisionDistractions? | suppose there's an element of reaction aboutit, because making the lastrecord[2019's No Treasure But Hope] was very much about the band playing together in a space. Iltwas a greatexperience, butl think itleft a part of me alittle frustrated. In the last few years I've spent a lot of timeinthe studio, experimenting with different ways to approachmusic. Andhow does that manifestitself here? Everybodyinthe band got pushedinto another way of working, which the ideas ask for. Like Earl Harvinisn' tjust playing drums, he'splayingsynthesisers and some other things.Soit'sthe same people, butusing different parts of themselves. Right from the beginningit feltlike aleftturn, so Iwantedtoseehow they would engage withit. And all! got back was this outpouring of enthusiasm andideas. Whatmade youcover Neil Young's "A ManNeeds AMaid"? I've tried todo thatsongand the Dory Previnoneon numerous occasions already. They've beeninmy mind for maybe thelast 10 years, soit'slike settling anoldscore. The Television Personalities song was different. Allthe songs from The Painted Word[1984] are so deepinside me, but! wasn texpecting to coverit. Then when everything kicked off atthe endof May andbeginning of June, itjustrose to thesurface. Thatsongneeded tobe done, becauseit felt so relevant to the moment. INTERVIEW: ROB HUGHES P26 JULIENBAKER P27 JANEBIRKIN P29 AERIAL EAST P30 MUSH P32 MOGWAI P34 TAYLOR SWIFT P36 THE WEATHER STATION P38 FOOFIGHTERS ALTIN GÜN Yol GLITTERBEAT 8/10 Amsterdamband brilliantly reanimate another batchof Turkish folk songs Altin Giin’s 2019 ey breakthrough jalbum, Gece, paid fulsome ‘homage to the Anatolian psych stylings of Erkin Koray, but its finaltrack, the electro-poppin' “Süpürgesi Yoncadan”, pointed the way forward. Mirroring Tame Impala's evolution from traditional guitar band to purveyors of plush disco heartache, Yol fully embraces the sound of the Roland SH-o9, the Omnichord and the Syndrum while retaining a heady, psychedelic vibe. The yearning vocals of Erdinç Ecevit and Merve Dasdemir stay true to the source material as the music bounces irresistibly around them. A delight. SAMRICHARDS BAIO Dead Hand Control GLASSNOTE 6/10 Vampire Weekend bassist partiesinthefaceof armageddon “Pve been thinking about the end times", sings Chris Baioon Dead Hand Control's title track. Like his last solo LP, 2016's Man Of The World — a wryly horrified reflection on Trump and Brexit — his third effort presents itselfas a tonic for tough times. Synthetic art-rock with swooping choruses, it explores themes of death and nuclear war, while defaulting to a sunny guilelessness best seen on “Endless Me, Endlessly” — essentially, forget your nervous breakdown, let’s party. It’s uneven in places, but “OMW” - atwinkly 10-minute closer written with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig - is a low-key delight. LOUISPATTISON MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 25 ALYSSEGAFKJEN JULIEN BAKER Little Oblivions MATADOR 8/10 Memphis songwriter’s third adds layers, loses none ofits power. By Lisa- Marie Ferla IF you're already familiar with Julien Baker's pared back, acoustic guitar and piano-led songwriting, the wider sonic palette isthe first thing you'll notice about Little Oblivions —the exhilarating gasp of synthesiser on “Faith Healer”; the way that “Hardline” roars and crunches to its conclusion; the stately, synthetic percussion underpinning “Relative Fiction”. The Memphis songwriter’s adoption of drums on this third album — her second for Matador — has, as she has joked in interviews, the potential for a Dylan moment given the sparse confessionals typical of her work to date. But regardless of ornamentation, Baker’s writing remains a rigorous and unforgiving thing, her words too intimate for daylight hours. The characters in these 12songs seek redemption in substances, shared secrets and snake oil merchants as Baker casts herself somewhere between protagonist and narrator, sometimes in the gutter, sometimes watching from the side of the road as it all goes up in smoke. Little Oblivions was recorded in Memphis as 2019 turned into 2020 with Calvin Lauber and Craig Silvey, both of whom worked with Baker on 2017’s Turn Out the Lights. It was a period that —just months before much of the world was forced to turn inward, in varying degrees of lockdown — marked the end ofatumultuous time for Baker: both her second album and boygenius, her collaborative project with friends and fellow songwriters Phoebe Bridgers 26. ОМСУТ-МАВСН2021 4919 1019 i Hardline 2 Heatwave 3 Faith Healer 4 Relative Fiction 5Crying Wolf 6 Bloodshot 7 Ringside 8 Favor 9SonginE 10 Repeat 11 Highlight Reel 12 Ziptiex Sz Producedby: Julien Baker Recorded at: Young Avenue Sound, Memphis, TN Personnel includes: Julien Baker (vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, mandolin, banjo, synthesiser, piano), Calvin Lauber (acoustic guitar, programming, synthesiser, drums), Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus (backing vocals) and Lucy Dacus, attracted significant attention and a gruelling live schedule. That summer, medical reasons forced the cancellation ofa run of planned European dates and Baker went quiet, reemerging with boygenius on the spring 2020 solo album from Paramore's Hayley Williams. Written during that period of turbulence, the songs that make up Little Oblivions seem to predict the collective trauma of 2020: stark lyrical references to violence, vice and whatis ultimately the inability to escape from oneself, whether by placing one’s faithin a god ora bottle. The songs are also, curiously, some of the most uplifting Baker has yet written — in part because of the dizzying melodic highs, in part because of the way the songwriter remains standing, defiant, in the face of self-examination at its most brutal. Іп this context, “Heatwave”, the album’s second track, is particularly stunning: an unflinching portrayal of the gruesome, self-absorbed reality of an extreme depressive episode. Its central conceit is Baker witnessing a violent accident; her voice dispassionate, disconnected from the electric guitar melody line despite the brutality of the subject matter. "I had the shuddering thought,” she sings, as the car bursts into flames in front of her, “this was gonna make me late for work.” That relatively subdued track gives way to “Faith Healer”; inspired, says Baker, by the cognitive dissonance of substance abuse. It’s one of the album’s busiest, musically, but there is intention in every sonic detail: the way the melody seesaws over the verses and bridge before the crunch ofthe chorus, the way Baker’s voice switches between whisper and exorcism. The music is liberating, the lyrics — “I'll believe you if you make me feelsomething” — perfectly capturing the paradox of finding escape in the things that you shouldn't. Some cognitive dissonance may also be required to get your head around Baker playing almost every instrument on the album - unless, perhaps, you caught herjoyful drumming behind Hayley Williams in alive session just before Christmas, or have stumbled across her high school band Forrister on Bandcamp. The raucousness of “Hardline”, cathartic pop chorus of “Relative Fiction” and “Highlight Reel” — which takes half the opening riff from Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and corrupts it into something as claustrophobic as its lyrics - make the quieter moments all the more powerful. Of these, “Song In E” is the most gut-wrenching: a vocal and piano performance on which you can hear every creak, Baker brutalising herself on behalf ofa past heartbreak. "I wish you'd hurt me,” she sings, almost tenderly, “it’s the mercy I can’t take”. On “Bloodshot”, the song which gives the album both its title and its epigraph, the louds and quiets are juxtaposed to particularly devastating effect, all but the most minimal piano dropping away to highlight that “there is no glory inlove”. The album is an embarrassment of lyrical riches, every linea tattoo on the skin. Like Phoebe Bridgers, Baker has a particular knack for tiny details that grab the listener: amoth trapped in the grille ofa car on “Favor”, a song which features backing vocals from her boygenius collaborators; a burning engine; the drunks in the bar talking over the band. Everything on Little Oblivions will make you feel, and it’s the catharsis we all need. i : Howhasyourapproach ofaperformativeone, andso embracinga wider to writingextremely Ithinkthe songs come from musicalpalette personallyrics changed | amorepersonal if notless over three albums? self-censored, place. Did youintend tomake Whenl wrote Sprained Ankle a fullband' album? Ididn'thaveanyscopeofwho Whois the "faith healer’ It was morelikel finally permitted myself to embrace a wider musical palette.For a whilelpreferred the minimalist approach becauseit wasa challenge tomeasamusician. While writing this record! felt that approach to writing stopped serving the songs, andl had acraving to work with more experimental sounds. would be receiving those songs, they were primarily written forme. When! was writing Turn Out The Lights, lthinkl was hyper aware ofthefactthatnowlhada broader audience. Over the course of 2019, |had time to step away from touring, re- evaluate my relationship with music andreturntoitasa therapeutic practice outside of thesong? It's whatever itis that people choose to make God: animagined deity, asubstance or aromantic partner, acauseor afixation. Thesongisabouthow our vicesintersect with our worshipin ways we don't alwaysrecognise, andhow welearnto prize and accept whatever gives us comfort. INTERVIEW:LISA-MARIE FERLA NEW ALBUMS Ө BALTHAZAR Sand 6/10 Belgianelectropop balladeers with more sound thanvision The side-projects of Balthazar’s two _ singer-songwriters * ^w-theorchestral VU balladry of Maarten Devoldere's Warhaus, and Jinte Deprez’s R&B excursion J Bernardt - show this fifth album's aspirations. So “Losers” falsetto disco flirts, too, with Lou Reed heroin chic. The pleasures aren’t always so evident - dourly crooned lyrics ofshallow ennui fall short of their Gainsbourg and Cohen models — but the arrangements can be striking: the Afrobeat brass sharply punching through the title track’s glossy synthpop, and the woozy, darkling strings that commandeer “Hourglass” and shudder through the fluttering beat of “Passing Through”. NICKHASTED JANE BIRKIN Oh! Pardon TuDormais... BARCLAY 8/10 Inher ownwords -not asnooze When most of your albums have been written for you by none other than Serge Gainsbourg, it must be tempting to keep returning to those songs, as Birkin did on 2007’s excellent Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique. Yet Jane B has been writing again, with Oh! Pardon Tu Dormais... featuring her own lyrics for the first time since Enfant D’Hiver 13 years ago. Produced and co-written by Etienne Daho and Jean-Louis Piérot, these 13 songs — driven by strings, piano and Gallic-ly grooving drums — welcomely channel the triumphs of her past, with “Max” full of beautifully unexpected chords and “Ghosts” a hymn to those Birkin has lost. TOMPINNOCK BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD For The First Time A 9/10 London-based septet justify allthe buzz Restless, inventive, droll and often searingly intense, Black Country, New Road go about — their business with real purpose. Dashing opener "Instrumental" might suggest a kind of klezmer rave band, but the likes of “Athens, France” and the near-10- minute “Sunglasses” pivot and twist around enthralling post-rock and sax-bleating free jazz, the lyrics stuffed with tart pop-culture references. Frontman Isaac Wood "m EE REVELATIONS aa CHEVAL SOMBRE Christopher Porporaonliving fully and Sonic “magic” iven that it's been nine years since singer and poet Christopher Porporareleasedhis last solo album as Cheval Sombre, it's no surprise that the theme of time looms over the delicate chamber folk of Time Waits For No One.Sohow has he spent the past decade? “Just a life thoroughly lived,” he says. “Living fully isa way of earning songs, I've found. The 10 songs - aninstrumental, classical piece, blues and acover of Townes Van Zandt's No Place To Fall' - evoke a perception of time aslinear, physical, sensual and shadowy." The title track was recorded back in 2014, with the rest coming together with the help of collaborators including Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom. “Each time we are in the studio, I'm astounded by what he puts down, note for note," he says. "That kind of feeling never gets old. Magic." Porporahasnow amassed enough songs to fill two albums, and the second will arrive later in 2021, also on Sonic Cathedral. “It's a twin of sorts,” he says. "Tensongs, an instrumental, a blues anda cover to end things. It's another way of seeing time. It's lighter, airier. This one's experience and the nextis innocence. A true companion piece. After both are released, side by side, they'llbe a complete works of a kind." PETER WATTS sounds asifhe’s negotiating some deep rite of passage on the urgent “Science Fair”, which finds a contrast with the more serene "Track X". You'll be hard pushed to find a more adventurously self-assured debut this year. ROBHUGHES EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS Hunter And The Dog Star THIRTY TIGERS 7/10 Sometime bandmates back inthe saddle on fifth LP in 33 years For Edie Brickell, venturing from the Connecticut estate she shares with hubby Paul Simon to her home state of Texas to make music with New Bohemians is like slipping on her favourite pair of vintage jeans. Hunter And The Dog Star offers the same stylistically malleable, unpretentiously virtuosic recipe these one-time high-school classmates have been cooking up during their intermittent reunions since their supple 1988 hit “What I Am”. The band veer from playfully funky romps like “Sleeve” and “Don’t Get In The Bed Dirty” to the compassionate character studies “Stubborn Love” and “Rough Beginnings” before exploring new territory with “I Found You”, a Simon- like fusion of rhythmic nuance and lyrical finesse. BUDSCOPPA CAMERA Prosthuman 8/10 Resourceful krautrockers groove on Whatever Camera are hurtling towards, it will take a meteor to knock them off course. Prosthuman is the freewheeling Berlin outfit’s fifth album of sinewy kosmische in nine years and their first without co-founder Timm Brockmann, leaving the other founder Michael Drummer (the drummer) to keep the momentum going. Not that you'll notice - if anything, Camera area sleeker, stranger proposition, still tough at heart but slightly softer on the surface: the likes of “El Ley”, “A2” and “Chords4/Kurz Vor” layering velvet synths over a galloping Neu! backbeat. Nothing wildly original, perhaps, but come the serene finale, “Harmonite”, that’s just fine. PIERS MARTIN JOHN CARPENTER Lost Themes Ill: Alive After Death SACREDBONES 7/10 Latestinstrumentalrichesfrom UShorror maven Having effectively retired from the filmmaking business, John Carpenter continues to plough his energies into the creation of music for “waking dreams”. This engrossing third outing, again accompanied by son Cody and godson Daniel Davies (scion of The Kinks’ Dave Davies), conjures worlds from chilly, pulsing synths and waspish guitar. Such layered cinerama carries echoes of Tangerine Dream, Bernard Herrmann and Hans Zimmer, though there's muted techno on the exquisite “Cemetery” — with Davies’ ominous guitar chord sounding like a warning bell — and more than a hint of Kraftwerk in the Trans-Europe skitter of “The Dead Walk”. ROBHUGHES CHEVAL SOMBRE Time Waits For No One SONIC CATHEDRAL 8/10 Gorgeous chamber folk fromNew York songwriter, accompanied by SonicBoom The beautiful and subtle Time Waits For No Oneis the first solo albumin eight years by Cheval Sombre, and also the first of two releases he has planned for 2021. Sombre’s hushed vocals are sometimes backed by washes of keyboard from Sonic Boom, a partnership that produces music that is restrained but not timid, similarin feel to the swirly, wobbly soundscapes created by Warren Ellis and Nick Cave. The breathtaking string-led instrumental “Dreamsong” isa highlight, but the nine-minute title track is also stunning and there’sa fantastic cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place To Fall” at the close. PETER WATTS LUZGALLARDO, JANMICHALKO 4 ү, |, | И Tei pnr ETE (e EA MN Y JULIUS SCHLOSBURG O NEW ALBUMS 28. XIXA Genesis JULLIAN/THEORCHARD 8/10 Arizona six-piece and guests bring dark, intoxicating grooves KEEN followers of Giant Sand will already be familiar with Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan, both having served in Howe Gelb's loose collective inrecent times. The singer- guitarists’ other collaborators on the Tucson scene include Calexico and bandleader Sergio Mendoza, associations that feed directly into their own sextet, XIXA. Five years after Bloodline marked their recorded debut, Genesis feels like a defining moment. XIXA are driven by a fascination with Peruvian chicha, its cumbia rhythms underpinning the broad sweep of their music. Its most evident here on the slinky “Eclipse”, a vivid no-man’s-land of coyotes, thieves and roads beyond the valleys that also blurs into psychedelia. The same hybrid strain propels “May They Call Us Home”, where Andean grooves meet Sonoran Desert twang, the song galloping along to both Spanish and English lyrics. Such eclecticism is key here. “Eclipse”, for instance, is embellished by the Uummannaq Children’s Choir, a visiting troupe from an orphanage in Greenland. “Eve Of Agnes” continues the cross-cultural theme, as Tuareg quintet Imarhan (reprising their cameo from Bloodline) bring surging North African rhythms to the American Southwest. Drawing distinct parallels from one continent to another, it's a wonderfully unexpected treat. The pervasive tone of Genesis is the contrast between dark and light, between treachery and mysticism. As night falls and wolves gather on the moody, Calexico-ish “Thine Is The Kingdom”, its protagonist seeks a place of spiritual release: “Take me where/The water ends/Bless me in its wake”. Similarly, “Genesis Of Gaea” is arumbling gothic western piece that offers salvation from those out to deceive, its vocal a dead ringer for Mark Lanegan: “A fever’s come to collect what she can/There in the shadow you extend your loving hand”. Darkest ofallis the apocalyptic “Nights Plutonian Shore”. Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, the ominous bird of mythology taps at the window as ghostly harmonies soar and another guest, Sergio Mendoza, lays downa piano motif that's perfectly aligned to Genesis's overarching sense of drama. ROBHUGHES Hiss Golden Messenger's MC Taylor has been busy preparing a successor to 2019's Terms Of Surrender. Due in late March, Quietly Blowing It merce is described by its creator as “a retrospective of the past five years of my life, painted in impressionistic hues". The album finds Taylor and his group of trusted players - among them Scott Hirsch, multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman and Dawes ‘brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith - reaching deeper into Southern soul, gospel and spiritual jazz. Nashville great Buddy Miller guests on the title track and Anais Mitchell co-writes "If It Comes In The Morning’, while “Sanctuary” notes the passing of John Prine. Also outin Marchis the latest from New Orleans-based singer- songwriter, Esther Rose. How UNCUT -MARCH2021 Many Times Fut timenossy is heavily inspired by Dean Johnson, Faustina Masigat and Kiki Cavazos. “They're the holy trinity of songwriter magic, says Rose, whose credits include vocals on Jack White's Boarding House Reach. "Whenllisten to them | feel like | can explore my own heartache.” She andher five-piece band get suitably rustic, with one song (“Mountaintop”) featuring a field recording tribute to Bright Eyes. This year's UK Americana Awards, taking place later this month, boasts the strongest lineup yet. The virtual ceremony, split across two evenings, will showcase performances by Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Courtney Marie | Andrews, Jasonisbell andmany more. ROBHUGHES CLAP YOURHANDS SAY YEAH New Fragility CYHSY 8/10 Veteranindie act continues ahot streak *Who will save me when I'mfeeling this down?" Alec Ounsworth's question, posed at the beginning of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s sixth album, nearly goes unanswered on these wordy songs about political angst, social alienation and romantic recrimination. New Fragility is emotionally fraught but musically generous, as the frontman finds ever new ways to put his gangly songs across. “CYHSY, 2005” features what sounds like an orchestra melting ina fire and sending sparks into the air, while the string quartet add drama and dignity to “Innocent Weight”. The ingenuity of his arrangements addresses the album’s central query: he'll be saved by music. STEPHENDEUSNER COLDHARBOURSTORES Dearly Devoted ENRAPTURED 7/10 Atmospheric dream pop on album number four from indie outfit — — Dearly Devoted looks like — agolden-era 4AD record, — withits design by label affiliate Martin Anderson, and the subtle yet spacious production work of Bark Psychosis’ Graham Sutton makes it sound like one too. Dense, engulfing atmospheres and blissful harmonies — as on the tender and elegiac “Amber” – аге atthe core ofthe record, which focuses as muchon texture as it does structural songcraft. Lucy Castro's delicate yet stirring voice hovers cloud-like on top ofthese enveloping soundscapes, be it on the hazy shoegaze swirl of “These Thieves” or the more electronic and pulsing propulsions of “Big Deal”. DANIEL DYLAN WRAY ALICE COOPER Detroit Stories 6/10 Areturntothe Motor City, with help from Wayne Kramer and the Detroit Wheels In 1970 the band Alice Cooperrealised they were somehow too weird for Los Angeles, sothey moved eastto и the working-class city of Detroit — an unlikely match but one that added some proto-punk sneer to their freak rock. Fifty years later the man Alice Cooper returns with an album based on the city’s lean, muscular, no-frills rock’n’roll. More Nugent than Stooges, Detroit Stories recalls his wild’7os heyday, especially on lighters-up “Social Debris” and the gloriously goofy “Independence Dave”. Too often, though, it sounds slick and perfunctory, as though Coop’s just a tourist in his own town. STEPHENDEUSNER j р NEW ALBUMS Ө DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE Gas Lit invapa 6/10 Melbourne doom-jazz duo ona missiontopulverise and decolonise Uncompromising both politically and musically, Divide And Dissolve are two young women ofcolour from indigenous backgrounds aiming to destroy white supremacy using the formidable might oftheir super-heavy post-metal drone-jazz sound. Newly signed to Geoff Barrow's Invada label, Takiaya Reed and Sylvie Nehill mostly let their effects-drenched guitar, saxophone and drums do the talking on thisimpressively ferocious debut via pulverising sludge-rock instrumentals like “Denial” and “Prove It”. But they occasionally switch into righteously angry poetry, notably on the stern accusatory sermon “Did You Have Something To Do With It?”. Their conceptual hinterland is sometimes more interesting than their clobbering racket, but both are exhilarating in places. STEPHENDALTON DJANGO DJANGO Glowing In The Dark secausemusic 8/10 Genre-straddling aesthetes finetune their formula While Django Django have spent much ofthe last decade assembling art-pop collages from eclectic grab-bags of styles, this fourth studio set seems to pull off the trick more seamlessly than ever, as if they no longer have to show their workings and can concentrate on polishing up the end results. The emphasis has been subtly tweaked towards seductive vocal melodies such as those floating over the twinkling synth patterns of “Hold Fast” and the breathless Hot Chip-style electro- pop of the title track. Elsewhere, Charlotte Gainsbourg’s feather-light backing vocals make “Waking Up” an irresistible lovestruck confection. JOHNNY SHARP RYAN DUGRE Three Rivers 114 7/10 Third album fromthe Brooklyn- based guitarist and composer As its title implies, Three Rivers is an album of confluences. Asideman who has played with Eleanor Friedberger, Cass McCombs and Joan Wasser among others, Ryan Dugré uses onlya handful ofinstruments in his own compositions, but he lets them intersect and intertwine in unexpected ways to create vivid textures and evocative tonal shifts. “Shining” unspoolsa persistent, percussive piano theme that collides with his chiming guitar AERIA EE REVELATIONS HEEE # LEAST The Texan-born songwriter on odes to old friends ERIAL EAST writes songs that are so personal that she's not always sure she should play them. For “Ryan” and “Brennan”, two songs about old friends from her second album, "Ispecifically wanted to get consent from them before evensharing the songs with thelabel. They both said thatthey were very moved and that! didn't need their permission, butit was still important to me." East has made andleft behind many friends in her life, as her family moved frequently when she was growing up, finally settling in Abilene. She may not sound much like Steve notes, while “Powder Rains” overlaps acoustic and electric picking until they become indistinguishable. There’s a subtle, sensitive cinematic quality to these quiet songs, as though Dugréis actually scoring short films. STEPHENDEUSNER JOHN DWYER, NICK MURRAY, BRAD CAULKINS, TOMDOLAS & GREG COATES Witch Egg ROCKISHELL 7/10 Oseesalumniininterstellar improu Among the dizzying subcategories of John Dwyer’s output, Witch Egg belongs with the “off the cuff” improv of last year’s Bent Arcana. Saxophonist Brad Caulkin and current Osees keyboardist Tom Dolas crucially return, Caulkin adding the explicit jazz lineage of late Coltrane freakouts to Dwyer’s exploded garage-rock. “Baphomet” is built on a diseased, demonic synth pulse that suggests Ridley Scott’s Alien boarding John Carpenter’s Dark Star, while “Witch Egg” is a majestic, mournful ritual, advancing like an acid-fuzzed New Orleans marching band. Artfully blurred instruments and idiosyncratic players ensure Dwyer's prolificacy sacrifices nothing. NICKHASTED Earle or Guy Clark, but the specificity of her storytelling draws from Texas traditions. "Imthinking about feelings whenl write songs, butl knew goinginto the studio that | wanted it to be minimal and no drums - intimate and full of space, like beingin a desert at night." Spare but eclectic, nostalgic but witty, her songs ponder theidea of home, whether that's an old friend or a familiar place. “I actually wanted to be anarchitectin high school, and! wanted to build homes becausel grew up moving around so much. Homeis definitely a concept! think about." STEPHEN DEUSNER AERIAL EAST Try Harder partisan 8/10 Nomadic singer-songwriter traces her ownpathonsecondalbum Aself-described Germany, her | adolescencein Texas and her adulthood in New York City. Her eclectic second album draws from these disparate experiences, as sheincorporates an array ofstyles to score her bittersweet songs about the people she's met along the way. “The Things We Build” shuffles chamber strings, pedal steel and wailing rock guitar. Late-night crickets accompany her on “Doin’ Somethin’”, and “Jonas Said” is an oddball doo-wop tune with backing vocals from Norwegian-American singer Okay Kaya. The result is a quietly moving hymn to home and humanity. STEPHENDEUSNER JIMMY EDGAR CheetahBend INNOVATIVELEISURE 7/10 Richcollaborative returnfrom globe-trottingelectro mangler From Detroit to LA via Berlin, Jimmy Edgar has amassed animpressively eclectic body of work as composer, producer and collaborator over the past 15 years. His first solo album since 2012is a guest-heavy affair that transcends the salacious, Prince-indebted porno- funkofhis early Warpreleases with a kaleidoscopic mash-up of twisted techno, electro-glitch, mutant R&B and hip-hop sounds. Experimental pop siren Sophie collaborates on the deliciously gnarly hacksaw racket of “Metal”, while teenage rapper Matt Ox barks over percussive shudders and deceptively sweet retro-synth melodies on “Pause”. Full of bold sonic juxtapositions, Cheetah Bend is aslightly disjointed but consistently compelling fusion of ear-bashing noise and booty-shaking bounce. STEPHENDALTON WALTEREGAN Fascination repsteet 7/10 FindingandlosingloveinLA == | Egan’s smooth West "a Coast AOR first made "Tits mark via two well- " tee] received late 1970S ba albums produced — e by pals Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and herevisits the period on Fascination, asong cycle charting his *shared history" with super-groupie Pamela Des Barres. Bookended by the Petty- like strum of “I’m With The Girl” and the mournful piano of “Hell I Know It’s Over”, it’s an intriguing dissection of romance on the fringes of celebrity, the good times beginning to fray as early as thesixth track (country jangle aplenty on “Woo To Woe”), and the heartbreak ofthe lyrics often at odds with the chirpiness ofthe melody, especially the Nashville two-step “Fading Love”. TERRY STAUNTON CARWYNELLIS & RIO 18 Mas BANANA &LOUIE 6/10 Club Tropicáliacomesto Cardiff iiy * Finding his gig as touring Pretenders guitarist Covid-kaput, Carwyn Ellis turned to finishing this J i Y second Rio 18 album of Welsh-language Latin pop. “Hedyn Ar Y Gwynt” (“A Seed In the Wind”) is a particular Welsh perspective on the advances that migration visits on rooted cultures, its dark, implacable melody finding near-trip-hop atmosphere. Backing vocalists Elan and Marged Rees harmonise like Saint Etienne at their most blissful, as thesubtly restless music alights on Os Mutantes’ rasping Tropicalia. Ellis’s own gently attentive voice is more suited to a prevalent feeling of pastoral '70s summers, a softly poppy, rhythmically lilting Cardiffdreamtime. NICKHASTED To MARCH2021 : UNCUT : 29 JAMESBROWN Lines Redacted MEMPHISINDUSTRIES Leeds guitar wranglers’ impressive second. By Tom Pinnock Em gs [r all voices are Ea, ене 4S! unique, someare mmm `" = more unique than = ЧЕНЕ others: Mark E -— __ Smith’s Prestwich жа toasting, say, Bjork’s ج‎ pole-vaulting bellow or Bryan Ferry’s addled croon. To this list can be added Dan Hyndman, the Mush guitarist whose twisted slur is something akin to Andy Partridge’s “seal bark” crossed with Tom Verlaine’s beat drawl. On early listens to Lines Redacted, the Leeds group's second full-length, it can be off-putting, but once accustomed to, it’s revealed as a key ingredient in one of the finest British guitar records of recent years. The group formed in 2017 as a quartet consisting of Hyndman, guitarist Steven Tyson, bassist Nick Grant and drummer Phil Porter. Their debut album, last year's 3D Routine, captured their live show, stripped-down and frenetic, but there have been some changes since then: most significantly, guitarist Tyson wasn't able to record on Lines Redacted and, at the start of December, Mush announced that he had passed away. He contributed to the development of many of the new songs here, though, which turn up the dynamics and surprises, and dial down Hyndman’s vocal extremes. Written primarily in a concentrated period during the UK's first 2020 lockdown, the 12 songs on Lines Redacted find Mush flirting with a number of styles and moods. On the faster side, 30- UNCUT-MARCH2021 04919 1019 there's theitchy angularity of "Seven Trumpets” and “Blunt Instrument”, the hyperactive groove of “Hazmat Suits” and the Soft Boys-esque psychedelic rush of “Positivity”. More atmospheric is the title track, and the opener “Drink The Bleach” which, complete with whining one-fingered keyboard, comes on like late-’90s Blur. “Morf”, meanwhile, finds them running the drums through chorus effects for a vintage post-punk feel, any sense of cosy nostalgia soon rudely and endearingly disrupted by what sounds like a guitar lead with a loose connection. The excellent “Bots” is akin to a ‘two ages of Malkmus’ project, beginning with a deliciously awkward canter reminiscent of early Pavement, and ending witha skyward-spiralling cosmic jam that wouldn’t have been out of placeona recent Jicks record. Pastiche is skilfully avoided, however, through the group's charisma, Hyndman's singular vocals and their impressive, but never overblown, musical interplay. Thelyrics, where they can be all understood, arerich with a kind of primitive intertextuality. There's a reappearance of phrases, for one, whether that’s in the titles of “Lines Redacted” and “Lines Discontinued”, in the way the phrases “dusting for prints” and “blunt instruments” are repeated in more than one song, or in the way titles from 3D Routine infect the lyrics here. Sometimes the meanings are clear — “Bots” talk of “nefarious Russians”, the KGB and “bots onall platforms” — but Hyndman as often tries amore scattershot approach emphasising the sounds of words and syllables: as “Dusting For Prints” puts it, “Search party/Glitterati/Public body/What the fuck happened?” Ultimately, it’s the music and the general vibe of taut chaos that helps Lines Redacted succeed. It’s more memorable than Mush’s debut, simultaneously weirder and more melodic: and the peak of the record, and of this mix of the strange and the infectious, comes right at the end. Ricocheting between a Moebius strip of a chord sequence, the kind that could cycle endlessly without getting old, anda glacial 6/8 section that recalls Television’s “Guiding Light” playing at the wrong speed, “Lines Discontinued” finds Hyndman trying amore subtle vocal delivery as he mutters gnomic phrases about “cancel culture” and saying “goodnight to the motherland”. In the final two minutes the song launches back into its propulsive opening chords, complete with Hyndman's strongest lead guitar work yet. It might be almost eight minutes long, but *Lines Discontinued" seems toslip byinaninstant, Mush's most boundless song yet. With these playful, expansive vibes, it’s clear that the group are kindred spirits to the likes of Wand and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, two other bands prolifically honing their sound and approach, steadily developing their voice. As Hyndman tells Uncut, he's already taken advantage of subsequent lockdowns to begin writing their next record, and is hoping it will see release later this year. Until then, Lines Redacted will more than suffice. DanHyndman NEW ALBUMS Ө FORTHOSEILOVE For Thosel Love sepremser 8/10 Uplifting but grief-soaked electro from Dublin songwriter zi Like Dublin's answer |, to Mike Skinner or Burial, Dave Balfe |g relentlessly intones stories and reflections of urban life against akaleidoscopic and sometimes claustrophobic electro background, speckled with found sounds and home recordings. The album acts in part asa tribute to Balfe’s close friend, Paul Curran, who died in 2018, who is recalled in the refrain “I have a love and it never fades”. Grief, memory and friendship billow up throughout the nine tracks, with Balfe recalling teenage escapades (“You Stayed/To Live”) or the importance of friendship (“Birthday/The Pain") but with the shadow ofloss never far behind. PETER WATTS CASSANDRA JENKINS AnOverview OnPhenomenal Nature влглвмс 8/10 Woodsist associate exercises admirable, compassionate restraint “Empty space makes me feel safe", Brooklyn's Cassandra Jenkins confides on *Crosshairs", а alovely slice of acoustic chamber folk that recalls Phoebe Bridgers' quietest moments, its sensitivity embellished by Antibalas collaborator Stuart Bogie's flutes. There's certainly plenty of space on her second album, whether on *New Bikini", whose sombre piano lines and quiet, jazzy percussion recall Lambchop's Is A Woman, or “Michaelangelo”, whose muffled shuffle is briefly interrupted by bursts of distorted electric guitar. “Hard Drive”, meanwhile, adds spoken word and Bogie’s swirling saxophone to a touching tale of psychic recovery, before “The Ramble” concludes with pretty pastel drones. WYNDHAM WALLACE CHUCK JOHNSON The Cinder Огоуе угво/такті. 9/10 Modernpurveyor of ‘ambient twang’ infineform In the tradition ‚© of players like J GŠ" ChasSmithand " $ ve Bruce Kaphan, | ChuckJohnsonis a pedal-steel guitarist who embraces the liquid, oceanic possibilities of his chosen instrument. On The Cinder Grove he has a simple, yet profoundly effective modus operandi - setting streams of notes afloat and listening for the way their resonances commingle with strings and piano (thelatter played beautifully here by Sarah Davachi). The pedal steel can be slippery and mutable, and Johnson capitalises on those characteristics, embracing a weepy churchiness on “Red Branch Bell” and a sanctified astral glow on opener “Raz-de-Marée”. JONDALE JILLETTE JOHNSON It's ABeautiful Day And [Love You mossrose 7/10 Third time's acharmfor Nashuille- based singer-songuwriter A music biz lifer who started writing and performing as a kid, New York native Jillette Johnson has made three albums with three very distinct sounds. Following the ostentatious piano pop of 2013's Water In A Whale and the austere Nashville twang of 2017's All IEverSee In You Is Me, her latest uses country as a springboard into '60s pop, "70s rock, and Noughties indie. It’s an adventurous palette that suits her well, playing up the ache in her voice on the dramatic mea culpa “Angelo” and the barb in her wit on the glammy “What Would Jesus Do”. STEPHENDEUSNER JUNE JONES Leafcutteremotionpunx 7/10 Melbourne synth-pop soloist's strongsecond "l'vegot a mind like a shopping-centre food court” declares JJ in “Remember”, referring to the ADHD that’s seen her rely on intuition and self-education for her solo music making. Both have served her well: with Leafcutter she bends synth- pop convention in a fearlessly honest set that explores her experiences as a “deeply emotional” trans woman. There are echoes of Anohni and John Grantin these slo-mo ballads, but Jones downplays the content and simplifies the form, almost to the point of naivety on “Echo”. The Pet Shop Boys-ish “Home” and “Nervous Poetry” (Arca undoes Kate Bush) especially prove her way with both the familiar and singular. SHARON O'CONNELL FEMIKUTI Stop The Hate paarisan 7/10 Classic Afrobeat from Fela's boy We last heard Kuti playing saxon Coldplay’s Everyday Life album but his own most recent release, 2018's One People One EE REVELATIONS NN CHUCK JOHNSON Pedal-steelmaestro's acoustic explorations or pedal-steel guitarist Chuck Johnson, his relationship with his instrumentis much more about the complex qualities of sound in acoustic space than any notion of ‘virtuosity’ that's often applied to solo instrumental music. “Whether lam playing an acoustic guitar, working with electronics, or composing for anensemble, my intentionis to explore the language and palette of that platform, and hopefully convey some feeling inthe process,’ he concurs. "How canluse that sound to activate the sonic properties of aroom? How doesit feel when thathappens?" To that end, his new album, The Cinder Grove, is particularly instructive; each song draws on the reverb and echo qualities of various DIY performance spaces in his hometown of Oakland, re-renderedelectronically. “used to live ina warehouse space that was also a DIY music venue in Oakland," he says. "Over the years! recorded performances and did studio sessions in that room andin other similar venues, solhave audio sources from which I could create reverb effects using software. | used some of these effects when mixing The Cinder Grove tore-inhabit those spaces. Thesereverb models aren't perfect re-creations, but then that's sort of the point, because our memories have flaws and distortions." JONDALE World, sounded tired, asif carrying the mantle of his legendary father was becoming a burden. Happily, on Stop The Hate he seems to have relocated his mojo, perhaps re-energised by the presence in his band ofson Made Kuti, who contributes bass, alto sax and percussion. The Afrobeat rhythms simmer and burn with a renewed ferocity as he rails against Nigeria's corrupt politicians on “Pa Pa Pa” and sends out righteous messages of solidarity with BLM (“As We Struggle Every Day”). NIGEL WILLIAMSON MADE KUTI For(e)wa rd partisan 8/10 Radical debut from Fela's grandson andFemi's boy ees The dynasty continues — but with an experimental twist, as Made becomes the first of the clan to step ыы - outsidethe Afrobeat template and create what Femi Kuti rightly describes as “another universe”. The legacy is honoured on “Different Streets”, which pays tribute to the mighty Fela, but Afrobeat is just one of an eclectic stream of influences here thatincludes alt.rock and nu-jazz. With Kuti playing every instrument himself and adopting a fresh spoken-word delivery, standouts include “Free Your Mind” and the extraordinary “Hymn”, which starts out with a children's choir and then takes a darker, dramatic turn. NIGEL WILLIAMSON LAMBERT False roucutrape 7/10 Berlin composer collaborates - or doeshe?-ongenre-bustingLP Following Lambert’s 2019 album True comes False, which riffs on Lambert’s anonymous persona by presenting the neo-classical pianist ina series of collaborations with a bunch of other artists who may or may not exist (a tongue-in-cheek 2019 film presented the mask-wearing Lambert as a sort of cult leader/conceptual artist). That gives Lambert the freedom to explore multiple genres, from the 50-second jazz nugget “Juice Tonight” tothe country drone of “Secrets” and the dancey “Thema Zwei”. It plays out like a stylish ambient playlist — easy to get lostin but, ironically, lacking a unifying sense of identity. PETER WATTS MARCH2021 : UNCUT : 31 ANDREW PAYNTER, SEAN THOMAS O NEW ALBUMS DELVONLAMARR ORGAN TRIO [Told You So cotemine 7/10 Keyboard coolrecalling bygone times Taking their cue from RR such trailblazers as . Jimmy Smith and | Booker T Jones, Lamarr’s dextrous grooves mine a reach seam of alluring jazz and soul, echoing the sounds of vintage cop show soundtracks. “Hole In One” and “From The Streets” provide pleasing Hammond B3 workouts, although the choppy guitars of Jimmy James (ripped straight from the Steve Cropper playbook) and the funky drumming of Dan Weiss are equally as vital components. The arrangements are occasionally frantic and overly busy, but there are fewer eggs in the pudding when Lamarr opts for a more laidback mood on a smoky reading of George Michael's *Careless Whisper". TERRY STAUNTON MASONLINDAHL Kissing Rosy In The Rain TOMPKINS SQUARE 7/10 New York-based guitarist creates anaustere sonic world Mason Lindahl » playsanylon-strung B Spanish acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by creaky background noises or low-volume organ drones. On tracks like “Distress” he plays arrhythmically, using tons of romantic rubato, jazzy chords and a mix of classical and folksy clawhammer techniques. Chords are never struck or strummed, but gently unfurled as finger-picked arpeggios; they tumble out haphazardly, shimmering as they fall. The result is an austere, gothic flamenco that is samey but never repetitive. Lindahl makes no effort to appeal to the casual listener, but instead dares you to submit to this odd and immersive sonic universe that he has constructed. JOHNLEWIS LNZNDRF | | SECRETLY DISTRIBUTION 6/10 Secondexperimentalcollection fromNational-Beirut project Like its 2016 22 predecessor, the second album by BI LNZNDRF (The 8 National's Scott and ZU Dryan Devendorf, Beirut's Ben Lanzand Aaron Arntz) beganas extended jam sessions, later edited to something like conventional song length. The resultis a mixed bag of atmospheric instrumentals and lyrical oddities with roots in ambient jazz, post-punk and psychedelia. Seven- minute opener “The Xeric Steppe” is asong suite ofits own - liquid piano 32-UNCUT - MARCH2021 ——JNBYDAYICNSI "MOGWAI The key to the post-rockers longevity? iven the tumultuous nature of the Glaswegians early recordings, it may nothave seemed like Mogwai were built tolast. Nevertheless, As The Love Continues sees them cross the silver-anniversary mark with vitality intact. Guitarist Stuart Braithwaite explains, "The simplest answer is that we all still really enjoy it," he tells Uncut. “If what you're doingisn't fun, thenit's pretty easy for everyone to tell. Itis also harder to get people to keep listening. We are still really excited about doing something different each time, buthaving funisthe mostimportant part." Thatspirit of conviviality andoollective purpose was especially valuable given how "Having fun" the pandemic affected plans to travel to the US torecordlast year. Instead, they holed up athome with producer Dave Fridmann patching in from the opposite side of the Atlantic. "1 think not being able to leave the house for months onendhada positive effect on this record," says Braithwaite. "I know from the songs that! wrote, that| revisited andrewrote partsina уау {һа haven't done before because I'm usually outside doing things. Also by the time we did get together to play the songs and thenrecord, we were probably the only people that we hadseensince the start of the year, which added another level. That wouldn't have beenthe case in normal circumstances." JASONANDERSON thatswells to menacing and tremulous atthe midpoint then, with a tip ofthe hat to drummer Bryan Devendorf, boils over into a thunderous indie rock jam. Spacey closer “Stowaway” offers a touch of Flaming Lips-esque weirdness, but the sludgy “Cascade” outstays its welcome. LISA-MARIEFERLA MAPSTATION My Frequencies, When We BUREAUB 8/10 Tender, exploratory electronic studies, poised but playful The long-running и project of German “ы electronic artist Stefan Schneider, who spent years exploring post-rock’s outer reaches with Kreidler and To Rococo Rot, Mapstation’s tonal wanderings have always had peculiar charm — sometimes tentative, settling between melodic minimalism and a gentler abstraction, My Frequencies, When We is Schneider at his most poetic. These patient miniatures are often suggestive, working carefully (but not without risk and improvisation) to explorea series of juxtapositions. A song like “Flute Channels” is compelling in its understated, inquisitive energy; “The City In”, featuring a rare appearance of Schneider's vocals, is a gorgeous sepia- toned pop sketch. JONDALE KARENMATHESON Still Time VERTICAL 6/10 Lockdownrecordingsfromvelvet- voiced Scottish singer = With her band, - Capercaillie, on hiatus, Matheson i has in recent years sanes waruasox COncentratedonthe traditional Gaelic songs she learnt growing up in a remote Scottish village. Still Time was recorded during lockdown at home with friends and family in between baking banana bread and wondering whenit will all end. She's notasongwriter, butthe voice Sean Connery once said was “touched by God” glides majestically though a set of contemporary songs with gentle folk-jazz arrangements by her partner/ Capercaillie mainstay Donald Shaw and Love & Money’s James Grant, plus a Runrig cover version anda couple of glorious Burns ballads for good measure. NIGEL WILLIAMSON MELVINS Working With God IPECAC 7/10 Original 1983 lineupreturn for goofs andriffs T “It’s the album bands у like Green Day and j Metallica wish they could put out if they only had the guts,” say the classic 1983 Melvins lineup oftheir latest release. Itsastonguein cheek of a statement as the album's opener, a goofball Beach Boys cover retitled *I Fuck Around". Elsewhere it's business as usual with sludgy riffs marrying metal and punk, although on *1 Fuck You" they revert to petulant teenage garage band again with a nod anda wink, and a surprisingly pop-heavy hook. Inan age where many reunions are simply cash cows, Melvins are clearly having a blast. DANIEL DYLAN WRAY MODERNHINTERLAND Diving Веі, две ғамолмоо 7/10 ChrisHornsby sfolk-rockers expand their ambitions / With its spirited singalong chorus, “IfI Knew You Well” marks the deepest foray into Mumford & Sons terrain on the third album by Modern Hinterland, the band formed by Chris Hornsby after the Northumberland native first made aname for himself as a solo folkie. But whereas Hornsby oscillated between more such knees-up fare and Wilco- inspired Americana on Diving Bell's predecessors, here he explores modes that may bea better fit for his sincere and sure-handed songcraft. While the ’8os-style indie jangle of “Everybody Better Be Nice Today” has great charm, Modern Hinterland reveal a knack for grander gestures on the unabashedly anthemic “No Escape” and Coldplay- gone-rustic closer, “Blue Water”. JASONANDERSON MOGWAI As The Love Continues ROCK ACTION 9/10 The Scottish post-rockershit their quarter-century mark inrudehealth Inthe25 yearssince the explosive Young Team, Mogwai have mB understandably ~ mellowedinsome regards, a useful trait for the soundtracks that now fill much ofthe band’s to-do list. But as was the case with 2017’s Every Country’s Sun, the group's 10th album - which again teams them with Rock Action producer Dave Fridmann - bristles with the unruly energies that enlivened their younger incarnation. Standouts like “Dry Fantasy” and “Fuck Off Money” also see them integrate the lessons they’ve learned toiling for film and TV as they infuse their signature brand of brutalist shoegaze and stormy post-rock witha sense of brooding menace that evokes Tangerine Dream’s early-’80s scores. Likewise, the stirring, string-laden “Midnight Flit” is one for the ages. JASONANDERSON TICKETS + MEMBER DISCOUNTS R gel R n SAN YE obit - 28 AN OFFICIAL SHOWCASES CHURCH OF ROSWELL * DAISY CHUTE - DAN BETTRIDGE * DECLAN O'ROURKE DELILA BLACK - DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - EDDY SMITH & THE 507 * EMMA SWIFT* GOOD LOVELIES HANNAH WHITE * JAMES RILEY * JAIMEE HARRIS *JOSH O'KEEFE - JOSHUA BURNSIDE - JUDY BLANK KAREN JONAS» KATIE PRUITT * KYSHONA * LARKIN POE ° LAUREN HOUSLEY ° LOGAN LEDGER MASSY FERGUSON * MEGAN O'NEILL ° MISTY RIVER > OUR MAN IN THE FIELD PETER BRUNTNELL - ROSEANNE REID ° RUTHIE COLLINS ° SAM COE ° SARAH POTENZA SOUTHERN AVENUE * THE HANGING STARS ° THE MARRIAGE ° THE NORTHERN BELLE THE WANDERING HEARTS ° TRUE STRAYS ° THE WAR AND TREATY ° WILD PONIES LOOSE MUSIC SHOWCASE CLOSE UP presenten ey SOUNDS AUSTRALIA COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS, DANNY GEORGE WILSON, ANDREW FARRISS, BECCY COLE, CHARLIE COLLINS, GILL LANDRY, ISRAEL NASH, JIM WHITE, JOANA SERRAT, DAN SULTAN, FANNY LUMSDEN, FENN WILSON, SAIJE, NATIVE HARROW, THE HANDSOME FAMILY, TREETOP FLYERS TRACY MCNEIL, TROY CASSAR-DALEY NORTH CAROLINA come near Ne / visit Nc STAGE THIRTY TIGERS # STORYTELLERS HOSTED BY DAVID MENCONI: ARNOLD RICHARDSON, BRENT COBB, CHARLEY CROCKETT, DARLINGSIDE CHATHAM COUNTY LINE, HAMILTONES, DIANA DEMUTH, EMILY BARKER, IDA MAE, JIM LAUDERDALE, JIMMY VIPPERMAN, LAKOTA JOHN, JASON ISBELL (AND THE 400 UNIT), LUCERO, MIPSO, RISSI PALMER ROBERT VINCENT, THE MAVERICKS, TRE BURT MUSIC PEI SHOWCASE YEP ROC RECORDS SHOWCASE CORY GALLANT, GORDIE MACKEENMAN & HIS CHUCK PROPHET, GRANT LEE PHILLIPS, RHYTHM BOYS, HAUNTED HEARTS, MICHAELA ANNE LAWRENCE MAXWELL „+ MORE TBA Tickets: bitly.com/AMAUK21 *includes access to UK Americana Awards 28th Jan С ыы” (ҮШІ ене (8) Songtrust* "edbaby UNCUT Guitar ponia соқа ШІ simkins @proper (Юн)... BETHGARRABRANT TAYLOR SWIFT Evermore REPUBLIC 8/10 Asinger dismantles herself. By Laura barton WHEN Taylor Swift unveiled Folklore at the height of the pandemic summer, it was an unexpected yet dazzling move: with the world in lockdown, its 16 folk-tinged songs captured the presiding mood of personal introspection and retreat from urban life; Swift sings Walden, ifyou will. For the sceptical, Swift’s new musical direction was authenticated by the involvement of Aaron Dessner of The National and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Acclaim and Grammy nominations followed. In mid-December, when Swift announced Folklore would havea successor, Evermore, many were confused —asifshe had worn the same dress twice. Was it a faux pas? A musical mis-step? How did they compare? Which wore it better? It’s interesting to note that for much of her career, Swift has been pitted against any number of perceived rivals, naysayers and ne'er-do-wells - Katy Perry, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Scooter Braun, and a run of ex-suitors, among them. It's a perpetuation ofthe familiar narrative that all female artists have to be feuding with someone. But with the release of Evermore so soon after Folklore, that narrative shifted to pit Swift primarily against herself. In marketing terms, it was an even cannier move than Folklore. It was also just one of the ways in which Evermore might be seen as a dismantling of many of the things Swift has been to date. For all its pastoral presentation, 34- UNCUT - MARCH2021 4919 1019 1Willow 2 Champagne Problems 3GoldRush 4'Tis The Damn Season 5 Tolerate lt 6NoBody,No Crime (Feat. Haim) 7 Happiness 8 Dorothea 9 Coney Island (feat The National) 10lvy 11CowboyLike Me 12Long Story Short 13Marjorie 14Closure 15Evermore (feat Bonlver) Bonus Tracks 1 Right Where You LeftMe 2 It's Time ToGo Ss Producedby: Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff Personnel: Taylor Swift (vocals), Aaron Dessner (percussion, piano, guitar, mandolin, drone), Jack Antonoff (percussion, piano, guitar, Mellotron), Justin Vernon (vocals, percussion, banjo, guitar, triangle), Bryce Dessner (orchestration, piano, guitar), MattBerninger (vocals), Danielle Haim (vocals), Este Haim (vocals), Marcus Mumford (vocals), BryanDevendorf (percussion), Scott Devendorf (bass), Josh Kaufman (harmonium, lap steel, guitar) Folklore was a pop record, and as such largely followed the rules of modern pop records: every song lean and lithe, every structure and musical instinct honed. And while they ostensibly wore flannel, tracks suchas “Last Great American Dynasty” or “Mirrorball” might’ve appeared on previous Swift albums. Evermore takes shape more slowly than its predecessor. It runs shorter, but feels longer, and is an altogether less muscular prospect. Texture, timbre, and tone run into one another, the percussion stays low to the ground. Itis without question a wintering record, but out of this muted musical landscape songs of great and complex beauty emerge: the fine-boned electronics underpinning “Tolerate It”, the frozen march of “’Tis the Damn Season”, the wreathing banjo of “Ivy”. Much of this is a matter of production. Folklore was notably a collaboration between Swift, her longtime wingman Jack Antonoff, and for the first time, The National’s Aaron Dessner. It’s Dessner largely at the helm of Evermore, gathering a community of musicians who, like Dessner himself, are often known for their sense of sonic experimentation: Justin Vernon, Bryce Dessner, Haim, BJ Burton, Josh Kaufman, Ryan Olson, Ariel Rechtshaid, CJ Camerieri. As the album pulls into focus, the innovation and industry of these players comes to seem remarkable. On “Marjorie”, one of the album’s stand-out tracks, Swift’s voice carries a duskiness as it settles over scurrying synth patterns, strings, and, in the song’s closing moments, distant operatic strains. On “Closure”, angular electronics duel with warm, sweet piano melody, and Swift finds a new, near-staccato delivery. The National join for "Coney Island", therumpled gruffness of Matt Berninger a finefoil for Swift's urgency and precision. Meanwhile the title track is a sister song to Folklore’s “Exile” — compositionally similar, and once again uniting Swift with Justin Vernon. Though the pair have never actually met, there is something truly special in the collision of their voices; should the pandemic run on longer, there would surely be great appetite for an entire album of Swift-Vernon duets. There has been some accusation of excessive sameness made against Evermore; not only that itis a repeat of Folklore’s trick, but that the songs themselves sound too similar to one another. It’s an interesting charge. Over the course of nine albums, Swift has shown herself to be a pop mastermind, so one has to assume that the absence of dynamic variation, the musical echoes and similar cadences, the fact that songs with near-identical tempos are allowed to run in succession, is a deliberate move. To consider why, it's worth noting that, officially, both Folklore and Evermore's titles, and those oftheir constituent songs, are written in lower case. Musically, Swift seems to be attempting something similar: songs with no sonic upper case, a shift away from pop’s ceaseless peak and trough, the start perhaps of something new. Swift has never been just a popstar. She is asongwriter of exceptional gift and versatility, and — 17 years, 10 Grammys, and over 50 million album sales in, it seems entirely natural that she might choose to veer from making albums stacked with immaculate stadium- worthy pop, towards musical nuance and exploration. There will be many more versions of Swift to come, but this year has shown she has increasingly little interest in being the artist others expect her to be: sheis country star, popstar, folkstar, more; she contains multitudes. “Тһе ofthe 15 tracksitdoes feel Whatisit about Justin National collaborator moreconnectedtomywayof and Taylors voices working and my sound. together that works Atwhat point did you so well? It's like the know there wasgoingto Whatdoyouthink combination of the writing beasecondalbum? you velearned from and their voices. Inboth The shocking thing was Taylor,andwhatdoyou cases Taylor wrote we never said, "Let's make thinkshe'sleamedfrom . them with William another record,” it was just you? With Taylor there's a Bowery up to a point, the current of collaboration didn't stop. It didn't feellikea bigdealto anyone. Itjust felt like friends making stuff. Whatdifferentiates the twoalbums for you? Forme, Evermoreis this wilder, more organic sister -thesister whodrinksmore but everybody likes better. There aremorerisksinterms of odder time signatures, and theresmoreof abandfeeling. Andbecauselproduced 14 sharpness and afocus to her storytelling andideation that isreally impressive. From me, she'slearnedthather songwriting canhave avery different tableau. She sees alotoffreedomnow in what shedoes;thatitcanbeas successful makingsomething that'smuchmore fragile or subtle, sonically. Andina weird way itforegrounds her songwriting more to work like that. Ihear more of herin these songs. and then Justin wrote the bridge. Werecorded Taylor first, then Justin hadrecordedhis parts remotely andsent them,andlrecall д both times it was one of those moments where my head justhitthe | back of the wall. INTERVIEW: LAURA BARTON ' MOUSE ON MARS AAI THRILL JOCKEY 8/10 German IDMuets are onthe side of the machines Having previously WM i enlisted Mark E Smith 2 Wg for their lively 2007 1 B 3 collaboration Von Südenfed, Mouse On i Mars’ Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma team with a possibly less argumentative but still unusual partner on the duo's 12th album since 1994. As befits the full title of Anarchic Artificial Intelligence, AAI was co- composed with specially designed software capable of modelling speech. Onsongs like “Thousand To One”, percussive passages of chatter are juxtaposed with utterances that more directly address the work’s themes of evolving technology, language and transhumanism. Thankfully, St Werner and Toma’s playful sensibility makes AAIsomething more than a drily academic exercise. Indeed, this ingenious successor to Computer World isenough to almost make one look forward to the coming robot wars. JASONANDERSON JACK NAME Magic Touch MEXICAN SUMMER 6/10 LAunderground maverickmoves into dreamyLaurel Canyonterritory Jack Name's previous twoalbums have showcased a sonically mischievous post- punk maverick, but histhirdis a more orthodox creation that invokes early 1970s Laurel Canyon, with twinkly guitars upholstered by clavinet and electric piano. Whether celebrating the thrill of falling in love on “Karolina” (in an excited falsetto) or delivering the gently brutal “I Came To Tell You In Plain English (I’m Leaving You)” (in a depressed baritone), hesingsina hushed, fragile whisper thatis almost unbearably personal. Guest vocalist Izella Berman is a welcome rejoinder on the dreamy “Empty Nights” or the Beatles-y “Do You Know Ida No?". JOHNLEWIS LAEL NEALE Acquainted With Night SUBPOP 8/10 Four-trackfirsttakesanda желше keyboard There's something antediluvian about Lael Neale's debut, whether in her | guileless vocal- М which, on *For No One For Now", sounds like a shy, teenage Betty Boop - orthelo-fi simplicity of trackslikethe hymnal *White Wings". Pivotalis an early '80s Omnichord, once championed by Gorillaz and Cortney Tidwell: its primitive, pre- Die te dir Te ey programmed beat underpins “Every Star Shivers In The Dark”’s Autoharp- like chords and its touch-plate’s arpeggios add sparkle to a hushed title track. Folkish harmonies complement “Let Me Live By The Side Of The Road”, but the true spiritual kin to Neale’s spectral fragility is Mazzy Star’s. WYNDHAM WALLACE THENOTWIST Vertigo Days morrmusic 7/10 Electro-folk collective returnin expansive mood Occupied for the past six years with various side projects, Markus Archer's veteran Bavarian collective are back witha lightly reshuffled lineup and an international array of guest vocalists. Vertigo Days does not deviate far from the established Notwist formula of soft- focus indie-folk electronica, which can feel too tastefully non-committal at times. But there are vivid beauties here too, like the achingly melancholy chanson “Where You Find Me” and the whooshing, voluptuous, Juana Molina-assisted techno-samba “Al Sur”. Fragile heartbreak ballads “Into Love Stars” and “Into Love Again”, essentially the same song clothed in both low-voltage electro and acoustic arrangements, also make a lovely pair. STEPHENDALTON NUBIYAN TWIST FreedomFables 7/10 Versatility with deep soul onLeeds/ London НЫ third "—— That NTreleased ra A | their debut only five = years ago but present ) like old hands isan indication of just how = much the profile of the UK’s youthful jazz scene has grown. They’ve likely felt less heat as a result, but this new set should turn it back up. Stacked with features — including Ghanaian singer Pat Thomas and Londoners Soweto Kinch and fine, Tomorrow’s Warriors alumna Cherise Adams-Burnett - it's an elegant yet earthy hybrid ofjazz, UK soul and highlife, with a broad mood range. Highlights are *Buckle Up" (with Kinch on saxophone and rap bars) and “Wipe Away Tears”, an exercise in breakbeat-driven fusion. SHARONO'CONNELL DECLAN O'ROURKE Arrivals EAST-WEST 8/10 Galway troubadour breaks out Over halfadozen exquisitely crafted albums, O’Rourke has E become something V." ofasongwriter's : songwriter, whose — have numbered John Prine, James Taylor - and Paul Weller, who produced Arrivals over six days at his Black Barn studio. O’Rourke’s dextrous acoustic guitar-picking provides the spine, augmented by subtle chamber strings and piano splashes from Weller, while his burnished baritone resonates ravishingly on 10 deathless songs, ranging from Joni Mitchell tribute “Harbour Lights” to the stark protest of “Have You Not Heard The War Is Over”. Ifhe’s been a best-kept secret up to now, Arrivals should finally blow his cover. NIGEL WILLIAMSON OSEES Metamorphosed ROCKISHELL 7/10 Dywer'slatest brings stunted punk and churnyprog The third record in four months from Osees features tracks recorded at the Face Stabber sessions, and comes out on Rock Is Hell rather than John Dwyer’s own Castle Face. It sits somewhere between that 2019 album’s elastic jams and the much shorter punk howlers that dominated 2020’s Protean Threat. Three stubs of songs - the pick of whichis razerbacked snotter “Electric War” — give way to two extended wig- outs, the super-slinky “The Virologist” and the Afrobeat prog marathon “I Got A Lot”, which takes up all of Side Two and travels to the most unusual places. PETER WATTS SOFIANE PAMART Planet Gold pus 6/10 Debut solo piano album fromthe bad boyofFrenchneoclassicism After making his name accompanying French rappers, the 28-year- old Pamartreturns to his conservatoire roots withan album of precise, Satie-inspired piano instrumentals, each named after a city or place. Most are soporifically similar: they’re in a mournful minor key, feature a left-hand vamp in 4/4, and a florid right-hand melody. It means Ci i ea Rats On Rafts: shades of strangeness that the variations really stand out. The rippling, Debussy-like arpeggios on “Carthage” are a welcome respite; “London” isa pretty waltz that sounds like something from Yann Tiersen’s Amélie score; while “Alaska” sees achugging, RyuichiSakamoto-ish melody transform into a delicate rock ballad. JOHNLEWIS RATSONRAFTS Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths rire 8/10 Infectious post-punkfromDutch outfit onalbumthree With this quasi- concept album tackling the fractured nature of E the modern world featuring “plagues, dreams, wind and fire, and ‘mythical’ characters”, Rats On Rafts are shooting for something bold on their third LP. They land their shot too: from the endless charge of guitars that propels “A Trail Of Wind And Fire” to the unshakably infectious “Tokyo Music Experience” that recalls Brix-era Fall at their most pop-leaning. When notin frantic post-punk mode via endlessly corkscrewing guitars, the band also excel in strange, moody textural explorations, adding areal eclecticism and sense of journey to the album. DANIEL DYLAN WRAY ALBERTINE SARGES The Sticky Fingers MOSHIMOSHI 7/10 Eclectic, eccentric mission statement fromBerlin-basedmusician Albertine Sarges' first album under her own name opens with a quote from feminist scholar Sara Ahmed and ends with some vocal backflips and a punk recorder. Sargesis best known as halfofItalian synth-wave duo Itaca and from electro- experimentalist Holly Herndon’s vocal ensemble, but The Sticky Fingers — also her backing band - establishes her asan idiosyncratic voice. Her lyrics are drawn from life, love and feminist theory, scattered with surrealist imagery and am-dram flourishes: depression like the darkness at the bottom ofa fish tank, tears in the post office. Angular post-punk guitars and sweet melodic touches offer a new treat with every listen. LISA-MARIEFERLA MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 35 ERIK CHRISTENHUSZ, GUY BLAKESLEE DANIELDORSA THE WEATHER STATION Ignorance ....... 9/10 THE first thought: wow, this is different. Through her first four albums as The Weather Station, the songs of Tamara Lindeman seemed like private musings, the sort of words we might find ourselves saying out loud to an absent friend, sibling, lover. The most intimate and honest thoughts, sometimes only half-formed and tentatively presented, finding a vehicle in songs that employed the conventional folk-based singer-songwriter mode asa flexible and unobstructive armature, edging into the realm of grunge-lite on her last studio recording, three years ago. She was moving through the music like a traveller through slowly changing landscapes. Ignorance offers another kind of scenery. Incollaboration with Marcus Paquin, a Montreal-based engineer and producer who worked on Arcade Fire's The Suburbs and The National's Trouble Will Find Me, sheturns her attention to a sound more clearly defined by beats. Explaining the new direction, she offers conflicting quotes: “I realised how profound and emotional straight time could be, those eternal dance rhythms, how they affect you on a physical level,” and, “I saw how the less emotion there wasin the rhythm, the more room there was for emotion in the rest of the music, the more freedom 36 *UNCUT - MARCH 2021 Thad vocally.” As Walt Whitman said, do I contradict myself? Very well, Icontradict myself. All these songs were written, for the first time, at the piano. Their basic contours seem plainer, sturdier. Along with the last echoes of finger-picked acoustic guitars will vanish, one hopes, the final comparisons to Joni Mitchell, Lindeman's fellow Canadian. Now her cool singing takes its energy from layered keyboards, subtle electronic shadings, the occasional clarinet or saxophone, and her own arrangements for a string quartet. Richer textures, but no luxury- studio sheen or indulgence: the expanded resources are deployed with the care and rigour that characterised her previous use of humbler tools. Her voice is so distinctive and her writing so personal that a strutting backbeat and a flying hi-hat don’t affect the essential character of the music. When she talks about vocal freedom, she may mean the confidence to push her voice further towards the front of the mix: the confidences, these fragments of second thoughts, are no longer half-buried. Her background as an actor comes through even more clearly in the nuances of phrasing and timbre — never theatrical, always conversational. Maybe there’s an even bigger difference. Whereas the songs on the earlier albums seemed person-to-person, the new ones SLEEVE NOTES 1 Robber 2 Atlantic 3Tried To Tell You 4ParkingLot 51055 6Separated 7 Wear 8Trust 9 Heart 10Subdivisions 11Better Now ИЕРЕЙ Produced by:Tamara Lindeman and Marcus Paquin Recordedat: Canterbury Studios, Toronto, Canada Personnel: Tamara Lindeman (vocals, piano, guitar, Moog, Planet, Wurlitzer), Johnny Spence (piano), organ, Wurlitzer, Moog, Juno), Ben Whiteley (bass, guitar), Kieran Adams (drums, percussion), Christine Bougie (guitar), Ryan Driver (flute), lan Kehoe, Philippe Melanson, Marcus Paquin (percussion), Brodie West (saxophone), Felicity Williams (harmony vocals), Drew Jurecka (violin, clarinet, bass clarinet), Rebekah Wolkstein (violin), Shannon Knights (viola), Lydia Munchinsky (cello) Tamara Lindeman akaThe Weather Station use the same tone to address wider concerns. The “you” in these songs might bean individual, or might even bethe singer herself, but thereisa sense of a more general address. The sense of disquiet is no longer exclusively private. “Robber”, the starter, obliquely addresses the forces taking controlin the name of populism: “You never believed in the robber/You thought, arobber must hate you to want to take from you/ The robber don’t hate у you/He had permission, permission by words, permission of thanks, permission of laws, permission of banks/ ۲ White tablecloth dinners, convention centres/ Itwas all done real carefully." Her delivery is as cool as ever, but the robber turns out to be wielding a knife. The song’s instrumental interludes, featuring her distorted guitar and Brodie West’s insinuating tenor saxophone over a crescendo of strings and rhythm, are typical of the understated drama she and Paquin create. Elsewhere, flickering funky guitar figures provide impetus and commentary, playing off the tense beats as she sings of blood-red sunsets and soft grass, mismatched feelings and unmade calls. In this album, too, Lindeman spends alotof time watching the birds as they wheel above the fields and the water, meditating on where we're heading, doubting it all. In “Parking Lot” — а song in which she attempts to soften the edges of disco, and succeeds — she stands outside a club, obscurely disabled by the flight and song ofa small bird: “Ts it allright that Idon’t wanna sing tonight?” There are songs of ambivalence, disaffection, of turning away, of leaving, with titles like “Loss” and “Separated”. Emotions are never straightforward, often shrouded in a mist, or on pause in the unheard half ofa dialogue, waiting to emerge. But there is still joy to be found in the sound of these songs. “Tried to Tell You” has a proud lilt as seductively lovely as anything she has written, but it’s a song with a goodbye look: “You know, you break what you treasure/ And no, it cannot be measured/Would it kill you to believe in your pleasure?" The harmonies behind the chorus of “Loss” are like a hand on a cheek. With "Heart" she creates emotional intensity byunspooling the repeated fragment of melody. The album ends with the sound ofa foot releasing the piano’s sustain pedal. Perfect. NEW ALBUMS Ө ELORISAXL The Blue Of Distance westernvinyt 8540 Brooklyn experimentalist dives into her memories Conceived asan exploration of contemporary, sometimes virtual relationships with distant landscapes, Elori Saxl’s debut was worked onin two stints, leaving her on a wintery Lake Michigan island trying to reawaken moods inspired by summer’s lusher surroundings. Four vignettes offer reminders of Brian Eno’s early ambient outings, their quiet synth drones merging with faintly melodic chamber music arrangements, the sampled sounds of water and ice emerging and disappearing like memories. But the slower evolution of three longer pieces, which nonetheless maintain this aesthetic, makes them more potent, especially “Memory Of Blue”, whose repeated melodic patterns echo Michael Nyman’s. WYNDHAM WALLACE SENYAWA Alkisah PHANTOMLIMB 740 Trancelike noiserituals from Indonesia duo The Jogja-based duo of Rully Shabara and WukirSuryadi are inspired equally by the outsider rock of Sleep and Boredoms as they are by the traditional ritual music of their native Indonesia. On their seventh album, the duo make an ecstatic racket, blending throbbing drones and clangorous riffs with struck bamboo, metallic percussion and Shabara's bestial yowls. Alkisah isan extreme, at times punishing listen, but it possibly works best when exploring the dynamics of tension: see “Kabau”, a tangle of knotty guitar and vocal chant that reaches for a mood of eerie suspension. LOUISPATTISON SLOWTHAI Tyron METHOD 740 Analbum of twohalves from NorthamptonMC It’s been a good while since an album has called to belistened toon vinyl as much as Tyron, the serpentine second LP from Northampton MC Slowthai. A record oftwo distinct moods, a mid-album flip to separate seven servings of thrillingly combative UK rap from theintrospective songmanship that follows seems crucial. The swaggering “Cancelled” — witha guest spot froma Jodorowsky-referencing Skepta – апа bleak “Dead” make for a punchy first half, butit’s when Slowthaiturns the lens inwards on the soulful “NHS” and loved-up “Feel Away” — featuring James Blake and Mount Kimbie - that he proves himself something of an original. LEONIECOOPER SMITH & BURROWS Only Smith &Burrowsls Good Enough PIAS 740 Editors and ex-Razorlight songurritersreconuene in jovial mood = Given the past year’s Biss events, Tom Smith i and Andy Burrows might be seen as misreading the global mood with this upbeat-sounding collection of wty, tuneful ditties. But at least a pair of maturing indie-rockers can still surprise us. Opener “All The Best Moves” is elegantly Lloyd Cole-ish jangle pop punctuating a “woah-oh” hook that Bastille must have forgotten to write. “Buccaneer Rum Jum” sails in on a dangerously infectious motif that echoes Caribbean steel drums, and “Old TV Shows” seems to poke country-pop fun at the pair’s slightly over-the-hill status. But they can also get serious just as effectively, on the richly atmospheric piano meditation "Parliament Hill". JOHNNY SHARP THESTAVES Good Woman aranne 864.0 TheStaveley-Taylor sisters continue their Anglo-American adventure П The Staves’ latest M studio collaboration — with Texan producer John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, St Vincent) - picks up where 2015's justia Vernon-helmed If I Was left off, as their three-part blood harmonies form the shimmering centre ofan elaborate, album-long soundscape. Jessica, Camilla and Congleton's go-to guy, fellow Yank Luke Reynolds (Guster, Pictures And Sound), conjure the spellbinding settings ona variety of keys, synths and stringed instruments, animating asong-cycle that elegantly portrays arange of emotions: “Sparks”, “Paralysed”, “Devotion”, “Failure”, “Satisfied”, “Trying”. Triggering this internal exploration is the title song, inspired by the death of their mother and the birth of Emily’s daughter, which pinpoints maternal bloodlines as an innate source of strength and empowerment. BUDSCOPPA JULIA STONE Sixty Summers sc 810 Rootsy Australian songwriter embraces sonic adventure Since 2012's By The я TA Horns, Julia Stone ML я has made two LPs ri Fa with younger brother ын V Angus, with whom c. 29shemadehername in their native Sydney during the late noughties. Ifthe latter of those, 2017's Snow, clad their acoustic vignettes in afuller, electronically enhanced sound, Sixty Summers sees the kitten- voiced Julia take even bolder steps into uncharted territory. Her bravery pays offon the itchy, Byrne-meets-Bjork Afrobeat neurotica of “Break” and the Goldfrapp-ish sweep of “Fire In Me”, while the purring oddball soul of “Easy” and the intriguingly arranged but yearning romantic dreamscapes of SPIRITUAL SYNTH Pauline Anna Strom and fellow electronic travellers PAULINE ANNA STROM Trans-Millenia Мивіс вумсімті, 2017 This anthology rescuedStrom from obscurity. Enchanted by Tangerine Dream, sheself-released six albums as Trans-Millenia Consort, which, inspite of her blindness, explore themes of cosmic flight and richly evoke the sensation of travel. Weightless and heavy. 9/10 14505 NUMERO GROUP 2013 | The website of Californian New Age veteran lasos might lead you to write him off as a crystals-and- dreamcatchers cliché, but this survey of his 40 year-career reveals apuresoul whose pastorallullabies, laced with the sounds of nature, are the essence of folk art. Sentimental, yes, butserenely so. 8/10 (Celestial LARAAJI & ‘Realms LYGHTE Celestial Realms F3 дез 4 MORNING TRIP, 1986 Tii Seasoned zither guru Laraajiis a New Age figurehead. This collaboration with fellow voyager Jonathan Lyghte" Goldman unfurls gracefully, a swirlof slow, cascading melody earthed by a constant mellifluous drone. 8/10 PIERS MARTIN “Dance” and the title track offer further striking contrasts. JOHNNY SHARP PAULINE ANNA STROM Angel Tears In Sunlight ме 9040 Gorgeousfinalmeditations - Pauline Anna Strom —*5 was the blind Bay 7" Areavisionary whose enchanting New Age ® с ^^. {compositions from 57402 the 1980s foundanew audience through the 2017 compilation Trans-Millenia Music. It struck a chord with her too: having given up music —selling her gear during hard times —Strom picked up where she left off over 30 years ago, just before her death in December. Angel Tears In Sunlight, asthetitle suggests, offers the kind of transcendental electronics that burrow blissfully into your brain. *Marking Time” and “The Pulsation” are tuned to the celestial frequency familiar to fans of Iasos and Harold Budd, while her machines mimic jungle chatter on “Tropical Rainforest”. PIERS MARTIN TALA VALA Modern Hysteric NUMBERWITCH 864.0 London-based duo'sbold experiments insound J John Roffe-Ridgard and Ben Locket’s carte zu blanche approach į makes for some wide- ranging sonic thrills. This follow-up to their 2019 debut finds the seasoned pair — Roffe-Ridgard is one half of psych-pop duo Coves; Locket's film and TV composer credits include The Amazing World Of Gumball — slalom between post-industrial beats, electronica, ambient jazz and orchestral rapture in aseries of artful instrumentals, with Dirty Three drummer Jim White among ahandful of guests. Brass fanfares punctuate “Beach Tranquiliser”; strings and piano guide the lovely, weightless “Orbits”; the understated “See The Moon Shine” is a semi- symphonic epic. ROBHUGHES ap a Sc ai pa on id мы a edi иш дый, шы: шы. жан a эй шш нш. i ш. мы: нщ, ме. eq ий. Жш. шыр ми эше. Жы fii foa = Stromaka Trans-Millenia Consort MARCH2021 - UNCUT · 37 AUBREY TRINNAMAN DANNY CLINCH © NEW ALBUMS Boogie with Foo:the Fighters loosenup Medicine At Midnight ROSWELLPRCA Classic rock gets a groove injection on Grohl and co's 10th. By Sharon O'Connell HOWEVER successful their “brand”, any band that’s stayed the course will hit career markers that prompt areassessment. | d So it’s no surprise that the 10th studio album from Foo Fighters - who've just racked up a quarter century of music-making and boast a Mount Rushmore-solid rock identity with sustained pulling power - sees them venturing where they've never been before. The Foos havelong been defined by their bedrock of'70s AM radio, the music Dave Grohl fell hard for as a young boy, internalised and later modified to fit his own band's purpose. Anyone doubting the depth ofthis love should check the covers on their B-sides — songs by Ace Frehley, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, Joe Walsh and Wings - or watch the 2014 documentary Sonic Highways, Grohl's tribute to the heritage that's fed him for solong. The band havean enduring appeal that includes a huge base of younger fans and it’s tempting to see the almost hypnagogic working oftheir music as an explanation, aseam ofshared cultural experience that for many exists tantalisingly outside the limits oftheir own history. Butthe truth may be simpler than that. Since the Foos’ sound is fundamentally feelgood by definition and aimed at their own pleasure centres, aripple effect follows. Genuine gleeis highly contagious, after all. For Medicine At Midnight, though, rather than once more just drawing heavily on 38 - UNCUT -MARCH2021 04919 1019 ’70s rock and ’8os hardcore, with the odd dipinto acoustic orchestration, the Foos have also looked to the disco and funk-edged pop that Grohl heard growing up. It’s literally a swing shift, albeit a slight one, guided by Greg Kurstin, who produced 2017's Concrete And Gold. His credits include Adele, Sia, Kelly Clarkson and Pink, so he's (again) notthe obvious choice for a band whose dominant style is defined by overdriven guitars, heavy riffing and extreme dynamics. But Grohl and Kurstin’s point of common interest is the building of highly relatable, hook-heavy songs with the power to flatten arenas. This is in no way “Foo Fighters’ groove record”, but it does see them loosening up and dialling down the density to often absurdly good-time, instant-grat effect. First single “Shame Shame” sets out their rejigged stall with a motif of plucked strings, easy-buzzing guitar and relaxed, almost floppy beats. Then comes the monstrous kick of “Cloudspotter”, its soloing nudge at Hendrix matched with the casually groovy pull of Dazz Band’s “Let It Whip” (one of Grohl’s favourite disco songs, whose beat he’d long been obsessed with) and the title track, with its undisguised nod to Bowie's Let's Dance. “Holding Poison” may throw back to The Colour And The Shape, but the song’s clipped boogie recalls Grohl’s old mates Queens Of The Stone Age, themselves no strangers to swing. Elsewhere, the Foos’ old flames still burn: opener “Making A Fire” has a seductive familiarity, suggesting the melodic rush of Boston and Badfinger, while “No Son Of Mine” isa reminder that the step between Metallica, Guns N' Roses and the Foos is a relatively short one. The album’s pause point is “Chasing Birds”, awarm, countrified pop number that channels Grohl’s vocal tenderness via George Harrison. It’s in sharp contrast to “Love Dies Young”, the set's closer and a characteristically clarion pitch to the back ofthe sports stadium. The runaway pace has it plunging from a cliff then springing back to the windswept top over and over, before Grohl’s wail carries it to climax. It’s meat-and-potatoes Foos — nourishing, if that’s where your tastes lie. This set was written in a similar emotional space to Concrete And Gold, that is, overshadowed by Trump and concomitant US and global instability. Grohl’s lyrics may not be ofa widely quotable calibre but there’s commitment and real anger here; he rails against the hypocrisy of those who preach love but stoke hatred on “No Son Of Mine”, and despairs in “Waiting On A War” when he realises that his childhood fears of being among “the first ones to perish in some crazy, nuclear holocaust”, as he described it to Uncut, are now shared by his 11-year-old daughter. That these sentiments are couched in hepped-up Sabbath anda “My Hero”-style slow burner, respectively, underlines how committed the band remain to following the feel, above all. They may have opened out their map a little more for Medicine At Midnight, but the Foos’ territory remains reassuringly familiar. NEW ALBUMS Ө AARONLEE TASJAN Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! 8/10 Dazzlingpsych-pop withhuge hooks fromaNashuille renegade In among the earnest finger-pickers of East Nashville can be found the unlikely razzle- dazzle psychedelia of one-man whirlwind Aaron Lee Tasjan. Conceived in a period of soul-searching, his joyous fourth album proper leaves behind the folksy stylings of his earlier solo work and instead builds on 2018's glitter-strewn Karma For Cheap, as wellas throwing back to his days with glam-rock Lady Gaga collaborators Semi Precious Weapons. “Up All Night" isa sexually fluid Tom Petty by way of T.Rex, while the piano-driven singalong “Dada Bois” goes the full Elton and dreamy Beatles melodies are never too far out of reach. LEONIECOOPER TELENOVELLA Merlynn Belle KILLROCK 8/10 Apersuasive collection of Lone Star laments fal ұлт > The duo of Natalie Pelle “. „ Ribbons and Jason . Chronis paint ` evocative portraits of the small town sr TELE NOVELLA Texas thatspawned them, tapping into myriad hues of American folk history. Torch-y opener "Words That Stay" comports itself as ahybrid of kd lang and Mazzy Star, all swooping voices and echo-laden open spaces, while *Wishing Shrine" tips a dark Stetson in the direction of Old West cowboy troubadours like Marty Robbins. Beguiling and atmospheric at every turn, although inspiration comes from further afield on the English folk mores of “One Little Pearl”, Ribbons’ multi-tracked rounded vowels bringing to mind the confessional delicacy of Sandy Denny. TERRY STAUNTON THEHOLD STEADY Open Door Policy POSITIVE JAMS/THIRTY TIGERS 8/10 Rousing, rueful andvery funny: one of their best yet The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, itcan be reported, remains a x "habitué of that strata inn. ol lyricists whose work can be identified from asingle couplet: any doubt about whether Open Door Policy is worth exploring should be vanquished by the closing lines of “Lanyards” alone, as its narrator reflects onan unhappy brush with Hollywood: “I saw afew stars but Inever made it into a movie/ Still try to make moves, but lm back in Independence, Missouri”. The rest of Open Door Policyis aconfident reiteration of this singular group’s virtues, all fine Springstonian swagger on “Family Farm” and hyper-wordy Costello-ish snarl on “Riptown”. ANDREW MUELLER VARIOUS ARTISTS Indaba Is srownswoop 8/10 Jazzandimproufromthe South African townships Curated by pianist Thandi Ntuliand The Brother Moves On’s Siyabonga Mthembu, Indaba d Isis a broad survey of South Africa’s thriving jazz underground. There are echoes of the pain ofapartheid: Bokani Dyer’s bubbling, Afrobeat-tinged “Ke Nako” takes its title (*Now's the time!") from an electoral slogan, while The Wretched’s “What Is History” samples the voices of Winnie Mandela and Black Panther Kwame Ture. But there is also music that captures the country’s diversity; take iPhupho L’ka Biko’s “Abaphezulu”, a mix of sitar, hand drums and gospel vocals that strikes a note ofjoyful unity. LOUISPATTISON TOMVEK New Symbols SELF-RELEASED 7/10 Indie maverick s invigorating fourth One-time upstart Tom Vekis now aged 39, and it’s heartening to see him embrace his eccentricities as he launches the designer funk of New Symbols in tandem witha pitch for a digital music player called Sleevenote, whose USP is its 7.5" screen for displaying album artwork —anoble bid destined, one might fear, for the same fate as Neil Young's Pono. Musically, Vek barrels along on a Godley & Creme tip for an enjoyably weird set of personal songs, furnished with unorthodox rhythm and seasick synths. The stream-of-consciousness rambling on “All The Time In The World” and sheer mawkishness of “My Child” only enhance its appeal. PIERS MARTIN RICHARD VON DER SCHULENBERG Moods And Dances 2021 BUREAUB 7/10 TheHold Steady Oddball Germansynthpopster createsretro-futurist library music ~ Under his hard-to- google mononym “Richard”, Hamburg’s Richard von der Schulenberg has released several albums of larkish vocal-led synth-pop since the late'9os. Here he’s ditched the vocals and decided to create forgeries of vintage library music using various antique keyboards. A Casiotone drumbox provides amachine-like pulse to the Arabian vibes of “Caravan Of The Pentamatics", and spices up the 605 exotica of “Wersimatic Space Bar” and the medieval drones of “Dance Of The Space Pentax”. Otherwise these are drumless miniatures, based around propulsive synth basslines and Radiophonic Workshop-style sound collages. Expect to hear afew of them being used as TV themes or ad jingles. JOHNLEWIS KARIMA WALKER Waking The Dreaming Body KEELEDSCALES 8/10 Tucsonnative salluringly idiosyncratic second The delicacy and hushed abstraction at work in Walker’s music suggesta kinship with Grouper, Julianna Barwick and at times Eric Chenaux but really, there’s no-one quite like Walker. A sound designer witha sweetly forlorn voice who’s worked collaboratively across film, dance, photography and sculpture, she launches her own compositions from a vaguely Americana singer-songwriter base and extrapolates via dreamily harmonic arrangements of synth, guitar, field recordings and piano. The title of her new album (which she wrote, recorded, produced and performed almost entirely solo) describes its woozy pull, whether on flickering opener “Reconstellated” or the 13-minute synth-drone piece “Horizon, Harbor Resonance”. SHARONO'CONNELL WILD PINK ABillion Little Lights ROYALMOUNTAIN 7/10 Anexpansive new sound for New York trio Wild Pink’s third album is like the first shoots of spring after along winter indoors: lightening evenings, the buzzing of cicadas and the dreamlike combination of John Ross’s voice with that ofJulia Steiner of Ratboys, who harmonises on most of the album. Lyrical references to stargazing, sprawling jasmine and the passage of time paint a picture of the infinite, and our small place in it, that is heightened by the band’s soaring melodies. The trio — Ross, bassist TC Brownell and drummer Dan Keegan - recruited a host of additional musicians to flesh out their sound with strings, Wurlitzer and delicate harmonics, transforming album centrepiece *The Shining But Tropical" from folk-adjacent lullaby to stadium- filling anthem. LISA-MARIEFERLA JOEWONG Nite Creatures 7/10 LA composer andmulti- instrumentalist flies solo Formerly drummer with Parts & Labor, Wong is perhaps best known as the composer of scores for the Netflix series нт Doll and Master Of None. This measured solo debut consists oftemperate psych-pop songs with anorchestral sheen (courtesy of avast string section), aided by a smattering of guests that include Steven Drozd, Mary Timony and The War On Drugs’ Jon Natchez. Hints of Eric Matthews seep through the brass flourishes of “Nuclear Rainbow” and the silvery title track, while “Always Alone” and “Shadow Of The Year” feel like modern analogues of prime '60s Curt Boettcher. ROBHUGHES HOLLY HALL MARCH 2021 -UNCUT : 39 GEREDMANKOWITZ © BOWSTIRLTD "People withapassportof insanity” Songlife 1967-72 MADFISH DEAS forever above their station, Penny Valentine clocked something of baroque two-piece Nirvana were REISSUE Nirvana's weedy, proto-indie-pop vibe thrown to the wolves somewhat OF THE when she reviewed their Sacha Di-stellar in 1967 when they were billed to MONTH 1967 debut single, “Tiny Goddess”, for Disc, play an Island Records showcase 8/10 noting that Campbell-Lyons had “a funny at London’s Saville Theatre. With the stage still half set for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (featuring Cleo Laine and Bernard Breslaw), and the audience eagerly awaiting new rock sensations Traffic, Patrick Campbell-Lyons, Alex Spyropoulos and their mini- orchestra were barely audible. “We had only had three rehearsals,” Campbell-Lyons recalls ruefully in the sleevenotes to this remastered vinyl collection of their five studio LPs, plus an unreleased sixth. “It wasa dreadful experience.” Wobbly-voiced aesthetes with no stomach for paying their musical dues, the original Nirvana found themselves on the wrong side of history as rock got heavy in the late 1960s, but still hada magical career. They made the first rock opera, got doused in paint by Salvador Dalilive on French TV, and even if their most celebrated song (the phasers-set-to-stun “Rainbow Chaser”) was never a huge hit, Songlifeis a suitably gigantic testamentto a band that - like the Odessey And Oracle-era Zombies or Big Star - failed on the very grandest of scales. 40 -UNCUT - MARCH2021 little voice ofincredible sadness". Born in Waterford, Campbell-Lyons moved to London in the early 1960s, playing with R&B bands in Ealing before his quirky songs earned hima first bash at the big time with Hat And Tie, a duo with future Roxy Music, Sex Pistols and Pulp producer Chris Thomas. However, a greater adventure began when he was introduced to Spyropoulos at La Gioconda coffee house on Denmark Street. The Greek cinephile had abandoned his legal studies in Paris to try his luck in peak-groovy England, and after sketching out some widescreen tunes with Campbell-Lyons at Spyropoulos's west London flat, the pair became one of Island’s first non-reggae signings. Label boss Chris Blackwell saw the potential in their home demos, and — perhaps rashly - encouraged them to bring in an orchestral arranger, and to think big. Their debut album, The Story Of Simon Simopath, emerged just before Christmas 1967. A head-shop fairytale, it charts the adventures ofa depressed youngster who finds happiness on the far side of the cosmos after becoming JZ» MARCH2021 UNCUT : 41 R a ЕЕ 5-0 Q. о ЖЕЗ Ке] EAS Е 2.9 Bos ЕЗ " LyonsandAlex $3 Spyropoulos MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVESIXBETTY IMAGES Nirvanaand friends: high artmeets showbiz aspace pilot, its monstrous tweeness mitigated by brilliant, primary-coloured songs: “Satellite Jockey”, “Wings Of Love” (as covered by Herman’s Hermits) and the happy-clappy “We Can Help You” (an almost hit for The Alan Bown!). Meanwhile, lush centrepiece “Pentecost Hotel” promises a refuge for “people witha passport of insanity", a moving exemplar of how Nirvana hinted at emotional fragility behind their crushed-velvet wall of sound. Simon Simopath proved a hard sell in what was still a singles-oriented age, and Nirvana foregrounded their rococo popsensibility for 1968's All Of Us. Their musical calling card, “Rainbow Chaser” has ELO-style strings, wild stereo phasing and slyly transgressive lyrics (“I can talk to him, andIcan love him”), but stalled at No 34 in the UK charts in May 1968. It's astunning, impish period piece, but the rapturous “The Touchables (All Of Us)” might be even more perfectly crafted, though it was perhaps not a natural fit as the title song for the film of the same name: a sexy pop drama based on an idea by Performance writer Donald Cammell. More modest thrills lurk elsewhere, not least the cheeky use of the word “wanky” on “Frankie The Great”, and Spyropoulous’s psychedelic Astrud Gilberto impersonation, “You Can Try It”. NIRVANA AND THEIR CIRC Unfazed by public indifference, Nirvana doubled down on the pomp for their third LP, but Island politely declined to release it, Blackwell feeling that a record in thrall to Francis Lai’s soundtrack to Un Homme Et Une Femme had no place onalabelthat was scoring big with King Crimson and Jethro Tull. Nirvana called in favours to get it finished; grateful for a loan to pay for production costs, they gave an extra-large credit to the son of one of Spyropoulos’s cousins on what was supposed to bea self-titled LP, leading it to be misnamed Dedicated To Markos II after it finally dribbled out in 1970. Not helped by an extremely weird-looking bones- and-fingers sleeve (“It looks like a bad advert for nail varnish,” says Campbell- Lyons), it was ill-suited to the golden age of Led Zeppelin, though “Excerpt From ‘The Blind & The Beautiful" may bethe greatest of Nirvana's non-hits. Musical returns decreased thereafter. Spyropoulos stepped aside, leaving Campbell-Lyons to bash together an unloved prog divorce album, Local Anaesthetic (almost redeemed by the lachrymose “Saddest Day Of My Life”), before Nirvana deactivated after 1972’s Songs Of Love And Praise. Key features: Las Vegas-friendly reworkings of “Rainbow Chaser” and “Pentecost Hotel”, plus grandstand finale “Stadium”, an oddball collision of Incredible String Band cosmic wonderment and Andy Williams production values. Eternally hopeful, Campbell-Lyons kept chasing rainbows as Pica, Erehwon and Rock O’Doodle, among others, and even reunited with Spyropoulos in the 1970s to work on a vampire musical. The fleshed-out demos have emerged here for the first time as Secrets, with the Quadrophenia-worthy “Bingo Boy” and Abba fandango “Two Of A Kind” suitably quirky additions to the Nirvana canon. There was some West End interest for a while, but ultimately, Nirvana’s most tangible reward for their efforts came in the ’90s with “an amicable pay-off” from the Kurt Cobain Nirvana for having inadvertently stolen their name. Their sound, though, remains very much their own. The contrast between Spyropoulos and Campbell-Lyons’ quavering voices and the skyscraping arrangements on Songlife makes fora camp mix of high art and showbiz; Keith West's "Excerpt From A Teenage Opera" via Fellini's 872. Nirvana proved far too convoluted a proposition for the Saville Theatre audience in 1967, but their majestic softness makes complete sense in less alpha-male times. They were the plinky- plonk Pastels of their age — heavenly before Heavenly - a pre-decimal Vampire Weekend: a delirious, freaky flight of fancy. Extras: 7/10: A big booklet thoroughly documents the Nirvana story, while those insearch of non-album Nirvana material should head for Island's 3CD Rainbow Chaser collection. The path to musical enlightenment (via Athens and Carlisle) mA APHRODITE'S = CHILD y End Of The World | PHILIPS, 1968 Like Spyropoulos, ““ Athenians Aphrodite's Child endedupin Paris. They scored a huge European hit with "Rain And Tears”, andits accompanying album echoed Nirvana's symphonic quality. The uneasy alliance of MOR star Demis Roussos and New Age boffin Vangelis held for three albums, with debut End Of The World and biblical concept LP 666 much loved by prog-psych extremists. 8/10 42: UNCUT - MARCH2021 J SPOOKY TOOTH It's All About A Roundabout ISLAND, 1968 Nirvana's labelmates provided rock muscle on the non-album single “Oh! What A Performance”, and were thankedin the credits to their third LP. As Art, the former Carlisle R&B chuggers had given it some psychedelic welly, but heralded their move to hard rock with a spaced-out name change. Their lava-lamp assault on Janis lan's “Society's Child" may be their career pinnacle. 8/10 [БУ ОРЕ НАВО En Anglais UNITED ARTISTS, 1968 TheFrench chanteuse knew akiller song when she heard one, and recorded Tim Hardin's “Hang On To A Dream” and the Kinks’ “Who Will Be Next In Line’, as wellas Nirvana's "Tiny Goddess" for this groovy ‘fabriqué a Londres’ LP. She spread the word further by re-recording "Tiny Goddess’ in French ("Je Ne Sais Pas Ce Que Je Veux”) and Italian (“La Bilancia Dell'Amore”). 8/10 SLEEVE NOTES DISC 1:The Story Of Simon Simopath LWings Of Love 2Lonely Boy 3WeCanHelp You 4Satellite Jockey Sin The Courtyard Of The Stars 6 You Are Just The One 7 Pentecost Hotel 81Never Had ALove Like This Before 9 Take This Hand 101999 DISC 2-AllOfUs 1 Rainbow Chaser 2 Tiny Goddess 3 The Touchables (All Of Us) 4Melanie Blue 5 Trapeze 6 The Show Must Go On 7 Girlln The Park 8 MiamiMasquerade 9 Frankie The Great 10 YouCantTry lt 11 Everybody Loves The Clown 12St John's Wood Affair DISC 3-Dedicated To Markos Ill aka Black Flower 1 The Worldls Cold Without You 2ExcerptFrom The Blind & The Beautiful’ 31 Talk To My Room 4Christopher Lucifer 5 Aline Cherie 6 Tres, Tres Bien 7|tHappened Two Sundays Ago 8 Black Flower 9Love Suite 10 Illinois DISC 4 - Local Anaesthetic 1ModusOperandi (Method Of Work) 2Home (Salutation- Construction- Destruction-Re- Construction-Fanfare) DISC 5 -Songs Of Love AndPraise 1Rainbow Chaser 2Please Believe Me 3LordUp Above 4She'sLostlt 5NovaSketch 6PentecostHotel 7INeed Your Love Tonight 8WillThereBeMe 9 Stadium DISC 6 - Secrets 1Secrets (Intro) 21Don't Care 3Someone Stole My Mona Lisa 4Bingo Boy SLiving In ABlind Spot 6lt's Good To Have A Heart 7In The Shadow Of That Old Love Affair 81Want To Touch/ The Big Fight 9 Two Of A Kind 10 Why Don't You Like Me 11 Secrets (Reprise) 12 What You Do YouAre 13 Freedom Chaser Patrick Campbell-Lyons Alex Spyropoulos You first met atLaGioconda on Denmark Street: correct? ALEX SPYROPOULOS: Everybody would meet along Denmark Street because there was so many studios and publishers. I met Patrick there, and it sparkled straight away. I’m Greek, he’s Irish; we were two foreigners and two opposites. CAMPBELL-LYONS: I'm a bit ofa pessimist, he’s a bit of an optimist. There was no-one like us on Island. Spooky Tooth were talking about Don Covay or Sam & Dave; Stevie Winwood was talking about Ray Charles. When we first met, we didn’t talk about music: we were talking about James Joyce, Dali and Bunuel. We brought something a bit different to the table. That Saville Theatre show supporting Traffic was quite ashock to the system. SPYROPOULOS: At that time, you couldn't amplify a cello ora piano. Stevie Winwood had an electric organ, electric guitars. We were almost like chamber music. CAMPBELL-LYONS: It was meant to be the launch of Island Records and everybody was there — it was a big deal. Island boss Chris Blackwell gave us a load of money to buy some new clothes and we wentto a place called Thea Porter, a very trendy place on Carnaby Street, and bought these kaftans and weird gear. When the curtains opened, Isaw all these faces and their mouths opened like that, like: ‘Who is this?’ SPYROPOULOS: We had a chandelier on Nirvana: "We brought something a bit different to the table” ARCHIVE O the piano and, in kaftans, we lookeda little strange. CAMPBELL- LYONS: If we didn’t have such good songs, we would have dieda death. When we signed, Blackwell said to us, “Would you like an orchestra or would you like us to puta band together to go on the road?” and without hesitation we said, “We’ll havean orchestra.” If we had got a band, we would never have made three classic albums. We were songwriters. Some people are not made for the road. People think of Nirvanaasa psychedelic band. Is that how yousee it? CAMPBELL-LYONS:[| was never trying to be anything. I was just me. I never said we hada psychedelic band, did you? SPYROPOULOS: No. We weren’t freaking out on drugs and things and lying on the floor. Just the clothes looked a bit colourful. It sounds very silly, but we were fairly clean. CAMPBELL-LYONS: We both smoked dope. SPYROPOULOS: Me as a Greek guy, I appreciated the freedom of thought and creativity of living in London. London was an open garden and we happened to be there at the right time. CAMPBELL-LYONS: | would say we were bohemians rather than psychedelic people. SPYROPOULOS: But we didn't mix very much with the rock world. Youbothhave very un-rock voices.Do you think that was ahandicap? SPYROPOULOS: We were not belters. No way. We were not Joe Cockers. CAMPBELL-LYONS: The producers and the pluggers used to say when you had PATRICK CAMPBELL-LYONS a Nirvana song, because of my voice, you knew it was Nirvana. Maybe it was something to do with my Irish accent; maybe my phrasing was much more to do with Irish tenor. Our songs required our voices, and our voices required those tunes and melodies and lyrics. “Rainbow Chaser" is your most famous song; it's very unusual because of the phasing and that gender-fluidlyric. CAMPBELL-LYONS: Some people don't see that. The gender thing is something that I have no problem with. Sometimes I thought my voice sounded a bit like awoman’s, sol could get away with it. “I can love him”, “I can love her”: I can love whoever. SPYROPOULOS: “Rainbow Chaser” was going to be the B-side, but when our arranger blew it up with the big brass, Mickie Most said, “Flip your record over.” When I hear it, itreminds me of the 007 movies — the big brassy theme. CAMPBELL-LYONS: The phasing is an accident. The spools ran off the heads of the tape, and you could hear the brass spinning into the speakers like the turbines ofa jet, and we went, “God, what’s that?” Fortunately, the engineer, Brian Humphries, had recorded it. Doesit annoy you that youdidn't have more commercial success? SPYROPOULOS: We were a turntable hit - our songs would be played on the radio seven, eight times a day. DJs loved us. Thefact that we didn't have a band stopped us. We knew we were good writers, but it was too much money to get an orchestra to do a gig or two - it'sa very costly thing. CAMPBELL-LYONS: We made some money, but the fact that we were on Island is worth more than money. The fact that we wrote those songs in that environment is worth more than money. Those first three records sound gigantic; how did you put them together? CAMPBELL-LYONS: Arranger Syd Dale is athird of Simon Simopath. He put together our wrecking crew: Herbie Flowers on bass, Alan Hawkshaw on piano, Clem Cattini on drums - the best musicians. SPYROPOULOS: The first album was done in three days - very professionally done: the backings with the orchestra, then the second day the vocals and the third day the mixing. CAMPBELL-LYONS: Those guys in the studio didn’t make mistakes, because they’ve a session to go to in the afternoon with Tom Jones, and another onein the evening with Dusty Springfield. But it was our songs. And we knew we had some good songs. The reason there’s a boxset is because the songs have stood the test of time. Quality is always quality. INTERVIEW: JIM WIRTH MARCH 2021 UNCUT - 43 GEREDMANKOWITZ ©BOWSTIRLTD т AK ORIEF Cuba: Music And Revolution Culture Clashin Havana, Cuba juan — Seek ОАТ Л 2a Cubaninfluence that kept bebop on the dancefloor. And, throughout the 1940s апа ’50s Havana was where American hedonists went to party. But then came Fidel, and Che, and the 1959 revolution, and the Bay Of Pigs invasion, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. now in Miami and New York. For many, 1959 is where Cuba's music history ends, a narrative perpetuated by Ry Cooder's celebration of pre-revolutionary music, Buena Vista Social Club. The real story is, of course, rather more complex, and - Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85, Vol 1 ол.» And that cultural dialogue between Cuba and the US came to a halt. Cuba carried oninisolation, besieged by US sanctions, no longer visited by jazz royalty, no longer explored by Cuba: Music And Revolution, compiled by DJ Gilles Peterson and Soul Jazz Records founder Stuart Baker (it accompanies a lavish hardback book extension, the Western world) with every key dance craze: the States, never to return. Cuban ы the playground of of the same name). = American playboys It shows us how, from the 1960s N | | and gangsters. onwards, Cuban music continued under 29) | Its most famous the watchful eye ofthe Communist UBA is the island that к= ТИ musicians — Party. Theisland's formidable musical taught America how м USIC AND REVOLUTION singer Celia Cruz, conservatoires specialised in Western to dance. For much su die aie gd نین‎ bassist Cachao, classical music (something also ofthe 2oth century it percussionist encouraged by Cuba's communist allies), provided the United Mongo Santamaria creating thousands of highly trained States (and, by — defected to the Cuban musicians. But what could they play? Cuba’s nightclubs, tainted by association with the pre-revolutionary mambo, the rumba, the cha-cha-cha, the music was rebadged | leader Batista, were closed; dance music charanga, the bugalu. When jazz moved as “salsa”, and its was regarded as suspiciously decadent; into the concert halls it was the Afro- biggest stars were rock’n’roll and US R&B were banned 44- UNCUT - MARCH2021 ARCHIVE O ascultural weapons of Yankee imperialism; and even the term “jazz” had to be renamed “musica moderna”. “We wanted to play bebop,” said trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, from the legendary Cuban band Irakere, “but we were told that our drummer couldn’t even use cymbals, because they sounded too jazzy. We eventually used congas and cowbells instead. It helped us to come up with something new and creative.” The two remarkable tracks from Irakere that bookend this compilation bear this out, placing fiery Afro-Cuban hand percussion under fearsome Brecker Brothers-style jazz-rock horn arrangements and distorted Fender Rhodes solos. Irakere’s rambunctious Latin jazz has been winning Grammys for 40 years and they’ve long been regulars at Ronnie Scott’s and on the European jazz festival circuit, but they’re one of only two bands on this compilation we might be familiar with. The other is Los Van Van, a funky charanga group founded in 1969, who mix descarga piano with percussive strings and florid horn solos - like a baroque version ofa Philly disco band. This compilation uncovers many other gems. Some are pre-revolutionary artists whose careers were given a funky reboot in the 1980s, like the sprightly son montuno band Conjunto Rumbavana, or the all-female vocal trio Las D’Aida (featuring Buena Vista Social Club star Omara Portuondo, hereina Every track on this compilation smuggles in slyly subversive messages surprisingly proggy setting). There are three tracks from Grupo Monumental, all spiky horns, squeaky Farfisa organs and sly invocations of American funk. There is Los 5 U 4, a quartet featuring three blind members who are as close to an Anglo- American band as you'll find here, performing aslow-burning Latin-rock ballad that climaxes in a heavily distorted guitar frenzy. There are two pieces of hypnotically funky prog from Los Reyes 73, featuring swirls of organ, wah-wah guitar and angular horn riffs. Best of all are the tracks by Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC, led by the cosmopolitan classical guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer. Commissioned by the féted film director Alfredo Guevara to provide movie soundtracks, they had the cultural clout to be a bit more avant-garde than other Cuban acts. You'll hear unusual time signatures, heavy-duty psychedelic organ solos, FX-laden guitars and touches of atonalism: imagine an Afro-Cuban blaxploitation soundtrack played by an incarnation of Soft Machine who just happen to have sensational Latin-jazz chops. This adventurous spirit is shared by the band’s sidekicks who also feature on this compilation, like the bassist Eduardo Ramos or the remarkable pianist Emiliano Salvador. One can only hope that this LP will be accompanied by other Soul Jazz releases delving deeper into these discoveries. It’d be great to hear more by the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC, and also more by the hippie-ish "nueva trova" singers who often recorded with them, like Pablo Milanes (also agifted scat vocalist) and Silvio Rodriguez. They were effectively state-sanctioned protest singers who managed to smuggle slyly subversive messages onto records controlled by a brutal police state. It's effectively what every track on this compilation does musically. Soul Jazz's Stuart Baker:record detective Where did youfind these records? About 25 years agolwasinHavanarecording aSanteria album for Soul Jazzandlstarted looking for old vinyl.l'vebeenbacka few times since. Eventually I collected hundreds of Cuban records and thought, "Maybe we should doa Cuban version of our NuYorica compilations?" GillesPeterson hadsimilar thoughts after visiting Cuba, so we put our collections together. Obviously, there wasalotof redtape togothrough with the Cuban government! Apart fromirakere andLos Van Van, did you know about any of these bands? Not really! feltlike adetective. Very little Cuban music after 1959 is documented.| had to trace which artists stayed in Cuba and which defected to the US. Some ‘60s records on Cuban labels were actually made in the US. l'd alsofind 1970s Cuban albums on Discogs thathadonly beenreleasedin places like Slovenia or Poland. There was avery strong cultural exchange between Cuba and the Soviet Bloc. Wheredid Cubanmusicians getinstruments like Hammonds, Rhodes pianos and Moogs? Idon'tthinkthere are any real Hammond organshere. Ithinkthey gotimitations madein the SovietUnion.Even electric guitars were incredibly rarein Cuba, whichis why they stand out. But every unusualinstrumentherehasa story - oftenit’s something that predates the revolution, or asynthesiser abandpickedup on tour. What were the most amazing records you found? The first was a 1963 album by Chucho Valdes. Thenextwas a 1975 album by Grupo de Experimentación SonoradellCAIC, which had this amazing cover with guns andskulls.It was soout-there. Thatsetme off downsomerabbitholes. Those two albums werelike finding the Willy Wonka gold ticket! INTERVIEW: JOHNLEWIS P46 WARREN ZEVON P47 CRASS P47 PJHARVEY P48 KIWIROCK P48 BOBMARLEY P50 JOHN MAYALL P50 THENATIONAL Р51 NIKKISUDDEN FRANK BLACK The Cult Of Ray (reissue, 1996) DEMON 724.0 Third soloLP from former Pixie, back onuinyl “Twant to sell lots and =) lots of records,” Frank Black reputedly told his record company in the mid-’90s. But Black’s solo career unquestionably lacked the va-va- voom of his former band; some of the weird angularity had been sanded away, while maybe some fans nursed asense of blame — you split up Pixies for this? Heard with 2021 ears, though, 1996's The Cult Of Ray — a nod to sci-fi author Ray Bradbury - has plenty to recommend it. A sort of blueprint for the burly classic rock moves Black would later pull with the Catholics, it peaks with the chugging X-Files grunge of “Men In Black” and a windswept country weepie, “I Don’t Want To Hurt You (Every Single Time)”. Extras: None. LOUISPATTISON BLACK SABBATH Vol 4: Super Deluxe smc 9040 Coked-up classic with unreleased out-takes andlive cuts RET E LU -i TheSabs' fourth "e. successivemasterpiece j | Г се(5 аВапазоте 3 a reissue, featuring the ET i remastered album J accompanied by 17 studio out-takes and alternative versions (six previously unreleased) plus 1973 live recordings. The album is a start-to-finish classic, featuring some of Ozzy’s best singing on the thunderous “Snowblind” and “Supernaut” as well as the beautiful change-of-pace offered by “Changes” and “Laguna Sunrise”. The out-takes aren’t radically different —there’s a lovely “Laguna Sunrise” shorn of overdubs and an instrumental “Under The Sun” plus multiple versions of “Snowblind”, “Supernaut” and “Wheels Of Confusion” complete with studio dialogue, with much repetition of the word “bollocks”. Available as 5LP or 4CD version. Extras:5/10. Booklet with liner notes, rare photos and unused artwork. PETER WATTS MARCH 2021 - UNCUT: 45 GEORGEGRUEL Stand In The Fire - Live At The Roxy (Deluxe Edition) RUN OUT GROOVE WHEN Warren Zevon stepped onto the stage of Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre in 1980, hewasamanata peak - although, asis ұя often the way of such things, he may not have appreciated this at the time. He was 33, and reaping the rewards from the dues he’d paid, including an aborted launch as a singer-songwriter, a stint playing keyboards for The Everly Brothers, a briefself-exile in Spain. In the previous few years, Zevon had madea home inLA - latterly with Knot’s Landing star Kim Lankford — and released three superb albums, which had earned critical acclaim, cultish adoration and spawned the hit single “Werewolves Of London”. Everybody wanted a piece of him: among recent collaborators had been Jackson Browne, The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. He’d sobered himself up in rehab. And now he was doing five nights at the Roxy. For all that Warren Zevon held Los Angelean rock aristocracy in his thrall, he hadn’t taken his famous friends on tour with him. Sharing the Roxy stage with Zevon were regular lead guitarist David Landau — brother of Springsteen manager Jon — and bassist Roberto Piñón, plus three members of Boulder, a Colorado bar band. Zevon seemed to sense that while the impeccably tasteful playing and high- gloss production of his albums worked 46: UNCUT - MARCH2021 Zeke Zirngiebel (c fineon record, it risked sounding a little antiseptic if he tried to replicate it on stage. Itwasan astute judgement. Though there was nothing wrong with the songs on Zevon's albums, they rather foregrounded the sardonic wit oftheir composer, on occasion going perilously close to communicating the never attractive ideathata given performer finds this rock'n'roll lark, while perhaps amusing, somewhat beneath them. David Fricke's liner notes remind that Zevon, frowning over his spectacles at his grand piano, had perceived his real peer group as the likes of John Updike, John Cheever and Norman Mailer, rather than any bunch of semi-literate yahoos with these new-fangled "electric" guitars. Butonthe Roxy run captured == | onStand In The Fire, Zevon lustily embraced therole of rock'n'roll singer - throughout, hesounds unbound, untamed, and like he's having the time of his life. Itis a minor scandal that Stand In The Fire has been issued in stuttering instalments. Its original release, in 1980, contained only 10 tracks. A 2007 reissue added four more. This double album vinyl version carries 20, including previously unreleased versions of “The Sin”, “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School”, “Night Time In The Switching Yard”, “Gorilla You’re A Desperado”, Allen Toussaint’s “A Certain Girl” and “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner”. At which point, any sane mind boggles 4919 1019 George Gruel at the fact that “Roland...” was left off any incarnation of Stand In The Fire — especially this version of the song. “Roland...” was always a pretty definitive statement of Zevon’s gifts, on the basis thatit was -and remains -impossible toimagine anyone else even having this idea for a rock’n’roll lyric, never mind deciding to proceed with it: the narrative of the ghost of a Scandinavian mercenary, decapitated in Biafra, haunting subsequent conflicts in “Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine and Berkeley”. On Excitable Boy, itwas mordantly funny, a deftly turned intellectual exercise. On Stand In The Fire, “Roland...” sounds every bit as joyously unhinged as its premise, the drums pattering martial paradiddles in the middle verses, then impersonating cannon salvoes in the climactic chorus as Zevon updates the frontlines to include Tehran and Afghanistan. Stand In The Fire isn’t all undertaken in fifth gear. There are moments when Zevon returns to the piano stool and reminds of his peerlessness as asombre balladeer, but henevertheless cannot entirely repress his general glee. Introducing (amagnificent) “Hasten Down The Wind”, he reflects on the change in his fortunes brought about by Linda Ronstadt’s 1976 version of it, and says, “When I wrote this song I was nota very happy fellow. I was poor and strung out and screwed up. Now I'm just screwed up... naw, I'm very happy." There is never any mistaking this. “The Sin" resembles a Ramones song. Zevon's Springsteen co-write “Jeannie Needs A Shooter” sounds much more Springsteen than Zevon. “Lawyers, Guns & Money” is recast from a fretful regret of a life ill- advisedly lived to a defiant, chest-beating boast, the items requested in the title no longer the basics ofan escape plan but the necessities to keep the party going. Nothing aboutthe unrestrained verve of Stand In The Fire will — or should - make anyone think any less of Zevon's fine studio albums. But it's wonderful - at last! — to havea full-length, immersive document of what these meticulously composed songs could do when they were let out to play. OSA ННН CRASS Crassical Collection: Christ The Album owsurreimpEPENDENT 9040 Terrific reissue set Crass co-founder Penny Rimbaud has put together this ~ handsome selection of Crass reissues featuring remastered CD versions of the band’s entire back catalogue. That’s every studio album from The Feeding Of The 5,000 to 1986's avant-garde Ten Notes On A Summer's Day plus an expanded version oftheir celebrated “greatest hits” compilation, Best Before 1984, which includes sound collages of snippets from the news and radio in the 1980s as well as songs. It’s a fascinating musical, political and social journey, with every album having something to recommend it, Christ The Album probably capturing them at their bruising, sardonic peak, before disillusion and exhaustion set in. It’s exhilarating even today, with tracks suchas “Nineteen Eighty Bore” and “Beg Your Pardon” skewering establishment hypocrisy with verve. Extras:8/10. Each album comes with new packaging, asecond CD ofrare and unreleased tracks, interviews and live cuts, plus liner notes from Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant. PETER WATTS DISCO ZOMBIES South London Stinks opticnerve 7210 DIY wise guys greatest misses returntovinyl Rock Against Racism apparently asked John Peel to stop playing the Disco Zombies’ accidental mod corker “Drums Over London”, apparently misunderstanding the heavy irony in the Leicester Poly pals’ sarcastic takedown of big-city bigotry. Too smart for their own good, the Disco Zombies evolved at speed once they moved to London. A sped-up pub band on their ungainly debut EP, they hit a sweet spot with 1979’s “Drums Over London” before breaking out the drum machine for their final double A-side – “Неге Come The Buts”/“Mary Millington”. Wisely, they largely stuck to their day jobs thereafter; singer Dave Henderson became a pop magazine executive, while guitarist Andy Ross oversaw Blur’s rise in joint command of their label, Food. Extras: 6/10. Material from two further abandoned singles — “Where Have You Been Lately, Tony Hateley?” and “The Year Of The Sex Olympics” — plus tracks recorded during Noughties reunions. JIMWIRTH FRATERNITY Seasons Of Change - The Complete Recor INOS CHERRY RED 8040 BonScott meets The Band in pre-AccaDacca days "fermi | Before Bon Scott RIT achieved immortality I| with AC/DC, he к. T s was lead singer in Fraternity, a forgotten Oz collective who took their lead from The Band and Grateful Dead, albeit translated through an Aussie filter. This 3CD compilation rounds up their two studio albums — 1971's Livestock and the following year's Flaming Galah - plus singles and live tracks. There's alsoa third CD ofunreleased recordings made in London when the group were living 17 toa house in Finchley and failing to crack the UK market. Fraternity were fine, ambitious musicians whose beardy musical rambles — pan pipes are occasionally deployed - are far removed from AC/DC, soit can be abit ofa culture shock hearing Scott’s familiar voice on the proggy “Jupiter Landscape” and its kin. The bluesy moments — “Welfare Boogie”, “Hogwash” — are more in keeping with his later work, but Fraternity havea distinctive sound and style that shows they shouldn't be overlooked as a significant Australian actin their own right. Extras: None. PETER WATTS PJHARVEY Is This Desire? Demos suu 8/40 Harvey's fine fourth album inthe form of previously unreleased demos In retrospect, Is This з Desire? — originally released in 1998 - sounds something like Harvey revisiting first principles. Falling between the comparatively polished and accessible To Bring You My Love and Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, it had much more in common with the sparse, agitated punkiness of Dry and Rid Of Me, even if the textures were more electronic than before. Asaresult, there's a smaller gulf between the finished product and the demos — now made available on vinyl, CD and digital — than is often the case. This does not render the demos redundant, however: indeed, ina few cases, they internalise a choked, claustrophobic intimacy that’s even more overwhelming than that of the finished tracks. In particular, the abrasive clatter of “Joy” and “My Beautiful Leah” benefit from this further removal of polish. Extras: None. though Is This Desire? itselfis also reissued. ANDREWMUELLER RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS Destiny Street Complete omnivore 9040 Mr Hell'smusicalsayonara, re-evaluated T L1 With Blank É- Generation, Richard _ Meyers Hell, along 3 with Voidoid extraordinaire Robert zu Quine, fervently ^. тар. Tw Punkis dead: Crasslive, WithamLabour Hall, May 18, 1981 expressed all that (arguably) needed to besaid in punk's halcyon days of 1977. Little did audiences know then, buthe had only onelastalbum in him. Destiny Street arrived in 1982; Hell essentially disowned it. But the reclamation project is complete here, across three remastered versions of the 10-track LP, a set of studio demos recorded 1978-1980, and personal liner notes to boot. Hell's vocals slash wonderfully, while Quine's vicious guitars initiate his future to come with Tom Waits, Lou Reed and Matthew Sweet. While Hell pays respect via freaked-out covers of The Kinks, Them and even Dylan, his own mesmerising songwriting remains unique and devastating, especially the crunchy *Kid With the Replaceable Head" and “Lowest Common Dominator”. Extras:8/10. Newly discovered 24-track masters from 1982, remixed by Richard Hell and Nick Zinner; Hell’s performance of “Time” at the Robert Quine memorial service in 2004. LUKETORN TOMMY JAMES AND THESHONDELLS Complete Roulette Recordings 8040 Michigan popsters journey far e bubblegumtracedinfull = =| Fans who fell for эры ЛЙ “| Tommy James & The » «399 Shondells when a Sq ‘Hanky Panky” hit US No1in’66, then stayed on board even after he went solo five years later, were in for quite a ride, as this exhaustive comp shows. Although further hits such as 1968 UK chart-topper “Mony Mony” cemented a rep as expert bubblegum merchants, they were already turning on and tuning into wildly different styles, as reflected in Crimson And Clover, released later the same year, and - less celebrated but further out-there — 1969's pick-and-mix psychedelic smorgasbord Cellophane Symphony. Those albums and six other studio sets are herein different track order, along with a dozen or so B-sides and non-album tracks (1969 single *Ball Of Flame" among the highlights), before James turns his gazeincreasingly towards Nashville and gospel-infused soul on three solo albums, the pick of which is 1971's My Head, My Bed And My Red Guitar. Extras: None. JOHNNY SHARP EDGAR JONES The Way Itls: 25 Years Of Solo Adventures CHERRY RED 740 Themanycolours of amusicalchameleon . Though not quite afamous name, songwriter and sideman Edgar Jones has long DGAR been astriking presence. | ~~ Garage rockers the Stairs were his original outfit circa 1990, then hard rockers Free Peace Thing, and he's also played bass for a host of artists, from Johnny Marr to Paul Weller. The Way It Is portrays Jones as amusical chameleon through some 70 original compositions. Boundless hooks and expert riffage prevail - the Bo Diddley-esque title song being a fine example — but if some efforts sound generic, unheard masterpieces emerge too. “Tenderly”, for instance, finds Jones and bandmates rendering gorgeous, soulful doo-wop, conjuring up both 1956 and the here and now. Extras:6/10. Liner notes by Jones and journalist Lois Wilson, and cover photos by Mark McNulty. LUKETORN LITTLE ANN Detroit's Secret Soul ace 8040 Forgotten 60ssoul sensation rediscovered In 1968, at the age of 23, Little Ann - aka Ann Bridgeforth — recorded an album’s worth of floor-shaking soul stirrers for Detroit’s Ric-Tic label with producer Dave Hamilton, a former guitarist with Motown's Funk Brothers. Only one song, “What Should I Do”, was ever released, and in the 1980s it became an obscure northern soul hit. Then the trail went cold until Ace Records acquired Hamilton’s archives. Later still, her only other known recordings, made in Canada in 1972-73, came to light. Her entire catalogue is collected here. It’s easy enough to see why Ann got overlooked alongside Martha, Gladys, Diana etal, but the 60s material in particular reveals a blisteringly soulful voice over some fabulous backing tracks that mix the best of Motown and Stax in one funk-fuelled package. Extras: 6/10. Extensive sleeve notes. NIGEL WILLIAMSON МАВСН2021 - UNCUT : 47 © ARCHIVE KNITTINGFACTORY f REDISCOVERED ! The Essential Gary Lucas A mainstay of New York’s music scene for four decades, singer and guitarist Gary Lucas FI inevitably remains L ^ ` best known for his key supporting roles in the final years of Captain Beefheart's career andin the early daysofJeff Buckley's (in his time as aPRflackfor CBS, Lucas was alsothe one who dubbed The Clash *the only band that matters"). This 2CD set aims to cover the breadth of his musical endeavours, which are wide enough to encompass Hungarian folk, Cuban charanga and Taiwanese pop along with many displays of Lucas’s fretboard dexterity and steadfast affection for open tunings and that predicts Pacific Northwest groups like Tad fingerpicking. The generous sampling | The Gordons * Future and Nirvana later in ће '80s. On this combined ofrecordings by his long-running Gods Shock reissue, you can hear The Gordons learning as And Monsters project includes several they go, trying out new ideas and bending their memorable dalliances with David TE FEREGGNDS songs into weird shapes, and their excitement Johansen on the blustery swamp blues over every new possibility is contagious. “One Man’s Meat”, Mary Margaret O'Hara Bailter Space grew out of The Gordons like a on the spellbinding “Poison Tree”, and the vestigial twin: Parker founded the groupasa Woodentops’ Rolo McGinty on “Skin The Wammo: 25th side-project with The Clean’s Hamish Kilgour Rabbit”. Nona Hendryx’s funky rendition Anniversary Edition on drums, but near constant turnover shuffled of “Her Eyes Are A Million Blue Miles” Е first Halvorsen and then McLachlan into the and an embryonic version of “Grace” band. Rather than revert back to their original are nods to his Beefheart and Buckley moniker, they recorded a steady stream of tenures, respectively. And while Lucas’s albums under their new name for Matador. own compositions often pale next to his By 1995 they had streamlined their sound collaborative efforts, later tangents like his considerably but lost no volume in the process. eerie 1989 score for silent horror film The The songs on Wammo move with more agility Golemarea testament to the man’s restless and purpose, incorporating kosmische rhythms energy and imagination. AILTER SPACE are one of on “Colours” and the epic “D Thing". Parker and None. JASONANDERSON the loudest bands ever to Halvorsen still use their guitars as bludgeons on blast out of Christchurch, New “Zapped”, but there’s a richer grain in the tones, Zealand. The long-running a greater depth to the production. trio - guitarist Alister Parker, Like their peers Yo La Tengo, Bailter Space TheComplete Albums BoxSet bassistJohn Halvorsen, and understand the power of repetition as a ISLAND/UNIVERSAL drummer Brent McLachlan compositional tactic. Lyrically, they worry — were renowned at home and beyond for the over lines or phrases until they lose their face-blistering, ear-battering, brain-bleeding meaning and become pure sound, and the trio volume of their live shows, which enhanced can home in on ariff and twist it like a screw You can opt for expanded rather than obscured the sophistication into your skull. Somehow the album was reissues, or you can of their compositions and the bruised largely overlooked at the time of its release, go back to basics. This romanticism of their lyrics. Their influence and Bailter Space left Matador following its esa sati reri want collection of all nine always exceeded their popularity, and you can release. Despite the 14 years between these Island studio sets and hear the roots of 1990s alt.rock and 2000s indie two reissues, the trio come across on both as twolive albumsis one rockin this pair ofreissues from very different underdogs determined to be heard. for those whotend tothe view that extra points in their career. STEPHEN DEUSNER tracks dilute as often as they enhance. Originally known as The Priced at little over £30 — a fraction ofits Gordons, the band signed to Christchurch’s legendary Flying Nun Records, home of The Clean and eventually The Chills, but they were never quite as pop- oriented as their labelmates. Their self-titled debut and the “Future Shock” EP, both released in 1981, reveal a band revelling in post- punk guitar squalor. “Coalminers Song” and “Laughing Now” lurch and lumber as though the players have got tangled upin their own distortion, then they break free on the pugilistic “Sometimes”, 12LP vinyl equivalent from 2015 — it’s asteal for format agnostics delving into the relatively neglected Wailers work beyond the busker standards. The run ofstudio albums beginning with 1973's Catch A Fireis remarkably filler-free despite Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston's early exit, and latterly, skilfully laced with soul. Even the posthumously polished demos on Confrontation (1983) offer the opening salvo of “Chant Down Babylon” and rehabilitated gem “Buffalo Soldier”. The two live collections offer even feistier righteous vibrations, with 1975's Live! so strong it of course spawned with Parker drawing out his | T the definitive seven-minute take on *oooh"slike he's got a busted p | | “М о Woman, No Cry". lip. The bass and guitar collide | The None. offeach other with a pugnacity a | | Gordons JOHNNY SHARP 48 -UNCUT -MARCH 2021 © ARCHIVE FOR some, Los Angeles might not have quite the aesthetic f= and historical cachet, the ""» cultural capital, of soul's d reigning, myth-heavy cities such as Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia. But the West Coast city, longa creative ferment thanks to its central position in the entertainment industry, made significant contributions to the birth and development of soul. It offered support and succour to Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke in the 1950s, both relocating from Chicago to make a name for themselves; Ray Charles landed there for a time as well, working as musical director for blues legend Lowell Fulson. The Motown label would relocate from Detroit to LA in 1972; there are countless other stories of soul musicians and supporters making their way to LA to build a career. LA's own soul scene was noless productive —see, for example, the material the Bihari brothers (Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe) would release on their Kent and Modern imprints, recently anthologised in atwo-volume set, Los Angeles Soul: Kent-Modern’s Black Music Legacy. But Birth Of Soul: Los Angeles Special digs deeper, under the watchful curatorial eye of Ady Croasdell, to explore the sets of musical conditions that contributed to the development of soul in LA, mapping across doo-wop, gospel, ballads, blues and girl groups to allow for a multifaceted and uniquely reflective collection of constituent parts. This is, then, the skeleton of LA soul, as such, a smart selection ofsongs that help to Love 50۰ UNCUT‘ MARCH2021 UHE SPECIALISTS VARIOUS ARTISTS Birth Of Soul: Los Angeles Special KENTPACE 8/10 Proto-soul and adjacent sides, deep and hidden, from the glitzy city piece together the music's variegated history. It kicks off with a previously unreleased 1962 recording, Don Wyatt’s “But What About My Broken Heart”; a stately performance, with ghostly wraiths of girl-group-esque backing vocals spooking the corners of the song, it’sa bravura performance that, perhaps surprisingly, came of producer Gary Paxton’s explorations of the musical climate in Nashville (it certainly hews close to the aesthetic of the more regal, gently paced Southern soul sides). Paxton also supported Richard Berry, whose “Everybody’s Got A Lover But Me” is a sweet ache, with its siren-song harmonica and poised but tear- stained strings quietly weeping behind Berry’s yearning voice. There are some other startling, previously unreleased cuts here — see the cinematic sweep of Billy Watkins’ 1964 version of Irving Berlin’s standard “How About Me”, recorded for Modern but puzzlingly left on the shelf —and some familiar names turn up with relatively unfamiliar material, suchas Ike & Tina Turner’s “Lose My Cool”, a low-slung stomper with Ike hamming it up at the piano, and the Ikettes swooning in the background. There’s also a beautiful Jack Nitzsche production of Darlene Love’s girl-pop gem “Let Him Walk Away” (which never made it — beyond its nascent demo form, represented here). _ Taken together, it’s an excellent compilation that’s instructive in its indexing of the many threads of | music that contributed to LA soul, but also, and most importantly, a blast of a set to listen to in its own right. JONDALE JOHN MAYALL The First Generation 1965-1974 MADFISH 9040 Collected works across amind-boggling 35discs Listening again to the dozen . studio albums and numerous Š live sets Mayall released during the first decade of his storied career, what strikes most is that his reputation asa blues Dunst issomewhat misconceived. Sure, there's plenty ofthe hard stuff, but there's justas much invention as he ventures into jazz, funk, fusion and psych-rock. Yet thereal pleasure ofthis mammoth boxset lies inthe cornucopia of previously unreleased material. Mayall’s three most celebrated guitarists — Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor — are well represented on early BBC radio sessions ranging from Brian Matthew’s Saturday Club to Peel’s Top Gear, while the live discs include storming sets recorded at such legendary 1960s clubs at the Marquee, the Ram Jam and Klooks Kleek with Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, just before they all quit to form Fleetwood Mac. Extras: 8/10. Hardback book and replica posters. NIGEL WILLIAMSON AYALEW MESFIN Che Belew! now-acain 810 Long-lost African funk powerhouse getsh ne due F l] At the dawn of the 70s, Ethiopia was one ofthe funkiest places in the planet, | bandleaders like Mahmoud mm Ahmed and Mulatu Astatke AULEM ‘synthesising American R&B, funk and jazz into something uniquely African. The rise of the Derg military juntameant much of this music has gone unheard in the west, but five new releases collecting music from Ayalew Mesfin mark him out as one ofthe era's giants. His Black Lion Band played loud, fast and funky, mixing trap drums and big-band brass with wah-wah and chicken-scratch guitar — Ethiopiques meet James Brown. At the heart of itis the high, quavering voice of Mesfin himself, singing songs of romantic love that — given closer attention — revealed seditious messages about the ruling regime (he would later spend three months in prison, disappearing underground shortly after). Che Belew! is an easy way into Mesfin’s work, featuring the remarkable horn-fired funk of *Liba Menta Hone" and *Yetembelel-Loga". Extras: None. LOUISPATTISON THENATIONAL Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers (reissue, 2003) 4a 8040 Neuwreissuestrace The National's steep learning curve After establishing a few of their musical lyrical ~~ signatures on their tentative p self-titled debut in 2001, ^. ==) The National tooka massive step forward with Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers. The Brooklyn-via-Ohio band not only added second guitarist Bryce Dessner but expanded their sound intoa raw yet sophisticated blend of heartland ARCHIVE O rock and avant-garde sounds. Multi- instrumentalist Padma Newsome's string arrangements add tension and treachery to *90 Mile Waterwall", while the Dessner brothers' guitars keep “Murder Me Rachael” menacingly off kilter. Matt Berninger pushes his voice forward, experimenting with the grain of his baritone and erupting into screams on "Slipping Husband". Their best momentis closer “Lucky You”, a song as beautiful as it is sardonic, and a clear indication of the direction they were heading for with 2004’s “Cherry Tree" EP. All three releases have been remastered and reissued on vinyl to sum up the band's first act. None. STEPHENDEUSNER Stone (reissue, 1969) pracciry === “P’min another world”, Bill Stone sings i on “Fog”, an eerie 'ı standout from his ! lonealbum. The song evokes the quietude and stillness of being enveloped by a dense haze, but Stone's songs seem to emanate from an alternate universe, oneinhabited by "crystal lovers" and seas "full of bubblegum". He recorded these songs in a pottery studio in Boothbay, Maine, then pressed and released the record himself. Thatit’s been out of print for half a century only adds to its otherworldliness. There are, of course, similarities to our own world: the gravity of “Purple” recalls the Bible- black compositions of Leonard Cohen, andthe storytelling on “Charlotte’s Town” (wherein a wise man bites him onthe arm) recalls Love’s psychedelic whimsy. Because Stone puts his own peculiar twist on these touchstones, his album still sounds compelling and enigmatic so many years later. None. STEPHENDEUSNER wî АЛ Threads pais = Aside from test КО pressings ordered = by Atem, a French = ЭЭ fanzine’s label, for ; * anaborted 1982 a») ls i. release, Tim Story’s debut has until now never made it to vinyl. A copy reached Norwegian imprint Uniton via Klaus Schulze, but despite their eagerness, they instead moved forward with its follow-up. Subsequent albums appeared via companies including Windham Hill, whose New Age tendencies would also suit Threads' occasional sweetness, particularly evident in opener “Tethered By A Thread”’s canon of cascading, chiming synths. Most ofit, however, compares favourably to Brian Eno’s contemporary, collaborative instrumental work. There are hints of Robert Fripp’s guitars on “Iso”, “A Thousand Whispers 1” and “Without Waves” could drift calmly alongside Apollo, the Eno Brothers’ collusion with Daniel Lanois, while “Burst” and “Scene And Artifact”’s placid pianos echo the late Harold Budd’s The Pearl. is: None. WYNDHAM WALLACE The Bible Belt (reissue, 1983) TROUBADOURPEASY ACTION ™ If Nikki Sudden’s first l album, Waiting On i С | “M Egypt, hewed alittle 4 too much towards his М ү in post-punk's t ‘vanguard with Swell iene The Bible Belt saw him making good on his dreams to become a rock'n'roll troubadour, equal parts Faces, Stones and Fairports. It was partly the company he was keeping — guests on The Bible Beltinclude Mike Scott and Anthony Thistlethwaite of The Waterboys, and the late Dave Kusworth, with whom Sudden would soon form Jacobites. The Bible Belt is all ragged glory, featuring some of Sudden’s most lasting songs - the renegade hymn of “The Road Of Broken Dreams”, the fragile, folksy “Chelsea Embankment”, sung by Max Edie aka Lizard — gorgeous, tender evocations ofromance, loss and melancholy. is: 8/10. Another album’s worth of material, an early session for The Bible Belt, with different versions and unreleased songs. JONDALE Mountains (reissue, 2000) matapor Following stints in 90s indie-rock staples Autoclave and Helium, 9 around the turn of , thecentury Mary Timony cut ties with band life and drifted offinto a curious inner world. Her solo debut for Matador, Mountainsis a deeply introspective, at times rather fantastical collection, un mixing the tousled confessionals of indie-rock with a diverse musical palette — flutes, Mellotrons, mandolins, viola - that often gestures to baroque or medieval music. Mountains takes some forays into rather Tolkein-esque lyricism: “I walk through the everlasting pit/By the mountain of fire and the fountain of spit” she sings on piano ballad “I Fire Myself”. But tethering it is a good dose of very’90s angst, best seen on the brooding, gothic “Poison Moon”. 6/10. Unheard early demos; a new orchestral take on “Valley Of One Thousand Persons”. LOUIS PATTISON Halcyon Days: 60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul And Freakbeat Nuggets STRAWBERRY Tracing the UK’s — —.. response to American jazz, blues and soul, Halcyon Days opens with some finely tuned, though somewhat copycatted efforts: Duffy Power, Zoot Money, Mickey Finn, among others, unlock the dancefloors, Hammond organs aflutter; future superstars — notably, Rod Stewart and David Bowie - take their first steps. By 1967, however, countless underground titans, suchas the Creation, John's Children, The Action, had emerged to melt mod into psych with R&B wings. This extensive comp digs far deeper still, unearthing oft-hidden cuts by the virtually unknown: Candy Dates’ 1965 rhythmic wonder “Well I Do”, and the Union’s never-released “See Saw” are just two gems to be discovered. 7/10. Numerous band photos; notes by Jon Harrington. LUKE TORN Our New Orleans (reissue, 2005) NONESUCH ЛЕЛ E rac m "7 n ТА s = mia icmrs Pra Е тре Ти. үн ЫН Ж ү ЖА га Nthe nextreviews bounty, we'llbe delving into new records including 's AsDays Get Dark, 's Topaz and West Yorkshire guitarist ‘sreturn with Witch's Ladder. In the archives section, alongside a host of currently unannounced treats, there's | j and more. TOM.PINNOCK@UNCUT.CO.UK Originally releasedin support of Habitat For зи Humanity'srebuilding - 1 programme following ` Hurricane Katrina, $ this remastered E, release sees many of New Orleans’ biggest hitters rallying round. One was Allen Toussaint, who lost his Steinway and thousands of tapes when his Sea-Saint Studio was flooded and whose evergreen “Yes We Can Can” opens the set on a note of funky positivity. It’s followed by Dr John’s terrific “World I Never Made” and Bessie Smith’s grimly resonant “Back Water Blues”, from Irma Thomas. There’s no slipping into sentimentality: “When The Saints Go Marching In” is spirited away from cliché by Eddie Bo’s solo rolling piano, while strings and Donald Harrison’s lonesome sax lend lounge-bar glamour to “What A Wonderful World”. 7/10. Five bonus tracks, including the orchestral “Do You Know What It Means”, featuring Harrison. SHARON O'CONNELL GREAT SAVINGS MARCH 2021 -UNCUT - 51 PHOTOGRAPHY by TRAVIS SHINN WILTERN бм aren "S ve ete: E written since 19801 - E һы 5 ® al MS uses afour-stringl qu ; hasbeen on thé. = Yamaha а R says PETER HOOK j HEN I LOOK BACK, | amaze myself; laughs Peter Hook. "Certainly | did get to the point where | was overdrawn at the riff bank many times." A stroke of luck of a different kind occurred when, in the wake of lan Curtis's death, Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris headed to Americain late 1980 and promptly had their gear stolenin New York. Visiting thelegendary Manny's Music, the bassist picked up a Yamaha BB800 and then, onhis return to England, upgraded to an active-circuit BB1200S. “Thad found my nirvana, if you like,” he explains of that guitar. “It had everything that | needed - it had the sustain for playing the high melodies, it had the poke in the EQ for making it really zing, and it had a hollowness that really suited the sound and the place where | wanted to put the bass in the mixes in New Order. It became my signature sound; l'd beenlooking for it all the time through Joy Division andl'd actually found it.” Of course, this icon of the bass guitar didn't start off with a burning desire to play the four-string. After aninspirational Sex Pistols gig, he and Sumner decided to form a band and, as his new bandmate already had a guitar, it fell to Hook to take on the bass. “lhad no idea of what a bass guitar was or what it should do, and that's the secret behind me developing my own style." lan Curtis quickly became a fan of Hook's approach of foregoing traditional basslines andinstead playing high up the neck; less musical than practical, it was an attempt by Hook to make himself heard through his poor amplifier. “As soon as you get into Unknown Pleasures you can hear those high riffs on ‘Insight’ and ‘She's Lost Control’. On Love Will Tear Us Apart’, that's where the bass stops following the guitar and becomes ariff inits own right. That Yamaha BB1200S I gotin New York, I've used that from 1980 right up to the present day. Literally every song that I've ever written since 1980 that uses a four-string bass has been on the BB1200S." Hook's favourite bass has now been celebrated with his own signature model, the YamahaBB Peter Hook Signature Bass. 66 ді 4 Lat atat at ab) ا‎ en ҮАМАН А amne 2 OE ai RII ; мл». қ, NS а P 1 m и а .. E е а E = - n = = eee а в а а eee в * ж в в и i b i в à à a Я Я 4 аа а й а а а а а a à i 24.4 > rs s p Pr. * - Ca d a в т, нй ы шен With Joy Division and New Order strongly opposing sponsorship - "We thought it was the work of the devil,” he laughs - Yamaha had no idea of the bassist's favoured instrument until Hook's son, Jack Bates, сЕ playing with а$ deas as youre saying we should ЕР it again, ” explains Hook: "Their luthier changed the pickup round so it was exactly the same asit was in 1980, he emulated the EQ on mine and even gave me more bottom-end. It sounds, to my cloth ears, better than the original. It's a dream come true." Hook reckons Yamaha have also replicated the durability of his originals, which have survived numerous tours, van crashes and all; they've even turned up on airport carousels with the cases smashed but the instrument pristine inside the wreckage. “I've opened broken cases on more than one occasion, says Hook, ‘and the Yamaha was there, perfect and ready to play. Another thing! loved about them is that in the early punk days they were good for fending off over-exuberant punters... That happened many, many times, and they never let me down, whether | was dropping it or hitting people over the head with it.” Hook's delighted with his withdrawals at the "riff bank", and with his signature bass, which he used for the first time on Gorillaz’ recent “Aries” - there's just one regret he can't shake. “I started doing alist of the songs my BB1200S has written,” he says. “It’s an incredible list, some great New Order songs. About the only one it didn't feature on, sadly, was bloody ‘Blue Monday'lusedasix-string..." JANEWEAVER ODER SMONAU After decades on the margins, the stars have aligned for JANE WEAVER. The space-pop singer tells Tom Pinnock how a childhood love of Kate Bush and Hawkwind led to collaborations with members of Can, remixes for Paul Weller and songs about abstract painters. “You should just be able to do what you want with music, shouldn t you?" z Photo by NIC CHAPMAN 52 -UNCUT - MARCH 2021 ORthelast decade, Jane Weaver's currency has been the conceptual. Whether that's the haunted fairy tale of 2010’s The Fallen By Watch Bird, or the kosmische preoccupations of The Silver Globe, the sublime record that brought her to the attention of many in 2014, she’s a musician who’s strived for something beyond herself. “There are all these themes that are quite easy to grab on to, and to explore their world,” says Weaver from her home outside Manchester. “As an artist it’s easy to go off on a big tangent -and it’s lovely. My last two albums, Modern Kosmology and the Fenella album Fehérlófia, were about [pioneering abstract painter] Hilma af Klint, and a Hungarian animation film where a horse gives birth to a boy.” Weaver is not a musician who takes the easy option, though, so those broader frameworks that N have served her well over the last decade are absent from her forthcoming ninth album, Flock. “I thought to myself, “You know what, I should try and do something which is more personal, about me, and something that's basically 10 pop songs, justto challenge myself." As with most of her work, this change in direction was as a reaction to events — the impact ofthe global pandemic and lockdowns as well as a doomed lyric-writing trip abroad. “Tt seems stupid and luxurious now,” she says, “but I went to France at the end of 2019, toa place Inormally go toin Brittany, just to work on my lyrics. I thought I’d go and have a nice time, drink winein the sunset, butI didn't realise everything would be so closed. It was completely dead. Really, it was awful. But it was perfect too..." Some of Flocktook shape on those empty streets. In particular, the pensive opening track seemed to reflect her own mood in that near- abandoned coastal town. » пия „Саят e | „ it’: the ever- evolving Jane Weaver, 2020 MARCH2021 - UNCUT · 53 REBECCALUPTON;DAVEEVANS || JANE WEAVER “‘Heartlow’ was about a period of being in a deep ши aboutthings, and I was trying to write myself ‘up’,” she explains. “In Brittany it was life imitating art —I was trying to write my way out of it.” Flockis still arecognisable Jane Weaver album - incisive melodies and cosmically inclined analogue synths to the fore — but it might just be her most dynamic and sustaining record yet; from the elegiac drift of “Heartlow” to the melted glam of “Stages Of Phases” and onwards to the invigorating closer “Solarised”. “I genuinely think it’s her best LP yet,” says Andy Votel, producer, DJ and co-founder of the Finders Keepers label and also Weaver’s husband and sometime collaborator. “I said the same about [2017’s] Modern Kosmology. It makes sense that each album should sound and feel progressively better because she’s still learning — when artists stop learning and become ‘experts’, then it’s all over.” It hasn’t, it’s fair to say, been an overnight success story. Over the last 30 years, Weaver has lurched from the “hardest-working band ever” to another scuppered by the disappearance and death ofa key member, and from lean ‘singer-songwriter’ years in the early 2000s to a cosmic reinvention over the last decade, only just evading several retirements toa donkey sanctuary. “Her sonic palette has increased over the years,” explains her long-time collaborator in the studio, engineer Henry Broadhead. “But Jane’s music has also become more honest — it’s evolved by being a better representation of her.” “With Flock,” she says, “I didn’t want to be frightened or limited into what particular style each song was. I thought, ‘Don’t think about it, just do it, it's just a bunch of songs..." Weaver grew up in, is ‘Industry Enriches’. Situated on the north shore of the Mersey, it’s sandwiched between the north’s more glamorous musical heartlands of Manchester and Liverpool. Yet, as Weaver recalls, its location made ita fertile environment for creativity — and also fostered a work ethic that continues to drive her to this day. “Growing up there I was like, ‘This is terrible,’” she says. “I was always embarrassed about coming from there because it wasn’t cool — it had ICI and the Granix factory where they make glue. There’s a smell of gas T HE motto of Widnes, the factory town Jane | Ci - In’ “the hardest- working bandever": ' ае; 1995 к атты Canmeets "killer melodies: Globe, 2014 "YOUHAVE TO FORGET ABOUT THE INDUSTRY" from the glue factory. But the benefit was that when you come from a place like Widnes, Warrington or Wigan, you have to make more ofan effort to seek out your adventure. It was like a military operation togotoagigin Manchester or Liverpool - no mobile phones or anything." Blown away as a child by Kate Bush's The Kick Inside, in her teenage years Weaver moved on to metal — Metallica and Slayer were favourites. A love of Hawkwind, meanwhile, becamea precursor to her spacey work in the last decade. “I used to go to free festivals down south and further up north as well and see a lot of bands that way. I was slightly crusty, but not quite a crusty... It was an adventurous time. Hippies, punks, ravers, bikers, everybody was in the same place, because it was just classed as ‘alternative’ -if there was an indie night on it was full of everybody and anybody, it was quite exciting.” The prospect of success came quickly, with Weaver fronting alternative indie quartet Kill Laura. Managed by New Order’s Rob Gretton, they signed a big publishing and record deal in the mid- gos. After recording their debut album, however, things didn’t quite go as [ee planned: “It was the classic music industry tragic tale of JANE 5 AIRS therecord getting shelved... You can't go anywhere else, you either have to buy those tapes back or re-record. I How to buy Jane Weaver Weaver always say we were the hardest-working band ever — we SEVEN DAY SMILE . featuring collaborations used to rehearse every day! Did it make us better? No, I think it just affected our hearing quite badly.” BIRD, 2006 Released onher own | with Suzanne Ciani and Tom | Furseandreworked tracks Weaver met Andy Votel in the'9os. The pair are now | label, Weaver'ssecond | from The Silver Globe. married with two children. Something of a kosmische/ О | MODERN world music power couple, their tastes feed off each L sensethat sh e'sstill КОЅМОІОСҮ other, they collaborate on each other's records and searching for amusical | FIRE, 2017 share whatever music from around the globe that they identity that suits her. _ Withadryer, post-punk feel, each discover — unless it’s | Weaver's hymn to painter Votel’s musique concréte, CHERLOKALATE : Hilma af Klint slowly unveils И а. BIRD, 2007 АС | its magical charms across с | : Wonky, warpedindie- ‚ multiplelistens, while the Back in the late ’90s we were folk, from the distorted, ' likes of “Slow Motion” are from polar extremities of the Breeders-esque "The _ immediate earworms. music spectrum,” says Votel. Pain" to the strings-and- | “So the ‘opposites attract’ cliché piano ballad ‘Oh You | LOOPSINTHE took its course. It didn't take long Lucky Ones”. | засе ЗОСЕТУ o рот u пе kin ене THEFALLEN BY | Aftera multi-tasking run of qw universe, which is constantly WATCHBIRD ‚ shows onher own, Loops... ' Nerve changing. I think our skill sets are BIRD, 2010 ' was Weaver's attempt to miles apart, but our ears couldn't Conceptual, experimental | rework tracks fromher last be closer together.” |. chamber-pop with a | tworecordsin completely Weaver began to embrace __ haunted fairytale vibe, _ soloversions. *. thisis Weaver sfirst greatrecord.Chris . FENELLA Martin, who sampledit FEHERLOFIA for Coldplay's "Another's | FIRE, 2019 Arms”, seems to agree. ' Adroney, dreamy _ soundtrack, with Weaver's THE SILVER GLOBE ‚ vocals propellingsublime BIRD, 2014 | synthmeditations skywards. Adreamy motorikmarvel, ٠ Afollow-up isin the works. from the retro-futurist | - rushof "Argent tothe FLOCK closing dream-pop waltz — | FIRE,2021 "Your Time In This Life Is ' Pop, perhaps, like they Just Temporary”. _ used tomake - rebellious, ¦ experimental and still THE AMBER LIGHT _ danceable - Weaver's BIRD, 2015 | latest finds her in complete A companion mini album, ' control of her own gifts. electronics as a member of Misty Dixon, a group she formed with Dave Tyack, Sam Yates and Anna Greenwood as the millennium approached. Purchasing a Farfisa Bravo for £40 from Cash Converters, she began to experiment with the possibilities of running it through pedals and effects. “IT started doing electronic bits with that, but I didn't really knowit was. I guess Misty Dixon was ‘electronica’, that Camber Sands kind of thing — American alternative stuff from that time really influenced us." The group also foundered, despite support from John Peel and a fine LP, Iced To Mode. Tyack went missing on Corsica in 2002. He was found dead in 2004 - a year after the album’s release — apparently having fallen to his death. Asolo career beckoned, then, but not before Weaver considered quitting music for good. This, it transpires, is aregular occurrence. “There have been so many times where I’ve thought, ‘I literally cannot be bothered doing this any more’, especially in the 2000s. After my first album [2002's Like An Aspen Leaf], my manager was trying to get me another deal and he was like, ‘I can’t get you arrested. So I do have moments where I think, ‘I’d rather open a donkey sanctuary than do this ever again’, but then I go straight back into it. You have to string machines, drones, motorik rhythms and an enhanced sense of theatre and costume. “All my Manchester peers, like Elbow, were going from strength to strength," says Weaver. “There was a boy guitar band _ thing going on, and I used to hate that I was seen as ‘Jane Weaver, ' singer-songwriter,, that acoustic guitar thing. So with The Fallen By Watch Bird I was desperate to experiment, to do different stuff; I | wanted to get away from myself and got into conceptual writing." | “When Jane was on the brink of giving up music, thatis the exact forget about the industry.” ‚ point where she genuinely found her voice,” says Votel. “She was | breviously institutionalised by the music industry, but as a solo 2 AVING setout on her own, Weaver released т клен | female artist I don't feel she was getting much in return. When a bunch of strong albums, including 2007's v she stopped worrying about how to pay her manager or how Cherlokalate, on her own Bird label. | quickly a label could shift units, the road widened considerably, Musically, she had yet to find her signature style, which is ironic. From this point you could see the longevity and though. Guitarist Pete Philipson, who's been a the realisation that her music was a genuine life-force for her, regular collaborator of Weaver's for the last decade, and not a game or a gamble for other people's benefit.” remembers a one-off gig with the songwriter in the Weaver already owned the Farfisa and a Casio, but she began to noughties, supporting St Etienne. try out other keyboards in the studio. Her favourites, still, include “The stuff she was doing then, when we played the Korg Poly Ensemble, with its space-age swells, and the Roland with St Etienne, was almost folky Americana," says Juno. Both are all over her recent records, including Flock. But The Philipson. *She had somebody playing pedal steel, Silver Globeis where many fans began with Jane Weaver; a song all this kind of stuff. So when I heard a track from cycle of shifting drones, stellar melodies and krautrock-inspired The Fallen By Watch Bird, I thought, ‘Wow, she’s rhythms, it struck a chord even at a time when Can and New!’s moved on a bit.” influence was du jour for alternative musicians. Released in 2010, The Fallen By Watch Bird and its *Instrumentation-wise, I’d switched to more drone and follow-up, The Silver Globe, were turning points for electronic stuff,” says Weaver, “and given myself the freedom Weaver. She had got deeper into electronics, delighting to experiment. My earlier restrictions were all self-imposed in the exploration of creaking analogue synths and anyway — [had to break out of that zone.” > MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 55 CLAIREGREENWAY/GETTY IMAGES e © < > > Е- Е- ш 9 п LLI о < > © Е a ш I M п LLI о < > к a < ш 2 > ӨЗ 2 a LLI LL a ш a M o a LLI LL LL. ш = < a < > п LLI © < > > к= Е- © б 2 > — = = © > o < ш п —1 ш т O E а” = | Poppier songs, more experimental methods: in the studiorecording Flock,2020 “T don’t think any of us, least of all Jane, thought The Silver Globe was as good as a lot of other people thought it was,” remembers Philipson. “There’s the influence of bands like Can and Neu!, of course, but the big difference with Jane is that she was writing these killer melodies over the top. Much of that music was done by men, and here was a different take on it, combining it witha hint of R&B here and folky stuff there.” Sister album The Amber Light emerged the following year, while 2017’s Modern Kosmology expanded Weaver’s universe with its references to Swedish abstract art pioneer Hilma af Klint and aspoken-word cameo from Can’s Malcolm Mooney. There were echoes of Broadcast and Stereolab as well, two groups that Weaver's always keen to praise. Fehérlófia, 2019's debut album by Fenella, a group consisting of Weaver and her solo collaborators Pete Philipson and Raz Ullah, continued her big-picture concepts, but Flock marks a significant change in approach. “IT think most artists would try to reinvent themselves,” says Votel of her continual drive to evolve. “But Jane took OnstageinLondon October 22,2015; (above, right) a 1915 painting by Hilma af Klint; (right, below)Can's Malcolm Mooney 56 -UNCUT* the more realistic approach and arguably un-invented herself, which gave her alot more freedom." USUALLY make crappy Garageband demos," Weaver explains, “some of which the band laugh at because they’re really badly recorded, donein a train toilet on my Voice Memos or something, but I don’t care! I love the spontaneity and naivety of just going in there and not being on the clock in the studio.” In the run-up to Flock, however, she instead presented her guest musicians with an eclectic mixtape featuring Roxy Music, Kiss, Suzi Quatro, David Essex and Mac DeMarco. To capture the spirit of those adventurous records, Weaver headed to Eve Studios in Stockport, her preferred bolthole for many sessions over the years, with its collection of vintage equipment and engineer Henry Broadhead. “Making Flock was more experimental than previously,” he explains, “with songs taking various shapes along the way. All the musicians involved as wellas Jane were playing really well, so we tried to use the computer more as a tape machine with benefits.” “Some of these songs have been hanging around fora while,” says Weaver. “They didn’t fit on certain records because they were too poppy. They were waifs and strays like ‘Solarised’, which I felt had too strong an identity to be on certain albums that were more space-pop.” Flock’s more surprising elements stem froma number of sources, from an imaginary attempt to write something for Kylie to perform on the glammy, distorted “Stages Of Phases”, to the influence of Votel and the pair’s two children on the hip-hop swing of “Sunset Dreams”. “I love their music taste,” says Weaver. “I'll hear a lot of new stuff from them, and Ilove the way it sounds, really hi-fi and cool and futuristic. When people were listening to hip-hop when I was growing up, I was listening to rock music, but I’m more into that now — it’s my husband’s thing. With ‘Sunset Dreams’, I did wonder if I could go that far, but I thought, ‘Why not? It’s pop music, it’s something I like.” “The Revolution Of Super Visions”, meanwhile, takes ona dirty groove that wouldn’t have been "JANE ARGUABLY UN-INVENTED HERSELF" voted down by George Clinton's Parliament, topped with a curious ‘guitar synth’. “It sounds like Hot Chocolate or something,” says Philipson. “Eve Studios had one of these Roland guitar synths, and that’s what their guitarist Harvey Hinsley used for those riffs that made the records really, like on ‘Every rs A Winner’. So we were playing around with that, we got a sound pretty quickly, did three takes and that was it." "Jane's blessed with the ability to envisage fully formed songs in her head,” says Votel. *But her skills in bringing them into reality has become really accurate and precise in recent years. She’s very focused in this process, which can sometimes be difficultin a collaborative context, but as asolo artist she has developed the ability to channel her music really quickly without being too contrived or perfectionist.” “Solarised”, meanwhile, is Weaver’s paean to French touch, aradical, danceable departure that suggests Arcade Fire with Daft Punk at the controls. It’s just one sign of Weaver’s growing immersion in music she used to dismiss. “In the late 80s I remember going on holiday to Magaluf with my friends and there was a lot of early rave stuff out and handbag house a bit after. I never really liked most of it, but recently I've noticed a lot of people are listening to that kind of stuff, like Haddaway — and 1 like it! It must be nostalgic, that pop thing, it must be triggering something... Or maybe it’s because I haven’t been out for ages to aclub. Maybe we're just gonna be craving really over-the-top joyous bangers [after Covid |?" Whilesome of Flock was initially inspired by that dark trip to Brittany, the lyrics were finessed during Britain’s first lockdown, which proved something of a meditative experience for Weaver. She spent much of the time walking in the nearby countryside or pottering in her garden. “I was about two-thirds of the way through the recording when we had to stop because of lockdown. It was like I was just starting to see the picture in the jigsaw and then someone threwit all over the floor! But I creatively and artistically benefited from lockdown, because I was just sat in the back garden looking at the trees and having more time to listen back to everything. For me, listening and changing stuffis a big part of the creative process. It came out better for it, in the end, definitely. “Maybe it’s accidental ‘motivation music’, because it’s come out of this weird lockdown situation. Maybe I’m just going mad, but it’s more personal. I’m writing about my feelings.” SSUMING life returns to some kind of normality over the next few months, Weaver is hoping to take Flock out on the road; it seems like a lifetime for her since their last gig in Belfast early last year. “It was great,” she says. “I mean, Belfast! You couldn’t wish for a better last memory of doing a gig. I love doing wig-outs and heavy space-rock numbers live, but also know the merit of doing a good pop banger, so I was writing Flock with live performance “I'vetriedtokeep | developing’: Jane Weaver, 2020 VISIONARY @ Weaver onher work with Paul Weller andlessons rom Suzanne Ciani Ww AULhadsaidsomewhere thathe really liked[Modern Kosmology's|'Slow Motion’, andhe gotin touch. We texted abit, thenlsaw him when he was playing in America. During lockdown he asked if Iwantedto doaremix; atthe time | couldn't go in the studio andl couldn't goin my studio, so it was quite a hard task doingit from home.Helistens toalotof modern music andhe's really supportive -therearealot in my head. Ihad thatin mind, and then the live plug was pulled. But I guess Flock . isagood one to come back with — though limagine there’ll be a few deep and meaningful ‘complaint rock’ records coming out soon, because of where people have been.” of newer artists With the concepts rested for once, and most onhis[On Sunset] of Weaver’s eclectic musical touchstones remix record. alighted on — from Hawkwind to Hot Chocolate — Flock might prove to be the defining album of her career. Votel, for one, believes its mix of hooks and experimentation perfectly sums up Weaver's outlook. “I know a lot of songwriters and bands who have become joyless self-parodies,” he says, “but Jane is still as wide-eyed, humorous and excitable as a teenager, and you can hear that in her music as well as when people meet her." “Tve tried to keep developing, keep challenging,” says Weaver. “I realised, ‘Hang on, I can write about what I want to.’ But it takes some time to realise that. When I think of that initial spark ofinspiration when I heard Kate Bush, it’s still there. I’m still wanting to do stuffregardless of how old lam, or where lamin my life, or what people expect of me. You should just be able to do what you want with music, shouldn’t you?” © “Suzanne is amazing. | didn'tknow much about her until she started releasing stuff through Finders Keepers, butshe's great.She'sarealinspiration and areal pioneer. She was doing this in the embryonic days of the Buchla synth, and she'snever stopped, regardless of her gender or her age, which shouldn't beanissue anyway.She musthave beenup againstitin the early days whenshe was probably one of the only women doing experimental music." NIC CHAPMAN; NICOLE NODLAND; XAVITORRENT/WIREIMAGES Flockis out on March 5 on Fire MARCH2021- UNCUT · 57 Ф ONLY AMERICAN APPEARANCE 2” жақ?» 5 i j a i - . " 2 | TheClashatapress | conference for the | Bondlnternational Casinoshows, New York City, May 27,1981 58 - UNCUT : MARCH2021 g" with th ^ TT their three-week rei u date vorrei at Dond International TS bing with Robert De Niro and [: ҮЛП s newest underground iT are, went clu snes the full story behind the band's | » OND International Casino had | seen better days. Initially, a New | York dining club during its ’30s » pomp, ithad since undergonea | series of low-rent makeovers. J After sitting vacant for several E E years during the late ’7os, it reopened asa nightclub and music venue —a garish multi-storey disco located in the grit of Times Square. But during three thrilling weeks in summer 1981, Bond's b. wasthehottest place in New York. It was from here that The Clash pulled off their most audacious coup. “They just took over New York, which is some feat,” recalls DJ , andfilmmaker Don Letts. "And they did it | withstyle. It was fucking unreal." After releasing Sandinista! in December 1980, The Clash spent a couple of months touring Europe the following spring. ШТ eal.” hr peak. Photoby LISA HAUN “ > Management then took the unusual step offocusing the American leg ofthe tour exclusively on New York, booking eight dates at Bond's that eventually turned into 17 shows - a residency lasting almost three weeks. To hell with the traditional tours — as Joe Strummer put it, this would be “the mountain coming to Muhammad”. The decision to play such a moderate- sized club led to shutdowns, riots and the kind of media frenzy that propelled them from cult band to national phenomenon. It wasn't just about the music. The band's fascination with New York's burgeoning hip-hop movement and its attendant graffiti scene, aimed to unite the uptown rap and downtown punk communities in a way that hadn’t been seen before. ) | MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 59 noverthe Bis Apple. LISAHAUN/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES 1 i ы ІНЕ DPE AT Bape mds BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;EBET ROBERTS/REDFERNS MY 38,303 18123558 Schw START AT More This diversity was reflected in The Clash's insistence that their support acts at Bond's, mostly local artists, needed to be “culturally interesting and progressive”. Among the eclectic spread of opening bands were ESG, The Treacherous Three, Bush Tetras and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, along with British exports like The Slits, Funkapolitan and The Fall. “New York was wide-open, fertile ground if you hit the right spot,” says graffiti artist and rapper Fab Five Freddy. “And The Clash were so open to all that.” The momentum carried them forward into mainstream America with the platinum-selling Combat Rock and an appearance at Shea Stadium, but Bond’s was a defining moment. “There was just so much excitement that everyone was attracted to it, like bugs to a praying mantis," adds Texan songwriter Joe Ely. “It was a dangerous environment because it just kind of started up and didn't stop. Everything got crazy." I'd asked my staff: "What would be the most exciting event that we could possibly do?" Somebody said, “Why not bring The Clash to New York!” So I went to the record company and usual agents and was totally stonewalled. Then one day the door of my office opened and Bernard Rhodes [Clash manager] was standing there. We started talking and found “ бігиттег - sportshis TimesSquare | T-shirt, Bond's, May 28,1981 60۰UNCUT‘ MARCH 2021 бРРРРРР DON LETTS ФР P uM uuu. that we were both renegades. The pitch I gave him was: “You go to Madison Square Garden and maybe sell three-quarters of it, or you can come to our joint and do eight shows in seven days. You'll havethe entire attention ofthe media for a week." We went over to his room at the Gramercy Park Hotel, drank a bottle of Scotch and came to an agreement. The contract was written on a napkin. Bernie had initially wanted The Clash to do a 60-date US tour. But Epic, their American label, wouldn't come up with the money. So they played New York instead and turned it to their advantage. We put up publicity and decided to start selling tickets at noon on Friday. I remember coming out of the subway earlier that morning, four blocks away, and seeing a line that was four or five people wide. By the time noon rolled around, you could see nothing in Times Square but heads and police horse patrols. When the local news came on at six o'clock, that was the leading story: English punk rock, Bond’s, Times Square. All these kids were trying to get in. It was front-page news everywhere. The Clash literally took Manhattan. They ended up having riots on Times Square Complete control: The Clashland at JFK airport, New York, 1981 when one of the shows was cancelled. That shit hadn't happened in New York since the 40s. The New York Times did a piece on us. On one giant page was a picture of Sinatra andontheother was The Clash. They wrote: *Not since FrankSinatra debuted in Times Square has anything likethis happened in New York." That was the level that this thing was flying at. I was deploying security, but at a certain point I had to close the gate because we couldn’t control the crowd. I was on top of the newsstand, trying to get them to calm down. The Clash shut the whole of New York City down. It was really wild to watch it all happening. They caused an uproar. There was just so much excitement in the air. There'sa picture of Joe Strummer wearing a T-shirt with a New York Post headline that says: ‘Riot In Times Square’. That’s since become almost mythical, but it wasn’t actually areal headline. He had it done at one of those stores in Times Square where you can make up whatever headline you want. New York wasn’t cleaned up like it is now, where Times Square is like Disneyland. Back then you'd go down 42nd Street and there’d be movie houses showing triple-X horror films or kung fu films, pimps on the street, guys trying to sell you drugs. But the whole hip-hop scene was bubbling as well, which was really exciting. Just as we had the punky reggae scene happening in London, The Clash were about to kick offa punky hip-hop thing in New York. It was definitely a gathering of the tribes. Three of my graffiti homies — Zephyr, Dondi [White] and Revolt; Futura [2000] might have helped too - had been commissioned to create a huge Clash banner to hang from the Bond's building. The Clash were very curious about the graffiti and hip-hop scene that they'd been hearing about. So they connected with Futura, who took them to the Bronx to show them. The Clash were very good at plugging into the zeitgeist. In Times Square there'd be black kids breakdancing and rapping. The subway trains would go past with graffiti all over them. It looked fantastic. It was quite obvious there was something important happening. Atthat point in New York; you had the uptown and downtown scenes, like you seeinthe Keith Haring documentary. It was a meeting of cultures, with a good tension in the air. Larry Levan would tear up The Clash’s “The Magnificent Dance” [a remix of “The Magnificent Seven”, credited to Pepe Unidos, a pseudonym for Strummer, Rhodes and Paul Simonon] at Paradise Garage. That remix was a major dance record, almost like them playing with rap without really rapping. Even if you didn’t know anything about The Clash, you’d heard that record at the hot clubs in New York! That remix was all over the fucking place that summer. The blacks were rocking it, the Puerto Ricans, the white guys. Never mind No 1 hits - this was certified by the people on the streets. I think it was the first white record played on WBLS, a black station. I got to meet Don Letts and we started to hang out. Then I met The Clash and they completely plugged into our circle of friends. Through the connections they’d made, they wanted to have rap groups open for them at Bond’s — people like The Treacherous Three and Grandmaster Flash. The Clash attracted all these creative people who were emerging in New York, so you had this cultural exchange going on. The Clash were soaking up what was going on around them, always open to what the world had to offer. It was likeJoe always said: *Noinput, no output." Here's where Iget crucified, butIalways thought The Clash were a folk band. Listen to the lyrics. They were commenting on current things all the time. New York was a very energising place in '81, soit was an adventure for them. Mick [Jones] was definitely into his hip-hop thing and brought in Futura 2000, who ended up painting a live backdrop on stage with them. When Mick gets into something, he doesn’t fuck about. Joe used to call him ‘Whack Attack’. Mick was so into hip- _ hopand wanted to have a beatbox lk. like everybody else, but he & | wasn'ta muscular guy and could never carry it. So he used to get Ray Jordan, The Clash’s security man] to carry it for him. All of the boys had their own beatboxes. When you’d go backstage it was likea fucking carnival. IDJ'd every night at those Bond's shows. On opening night the crowd booed Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. The audience was mostly punk kids and they didn’t want to hear the hip- hop bands. They were just yelling: “Fuck you!” In a way, The Clash introduced alot of Americans to their own culture. Having Grandmaster Flash support them was a prime example, though they didn’t go down well at all. It was a rock audience and they weren’t up for rap. They were throwing bottles and shit. Mick had to cuss them out in the end. The crowd were like savages. They just started screaming and booing, throwing whatever they could at Flash. Mick came out and said: “Stop this shit! These are our friends.” He was trying to cool it off, but it was a hostile, shocking thing. The Clash’s core audience didn’t really understand how down they were with other cool cultural shit. The Clash | onstage with FK JoeElyatthe Monterey Pop Festivalll, 1979 LOST JAM’ NFebruary 24,1980, The Clashjoined Joe Ely onstage at the Hope & Anchor in Islington. Ely and his band had already supported The Clash around London that month and would go on torecord Live Shots at The Venue. But the Hope & Anchor session was unplanned. “We had a couple of days when we weren't doing anything, so we asked The Clash if they wanted to do some jamming,” recalls Ely, who later appeared with them at Bond's. "Wejuststarted playing things we knew, like old Buddy Holly songs and rockabilly stuff. And Clash things too, like ‘Jimmy Jazz’ and 1| Fought The Law’. Youhad two complete bands playing on this little tiny stage about the size of amattress. It's realinteresting, because it's got this reggae influence and then the sound of Lubbock, Texas, wherel come from - kind ofa western dustbowlfeel, with steel guitar, accordion and country music from the 50s and '60s. And we recorded the whole thing. We ve talked to CBS about releasing it and right now we'rein the middle of deciding what to do with it. It's amazing how goodit sounds.” The Fire Department shut us down after the first show because they said it wasn'tsafe to have 3,500 people in there. I managed to convince them that we'd cut the audiencein half and reopen the next day, which we did. Then, of course, we had to double the amount of days because we had twice as many tickets. SoI made an arrangement with Bernard. That’s how we EE ended up doing 17 shows. After New York, the first night or two of reopening, July 26,1981 : : we were right back up doing the same capacity as before. WhenIsaw they were now going to beat Bond's for two or three weeks, I thought, ‘Oh, it’s almost like a > Hip-hop pioneer Fab Five Fredd HN NEN E и и пн нин! "a m m m mu m ALLANTANNENBAUM/GETTY IMAGES; GEORGE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES; ALPEREIRA/GETTY IMAGES/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES MICHAELBRITO / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; EBETROBERTS/REDFERNS THE CLA Y Inthered:live atBond's, New York, : May 28,1981 Broadway show now.’ BOND'S INTERNATIONAL CASINO The story I TIMES SQUARE -NEW YORK CIT T heard was 28- | thatthey'd ' oversold tickets. How do you do that? It was crazy. Did we oversell? Ican't claim that we were totally blameless. If people who were part of the scene wanted to getin, it was all off- flow. We were street. Whether it was CBGB's, Studio 54, Bond's or whatever, you just put as many people in as would fit. We played four or five dates with them and it was always a scrum to get in. There'd be police and crowds outside, very chaotic. The Bond's gigs were very polarised. You had hardcore Clash fans, who weren't interested in anything that wasn't punk, then others who were more open to different forms of music. Iwas probably the least likely guy to be onstage with The Clash, because we played totally different music. ButJoe and I had hit it off from the get-go — he had such a liking for those old storytelling western songs. So! got up and did some songs with them one night at Bond’s. It was allsoinsane that my memory is like shooting outa flash bulb ina dark room, little bright flashes of light here and there. The Clash were trying toincludea real variety of styles. They were really gender-conscious — feminists, too, per se. We were a relatively big New York band at the time, female-fronted and very left of centre, and starting to get some attention. We were much darker and scruffier than The Clash, but their spirit and politics fitted right in with ours. Topper [Headon] really connected with us and we'd hang out with him after the shows. Working with him at Electric Ladyland afterwards [Headon produced Bush Tetras’ “Rituals” EP| was a dream. 62: UNCUT - MARCH2021 JOE ELY LEE EEEE Being a Brit-funk band, we all got pelted on stage. We were ducking and diving. We were on with Lee Perry, who was really out there, jumping around and talking about aliens. Iremember watching The Slits, who were incredible. There were a few odd support acts, too. We played a matinee with a band of young kids called The Brattles. We were already touring the States at that point, so we ended up supporting The Clash one night. Afterwards, we followed them down the stairs when they made their way to the stage. I decided to watch their set from outin the crowd. The Clash were really on it that night. It was like being in the centre of an explosion. They were like four sticks of dynamite on stage. It was a beautiful thing to see these guys in sync. Off stage there was some friction here and there — a clash of identities, because they were very different people — but on stage it was like the whole Magnificent Seven thing. You do the fucking job. You draw fast, shoot Straight and don’t hit the bystanders. I hadn'tseen The Clash for some time and I was stunned by their energy on stage. They were really firing, I'd never Г! seen them as good or as powerful. I was there for about nine shows and the whole thing was just steaming. It was all part of how they just took New York. You’d turn on the TV and there’d be Joe and Paul, like some kind of royalty. They just powerhoused those gigs. It used to make my jaw drop sometimes, when Paul and Mick would leap on stage at the same time, because none of it was choreographed. By that time, I was actually in The Clash. I'd played the bugle as an opener for their set a couple of times in England, then at Bond's we did it for the encore. I’d come out and play this cavalry call to arms, which meant “Get ready!” The next one would be: “Charge!” Then the band would start playing and the audience went crazy. It was a big moment in my life to actually be part of that band. On Broadway, too! The sheer power of those shows blew everybody away. Of course the songs were good, but they were showing no mercy. That got around town, which only made the mayhem bigger and Then there was the social scene that always goes with music events like that. Afterwards everyone would hang out at the Gramercy Park Hotel or another one down on 8th Street. Or the Chelsea Hotel, which was Joe’s favourite because it had so much history. Most of the bands were put up at the Gramercy, so it was likea scene from Almost Famous. You'd cross paths with Bernie Rhodes and Bono. It was a rock’n’roll hotel at that point. louder than it already was. TheClash with Martin Scorseseon thesetof TheKing 3 Of ComedyinNYC, 2 December, 1981 = There was a bar across the road from Bond's called Tin Pan Alley, which had been used for one ofthe scenes in Raging Bull. That became Clash Central for three weeks. Joe and Kosmo [Vinyl, The Clash’s right-hand man| would hang out there. Itwas run by a lesbian bankrobber, which all added to the weirdness. At one point! remember meeting Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, who both thought the whole Bond’s thing was fantastic. That’s how The Clash’s appearance in The King Of Comedy came about. One night, Mick threw a birthday party for [girlfriend] Ellen Foley at Interferon. I remember looking over at Joe and Mick and they just seemed like blood brothers, really tight. They were really enjoying themselves in New York. There was a club called Negril that we all used to go to, where Kosmo used to DJ. That's where we met Rick Rubin, The Beastie Boys, Russell Simmons and Afrika Bambaataa. The Beastie Boys would be drinking backstage and smoking. They were so young then, just funny guys who were all bowled over by The Clash. John Lydon was a good friend of Paul’s at that time, so he was with us alot. We’d go to lots of different bars, drinking cocktails we'd never heard of, like Brandy Alexanders — chocolate milkshake with brandy. Everybody popped in all the time, it was mayhem being around The Clash. I Strummer fan A. RobertDeNiro remember Scorsese having an oxygen cylinder sitting on the settee. I think he was asthmatic. I took a picture of De Niro talking to Strummer. He was just as much a fan of Joe’s as the other way round. It was a sort of parallel universe. De Niro and Scorsese came out with usa Couple of times. Scorsese took us toa really posh Indian restaurant with [then-wife] Isabella Rossellini. When we were all sitting down for dinner, Joe said to Isabella: “Does everybody tell you that you look just like Ingrid Berman?” She said, “Yeah, that’s my mother.” Joe got so embarrassed, because he didn’t know. That was sweet. She and Scorsese thought it was cute. De Niro took us out clubbing one night and also gave us free tickets for a boxing match. He had these fancy $100 seats. I think he just wanted to show us a good time. He became a friend after that. He and Christopher Walken came to visit us in London not long after. We took them out with Joe and Kosmo and all got drunk at Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues. That all happened because of New York. The Clash weren’t really party animals. Ifanything, the party would come to them. Attimes, they needed shutting down to get back to scribbling. You think of how prolific they were. Joe would be scribbling up in his room and Mick would be out listening to a sound that he thought he could attach to something. They did 17 shows back to back, whichincluded two matinee shows for kids. These shows, on average, were two to three hours long. Every fucking day. So there wasn’t a lot of partying, because those guys were fucked. I witnessed them when they came off stage and they’d all be halfa stone lighter. The job at hand was so fucking intense. It almost killed them, make no mistake about that. E Letts andStrummer | at the premiere of | Straight To Hell, 1987 THE ON AND N the absence of a definitive official document of The Clash at Bond's, we're left tosiftandsortthrough a number of different sources. Theband's show on June 9, 1981, originally aired by local FM radio, has been widely bootlegged over the years. Three Sony-recorded songs from the final night of the residency - “Train In Vain”, "The Guns Of Brixton" and a particularly vicious “Complete Control" - fetched up on 1999's From Here То Eternity: Live. Despite its promising title, 1991 boxset Clash On Broadway features just one Bond'srecording: "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)". Don Letts’ proposed film of the New York trek, Clash On Broadway, exists only in truncated form on 2000's Westway To The World DVD. “The Clash had asked me to come along and document the event on film,” Letts explains today. "In the demise of the whole Clash messlater on, Bernie [Rhodes, manager] leftthe negativesin alab and didn't pay the bill. Unbelievably, they were destroyed. Luckily | managed to salvage some of it, becauselhada cutting copy under my bed. In fact, there's stuff sitting around that I'm waiting for the boys to make their mind up as to what we can do with it. Personally, | can't wait" The hard work paid off. The New York scene around CBGP's had stayed on the East Side, but Bond's blew the doors open. All the cultures clashed right there in front of your face. It made the whole country aware of The Clash. Before that, they were a kind of cult band. EUR LU тш КАБ LCD s. ы "sin ci (> ee > American тыш Bond's changed everything for The Clash. All that publicity, plus the fact they were sensational, really catapulted them up a hundred levels into a very major act. It was their signature moment. I had people call me from California, saying: "You're getting more publicity than Woodstock!" If you're going to busta group, you've got to shake the sidewalk. That's exactly what we did. To make a mark in America you've gotto make a big fucking splash. It can take a year for itto rippleacross the whole country. Bond's helped them circumvent that; it let everyone know The Clash existed. It was a phenomenal event that reached every corner of America. For me, this was The Clash at their peak.© >) graffiti: БЕШ к ponders 34 SLE ae | PENNIE SMITH; VINNIE ZUFFANTE/GETTY IMAGES; FREDERICO MENDES/IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES; BRIANRASIC/GETTY IMAGES MARCH2021 - UNCUT · 63 LEONARD COHEN = CE Fifty years ago, LEONARD COHEN’s Songs Of Love And Hate ushered in a strange and compelling new era for rock’s pre-eminent poet. There were turbulent tours, intellectual crises, incursions into warzones, lost albums and firearms incidents. Yet while these dramas shaped Cohen’s ’70s, from Sutton to Eritrea, his towering genius and remarkable good humour endured. Stephen Troussé investigates,this extraordinary period in Cohen's career with help from his friénds and collaborators. “He was aware, probably for the first time, of the impact his songs were having...” Photoby DAVID BOSWELL 64- UNCUT- MARCH2021 = LeonardCohen inVancouverin thelate’70s ОДК “HE DID THE DAMNEDEST THING... HE CHARMED THE BEAST” “Captain Mandrax” takes to the Isle Of WightFestivalstage in the early hours of August 31,1970 T'Sthelast weekend of the summer of 1970 and Leonard Cohen arrives in England leading an army. On the face ofit, he’s at an all- time high. Songs From A Room, his austere second album, released in April 1969, spent over a month in the higher reaches ofthe UK Top 10 — only held offthe top spot by The Seekers and The Moody Blues. His songs have become unlikely modern standards, covered by everyone from Nina Simone to Fairport Convention. He's finally making money, too. After a decade scuffling around Europe, living on publishing advances and cadging from friends, he's now picking up tabs and worrying about real estate. “IT was singing in folk clubs at the time, and I already had two or three of Leonard’s songs in my repertoire,” remembers Jennifer Warnes, an early adopter of Cohen. “Dress Rehearsal Rag?’ was certainly in there, ‘One of Us Cannot Be Wrong’. His songs had layers of meaning. I was a fan of Brel and Charles Aznavour and Kurt Weill, European art songs, and Leonard seemed to fit right in. It had a little more teeth than the American folk music.” Finally cajoled into touring by Columbia Records, Cohen had called 66 > UNCUT MARCH 2021 on the producer of Songs From A Room, the irrepressible Texan maverick Bob Johnston, to play keyboards and round upa band, including Ron Cornelius on guitar and Charlie Daniels on fiddle, to tour the great capitals of Europe. Johnston saw the tour as a chance to get out ofthe studio and let his Lone Star spirit out for a canter. Quite literally. Booked to appearin Aix-en-Provence, but finding the road to the festival blocked by a convoy of French hippies, Johnston commandeered a stable of horses for the band to ride through the Provençal fields. Astride a white stallion, dressed in a khaki safari suit and brandishing a whip, Cohen took to the stage and proceeded to lecture the audience, in French, about the competing claims ofart and revolution. That night Cohen was the 1970 counterculture world spirit on horseback, fulfilling every Napoleonic dream that the small, studious, ambitious Jewish boy from Westmount, Montreal, had ever had. Butat what cost? On the evening of Friday, August 28, the Army -as Johnston had named the band after the triumph in France — pulled up outside a psychiatric institution in the heart of English TONY RUSSELL/REDFERNS INHELL E A buyer's guide to | Cohen1971-77 | SONGS OFLOVE ANDHATE (1971) . Recorded with Bob Johnston in Nashville with ` thebandwhohadrecently played the Isle Of Wight б Festival Songs Of Love AndHate shouldhave beena K lap of honour, but instead proved tobe the bleakest _albumof Cohen's never-sunny career. Starting with ү the cripples andhunchbacks of “Avalanche’, it's a ee _long, bracing spasm of dejection that nevertheless ` ` delivered "Famous Blue Raincoat”, the latest of Cohen’ s modern-day standards. E -LIVESONGS (1973) E ‘Cohenhadhoped to release two live albums to fulfill Қ ‘his contract but had to make do with this souvenir Е _ofhis 1972 European tour (also featuring “Tonight Em | Will Be Fine” from Isle Of Wight 1970). Though ш [Please Don't Pass Me By” and “Bird On A Wire” are proudand stately processions, they pale | beside the performances capturedin Tony NEW SKIN Fog Tug Palmer sdocumentary of the same tour - UD CEREMONY particularly the closing “So Long Marianne”, E. ER | performedin tears in Jerusalem. | | Geach al NEW SKINFOR THEOLD CEREMONY (1974) Asignof regenerationin the midst of Cohen's _ longi970sslough of despond. New Skin... saw him team up with musical director John Lissauer _ togreateffect. The North Africanrhythms of “Lover Lover Lover” and “There Is A War", presumably inspired by his short sojourn in j; Ethiopia, were welcome, while “Chelsea Hotel JE :t2'and WhoByFire" (the former his first лы |" co- -write, with guitar ristRon оле) proved _ DEATH OF ALADIES' MAN (1977) Roundly dismissed onits release by Cohen, his label and thepress,...Ladies' Man's reputation has burgeonedinrecent years, reassessed asakind of magnificent mid- 70s folly.In truth alotofthe arrangements are overblown, and thisis far from Cohen's finest collection _ ofsongs, but "Memories", abitter midlife demolition of teenage symphonies to God, is worth the price of admission, while Ronee Blakley sings beautifully on the opening "True Love Leaves No Traces’. commuterland. Henderson Hospital had been founded in 1947 as atrauma unit for shellshocked soldiers struggling to reintegrate back into civilian life after the end of World War II. By 1970, it had become a “democratic therapeutic community”, fostering acommunal approach to helping “outsiders and misfits” who had been failed by | conventional approaches to mental distress. А | member of the community’s writers group, known only as John, took it upon himself to invite Leonard Cohen to play at the hospital, and seeing an | heenthused at the end of this set. “I never felt so good | before playing before people." Theshow was taped by charge nurse Ian Milne, and therecording now survives in the Planned Environment Therapy Archive in Cheltenham. It finds Cohenin remarkably good humour, drolly detailing the romantic despair and pharmacological derangement that was driving his art. After “You Know Who! Am” he | comments, “I don’t know why, but this song seems to have something to do with some 300 acid trips Itook." Meanwhile, he explains, *One Of Us Cannot opportunity to warm up for the Isle Of Wight Festival, үз! = OF I ESTAN Be Wrong” was “written in the Chelsea Hotelin New Cohen graciously accepted. rue ERE York City. This was written coming off amphetamine. Cohen felt right at home in Henderson. Playing for наанаа қ n EN ar ЕЙ | Iwasalso pursuing a woman at the time, an incredibly over an hour in an attic room in the tower of the | Жы , „е ч diis pa beautiful singer in a small cafe in the Village and I was hospital, before 50 or so residents and staff, he | | кане PUNA in completely taken.” sounded positively happy. *Ireally wanted to say Bec ЗЫ Бы It may not have seemed an obvious preparation for that this is the audience we have been looking for,’ . — following Jimi Hendrix at the Isle Of Wight Festival, > MARCH 2021 -UNCUT - 67 With Judy Collins, at the 1967 Newport Folk Festival, ayear after sherecorded “Suzanne” in front of over half a million truculent hippies in a “psychedelic concentration camp”, yet somehow it worked. Still dressed in his safari suit, unshaven and dishevelled, with the Army now referring to him as “Captain Mandrax”, Cohen took to the festival stage at 4am. Kris Kristofferson, who had been booed off a few days previously, was in awe: “He did the damnedest thing you ever saw: he charmed the beast. Alone sorrowful voice did what some of the best rockers in the world had tried for three days and failed.” He had come and seen and conquered... But now he was “tired of the war/I want the kind of work I had before”, as he wrote in “Joan of Arc”. He very much P.ULLMAN/ROGER VIOLLET VIA GETTY IMAGES; JOHNBYRNE COOKE ESTATE/GETT Y IMAGES; GAB ARCHIVE/REDFERNS Thesafari-suited stalliononstagein Aix-en-Provence, France, 1970 wo» “ “WHY AM OING WOULD ASK ME" TONY PALMER Former protégée andlover Joni Mitchell іп1971 Becoming aware of hisimpact: Cohenat Hamburg's Musikhalle, May4, 1970 wanted to go back. Maybe to a cabin in Tennessee or to awhitewashed room by the Aegean Sea, a Zen temple intheSan Gabriel Mountains, or justto an attic room ina psychiatric institution in Sutton. But Cohen's seven-year tour of duty, his own long season in Hell, was only just beginning. It led him from the devastation ofthe Isle Of Wight, through the concert halls of Europe and North America, via strange journeys through Israel and Ethiopia, to end up as a “broken-down nightingale”, captive in a holding cell in the Tower Of Song along with Phil Spector. “Was it a spiritual crisis?” wonders Tony Palmer, another early fan, who watched Cohen at the Isle Of Wight, and later filmed him on the intense 1972 tour of Europe. “It was an intellectual crisis and therefore to an extent an emotional crisis. ‘Why am] doing this?’ he would ask me. I think he was becoming aware, probably for the first time, of the impact both his songs and his performance was having on an audience.” WW T’San understatement to say that Songs Of Love | And Hate was an album made under duress. ЖЕ Recorded with Bob Johnston and the reconvened Army in Nashville during September 1970, it found Cohen overwhelmed by a “deep, paralysing anguish”. He’d assembled a collection of old songs he had attempted to record for his first two albums along with one new song, “Sing Another Song Boys", recorded at Aix backin August. These songs seemed to have been patiently biding their time, waiting for the moment to appear on Cohen’s bleakest album yet. “Dress Rehearsal Rag”, recorded by Judy Collins back in 1966, seemed here to speak directly to the Cohen of 1970: “Where are you, golden boy/Where’s your famous golden touch? And a bitter voice in the mirror cries/ ‘Hey, Prince, you need a shave’/That’s a funeral in the mirror/And it's stopping at your face..." Ona performance from 1968, Cohen had jovially described the song as his version of *Gloomy Sunday", asong he could only perform on “extremely joyous occasions when I know the landscape can support the despair I am about to project into it”. Now the song seemed to perfectly the capture the man depicted on the album sleeve: unshaven and unkempt, bearing a seemingly chemically deranged beatific grin — the dapper and serene gent of Songs Of Leonard Cohen coming apart at the seams. His career seemed to be doing the same. A sign of the burgeoning Cohen cult in Europe, Songs Of Love And Hate entered the UK album chart at No 4. In America, it barely scraped into the top 150. This matter had not escaped Columbia Records, keener than ever to cash in on their investment. When Cohen had been signed E NN = “IDIDN'T KEEL COMPETITIVE WIIHJONI AT ALI fm Hu T byJohn Hammond, his songs already covered by Judy Collins and Joan Baez, he must have seemed a safe bet in the ‘New Dylan’ stakes. But by the summer of 1971, with the release of Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Cohen seemed to be outpaced by his former lover and protégée. The previous year, on Ladies From The Canyon's "Rainy Night Hotel", Joni had bade farewell to “the Holy Manon the FM radio”. Now, on “A Case Of You”, she quoted Cohen (“Iam constant as a northern star”) and threatened to transcend him. Blue was a Top 20 album in the States and seemed to define anew paradigm for confessional pop art. There’s no indication that Cohen was ever less than gracious and supportive of Mitchell’s success. Years later he admitted, “I didn’t feel competitive with Joni. I was on my own trip. Iwas a young man entranced by this radiant person. It was already current at that time that Joni was some kind of musical monster, that her gift somehow put her in another category from the other folk singers. There was a certain ferocity associated with her gift. She was like a storm." “There was no rivalry that I saw,” says Ronee Blakley who was friends with Joni Mitchell (or ‘Mitchell’ as she calls her: “Joanie was what we called Joan Baez!”) and later knew and sang with Cohen in LA. “The first time I remember hearing Leonard Cohen must have been > MARCH 2021 > UNCUT · 69 EN GUNTERZINT/1970K &K ULF KRUGER OHG/REDFERNS ILPOMUSTO/SHUTTERSTOCK Between “bombastic” Bob Johnston (left) and “wonderful” Ron Cornelius at the Royal AlbertHall, London, March23,1972 in 1970 on a boat trip with Mitchell, Graham Nash and David Crosby on David’s schooner. We sailed down from Kingston to Panama - it was pretty scary. There were 60-foot waves! The boys did the sailing while Joni andIdid the cooking. In the midst ofthis we were listening to Leonard Cohen together - you know, Suzanne and the oranges. Mitchell was still very fond of him. They had known each other in Canada and still kept in touch, she was still writing songs about him.” But Mitchell’s astonishing fecundity must have rankled, as Cohen struggled to write or even get his work published. On Songs Of Love And Hate’s “Last Year’s Man” he sang, “The rain falls down on last year’s man/An hour has gone by/And he has not moved his hand". Nevertheless, Cohen's songs continued to insinuate their subtle way into the mainstream. Released in June, Robert Altman's dreamy Chekovian western, McCabe And Mrs Miller, drifted in on a Vancouver breeze to the strum of “The Stranger Song” along with unused instrumental tracks from the tortuous recording sessions for Songs Of Leonard Cohen. 70- UNCUT - MARCH2021 S У a Gm ғғ P PA. < b W ч b hs “SAID. ‘YOU ARENEVER TOSHUT THE DOOR ON ME” Meanwhile in Germany, Fassbinder and Werner Herzog conjured very different fever dreams from Cohen’s music with their films Beware Of A Holy Whore and Fata Morgana. ANAGING anartist stuck in a creative rut, M dealing with a record label losing patience, but seeing how well Cohen’s music seemed to work on film, Marty Machat had a plan. Machat was ashowbiz lawyer of the old school. Having worked with R&B acts like The Platters before helping pave the way for the British invasion, Machat helped Cohen extricate himself from a contract with first manager Mary Martin. “My dad was Leonard’s best friend,” says his son Steven Machat, who grew up seeing Cohen as something of a loving, if distant, older brother. “Dad loved the fact Leonard could say whatever fuck he wanted. I do not know if he loved the music. But he loved Leonard. He loved the bohemian lifestyle, he just couldn't beit. He tried and he couldn't do it." Through their mutual contact, Frank Zappa manager Herb Cohen, Machat arranged to fly over Tony Palmer, “ НЕМ Топу ji Palmer _ deliveredhis . cutof Bird On - A Wire, Cohen _ was dismayed. _ HetoldPalmer , itwas'too | confrontational” ı and paid a | fortune to have it птш recut - a process that wasnever completed and saw the film lost until Palmer recreated his originalin 2010. “It was the most stupid thing l'veever donein my whole life," Palmer says today. “ljust said, Well, Leonard, here's the material, soif | thought we would all come back in acouple of weeks... “| didn't know whathe meantby confrontational until nine years later when|made a film with Richard Burton about Wagner. Richard had never seen himself onthescreen.|said, Aren't you curious?’ andhe said, ‘No. Look atme:my noseis skewiff, I've got pockmarks, my eyebrows are peculiar, my hair is dreadful. I'm toldl've got agood voice - but of courselcan'thear that. "Mittorio Storaro, the cameraman, said Marlon Brando was exactly thesame.|said, Surely they must be curious to see how they appear onscreen?’ They want to know whatit's like to talk to you, they're happy to take aphotograph because it'sjust 12 inches by eight, but what they don't want toseeis Brandoor Burtonona sodding greatscreen. “That's when the penny dropped. Leonard had never ever seen himself onscreen, not to that extent;| think that's whathe got nervous about. Dolreally look like that? Dolreally soundlike that? Do lIreally want to be remembered as this person who sings these songs notvery well, notin tune? No,| don't.’ “That's what he meant by being confrontational. | think he simply meant, I don'tlike whatlsee.” who had just finished work on Zappa’s demented tour fantasia, 200 Motels. A product of the BBC arts documentary school, Palmer had produced the groundbreaking 1968 rock documentary All My Loving. He was also the first rock critic at The Observer, giving notable write-ups to The Beatles, David Bowie and the first two Leonard Cohen albums. “My wife was friends with Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, the antique car chap,” Palmer remembers wryly. “We used to spend a lot of time with him. One weekend, he told us about a big festival happening at Isle Of Wight, so we sailed over on his yacht and ended up with VIP tickets, right at the front, under the nose of Leonard Cohen. I remember the performance as rather ragged. I thought he was good, but the musicians were pretty rotten. But I went backstage and met him and really liked him, and I think that was what made me buy and write about the records.” Machat pitched the idea of a film of a proposed tour, kicking offin Dublin on St Patrick’s Day 1972, winding through 20 dates in Europe, before concluding in Jerusalem. “What Leonard did not know, but Marty youcanmake itless confrontational.’ LEONARD COHEN told me, was that Columbia did not want to renew his record contract,” says Palmer. “Although he had a certain t following in Europe, the records weren't & selling in America. So poor old Marty u | was faced with an artist who didn't ғ wantto tour and didn't have a record . contract. In the early ’7o0s, that was Mil commercial disaster. k ' ^ “Marty told me the only thing to do е was, ‘Let’s make a film of the farewell tour. i Maybe we'll be able to use the film to get him a record contract again.’ That was the brief! But the very first thing Leonard said to me was, ‘I don’t want to make this film.’ What a great start! But he said it with a smile and he was very courteous. This was October 1971, I think. “Leonard had various conditions,” continues Palmer. “He didn’t want a film which just portrayed him asa happy little songwriter who wrote sentimental ditties about his various girlfriends. He wanted to make absolutely sure that we got across that his poetry had a very serious political - with a small p - point. “Then he said, ‘Have you got any conditions?’ I said, “Yes, just one. I have no idea what’s going to happen on the tour, but I’m certainly not going to film every single concert. We have to make a plan, so we're not just endlessly repeating ourselves.’ I said, ‘You, Leonard Cohen, are never, ever to shut the door on me. Whatever happens I will be there with my camera filming.’ He looked at me and said, ‘All right, I think that's fair. *So we had unbelievable access! We literally followed him into the shower! It was because he didn't havea record contract. He only had Marty Machat to look after him. There were no PR people, no record executives, none of these awful people leaning over your shoulder telling you what to do. We just busked it! I think if you add together the film crew plus his band plus the stage crew, there were no more than 25 people.” NEW member of Cohen’s army was Jennifer A Warnes, up to then probably best known for performing light musical interludes on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. “It was a strange group of people,” she says of the tour band. “Bob Johnston was very well thought of in Nashville, but I didn’t get on with him. He was a bombastic person, very opinionated and in your face... and I was kind of more subtle. But Ron Cornelius, the guitarist, was a wonderful guy. He led the band and he always set Leonard at ease. Every night, he got Leonard to sing an hour before each show.” Despite the rapturous reception that greeted Cohen in Europe, it was clear the tour was becoming an ordeal. Barely three dates in, on stage in Manchester, Cohen wryly sent up his public persona, and the whole charade of performance. “Who can take this seriously as a career? Leonard Cohen is going to sing his song of anguish and despair. Here he comes, folks, the organis playing, the skulls appear, they’re lowered by wires byaman above the stage. He stands there, the broken-down nightingale. Oh, the broken-down nightingale’s gonna sing you alittle song.” > MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 71 EVENINGSTANDARD/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES GIJSBERTHANEKROOT/REDFERNS LEONARD COHEN Palmer's film ofthe tour is bookended by two performances in Israel. The first in Tel Aviv, where armed security guards cause a riot after Cohen invites the audience closer, the second in Jerusalem, where Cohen leaves the stage midway through the set, promising to pay refunds, confessing that his performance is not good enough, before returning for a showstopping rendition of “So Long Marianne” that leaves the audience, the band and the singer himselfin tears. Cohen later admitted he’d taken some LSD he found in his guitar case. Throughout the tour, amid astonishing adulation, attempted seductions, the tedium of tourbuses, PA systems constantly failing and betrayed fans demanding (and receiving) refunds, Leonard seems to be wrestling, with great courtesy, grace, and nota little amusement, with a profound turmoil. “IT disgraced myself tonight, Tony,” he says to the director at one point. “He was pissed off singing the same old songs,” explains Palmer. “He thought of himself as a poet. A poetsitsin alonely room on a Greek island writing poetry - not prancing around on a stage. He felt that there was no connection between the emotion that had inspired the song and the emotion he was putting into the songs on stage. That for him was failure. I don’t think the rest of us noticed. The band would just shrug. They would never argue with him. Marty did, for commercial reasons, and you can’t blame him for that.” Jennifer Warnes remembers the tour more fondly. “I was madlyin love with Leonard. Who wouldn’t be? He was wonderful, but the conditions under which we were together were particular to a tour. I was there to perform a job, so that was my number-one priority. But! just enjoyed him tremendously... and we never parted after that. “I think Tony Palmer chose to edit and focus on the crises that tour. “SUCH A GENTLE, KIND ALMOST FEMININE PERSON? "Ithinkthat Leonard's supposed ‘spiritual crisis’ on that tour wasn't a spiritual crisis. It was a mixture of substances that overcame a very sensitive person. He didn'tindulgein drugs after that. He lived a very clean life. I don’t think I ever saw him extremely drunk or extremely high or in torment from substances after that tour. He had a great personal discipline as far as taking care of himself. I mean, he smoked and he had a drink every now and then. But that kind of excessive combining of substances - although it was par for the time, Ithinkitinduced a lot of psychic pain. “My lasting memories of that tour are just the tender moments. He was such a gentle, kind, almost feminine person. I had never met anybody like that before. When the tour ended I thought to myself, ‘Gee, that was really amazing. I can’t wait to meet some more people like that!’ The truth of it is that I never did. There weren't any other people like that. He was a very, very unusual person." destroyed Cohen, but domesticity didn't seem to suit him any better. In September 1972, his partner Suzanne Elrod gave birth to their first son, Adam. Together they moved back to Hydra — the Greek island where, a decade earlier, he had met his muse, Mariane Ilhen. Between swimming and working in prose, Cohen composed “There Is A War”, which presented family life (“Well I live here with a woman and achild/The situation makes me kind of nervous”) as the most insidious form of warfare: “Why don’t you come on back to the war”, he wrote. “Don’t be a tourist”. True enough, the day after Egypt launched an airstrike on Israeli bases in Sinai on October 6, 1973, starting the two-week Yom Kippur War, Cohen flew to Tel Aviv, hoping to enlist in the Israeli army. At face value, it seemed an unusual thing | IFEontheroad with the Army had almost But there were many other stories running along the same time. What seemed interesting to Tony were the Israeli soldiers in the streets with rifles. Dont Look Back had influenced everyone, so there was probably a little pressure to focus on the Heroic Nature of the Young Artist. “But I bet that there’s lot of footage that wasn’t used that isn’t about crisis, but is equally... glorious. Tony needed Leonard to be glamorous in that way. But there were other, more beautiful, softer moments in the tour that were never filmed.” Warnes also suggests that Cohen was less going through a creative crisis than succumbing to the pressures of the touring lifestyle. “There were a lot of drugs, mainly Mandrax and alcohol and pot and cocaine and whatever else they could bring to the table. The fellas in the band would get together and partake in one of the rooms prior to a show. Of course, me and Donna |Washburn, her fellow back-up singer] weren’t invited to that. Then they would go on stage and whatever happened was a result of what had happened prior. “We just had to go with the flow. You learned to pay attention to the way the music is going and some nights Leonard composed or improvised songs on the spot. In fact, many nights we created songs from nothing. I can’t guarantee that they were all that good, and maybe that’s why a lot of that didn’t show up in the final film! 72: UNCUT - MARCH2021 for a folk singer to do, given the lip service to pacifism. But Cohen seemed clear-eyed regarding his motives. “Iam committed to the survival of the Jewish people,” he told an interviewer at the time. But in his present state of mind, a cause — any cause — was perhaps more appealing both to Cohen’s ego and artistic hunger than low-grade domestic clashes on Hydra. His attempt to join the Israeli army was unsuccessful, though, and Cohen ended up performing, often many times a day, for the troops on the front. This didn't deter him from flying direct to Ethiopia, just as it was poised on the verge of its own military coup. In rainy Eritrea he worked on “Field Commander Cohen", where an eponymous special operative is tempted to leave the Bondian glamour of parachutes and spycraft, and “Come back to nothing special/Such as waiting rooms, ticket lines/And other forms of boredom advertised as poetry”. Both songs wound up on New Skin For The Old Ceremony, which attempted to broker some kind of peace in Cohen’s battered psyche. Significantly it was his first album to not come wrapped in a baleful Cohen portrait. The sleeve instead featured a woodcut from a16th-century alchemical treatise, celebrated by Carl Jung as representing the fusion of the male and female aspects of the soul. “T think those early-’70s tours with Bob Johnston left Leonard with a kind of sour aftertaste,” says John >» J Р b Wrestling with aprofound turmoil:ontour Е | 5 all NI O о E =| Ig | к= < ; „Же. Cohenbackstagein Hamburgduringa tour to develop songs written with JohnLissauer, 1974 74- UNCUT - MARCH 2021 “WE TREATED EACH SONG LIKE ASTORY” Lissauer, the young music graduate Cohen chose to produce the album during early 1974 at Sound Ideas Studio, New York. “I think it was a lot of fun, but it turned into a big kind of a big rowdy mess, and I think he felt maybe that the artistic focus might have been slipping." Lissauer came to Cohen's attention as musical director for Lewis Furey, a young poet and performer who had been something of a Cohen protégé since the ’6os. By the mid-’70s he was becoming a homegrown sensation, something like the Canadian Lou Reed. “I helped Lewis put together a band,” says Lissauer. “When we played Montreal, the town exploded. It was the closest thing toa happening I’ve ever been involved with. Lewis was wild — blatantly bisexual and very theatrical. Leonard was very taken with the show and came up to me afterwards and said he’d like to work with me. “T wasn’t really interested in folk at the time – I was doing jazz and I was a classical major. But my girlfriend was a big fan, so Iknew his work. It was instant friendship. I don't think we ever had a cross word. He was 39 at the time, 15 or 16 years older than me, but he didn't treat me like a kid and I didn't treat himlike a master. But it was like we were artists, we really talked art. “The first songs we worked on were a bit different than what I expected. More upbeat and with more fire going on. Columbia weren’t sure about me because I didn’t have much ofa reputation, so we recorded “Lover, Lover, Lover” and “There Is A War” and “Chelsea Hotel #2” as an audition. “We hired some really interesting musicians,” continues Lissauer. “A Middle Eastern percussionist for the rolling Ethiopian vibe on ‘Lover’ and ‘War’, a great bass player, John Miller. A super-talented guitar player, Ralph Gibson. It was effortless. We did three songs, pretty much start to finish. Even Marty Machat was happy. Marty and I headbutted for a long time, because I think he resented Leonard liking anyone else. He wanted to be Leonard’s go-to guy and for Leonard to be completely dependent on him for artistic things. He thought I was too young, while I didn’t have much respect for managers and lawyers. Marty wasa pretty awful guy; he was scary, you know? No-one crossed him because bad things seemed to happen... “But we had a truce. Columbia liked the three songs, so we started the album immediately. Leonard and I were thrilled. They always wanted to have a hit that really broke through - not just Suzanne’ or Famous Blue Raincoat’, but something that was successful in America. All Leonard and I cared about was making a super-artistic, visual record. We treated each song like astory. We both loved it and to this day it's one of my favourite things that I’ve ever been involved in. We didn’t pull any punches and we did creative stuff.” Today, Ralph Gibson is best known as one of the major artists in postwar American photography. But in 1974 he was invited by Cohen to play guitar on “Chelsea Hotel #2” as an allusion to their friendship and shared time in the New York institution together. “I moved to New Yorkin ’67 from LA and I immediately checked into the Chelsea,” says Gibson today. “I ended up owing nine months’ rent, which at $200 a month was $1,800. But in those days in New York at the Chelsea you could do that! Anyway, Iwas a classical guitarist, and Iwas playing on the roof with my girlfriend one late spring day and Leonard just walks up. He had heard the music and he walked up and introduced himself. He had just become famous -[thinkIm talking about '67 and '68... THE on FrenchTV, May 27,1976 THE ALBUM "Leonard sings!" Nearly 1976 Cohen was | midway through recording a new album with John Lissauer, with the working title Songs For Rebecca’, before he abruptly switched to work on Death Of ALadies'Man.Some of the worksin progress appeared in very different forms on later albums - "Beauty Salon” and "Guerrero" became “Don't Go Home With Your Hard On" and "lodine" on Death Of A Ladies' Man, for example, while "| Guess It's Time" became "The Smokey Life” and “The Traitor Song’ became "The Traitor” on 1979's Recent Songs. A bootleg of a November 1975 live performance of Lissauer's band arrangements can now be found on YouTube. But at a time when demand for new Leonard Cohen material has never been greater, Lissauer's original recordings are no closer tobeingreleased. "It's been 45 years of strangeness, me andLeonard,’ says Lissauer, whois remarkably unbitter, considering the history of his relationship with Cohen andhis management. "On andoff,on andoff. We never spoke about any of it. We alwaysjust started on the next project. Wenever said, Hey, whatabout "Songs For Rebecca"? Nope, we wouldstart fresh and always be the best of friends and intimate, youknow, talking about stuff no-one wouldtalk about, but unrealinits own way. "Dolthink those Rebecca songs willever come out? There's some goodstuff onit. Leonard sings! "Itsamatter of whether Adam Cohen will allow it to come out in conjunction with Sony. It's a complicated thing. Adam has his own posthumous record of stuff he did with his dad that he wants to put out, sol don't really know. "| think it's the weirdest artist/ producer history ever, really, butit went on. We never actually had arift. He would disappear but | would never holdit against him, and then he'd come back and do something else." LEONARD COHEN “We got talking and playing and he sang every song he knew and I riffed around behind him for three hours. I just met the guy and here we are playing for three hours! We saw each other intermittently — I was publishing my first books of photographs and he was travelling constantly. Then finally New Skin... came up. He invited me to play on the record and there was talk of touring. But he said, {I just don’t want to do that to our friendship, Ralph. I don’t see you walking down the corridor and knocking on my door saying, “It’s time to go on.” “But I’m glad we worked together that once. It was anotch in our belts - we wanted to somehow or other do something with the rapport we shared. It was a great rapport." During the New Skin... sessions, the Lissauer/Cohen relationship went from strength to strength. Although the album failed to address Cohen's singular lack of American sales, the pairimmediately began work on afollow-up. “It was going to be called ‘Songs For Rebecca’,” says Lissauer. “Leonard said to me, ‘You write better melodies than I do. Let’s doa record together.’ So we wrote six or seven songs. Then we went on a short tour to sort of develop them in the old-fashioned way, on theroad. We toured the States and we did a bunch of stuffin Europe and the songs were really coming together pretty well. “Then Leonard said that he had to take a month off to work on poetry and some other things in Greece. He said, 'Tll give you a holler and we'll do vocals and overdubs and maybe another song when | get back.’ I didn’t hear from him again for six years." NBEKNOWNST to Lissauer, Marty Machat U hatched a new plan for Leonard Cohen. Atthe time, he was also managing Phil Spector, who had taken a hefty advance from Warners but failed to deliver an album. Now they were threatening to take back their money, including Machat's percentage. Never fully on board with the idea of Lissauer as a producer, especially after the failure of New Skin... to setthe charts alight, Machat arranged for Cohen to return from Greece, where he was once again struggling to adjust to domestic bliss, and rent an apartmentin Brentwood, LA. He could be closer to Roshi, the Buddhist monk who was becoming increasingly important for his mental wellbeing. He could also meet Phil Spector, the polar opposite of a zen master, who had been "entranced" by Leonard's recent performance at the Troubadour. Swapping Lissauer for Spector was like going from Robert Altman to Steven Spielberg; Machat was still determined to get the ultimate vindication of a big American blockbuster hit for Leonard Cohen. "Leonard really had no American career at that momentin time," says Steven Machat. *He put out New Skin... in 1974 and it did nothing, so CBS dropped him. CBS gave dad back his US contract. Dad didn't know what to do with Leonard Cohen for the States. But dad loved Leonard. So he concocted a deal where Phil Spector would produce Leonard Cohen and it would come out on Phil Spector's label on Warners, but it would also come out on CBS overseas." Though Death Of A Ladies Man seems to have been solely devised as some remarkable creative accounting on the part of Machat, Cohen was not averse to the idea ofa collaboration, briefly seeing himself as Bernie Taupin to Spector's Elton, and initially enjoyed the hospitality at Spector's LA mansion. » MARCH 2021 - UNCUT · 75 HANS-JURGENDIBBERT/K & K/REDFERNS; MICHAEL PUTLAND/GETTY IMAGES Ronee Blakley, at this point on a career crest after her appearance in Robert Altman's Nashville and on Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, sang on three numbers, notably the opener, “True Love Leaves No Traces”. “I think Joni Mitchell must have introduced us,” she says. “She said, ‘Leonard will appreciate your kind of madness! “I learned so much from him. He was such a delightful man. I loved just listening to his voice, the resonance — it was rabbinical, like a Jewish cantus firmus. His voice had meaning and then when he applies his poetry, there’s a depth that is difficult to reach. It’s an MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; ISTVAN BAJZAT/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES FRANK EDWARDS/FOTOSINTERNATIONAL/GETT Y IMAGES; BRAD ELTERMAN/FILMMAGIC; FEM 1 ВопееВаКеу withDylan, 1976; (top) Phil Spector artistry that can be admired and imitated but hardly equalled. But he wasn't lugubrious. He hada light touch to his very serious mien. He was a meaningful person, but he carried it very lightly. A long-time LA resident and friends with Cohen and Spector, Blakley is uniquely placed to offer insight into both men. “Phil was an ЖОШ! eccentric man," she acknowledges. “А great talent but he was... odd. 1976 Hedrank wine, he wore a hairpiece. There was a bit of an aura. For one thing, there was no way to get around his massive success and influence on music. He was such an enormous figure.” Blakley recalls the critical dynamic between Cohen and Spector — one not of employer and employee but of two men who perceived themselves as in charge. “Phil travelled in a limo, he had two six-foot blond twins as bodyguards,” says Blakley. “There is an aspect of Phil where he is always going to be boss. But the idea that Leonard would not be the boss is inconceivable!” Through the winter of 1976/77 the odd couple somehow forged a productive working partnership, recording eight songs in Hollywood’s Gold Star studio, some adapted from the abandoned ‘Songs For Rebecca’ project. The centrepiece of the album was “Memories”, an homage to Spector’s teen-dream symphonies, coupled with Cohen’s own schlemiel nostalgia. Soon the two of them were drunk on their own vainglory. Harvey Kubernick, visiting the studio on behalf of Melody Maker, reported Spector, clutching an empty bottle of Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine, booming over the monitors, “This isn’t punk rock! This is ROCK PUNK!” Cohen, meanwhile, was swigging Jose Cuervo: “Everybody will now know that within this serene Buddhistic interior, there beats an adolescent heart.” “I thought Death Of A Ladies Man was hysterical,” says Steven Machat, who was living with Cohen during the recording — acting by his own admission as his dad’s “gangster”, trying desperately to sell the album to any label that might be interested. “I’m 25 years old and I’m listening to music saying, ‘Don’t go home with your hard on’ — are you kidding me? I sat there in the studio with this animal Phil Spector and his guns. I saw Phil Spector losing it on people. I just figured, ‘OK, this is rock’n’roll. Maybe this will really help Leonard.’ “It was two energies,” he continues. “You had Phil Spector, who hated everybody. Then you had Leonard Cohen, who was like an older brother at times, buta distant older brother. Phil was looking for trouble and Leonard was looking to cause trouble.” “It took a lot of courage for Leonard to put himself in that position,” says Blakley. “He extended himself. I personally don’t remember any tension or a bad atmosphere in the recording. My lasting memory is one 76 * UNCUT e MARCH2021 THEREAL By Jennifer Warnes WU THINK what people have | missed about Leonardis that they talk abouthis prowess asa writer or his longevity or his unusual artform or who he was as awomaniser or whatever. But Ihaventreally read anything that's written aboutLeonard that can convey to the reader what a sweet, sweetnature he brought to the world. "Ispentmy career as a womanin a man's world, so it was even more important for me to be around someone who wasrespectfulof women. To give you an idea of what he waslike, if we ever had to divide up between all the men on one side of the room andall the women onthe other side of the room, Leonard would alwaysbe sat with the women. Not because he was planning onusing them, buthe just preferredbeing with women. "Most of the guysin my generation preferred and wrote for the adulation of other men. They wrote tobeheldup by other men. My generation was alove affair between men andmen.ButLeonard camein and brought adifferent consciousness to that. It was suddenly really cool tobe kind." | day I was in Canters, the deli on Fairfax, with Allan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. I was on my way to Phil and Leonard’s session and Allan and Bob decided they wanted to tag along. That’s how they ended up on the album [on ‘Don’t Go Home With Your Hard On’. Everybody was just laughing like crazy, having a good old time, pals together. We had alot of good times. That’s just the way it was, back then.” HE hangover when it dawned, was brutal. | Spector was growing increasingly erratic, at one point pulling a gun on fiddle player Bobby Bruce. Every evening he took the tapes home to his mansion under armed guard. After one final session inJune, he disappeared, never to return. Cohen was brutally disillusioned by the experience. *This album is junk," Cohen later wrote to Machat Jr. “It’s your father's masturbation. I love Marty, he's my brother. But I never want to see that man Spector again. He is the worst human being I have ever met." Out of mischief and apparently against Cohen's wishes, Steven Machat eventually persuaded Warners torelease Death Of A Ladies' Manin November 1977, when it became comfortably his worst selling album yet. Leaving LA forthe Canadian winter, Cohen returned to Montreal where his beloved mother Masha was living out her final months. She died in February 1978. Barely a month later, as spring came to California, Suzanne Elrod said her final goodbye and the Machats were on hand once more to draw up the separation agreement. In the course of a few months, Cohen had lost his mother, his family and what seemed to be the final remnants of his career. “The art of losing isn’t hard to master,” the poet Elizabeth Bishop once wrote, in words that might have been designed for Cohen, patching together her own attempt at Canadian Buddhist detachment. “So many things seem filled with the intent/To be lost that their loss is no disaster.” With fresh determination, his old wit and some wry amusement, Cohen bought a new house near the Cimarron Zen Center and got back to work. ® БЫ а М НІЛ ампо Norman Records Vinyl specialists. The best music. The best service. The best prices. T E ғ T -a i E s es Worldwide shipping. UK orders over £50 ship free. Vinyl Price Match. Packaging guarantee. normanrecords.com/uncut “IVD ONIA JOHNPEETS; ALYSSE GAFKJEN; STAN BLAKE | WI E ҮІ Ч | Ш | ШШ == atMuscle Shoals = Soundin Sheffield, Snes À m d The Making Cf... Р 2- —— = 4 I ыы + -‏ س Дай‏ Tighten by The Black Keys Asong that almost didn’t make the cut became the Keys’ breakthrough number. Recorded on a diet of beer and chicken wings N 2009, the Black Keys were on the verge of something, but they weren't sure exactly what. After years spent eking out a modest living on small labels and mid-level touring, they enjoyed a breakthrough thanks to a new label, Nonesuch, and a new producer, Danger Mouse. 2008's Attack & Release reached No 14 in America and grazed the UK Top 40. Drummer Patrick Carney remembers that their goal had always been to play the Brixton Academy, but that, "We never felt that playing the O2 or somewhere like that was ever going to be attainable." = E LJ ТТЫ “ІІІ” i al а Alabama,recording === = [nomen 2009 سے E ИЕ 777 ; eA кегінің TT Behind the scenes, Carney was about to turn 30 and had just got divorced. To compound his woes, he wasn’t happy that his partner in the Black Keys, singer- guitarist Dan Auerbach, had just released asolo album without his knowledge. Asa consequence, the pair went through what the drummer calls “some shit”. “Tthink that was more in Pat’s head than mine,” insists Auerbach today. “Pat was going through a really bad time. I was making music as I always had done. Communication wasn’t great and there was alot going on. But we got through it.” Carney remembers approaching their Dan Auerbach Vocals, guitar Patrick Carney Drums TchadBlake Mixing engineer next record, 2010's Brothers, thinking, *Not many bands make it to six albums, so we'd better put our best foot forward.’ They certainly did. A Top 5 hit globally, Brothers collected three Grammys and sold 850,000 copies in the States alone. Ironically, “Tighten Up”, the album’s instantly catchy lead single, almost didn’t get made at all. The majority of tracks were recorded in Muscle Shoals with engineer Mark Neill, before Auerbach and Carney returned to New York. With time on their hands, they headed back into the studio with Danger Mouse. “The feeling was, ‘Let’s try to write something that could possibly be played on the radio,” Auerbach remembers. “That was the first time we'd tried that. At first I was so uneasy with it, but 'm so glad we put it out. That song opened the doors for everything that followed. It changed everything for us." DAVESIMPSON DAN AUERBACH: With the divorce happening, Pat wanted to get out of town. Iwas all for that. I wanted to go to Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis so bad. l'd been there and seen the room with the echo chamber. Then Mark talked usinto going to Muscle Shoals. Not to Fame where Duane Allman recorded with Wilson Pickett, but to Muscle Shoals Sound - which was basically like returning to our basement. The shitty floors weren't supported properly, so the bassresponse was terrible. There were all these hard surfaces, so sound bouncing everywhere... But we just let the music flow. Werealised that the magicis just Pat and me and that can happen anywhere. Mark is an incredible engineer. We were playing his beautiful Gretsch drumkit and Rickenbacker bass. It was allreally inspired. PAT CARNEY: When we got home, I looked at the 14-song track listing and kept thinking we should make one more song that was alittle more intentional in terms ofa pop structure. Brian [Burton, Danger Mouse] had just got a place in New York, so he and I were hanging out alot. He did all of Attack & Release but we hadn't worked with him at all for Brothers yet. AUERBACH: Before Attack & Release we'd never worked with a producer. The biggest change was letting people into our world. We hand-picked everyone. We choose people thoughtfully and we have always been well rewarded. CARNEY: Dan and I had made this hip-hop record called Blakroc and were going to do some late-night TV. It was recorded in the afternoon, so the late night was free time. We booked a two-night session in a place in Brooklyn called The Bunker. First week of December 2009. Over the summer I'd been listening to Can and figured out how to play the groove for “Vitamin C”. It was fuckin’ wrong, but I thought my take was cool. So that became a song called “The Only One”, a demo, but I liked the beat so much that maybe we could use a burst of that. That was the start of “Tighten Up”. AUERBACH: I remember singing the melody at the piano first. I don't normally write on piano — but I was playing more This is a twelve inch by ct E | 4” ый "The ТЕТІН о Tar й Г the song on this side is Tighten Up 1) 45 R.P.M. 20 Side A DET biy PAT CARNEY keyboard at the time becauseT'd played keyboards on my solo album. Brian was the first person I called over when I thought I had a melody. I remember working on it together with him. Then I changed the melody to the guitar. Brian probably did some keyboard bass. He was listening to what I was doing and commenting, “Yes I like that... No, Idon’t like that.” I trust Brian. He’s got great taste. CARNEY: Brian’s much more involved than most producers. He probably should have been given a writing credit on “Tighten Up”, but we didn’t know how shit worked, really. We weren’t sure what the role of producer was. It was all new to us and of course the next two full albums we split everything with him equally. I’ve got the karma payback many times myself when Гуе helped bands write songs and got fuckin’ shafted [laughs]. After Brian played the intro melody on keyboard, Isuggested whistling it. Neither Burton Brian norIcan whistle, so Dan stepped up and did it. Nailed it. We wrote and recorded the whole thing in 12 hours. AUERBACH: Otis Redding's *Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” was my favourite song when I was a kid, so I was like, “Fuck yeah, Pll do whistling!” CARNEY: It was winter in New York. One of the few times I'd been in the studio and it was a lot of fun. I never really drinkin the studio, but we were drinking 400z bottles and eating chicken wings both nights. AUERBACH: It was very high school. That pretty much explains the mindset when me, Pat and Brian get together. Brian’s like a high-school friend we never had. CARNEY: We had a two-and-a-half-minute song, so Brian suggested a tempo change inthe middle. We talked about bands who'd donea similar thing, like The Clash with “Should I Stay Or Should I Go”. Dan went in the live room and jammed in adifferent tempo in the same key. We had this whole other section and I said, “Well, I could do a stupid drum solo!” So I did a whole stupid drum solo and, surprisingly, it worked. AUERBACH:I took a couple of verses out ofa book of lyrics and worked round them. I worked like that a lot like then. Sometimes I write songs and it’s about the words; other times it’s about the vowel sound. If I try to put MARCH2021 - UNCUT · 79 asmarter word in,itdoesn'tsound » KARLWALTER/GETTYIMAGES JOHNPEETS "Soundbouncing everywhere" recordingBrothers atMuscle Shoals Sound, 2009 DAN AUERBACH better. They’re all kinda spontaneous. Ihave no idea what the song’s about. CARNEY: The final touch was propping up the very end with the guitar solo. AUERBACH:T'd been listening to the David Hidalgo and Mike Halby record, Houndog, which Tchad Blake mixed. I loved that record so much, I wanted Tchad to mix us. I was curious about what it might become. As weird as he can make things sound, he always gets to the soul of the song. TCHAD BLAKE: I hadn’t heard of the Black Keys, so I called my nephew in the States who said, "They're cool." They sent me their first three records. I played their first album, The Big Come Up, and I thought, ‘can’t believe I wasn’t aware of this. This is the best thing I’ve heard in... decades!’ CARNEY: Tchad was a major part of the sound of Brothers. Mark’s an incredible engineer and wants the sounds to be as pure and as musical as possible, but we felt the mix wasn’t fucked up enough. So we sent it to Tchad and said, “Do what you want, but make it sound more fucked up!” BLAKE: I got alittle 8GB flash drive with the whole Brothers album on it. Everything was really sparse, but the fewer tracks 80-UNCUT -MARCH2021 there are, the more creative I can be. AUERBACH: Mark engineering and Tchad mixing was the perfect blend, a sound that had not really been done before. A two- piece band, but huge. CARNEY: Think of AC/DC's Back In Black. Just drums, bass, guitars, vocals; it sounds massive. But when you crank up Loveless by My Bloody Valentine - the product of numerous studios and several engineers — itsounds dense, but not massive. BLAKE: Being told, “Do whatever you want,” was adream to me, although at first Iwas actually quite timid, because I'd only just started working with them. I sent them a mix and they said, “Great. Can you take it further? Really fuckitup.” I think on the third revision I finally got what they were pushing for. Brothers was originally an R&B record, everything in mono. But after Imixed Blakrocthey decided they wanted Brothers to be more like a hip-hop record. Bigger low end on the bass drum and have it spread out, more stereo. I was brought up on those American Beatles records where they panned everything, all the vocals on one speaker and the drums on another. So there's a bit more ofthat on Brothers. CARNEY:When we got the mixes back we asked ourselves, “Does this song really stick with the others?” Psychologically, it took us a while to accept “Tighten Up”. AUERBACH: It was so poppy. We weren't guys who grew up listening to Abba! Pop is now the norm, but when Pat and I were in high school it was the opposite. CARNEY: That January, we went to Akron. We took the lyrics to “Tighten Up” and wrote a whole different song that was hever released. Tchad mixed it and sequenced it into Brothers’ master. One day, Leon Michael, who ended up touring with us, came over to my apartment. He wanted me to play him our newalbum. He asked what was going to be the single. I played him this song called “Midnight Love”. He said, “OK, what else do you have?” I said, “Well, there is this one we did with Brian but I dunno..." I played “Tighten Up” and halfway through the song Leon went, “You guys are complete idiots if you don’t put that out!” I said, “Yeah, I think you’re right.” SoI chatted to Dan and he said, “We already have 14 songs but... OK, let's put it on." AUERBACH: We've spent our career making ‘wrong’ decisions, butit always seems to work out. CARNEY: We got back from a 10-day European run in July and our manager told us that “Tighten Up” was getting playeda lot in America. It was in the Top 20 on the Alternative Songs chart, which had never happened to us. Then by October it was No1 [on Alternative Songs, where it spent 10 weeks], and we got Saturday Night Live. That didn’t happen to bands like us. That song completely changed our lives. We almost didn’t make it, almost didn’t put iton the record and spent the whole time we were doing it drinking beer and eating chicken wings... © Brothers Deluxe Remastered Anniversary Editionis available now fromNonesuchRecords ри РР ЕЦЕ е АА Е Түн DON McLEAN ERASURE THE ШЫ GEORGE BENSON BILLYAÛCEAN THE UNUSUAL WORLD OF Brothers SUBSCRIBE "d FROM JUST $42 *UK Direct Debit price. Fully remastered with previously unreleased songs ¢ PETER GREEN OY FLEETWOOD ac PEL " New liner notes by David Fricke Various £ormats including Limited Edition 7" Box Set with Special light-sensitive ink 60-page book o£ unreleased photos Exclusive poster TO ADVERTISE IN UNCUT PLEASE CONTACT GEMMA.LUNDY ال‎ % ШЕ Run nonesuch.com TAKEHIKO TOKIWA/AFLO/SHUTTERSTOCK өө cha lH | i SONNY ROLLINS ed At 90 years old, SONNY ROLLINS is one of the last surviving jazz titans. Asan album of previously unheard recordings sees the light of day, John Lewis enjovs a rare audience with the saxophone colossus. While tales of Miles, "Trane and Bird proliferate, Rollins reveals his ongoing musical and spiritual quest: “What I'm trying to do is find a universal unity,” he explains. “Not a unity you hear on Earth, but the planets, the universe...” EFLECTING on a career spanning eight decades, Sonny Rollins is thinking about the friends he has lost along the way. “All of these guys — Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins - their spirits are always with me,” he says. “They never leave. I feel them alongside me all the time.” Inevitably, a conversation with Rollins comes freighted with history. The last living legend of bebop, Rollins, now aged 90, played eyewitness to many great revolutions in American culture, from music to the civil rights movement. His talents for melodic and thematic improvisation made him one of the greats of jazz, a powerful saxophonist in a medium dominated by many supremely gifted horn players. Today, talking on the phone from his home in Woodstock, Rollins really does speak like he plays the saxophone. His voice dances around the sonic spectrum: a slippery, vibrato-free, Noo Yoik accent that darts mischievously from gruff baritone chuckles to squeaky soprano exclamations. There is a wheeziness that we 82 . UNCUT °: MARCH 2021 Photo by TAKEHIKO TOKIWA can attribute to recent respiratory problems, but he speaks confidently and fluently, with frequent diversions and witty asides. Almost entirely self-taught, Rollins started playing professionally in 1949, aged only 19. Over the next five years he built up a careerasa sideman to many of his heroes, sitting in with the likes of Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. Butit was an incredible run of more than a dozen albums recorded under his own name between 1956 and 1958 - including the classics Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West and Freedom Suite — that cemented his reputation. Miles Davis described Rollins’ output during this period as “something else. Brilliant.” “I was seen as the hot new thing, and the pressure got to me,” Rollins recalls. “I never had any formal training, so I felt that I needed to work at my craft to keep up with everyone else. I dropped out for two years, went to the Williamsburg Bridge and just practised and practised. I could have stayed there forever.” Career sabbaticals like this have defined Rollins’ career. His prodigious work rate has always been accompanied by a questing spiritual side: he has studied eastern philosophies and practised yoga since the 1960s. For him, music has long been integrated into this cosmic journey. “Thad aswamiin Bombay when I was studying Shankara yoga,” he says. “He told me that the truest form of meditation came when I was playing my horn. He was right." Such spiritual discipline has stood Rollins in good stead through the years. Although he stopped playing saxophone altogether in 2014, aresult of pulmonary fibrosis, he looks at his situation from a unique perspective. “I went into adeep depression for many months," he admits. “But I’ve learned how to deal with it. I’m resigned to this fate. These things happen for a reason. I'm not going to fight that." But while ‘new’ music from Rollins is unlikely, there is at least new ‘old’ music, which ensures his legacy will grow. Recently, Resonance Records unearthed previously unheard live recordings from 1967, entitled Rollins In Holland. “I’ve always preferred live recordings to studio recordings,” he says. “Studio albums are like virtual sex, but live playing is the real thing. Ha ha!” While Rollins is pleased the Holland album is finally seeing the light of day, he remains > BOBPARENT/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES SONNY ROLLINS Hornof plenty: RollinsinNew Yorkinthe early 1950s rooted firmly in the present day. “Today, my aspiration is to make my life better and be a better person,” he says. “Because being a better person, you make other people better. That’s how I live now.” You were born in Harlem in 1930, during what was knownas the Harlem Renaissance. What kind of place was it in your childhood? It was an extraordinary environment. We were surrounded by giants of the black community. You know the writer WEB Du Bois? He lived on our block. Slightly more expensive digs than my family, but literally on the same block. There were other key people in the civil rights movement. Paul Robeson, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Don Redman. All pillars of the black community; they lived in our neighbourhood. Sugar Hill was our Park Avenue. We used to see Coleman Hawkins going to the store to buy groceries. Or Roy Eldridge. It was incredibly inspiring. Going to Greenwich Village or 52nd Street must have seemed like a different planet. It was somewhat of a world away. I started going to clubs on 52nd Street in my late teens. These were small clubs. You had to look old enough to get in there, otherwise they’d lose their licence. So I had to put black makeup around my lips to make out I had a moustache! I don’t know if] fooled anybody, but the proprietors let us in anyway. It was when I met Coleman Hawkins in person — and Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. If you hung out on 52nd Street for a few hours, they were all on that street. Art Tatum. Erroll Garner. Count Basie’s orchestra. It was fantastic. What was the atmosphere like at one of these jazz clubs in the early 1950s? These clubs were wonderful. It was a panorama, a pageantry, looking back at it — all the people who came to listen to great music. The audience was there to listen. That's the thing with live music - everybody has arole, even the audience. The guy nodding his head, the girl who's smiling, the sceptic who's not 84- UNCUT - MARCH2021 impressed - they all make you play better. I was just getting old enough to play on 52nd Street when 52nd Street was in its decline. Then Birdland started — that was like the last of the 52nd Street clubs. How close was the link between jazz and the civil rights movement? The saxophonist James Moody, who was one ofthe many black musicians who served in the US Army during the war, remembers being transported with German prisoners of war who were being treated better than him. All these black soldiers who fought in the war, they didn’t want to come back and с аа betreated like second-class citizens. Jazz musicians “TWAS ГОВТОУАТГЕ "'etainersas well as artists. You had to bea song: TO EMERGE FROM HEROIN ALIVE” were important for black people. Charlie Parker represented a different kind of mentality for jazz musicians. Until that point, jazz musicians had to be and-dance man as well as a musician. It wasn't necessarily a derogatory thing, but it was something that black musicians had to do. We used to say, “Oh, look at Louis Armstrong, he’s got to be so subservient. That was slightly unfair on Louis Armstrong, it wasn’t as strong a line as that. But Charlie Parker was the opposite. He didn’t dance or sing. He stood up straight. He was playing great music; people had to accept it and applaud him, therefore they had to accept black musicians as equal. Times were moving on. 55 You served 10 months at Rikers Island prison in 1950 for armed robbery. What do you remember about Rikers? Inretrospect, it was the first of my sabbaticals! Unlike the others, it wasn’t self-imposed. But it was a learning place. There was a priest in the prison - I can’t recall what denomination — who tried to give the prisoners some kind of musical outlet. SoI got involved. There were some very fine musicians in Rikers, like Elmo Hope, the pianist. The prison was a brutal place, but fortunately I was involved in the music, and I largely avoided the brutality. In Eastern religions they say that people who play music are conferred with a special dispensation. Their lives are different WithMiles Davis attheNew York Jazz Festival, August 23, 1957 to other people's. Yes, we can live a charmed life, in many ways. Your friend Jackie McLean talks about heroin descending over the jazz scene like a tidal wave in the 1950s. Howdo you think this happened? The first heroin user I met in the jazz world was Billie Holiday. She was married to a trumpet player, Joe Guy. I recently learned that he was a heroin addict, and he turned Billie onto it. Iwas getting out of high school. We were smoking pot. But heroin was another step. Billie Holiday did it and then Charlie Parker was known to use it. We'd say, "Man, Charlie Parker uses drugs. If you want to play like him, you gotta do it too!" Some of us fell into that trap. Myself included. It was quite a devastating trip. I was fortunate to have emerged from it alive, thanks to Charlie himself. How did Charlie Parker help you kick heroin? He didn't want to see his young followers doing it. He considered himselftoo far gone. That's what hastened the end of his life. When he found out that Iwas using drugs, he was heartbroken. When I saw how upset he was I thought, ‘Wow, I’m killing Charlie Parker.’ So that got me to finally go to different places. I went into rehab, early 1955. Got myself straight. It's not easy. It was one ofthe positive thingsin my life. WhenIgot out, I wanted to see Charlie Parker and let him know I was clean. But unfortunately he passed just about a month before. It was sad. Presumably, there were people who worshipped you and got into heroin thinking it was the rocket fuel that you used to propel yourselfto greatness? Exactly! That was a big part of it. Step one is getting off. Step two is having to go round to a lot ofthe places where there were still guys using drugs. “Hey Sonny, come in! We got some good heroin here!” One of my favourite albums of yours is the collection of sessions you recorded with Thelonious Monk in1953 and 1954. Was Monk as eccentric as his music suggests? Monk's music is hard! John Coltrane talked about missing a beat with Monk's music as being like missing a step and falling down the stairs! I was in high school when I first started rehearsing with Monk’s band, at his small apartment on 63rd Street. We'd see his melodies and say things like, “I can’t make this work on a saxophone!" But, by the end of the rehearsal, you'd absorbed these strange quirks. I was very lucky that Monk dug what I was doing. That was like a medal. MADNESS! Buyers guide to ORIGINAL JAZZ CLASSICS, 1953 Effectively acompilation of the 23-year- | ' eccentric territory on Dizzy old's earliest sessions as leader, with the CONCORD, 1954 | Culled fromthree recording sessions in 1953 and 1954, thisseesthe eccentric pianist encouraging Rollins to improvise ina morerestless and angular manner. PRESTIGE/OJC, 1956 As wellashisbest- knowncalypso, "St deliciously bleak ballad-playing anda remarkable, perfectly plotted 12-bar blues called “Blue 7”. PRESTIGE/OJC, 1956 Fronting Miles Davis srhythm section (including drummer Philly Joe Jones and pianist RedGarland) Rollins duels with John Coltrane on the 12-minute title track. а | CONTEMPORARY/OJC, OT | Doc VC A — X OneofPollins first iî sessions without a pianist, this cowboy-themed set features bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne. final track featuring Miles Davis onpiano. | ' Miles Davis's “Four”. Thomas",thereissome : ! includes sensitive horn arrangements : by Oliver Nelson and some swaggering solos.‏ ؛ VANGUARD BLUENOTE, 1957 More spartan trio work pushing Rollins into appealingly Gillespie's "A NightIn Tunisia" and RIVERSIDE/CONCORD, 1958 Featuring an ambitious 20-minute | composition dedicated to the civil _ rights movement, with bassist Oscar | Pettifordand drummer Max Roach. M IMPULSE, 1966 Theoriginal film E featured Rollins and aLondonband, but there-recordedLP OJC, 1980 Funky electric session pitting Rollins alongside fusion | heavyweights including George Duke _ andbassist Stanley Clarke. MILESTONE, 1998 Inspiredby the horrors of climate change, ' with pianist Stephen Scott doubling ' uponkalimba thumb piano and three ' percussionists pushing Rollinsinto ' exotic territory. You got very close to Miles Davis around this time... I always talk about how shy Miles is, when you speak to him. But, as far as the public goes, he wanted to come across as anything but shy. He wanted people to see him and say, “Wow! This guy Miles Davis, look what he just did 55 ! But he was fooling people. Iknew him well. He used to stay at my home when I first started playing with him. Did you ever see his dark side? A lot of musicians are very polite around other musicians. Miles is thetype of musician who speaks his mind. There wasa club in New York, the Village Vanguard, owned by a guy called Max Gordon. The Vanguard wasn’t strictly jazz; they occasionally used to book other artists, too. Max Gordon called up Miles, while I was round Miles’ house, and Max says, “Miles, we've got this wonderful singer, Barbra Streisand. You gotta hear her, maybe you could come down and play with her." I could hear Miles on the phone saying, “I don’t wanna hear no white bitch sing!” That gives you an idea of what Miles is like. > MARCH2021- UNCUT -85 BOBPARENT/GETTY IMAGES г BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;EDPERLSTEIN/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES; POPSIERANDOLPH/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES Legendary New Yorkjazz venue the Village Vanguard “THE STONES? THEY InLondon's Sohoahead FUNKY” debut, COULD GET ~ January ‘65 John Coltrane was alittle older than you, but on the 1956 album Tenor Madness he seems very much the junior partner... That’s true. Miles and John were both born in the same year, both four years older than me. But I had made my reputation before John. I was this young wunderkind, this protégé, but people didn't know about Coltrane in 1955, 56. So maybe he felt he had to prove himself when playing with me! Eventually, people knew who John Coltrane was. “Have you heard this guy? He’s better than Sonny!” Ha ha! But that was OK. We became great friends, spiritual friends. We’d hang out in New York a lot. We spent a lot of time around each other’s houses. "He'sbetter than Sonny!”: John Coltrane atNew York's Did you and Coltrane discuss religion and Birdland, 1955 spirituality at all? Al] the time. We were both into Buddhism and Eastern religion. I think we both came to the conclusion that all these teachings merge so much. It’s not just Buddha, it’s Jesus Christ, it’s Confucius, it’s Lao Tzu. Allthese great characters are preaching the same thing. Weare all part of — ӛз i the spirit, and that spirit I.E ГИГ Э encompasses every [ ee. “ human soulon the planet. Жж | кч. ү. NN I still feel John's spirit | | а with me, all the time. Your career has been defined by several sabbaticals... Well, in the mid-’50s, the Backstage atthe sabbatical was to get off Berkeley Jazz Festivalatthe drugs. But the key one Greek Theatre, was from 1959 to '61, May 1979 86 -UNCUT - MARCH2021 when I stopped playing professionally. I wanted to improve myself. I had gotten a big name and I needed to make sure I could live up to it. A lot of people since have said, “I respect Sonny for dropping out.” What I did was very important to a lot of people who wanted to getinside of themselves, to get away from the rat race. You have to get your mind together. You have to make sure you're happy in your own body. Is therea plaque to commemorate the spot on the Williamsburg Bridge where you used to practise? Ha ha! Some have said that they should rename it the Sonny Rollins Bridge! I tried playing at the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge a few times, but nearly all my practice during that period was under the Williamsburg Bridge. I lived near it. I'd get there early, practise, go back home to refresh myself, use the bathroom, get a cognac and then return to the bridge to practise more. Very occasionally, Id go with a musician friend: Jackie McLean came with me once; Steve Lacy came with his soprano saxophone a couple oftimes; another friend called Eddie Daniels, a clarinet player, he came. Otherwise, every day, I was on my own. I founda spot by the abutments ofthe bridge. I used to stand in a place where nobody could see me. It was perfect. You took another sabbatical in 1967 to visit India. What happened there? I went to study yoga for about four months. I was drinking too much, smoking too much. I was looking for spiritual upliftment and I discovered yoga. I read books and taught myselflots ofimportant techniques, butI needed to go deeper. SoIflew to Bombay - with just a small bag of clothes and my horn - and I met someone onthe plane who recommended this ashram in a suburb of Bombay called Powai. It had many foreign people there, as well as native Indian people. It was a very mixed environment. It was monastic, but you weren't compelled to do anything, it was your choice. Sometimes I’d take the train to Bombay and see some great Indian music. We had a swami and we discussed Shankara yoga. There was some formal training. Whenlots of people think of yoga, they think of Hatha yoga, which is a form of exercise. But it’s more than m Е „ы Mc ж. a S 7 н 3 = i = m == 1 i 1 F = Š ! а ОПП ТТЕ. ا‎ у Lo м Jd that. These are positions that give you an insight. Yogais about connecting heaven and earth. I still practise every day. I read about it. I learn more. In the 1970s you always seemed open to new musical contexts... Yes. My parents come from the Caribbean, St Vincent, so I heard a lot of that music in my house. Calypso, beguine, samba, all of that. I’ve always been influenced by lots of music — rhythms of West Africa, South Africa, South America. It all feeds into what makes me the musician Iam. You have to try new things all the time. How did you end up playing with The Rolling Stones on Tattoo You? My wife, Lucille, convinced me to get involved. Iwasa little bit dismissive when they asked me, but she said, “Man, it’s the Stones!” I was always more of a Beatles man - that Paul McCartney is a great songwriter. But I used to look down on music that I thought wasn’t on the same level as jazz. Anyway, the Stones got me into a studio and played mea few songs they’d recorded and asked me to play over the top. Kinda riffing, really. They sent me a copy ofthe record and a lovely letter, but Inever listen to my old recordings. It was only when I was in some grocery store in Upstate New York, quite a long time later, where I heard one of those tracks again, and I thought, hey, that's me! “Slave” was it called? Yeah. They could get funky, those guys! Nearly all your studio albums of the 1960s | feature pianists or guitarists, but this session from | Holland has you back playing with just bass and drums. Is that your favourite setup? Very muchso. I’ve worked with some great pianists and horn players, but I personally like the freedom of just playing with drums and bass. That seems to work out for me. I don't have any restrictions. No-one is telling meto play an F7 chord here, ora Bflat oth here. I don’t have to think about anything. I don't want to think about anything! I like to leave that to the music gods. I don’t want to think when I play music. That’s why I like playing with sparse, harmonic accompaniment. How do you get into the zone when you’re improvising? | get started by playing afew clichés, something that I know, often something simple. Then, once]! get started, I let go! Improvising is about accessing your subconscious, and you have to avoid anything that interrupts that. So you need to be prepared. IfI’m playing asong, I make sure I know that song well. I’ve learned the song, that part is automatic. But, when it comes to improvising, I don’t want to think. I want to let the music come to me. Iremember seeing you in London where you played Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” for about an hour. On another night, you played a similarly lengthy version of “Night And Day”. In both instances, you were د HOLLAND‏ N2017, technicians at the Dutch | Jazz Archive were alerted to aseries of unlabelled live jazz recordings of extraordinarily high quality. Specialists were convinced that these tapes featured Sonny Rollins during one of his many gigs in the Netherlands. It transpired that Dutch public broadcaster NCRV had recordedRollins early 1967 datesin Loosdrecht, Hilversum and Arnhem: excerpts had been shown on Dutch TV butnever broadcast onradio. There р aren'tmany live Rollins recordings from this period, and these spartan trio sessions were rambunctious affairs, pitting the garrulous New Yorker against Dutchrhythmsections. Americanmusicians were often hampered by bilateral trade union restrictions, which made it difficult for them to play in Europe. TheNetherlands, however, became ahaven for American jazzers: Don Byas had moved to Amsterdamin 1955, while fellow tenorist Ben Webster had followedhimin the early 1960s. "Don met me whenl first visited Amsterdamin 1959,” says Sonny Rollins. "What an honour to be greeted by one of my heroes! There's that old thing about Europeans treating black American musicians better than we wereused to back home. In Holland mixingin quotes from dozens of other songs... Ha ha! Yes, once! get going, I find ideas come tumbling out and I don't want to stop! It's funny with the musical quotations. It comes from listening to so much melodic music while growing up. All those songs from the Great American Songbook, they're alwaysin my head. I think it’s about trying to achieve a unity. So, if I’m playing one song and another song comes in my mind, I realise that, in a way, they’re all related. All music is related! The concept is that we are all as one. I’ve never expressed this to anyone else before, but it makes sense. What I’m trying to dois find a universal unity. Not a unity you hear on Earth, but the planets, the universe, whatever spiritual beliefs you may have. They are all related. That’s what I’m doing when I’m playing quotes | from other songs! "mni ЛЇП Іі деінгі Why don't you everlisten to your old music? | listened to the Holland tapes before GoingDutch:at the Go-GoClub, Loosdrecht, May 5, 1967... Р | ІІ. m А E: ы. E = ۹ c» ж | they veevengotstreets named afterus. There's ' aSonny Rollins Straatin Utrecht!" Rollins was delighted to find documentation _ of this overlooked eraofhis career. "They had | somegreatmusicians playing with me," he says. | “The drummer Han Bennink, wow. People say _ he's avant-garde and free jazz andacrazy guy ' andacomedian, buthe can play anything. llove _ duelling with great drummers, andheis one of the ' greats. It's ablessing to hear these tapes after so | many years." „.in Arnhem, Мау 3, 1967... —_. 1 they were released. I enjoyed them. But I'm very self-critical. Whichis good and bad in a way. Miles Davis was the opposite - he'd listen to his most recent concert recordings obsessively, so he'd know what to play and what not to play each night. But people like me, who feel so uptight about their playing, we get very self-conscious. You should listen to your old records. You’re in fora treat! Ha ha! Maybe! will get around to it one day. But I miss playing music enormously. I still practise fingering on the horn. I hear music. I’m still composing. I wish I had the conservatory training to write it all down! But everything happens fora reason, and I’m forever grateful to the universal spirit. I’m trying to understand life and be a better human being. © Sonny Rollins In Holland: The 1967 Studio &Live Recordings is out now onResonance Records MARCH 2021 - UNCUT : 87 TOONFEY; TON VAN WAGENINGEN MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/GETT Y IMAGES ALICE COOPER 88 - UNCUT -MARCH2021 When ALICE COOPER and his band arrived in Detroit in 1969, they found their natural home: “Freaky people doing freaky things with a big powerful sound!” As Cooper prepares for a spiritual return to his roots on his new album, Peter Watts winds the clock back to the Motor City's wild heyday — where Motown, high-energy rock'n'roll and radical politics ruled and Cooper unleashed the full power of his shocking “improv, guerrilla theatre”. — | "o x "Crazyandwildand — | ы i fun": Alice Cooper at the aa CincinnatiPopFestival, ND Ohio, June 13,1970 | AA thereafter; “Just another day in Detroit,” shrugs Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway. But despite that, the five members of Alice Cooper moved to a farmhouse OU’LL find the little town of Saugatuck are а С У on the shores of Lake Michigan. These rug wc бий >С days itis hometoa thriving tourist | industry, with visitors drawn by its historic downtown, full of galleries, boutique stores and chic restaurants. But on July 4, 1969 - Independence Day - a different kind of incomer descended on the town: 20,000 hippies and bikers, there for the second in Pontiac, about an hour north ofthe city, where they had space to rehearse. The location also provided convenient access to key Midwest cities. Welcomed into the vibrant Detroit rock scene, they learnt to increase their power and velocity and expand their theatricality while writing the songs that made them one of the biggest bands in North America. “Detroiters loved them,” says MC5’s Wayne Kramer. “They were kindred spirits. They were trying to take rock music to another level, and that’s what we all wanted to do in different ways.” “Detroit was the only place on Earth that got the band,” says producer Bob Ezrin, who began working with Cooper in 1970. “It was a town of freaky people doing freaky things with a big powerful sound.” It’s these formative days that Alice Cooper has chosen to celebrate on his new solo album, Detroit Stories. “I wanted to tip my hat to that place,” explains Cooper. “We tried to keep it as Detroit as possible: Detroit musicians, recorded in Detroit, about Detroit. It’s a really rock'n'roll guitar-driven album, because Detroit audiences did not want soft rock. They wanted the hard stuff. Not only that, you had to play it with attitude." ETROIT rock sprang from a unique Ey giving itan edge and virtuosity distinct from other American cities. The presence of Motown set high musical standards, but rock bands also had to please tough, working-class crowds who worked in the automobile factories and loved loud, aggressive music. “In Detroit, they nailed you to the floor with the first note and Saugatuck Pop Festival. Alongside John Lee в LP Dra | Hooker, Arthur Brown and Muddy Water were 4 dei eth 47% Қ с БЕТ; НЕ Ї: ВСВ" several explosive bands from nearby Detroit EEE Es 2 СНЕ AR S MC5, theStooges, BobSeger, Ted Nugent's The ЖШШЕ ЧАК АКы sS Amboy Dukes and SRC- who were collectively 9” 2000-0077 turning the home of Motown into the hard-rock Ше... өне зей capital of America. Watching with mounting excitement were a band from Los Angeles considered soinsignificant they weren't even mentioned on the poster. They had just released their debut album, Pretties For You, on Frank Zappa's Straight label, but it was caught unconvincingly between psychedelia and harder blues. Accordingly, the Alice Cooper band felt unloved in LA and were looking fora new base. They soon found it in Detroit. “LA pretty much had enough of us," says Cooper today. “They kicked us out. People were coming to seeus just so they could leave. They wanted groovy and we were not that, we were just a bit too electric for them. So we went on tour and said that the first place that gives us a standing ovation, we were going to move to. It just so happened that we played Saugatuck. We saw MCs and we saw The Stooges and we were going, ‘OK, I think we might have founda home here...’ Then we played and the crowd loved us. We were outrageous and the band was rocking. We were the missing finger in that glove.” That 1969 Saugatuck festival ended in chaos as the bikers rammed the stage witha telephone pole, causing the town’s residents to ban festivals | Late-'60s Alice | 2 Cooper: "too | electric" forLA MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES 90 -UNCUT -MARCH2021 ы 7 А e a ^ р "t Е Mitch Ryder & The Detroit jas e — ` Wheelscirca 1965: (l-r) "TO. pc — t A JimMcCarty,JoeKubert, ES { "ES — or Oe. | BOBSEGER SYSTEM, 1970 2 MitchRyder, John uct Badanjek, JimMcCallister “Sohypnotic”: Iggy Pop and The Stoogesat Py LAsWhiskyA L. | қ 79 GoGo, March THEUP 1971 29,1970 | MC5, 1971 CRADLE, 1970 FUNKADELIC, 1971 | DETROIT WITH AMBOY DUKES, 1970 MITCHRYDER, 1971 w. THE SOB SEGER, =a SYSTEM maintained that until the end," says Dennis Dunaway. "If you did Benjamin, Uriel Jones, Richard ‘Pistol’ Allen, those guys all had a ballad, they ran you out of town.” a beat. Those Motown players would do a session, then you'd see “Detroit was a tough city with tough bands,” continues Cooper them in the bars doing a show. It was like the car line, they were drummer Neal Smith. “It put a harder image on Alice Cooper — just as productive.” the music, the image and everything.” This quality was born from something approaching HEN Steve Hunter moved from rural Illinois to join resentment, or at least a suspicion that coverage of American Mitch Ryder's new band, Detroit, in 1970, he was music went from LA and New York, ignoring everything in originally living in the office of Creem magazine at between. “We thought we were getting short shrift,” says Kramer. “It was like nothing cool could happen in Detroit. We made shock absorbers. We made mufflers. But we knew better. We were young and headstrong and we developed a pissy attitude that showed in the music. We worked extra hard, we sweated more, we played with more velocity, more passion, more commitment, and that filtered out to the other bands.” Detroit bands also learned from Motown and the city’s black music scene. Racial tension seemed to dissipate when it came to music, with black and white artists playing the same venues and visiting the same music stores. Cooper says that as a long- haired hippie, he was welcome in any black club, while Smokey Robinson, The Supremes and The Temptations would come to their shows. Mitch Ryder’s Detroit Wheels originally played R&B at black venues before moving into rock. They Cass Avenue. Creem had been founded in 1969 by Barry Kramer, who also managed the Mitch Ryder group. Detroit would rehearse in the office, while the building hosted numerous after- gig parties for the leading Detroit bands, cementing something that Hunter feels was unique to the city — a supportive scene. "There wasn'ta feeling of competition," says the guitarist who played with Lou Reed, on Alice Cooper solo albums and appears on Detroit Stories. "Bands really encouraged each other. We'd go and seeIggy or MC5 or Alice, and they'd see us. There was camaraderie among the bands and we rooted for each other. Creem was a national magazine but it had its finger on Detroit. It was the only magazine that got the Detroit scene, putitinto a magazine and made sense of it. " "That hard-rock scene was so vibrant, it was amazingly magical," agrees Bob Ezrin. *You could go to any club and see were widely respected as one ofthe tightest bands on the five or six amazing bands, all existing at the same time in a very circuit, setting the standard for Detroit rock rhythm sections. snjall area, knowing each other and playing with each other. It “Mitch had all that soul in him and all the white acts would be = was the centre of the rock universe.” watching the black artists and learning from them,” says Detroit aime Bands socialised at Alice Cooper’s farmhouse in Pontiac or in Wheels drummer Johnny Badanjek, who plays on Detroit Ann Arbor, where MCs and The Stooges were based. Alice Stories. “It absolutely influenced the playing. There was Benny Cooper and the Stooges regularly played the Eastown > ED CARAEFF/GETTY IMAGES;MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES пты МАВСН2021 - UNCUT - 91 MICH TOA TRINITY MIRROR/MIRRORPIX/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO;LENISINCLAIR/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES ALICE COOPER Theatre, with MCs across town at the Grande Ballroom. Detroit had enough venues and festivals to sustain dozens of bands. As well as MCs and Stooges, there were The Frost, The Up and SRC plus several artists that would soon become huge — Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Grand Funk Railroad and Suzi Quatro, then playing with Cradle. But the trinity of MC5, Stooges and Alice Cooper dominated. “Playing with Iggy and MCs was great for us,” says Cooper. “We'd got so used to following Spirit or somebody like that. They were great musicians but didn't have that electricity and drama. The MC5 were just pure Detroit. They were a little bit R&B, they were hard rock, they were politically charged and they were all such good musicians. The Stooges were so hypnotic. They would just sit there and they never got in the way of Iggy's theatrics, who was as nasty asit got. I saw we could do something like that. Darker, dangerous, more blood, more force. The way that works is the band just attacks the audience, the band has to be merciless with the crowd. All those three bands - MC5, Stooges and Alice Cooper — worked so well together because we were three different types of theatre." Alice Cooper'stheatrics became legendary. The descent into the dark side began a few weeks after Saugatuck with the infamous incident at the Toronto Rock'n'Roll Revival, where alive chicken Cooper threw into the audience meta grisly end. Alice Cooper shows would later involve electric chairs, straitjackets and gallows. It was partly about survival, a way to keep up with the MCs and Stooges. “The Detroit groups, I called them the Motor City Bad Boys, they let us into the circle,” says Dunaway. “We were very different but they accepted us. Playing in Detroit, we realised we had to get more energy into our music, which we did, but how do you out- power those bands? You can’t. So we decided to execute our singer.” In the early days in Detroit, the stage shows were more limited. “We couldn’t afford TNT or gallows, soit was whatever we found,” says Cooper. “It was improv, guerrilla theatre. One night, I found a mop. That mop could go bea girl, it could be something to swing around, it could be a weapon, it could be TheMC5in 1969: (I-r) Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer, Rob Tyner, Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson, MichaelDavis 92- UNCUT - MARCH2021 Wingman: Alice does his feather pillow biton theLovelt To Deathtour, November'71 something I ride on, it could go bea crutch, it could be a guitar. But the feather pillow was always a good one." Thefeather pillow became Alice Cooper's trademark. At the finale, Cooper would tear it open and guitarist Michael Bruce would spray it with a CO2 canister, covering the audience in feathers like an indoor snowstorm. “We played a lot of shows together and I saw the theatrical side of their band really emerge and blossom,” says Kramer. “They were trying to create as much theatrically dramatic chaos as they could. It wasn’t really dangerous. It didn’t scare you. It was crazy and wild and fun, butit wasn’t Iggy. He was really scary, dancing like a dervish, possessed. You never got the sense with Iggy it was for show. It was a way of life.” One aspect of the Detroit scene that Alice Cooper avoided was politics. Detroit was an important city for organised labour, while the civil rights era brought riots in 1967, the aggression of the political movements seeming to mirror the energy of the rock. “There was a political underbelly in Detroit,” says Mitch Ryder guitarist Steve Hunter. “It was those same political undercurrents you'd find in Berkeley or New York. Younger people who were fed up with the way thing were, and that sparked a lot of music. The MCs really embraced that.” MC5 were managed by Beat poet John Sinclair. As Johnny “Bee” Badanjek puts it, “Most managers wanted their party to be bigger than The Beatles, but John Sinclair wanted the MCs to be bigger than Chairman Mao.” Targeted for his political stance, Sinclair — who formed the White Panther Party — became a counterculture cause célèbre when he was arrested in 1969 for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 10 years. John Lennon wrote a protest song and performed at TheJohn Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arborin 1971 alongside Stevie Wonder and Phil Ochs. But Alice Cooper kept their distance. *We had enough problems without the FBI being up our butts,” says Cooper. “The MCs — they were serious. They were going to go to jail for what they believed. Sinclair, what did he get caught with, halfa joint or something? It was nothing. But the MC5 were way into that. Itwasn'ta gimmick, they really believed it, the anti- government thing, and Wayne ended up paying for that, hedid time himself because he was marked." While MCs and Stooges wanted to build their audience, neither band matched the ambition of Alice Cooper. Six months after arriving in Detroit, in March 1970, the group released their second LP on Frank Zappa's Straight label. Easy Action was produced by future Neil Young producer David Briggs, but he didn't get the band and it showed. Easy Action tanked. Sick of failure, the band put their heads together. “We didn’t get into rock'n'roll to be poor,” says Smith. “We wanted a No1 album. So we looked at the producers to see who had the most hits and saw it was The Guess Who. We went after their producer, Jack Richardson, in Toronto, and he sent his assistant Bob Ezrin to watch us. We were lucky to get a third chance after two flops but we were dedicated to make it work and to get out of the Midwest. We were from the southwest, we were used to sunshine. In Detroit, it snowed every day.” Ezrin saw Alice Cooper at Max’s Kansas City in New York in September. He was supposed to tell them politely that his boss wasn’t interested but instead struck a deal. That’s how he found himself at the farmhouse in Pontiac later in 1970. Zappa had sold Straight Records to Warner Bros, and the label was reluctantly funding a session in Chicago. If this was to | go anywhere, Ezrin had to knock the band into shape and find a hit. “We went to the barn and started on ‘Is It My Body’,” says Ezrin. “I listened, worked out what they were trying to do and then came up with ways to help them do it more effectively. We stripped the song back and rebuilt it with discipline and focus, making therhythm guitara central focus ofthe band. We counted it off and it was a different song and it was powerful and we all knewit. Then we moved on to ‘I’m Eighteen’ and did the same thing. At the end of that first weekend we had knocked together the arrangements on a couple of songs and fallen in love with each other. We established a working relationship that basically survives to this day." The band soaked it up like sponges, learning to mix tight rockers with longer tracks like “Black Juju” that could sustain the frontman’s theatrics. “I’m Eighteen” was released as a single in November 1970 and found a fan in Rosalie Trombley at CKLW. The radio station broadcast from Canada into the US, hitting not just Detroit but also Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois. “I once asked Rosalie what appealed to her about ‘I’m Eighteen’,” says Dunaway. “She said it was the lyrics. Before the first verse was over she knew it was a hit. The other DJs told her she had to stop playing this song by the band that threw a chicken in the audience, but every phone was ringing off the hook with requests." The success of “I’m Eighteen” paved the way for two 1971 albums, Love It To Death and Killer, which transformed Alice Cooper from local heroes into international celebrities. “‘I’m Eighteen’ got picked up by the biggest station in the Midwest, that was the launching point,” says Cooper. “That never would have happened in LA or New York. ‘Eighteen’ was one of those songs that had to come out of the Midwest. After that, we became a whole other thing." TET TTE NE r " WE = г AST A HEN Cooper and Ezrin got togetherin 2019 to discuss a new project, they found they were both wistful for those formative Detroit years. Together they hatched a plot to record MustangAlice: Cooperpays tributetothe Motor City, 50 yearson an album about the city, using Detroit musicians from the era. They called it Detroit Stories and called in Wayne Kramer, who began to co-write. They even discussed bringing in guest vocalists like Iggy Pop but decided that would detract from the fact this was, | after all, an Alice Cooper record. Cooper was inspired by stories and characters he had known in Detroit. “Some are real, some are archetypes, but we wanted to either tell their story or tell a story using their voice and it all had to relate to Detroit," says Ezrin. Musically, they wanted to capture the hard edge of Detroit rock but without losing the R&B flavour. That came from drummer Johnny Badanjek and younger local bassist Paul Rudolph. Guitarist Steve Hunter of Mitch Ryder’s Detroit also played on a couple of songs, including a cover of Lou Reed’s “Rock N Roll”, which he recorded with Detroit back in 1971. Mark Farner of Detroit's Grand Funk Railroad contributed to covers of songs by BobSeger and the MC5, which fit snugly alongside originals such as "Detroit City 2021", "Drunk And In Love" and *$1000 High Heel Shoes" - all recorded in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak. Although a few non-Detroit musicians played on the record - including Joe Bonamassa and Larry Mullen Jr - Cooper recorded two songs with the surviving members ofthe Alice Cooper band - Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce. It seemed only rightthatthe four original members, who remain close friends, got the opportunity to revisit those Detroit days. “It started in Arizona, went to California, but in Detroit, that’s where it bloomed,” says Neal Smith. “That’s when it became Alice Cooper for real.” “People came out of curiosity and then they liked itand told their friends about it and pretty soon we were headlining,” says Cooper. “That whole area just really loved hard rock, so we could play every weekend and it was enough to keep the band going. We were building that audience and word of mouth got out. In Detroit, we finally founda place that appreciated what we were doing.” © Detroit Stories is released by earMUSIC onFebruary 26 MARCH2020- UNCUT · 93 EARMUSIC Album by album ArabStrap HE first sound you hear on Arab Strap’s second album is a dolorous Scottish voice delivering a solemn message. "It was," the voice says, “the biggest cock you'd ever seen..." Foranimpressive 10 years (Ten Years Of Tears as their best-of had it), this kind ofunvarnished delivery of candid material was the sole stamping ground of Malcolm Middleton (guitar) and Aidan Moffat (vocals, drums). Sonically the product ofthe pair's twin interests in lo-fi music and in getting wrecked in clubs at the weekend, Arab Strap's unique talent was raw verisimilitude. Rows ("Don't try to tell me Kate Moss ain't pretty..."), betrayals, and emotional unease were all picked over in their songs, with a forensic eye for detail. Their first classic recording was "The First Big Weekend", a portrait of Thursday-to-Monday hedonism in which similarity to actual events was entirely intentional. After 15 years away, ArabStrap now return with a new and excellent, album titled As Days Get Dark, prompting Middleton and Moffat to join Uncut via Zoom and pick over the scenes of their many sensitive crimes. “IT think some people still think that Arab Strap is about me moaning about girlfriends and how Гуе been treated,” says Aidan, “but in all of these songs it’s all about me being the arsehole. They’re not accusatory songs. They might detail some stuff, but it's me that's the problem." JOHNROBINSON “We weren't trying too hard...": Malcolm Middleton (left) and Aidan CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, 1996 AIDAN MOFFAT [VOCALS, DRUMS, 2 BEATS]: We'd _ been in each other’s orbit | Î fora while. TEE 8 Malcolm had been in a band called Rabid Lettuce. The first time I sang with you was when you did that gig at The Argyle in Falkirk. I was lying under the table after a few pints and found a microphone, so I joined in. MALCOLM MIDDLETON [GUITAR]: That was probably “Rip Your Face Off With A Fridge”. Our classic hit. Around 1995 we started spending more time together. We borrowed Stuart The Postman’s four-track — we went to his house and recorded some songs. We weren't trying too hard, it was laidback and it sounded different. AM: 1 think Malcolm came up with the title. At the time we were both on the dole, so we didn’t do anything apart from wait for the weekend. “The First Big Weekend” is a bit of an anomaly because it's the only song that was written with joy in 94- UNCUT - MARCH2021 mind. Everything else was the morning after in the gloom - that was when I, at any rate, felt most productive. I was very principled back then. Everything had to be true; Ihad to be honest no matter how difficult it was to hear. I’m quite proud of it. Istuck tomy guns for most of it. Obviously some of it is faintly embarrassing, but as you can probably tell embarrassment is not something I felt much of then. CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, 1998 MOFFAT: The first record there was no plan. We had no idea of how we wanted it to sound and the stuff that worked, worked — well enough. We’d had more time to think about it by the time we got to Philophobia. The first record didn’t have an audience, but once you know you have an audience... I think I felta responsibility to make a record that wasn’t recorded on Dictaphones. I think it helped us focus and it became something more real. It actually looked like it could be a job for 10 minutes. It's funny listening back to that because there's bits on it that I don’t remember at all. We had a jazz trumpeter come in for halfaday, had people come in and do the cello. It’s full of wee surprises I don’t remember. It was a big jump from the first one. There was a lot of experimentation — we’d never met the trumpeter or the cellist, they were friends of friends. It all started to gel. MIDDLETON: The first one we had written and maybe five days to record it. For this one we had maybe “Soaps” and one or two other songs written and we went in two days here and there over the course ofa year — it was in the background of doing the gigs that we started recording. That’s probably why it’s along record and it sounds different between songs because it’s two different studios as well. Moffatin 1996 d UNCUT CLASSIC |. MIDDLETON: It's still a lo-fi MOFFAT: A lot of the songs are second or third take - and we were writing in the studio. Inthe '90s people still bought records, so there was still money to do that — you could afford to go toastudio and dick about for three hours 'til you got asong. ThenI would come back a couple of months later with some lyrics for it. A lot of it was written in the studio, so a lot of what you're hearing isasong that's still completely new to us. record. It's shinier and more polished but not slick. We were quite confident for two guys who knew nothing. Paul Savage and Geoff Allan are amazing engineers and producers, and because we were confident they thought we knew what we were doing so they would, like, listen to us. Years later it’d be like, “Why the fuck did you listen to us?” MOFFAT: Everything was true. Falkirk’s not avery big place, so it’s easy to become entangled. Like in Ghostbusters, the streams crossed fairly often. I didn’t use real names very much: “The First Big Weekend” [with its mentions of “Gina”, “Matthew” and “Malcolm” isa bit of an outlier in that respect because that’s the only one I use names, as that was more of a celebration. Not using names was an artistic decision but also because I didn’t want to get a slap every time I went for a pint in Falkirk. I had to be pretty careful. MADFOR SADNESS GOIBEAT, 1999 MIDDLETON: Ithink we were 3 flaky liveatthe start because we were having a good time. Our first gig was in 1996 before the record came out - live on John Peel in Glasgow. At the time we hadn’t even planned to play live or get a band together. Then [label| Chemikal Underground said, “We’ve booked you a gig.” And we were like, “Fuck. Why?” We would practise four or five times a week, but then go out and get completely fucked before the gigs. MOFFAT: ‘It had to become muscle memory’ was the plan, as we were so drunk. It was nerves as well. On the cover that’s Ailidh Lennon who was in Sons And Daughters, and Adele from Sons And Daughters was on the inside. Arab Strapin the mid-2000s: bedroomlo-fi, withbongos MIDDLETON: We had a bit of a reputation for being a bit shit live, butthen we realised the music was important as well. Mid-’98 we turned it around a wee bit. I think after the Mad For Sadness gig at QEH [Queen Elizabeth Hall in London] someone slagged us off for being too slick. That was the first gig l'd done sober that year. Maybe two records in was a bit early to doaliverecord, but we were sounding decent and we thought we'd record it. MOFFAT: It was also a way to announce that we'd signed to Go! Beat. There was a bit more professionalism. It was time to take ita bit more seriously and convince people we were worth coming to see. DAVID HOLMES THEDOGS ARE PARADING UMC, 2009 MIDDLETON: This was back in'98 when | everyone and "` their dog was әм doing a remix. | Ithoughtit was quite special that we put our own words on it. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. MOFFAT: I think the only bit we used from the original record was the Serge Gainsbourg sample. I don’t think I told Go! Beat at the time that the drums were froma Motown sample. They were quite angry about that a couple of years later. We hadn’t really done anything like that sound - it was a bitof an experiment and it led into Elephant Shoe songs like *One Four Seven One", which we did at the same studio with Calum [Maclean]. Thelyric was something Ialways had in my head. It was something which would probably have been an Arab Strap song. I remember I was quite annoyed that I had used some words that I liked on a remix for someone else and that itcame outon a limited-edition 7” that no-one ever heard. Fuck! MIDDLETON: It’s a shame it’s hidden. Until then we'd either mainly done live band or drum machine stuff. But then whenever we came up with an electronic song like “Turbulence” or “The Shy Retirer" we'd go back to Calum as he could program electronic stuff really well. AM: He really understood how to get the dancier sub sounds. He was deep into the club scene. ELEPHANT SHOE GOIBEAT, 1999 E MIDDLETON: The people who signed us, nice people, courted us for about a year. There was talk about doing arecord, and I think it worked out well. Elephant Shoe wasn't a success: after making the record it was the Universal/Polydor people working it, and they didn't have much idea of how to work on a record by a Scottish lo-fi band who were trying to be a bit bigger. MOFFAT:Ithinkthey hoped for an album of *The First Big Weekend"s. I was conscious of not making a fancy, cheerful popular record, whichIthinkis why we ended up making a very slow and fundamentally sad record. I don't thinkthey knew what to do with it when they got it. [was very wary at thetime of being one of those bands who signs to a major label who starts sounding different and is never heard from again. There was lot of that about in the 1990s. I didn’t want to do anything which was going to sound too... popular. Which sounds insane. The joke was that Go! Beat couldn'torganiseapiss-upina № в МАВСН2021 : UNCUT : 95 KATGOLLOCK жы Building on "a wee kind of spark”: Arab Strap reunited, Glasgow, November 16, 2020 brewery, so for the launch party they attempted to organise a piss-up in a brewery. MIDDLETON: It was a brewery tour: a boring three hours learning how beer was made. CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, 2001 MIDDLETON: _ Itwould have ¥ been easier for “į money reasons to take the Go! Beat offer for | another record, but we knew it would be the death of us, So we didn’t. It was good that they did take us back, because we did leave them. We had a two- album contract with Chemikal Underground and we did two records and then left. I think they hoped we'd stay on, butit was a good feeling. It was a good year 2000 - Mogwai had signed since we left and The Delgados were doing really well. Itwas great timing. We did the record with Geoff Allan at CaVa again. That was our best-selling record and the one we did the most touring for, which sort of shows because we were knackered afterwards and had a big break. MOFFAT: With *The Love Detective" [about reading a lover's diary]... Ihad abad habit of reading things I shouldn't have. I wouldn't do it now. Гуе gottwo children; Iunderstand theimportance of not knowing. It's quite creepy, Isuppose. The way that culture and technology have grown now, I wonder what Arab Strap would be like today. Arab Strap sounded very intimate and personal, and raw... but everyone's doing that now. Everyone's got their online honesty pot. Actually, that's 96 -UNCUT - MARCH2021 AIDANMOFFAT nottrue - everyone's a liar online. But everyone's got the channel available to be honest online. I’m not sure Arab Strap would be the same band. I’m not writing the same way now because it's a very different world. But that's a pub conversation. CHEMIKALUNDERGOUND, 2003 MOFFAT: When The Red Thread came out, I split up with my girlfriend at thetime and had about two years to myselfin a nice wee flatin Glasgow. *The Shy Retirer" isa bit more sophisticated than *The First Big Weekend" but it's ultimately aboutthe same thing: going to a club. But that was the plan - I was listening to a lot of disco records at thetime. That'sthe closest we got toit - doing the same stuffin much the same way, hopefully a bit more mature. But it's hard to be mature at four o'clockin the morning in the Sub Club... I’m just thinking about some of the wonderful times I had when I was on my own. I was always quite fruitful at dawn with и Tl en hangovers, but sometimes I’d scribble things down before I even went to bed. It was often quitea quick process. I don't know if this will make sense, but that album sounds quite loose, but it was intentional. I wanted it to reflect what was going on in my head at the time, which was all over the shop, quite frankly. But it was a measured looseness. The writing on some ofit was quite well thought over, like “The Shy Retirer”, weighing up the pros and cons of mentioning Jenny Agutter in a song. That’s another thing. Iwouldn't do it now because there's a chance she might hear it. Backthen: absolute zero. These days somebody will tweet it to her. CHEMIKALUNDERGROUND, 2005 MOFFAT: It wasn't planned 3 . asthelastone. „наг таш тшш! But if you listen =: - > tothe whole р Эд body of work, | thereisathread to follow and I was quite pleased greatthat the whole body of work has a happy ending. That's whyI had thefeeling it was the best thing to bow out. MIDDLETON: I think with the last couple of records we were definitely less friends than we were. We can both be quite confrontational, so there was quite a lot of tiptoeing round each other to avoid that. After a few years of that you can't be bothered being confrontational, so you don’t say things. With that record we tried to make a short, quick Arab Strap, which I think with hindsight wasn't the best thing to do because the best things about us were drawing things outa bit, the stories. It's still got some really good songs. №. MOFFAT: “Stink” is really a good song. I like doing that live. MIDDLETON: In the natural trajectory of a career things were on the down. Gigs weren’t as busy. We weren’t selling as many records and it didn’t feel as fresh. Wedida horrendous tour of America where alot ofbad-luck things happened. We met up ina pub in Glasgow and ended up going out all day on a bender, splitting up in the first 10 minutes and then having a laugh. It was like a weight was gone from our shoulders. And the same day Aidan said, “We should get back together in 10 years’ time.” ROCKACTION, 2021 MOFFAT: We reformed to do some gigsin ZT" 2016. Wedidn’t talk about it but it was always at the back of your mind that it might be worth trying [to make another record]. The process is exactly the same, only technology has made it easier. We don't need to exchange cassettes. MIDDLETON: Cassettes were quite aluxury - Iremember playing the guitar down the phone and you trying to come up with some words. Hindsight's a great thing. We're using hindsight live in real time. We’re looking at the catalogue, figuring out what we like and what we hated. The only thing we’re missing is a sloppy DIY ethic; we’re not just putting things down and not really caring. MOFFAT: If we made a mistake, we'd leave itin because it was too expensive to do it again. What did we used to say? *It adds to it." We'd leave mistakes in: "Ah, it adds to it." MIDDLETON: There was a soundtrack thing we started doing in 2012, which we were going to do together but as individuals, not as Arab Strap. It didn’t work out, but we had three or four demos from that so even before thelive thing there was a wee kind of spark of , ‘Should we do something?’ So we started passing things back and forthin 2018. We started recording in December 2019. And two weeks before finishing the record Aidan was still bringing in new words, so it had some of that old-school vibe too. Keeps you on the edge of your seat. © As Days Get Dark is released on March 5 by Rock Action ТНЕ 9 SOUND MACHINE О {ОЧ ۹ A VINYL RECORD \ Ке ITO SELL? N, rds and CDs ШЕ... zT IO Сл mM Г Г мә ALL quality collections of vinyl reco d Ireland. Well travel to you. talk with one of our speci We ate interested in viewing ANYWHERE throughout the UK an tact The Sound Machine if you wou appointment. jalists ld like to Con or to arrange a viewing Sho Reading's Longest Established independent Record Shop d-hand vinyl records and CDs | n Specialists in buying and selling new and seco across all genres. ndmachine.uk.com ә infoathesou = E) 07786 078 361 0118 957 5075 Berkshire RGL 1DN 9 al, Harris Arcade, Reading, thesoundmachine.uk.com ГОУ IIIIII Zn HH HH EH LH ELLE ELLE E EH E LH HT E HH LH EH E EH TE EH EH E HEEL HE EH E E HB E HEB E GE E HH E E EH E E HB E EB LE GE GG GB B GB ZG EE EL LL %. G KOHHASEBE/SHINKO MUSIC/GETTY IMAGES | TP the dilemma 1 f 3 bui | edoms and e ofthe computer age. | 121172: ЖюіКв бегтпапһитовшг, Соса- Cola and ‘vertically organised" music. “We see ourselves as studio technicians, he tells CHRIS BOHN. “We have toi impose — every questic -4 PARTI “ART is nota ‘profession’. There is no essential difference between the | artist and the craftsman. The artistis an exalted craftsman. In rare moments of inspiration, moments beyond the control ofhis will, the grace of Heaven may cause his work to blossom into art. But FROM proficiency to his craftis essential to every artist. Therein lies asource of creative imagination.” (From the first proclamation of the Weimar Bauhaus, 1919) 98 - UNCUT -MARCH2021 ала” in Te пе‹ )JII CCUUIISVVCI. PAIN might currently bein turmoil, what Об: its armed forces' flexing of muscle- bound strength posing a threat to its still unsettled democracy, but there are no ripples of unrest to disturb the afternoon siesta of a dozing Barcelona. Only the foolhardy tourists who flood the city every summer brave the unrelenting heat and dust of the streets. Many of them are from Britain and Germany, and it’s easy to see what attracts them: the city’s proximity to the sea, its odd, indigenous architecture and, of course, a good exchange rate. For the Germans its location also fulfils a romantic northern longing for the warmth and promise of the south and the Mediterranean. Kraftwerk, too, feel the urge. Their main motivating force, Ralf Hutter, wandered through Spain a decade ago - so he reveals later to a Spanish record company executive from the back ofataxicareering through the night - but he was put off by the hippies clogging islands and resorts like Ibiza. Besides, he doesn’t enjoy the tourist role, preferring instead a more constructive purpose for travelling, like work. Consequently Kraftwerk’s European tour satisfies both their wanderlust and their need for communication/feedback. Despite their modernity, a fear of flying means they are driving themselves across the Continent — so far down from Düsseldorf through Bavaria and the Alps to Italy, across to the South of France and down again, through the Pyrenees, to Barcelona. From city to city, concert to concert, disco to disco. Yet there’s none of the whining rock “road goes on forever” aura about their tour. It’s morea dignified, inquisitive jaunt across countries, its moods, pleasures and languors so beautifully evoked already by their seven-year-old hit “Autobahn”. That great, compellingly endless tune was Kraftwerk’s stunning entrance intoa gleaming chromium world. They had made earlier records that fiddled about with more extreme noises which they later smoothed out into sweet melodies, like the “Pineapple Symphony”. “Autobahn” was, however, the first real stirring of their innovative pop sensibility — a witty synthetic delight concocted from mock traffic noises and a wide, open-spaced tune, motored by then-intriguing new electronic percussion and a mechanical rhythm. It suggested a harmony between the aggressive, awe-inspiring autobahn network crisscrossing Germany and the lush landscapes it traverses. And ever since, Kraftwerk have reconciled the spirit of Mother Nature with modern technology, recognising that real progress must embrace them both. Acknowledging the futility of simply retreating to the country, they have instead achieved an immense understanding of computers and machines, which they have placed at their service. i: кыры ЕЕ ннР НЕ Callingfora data date?:(l-r) WolfgangFlür, KarlBartos, Ralf Hütter andFlorian Schneider in Tokyo'sKeio PlazaHotel, September 1981 Theirs isn’t a dumb worship of inanimate objects buta sensible relationship with them; they don’t make an idiotic cult of speed and modernity, as did the Italian Futurists. They have too much respect for the accomplishments of the past for that, be they those of the Bauhaus or the architects behind Vienna or Versailles. Take a Trans-Europe Express trip with Kraftwerk and see how they recall the grandeur and decay ofold Europe through fabulous futuristic noises. Go to work with The Man-Machine and discover a proper working relationship between man and his urban environment, perhaps recognising for the first time the splendid brittle beauties of new cities and industrial scenery. Tune in to Radio-Activity> МАВСН2021 - UNCUT : 99 | “7 - EY PETERNOBLE/REDFERNS KRAFTWERK and learn just how romantic Kraftwerk can get, how well they drain conceivably maudlin melodies of sentimentality, thus adjusting the spirit ofthe old to the new. Go see Kraftwerk in concert and marvel at the reconstructed working environment of their studio — all of which accompanies them on this tour — and at the videos projected onto screens behind each member that so wonderfully illustrate what they’re doing. And, finally, puzzle over and absorb Kraftwerk’s extraordinary harnessing of so much technology to create a complete word-sound-vision entertainment that is as simple as itis spectacular, as provocative asitis plain, as comical asitis earnest and — most importantly — as spiritual as itis temporal. Predictably, in their rush to ride a fashion too many ofthe new electronic poppas have been too busy to burrow beneath Kraftwerk's surface Sheen. And in their search for a comfortable niche they’ve even got that much wrong. Robotic gestures are just the final topping for Kraftwerk, notaraison d’étre, and similarly their descriptive postcard views are the culmination of penetrating analysis and thought. Kraftwerk’s finished work is simple, stylish and on the button - that of the Futurists is faddish, foppish and simple-minded. ROM-city-to-concert-to-disco. The grandeur of old Barcelonais as near to a perfect — ie contradictory — setting as you can get for Kraftwerk. They’re staying in an imposingly haughty regency hotel that at first appears at odds with their austere monochromatic image. Off stage, Florian Schneider (the other half of Kraftwerk’s production team) fits, dressed as he is inaneutral-coloured windcheater with a little knapsack on his back for his wanderings. For Performing “industrielle volksmusik" in Canada, July 1981 100- UNCUT -MARCH2021 reasons of privacy they have requested that Anton Corbijn and me should stay ina different hotel - fair enough - but they are unfailingly polite and friendly when we meet. Kraftwerk liketo observe the formalities, sensibly concealing their real personalities from RALF HUTTER years off my life. Are there any back-to-the-country movements in England?” No, they were discredited by hippie failures. At the moment there is nothing to match the strength of the European ecological movements that are willing to battle against police public scrutiny. However, the impassive gaze of their showroom dummy stageselves — pitched somewhere between Buster Keaton and William Burroughs — becomes animated in conversation. Rumout has it that Wolfgang Fltir and Karl Bartos — the glamorous rhythm half of Kraftwerk — can’t speak English, ifthey can speak at all, and this, too, turns out to bea fallacy. A brief meeting with the group before they rush off to asoundcheck is resumed in the dressing room after the concert. The reaction had been good, thus they’re more relaxed and communicative. Bearing in mind the flourishing of electronic pop in Britain, Karl is eager to know how well they might be received on their visit. No competition, I assure him. Magazine have split up. Simple Minds are inactive. Heaven 17 hidden away up North, Numan retired, and the rest are but poor, directionless imitations of Kraftwerk. But most forward ofthe Kraftwerk entourage is long-time offstage collaborator Emil Schult, whose long curly blond hair pulled back into a pony tail, tanned bronze features and tight black satin pants make him an unlikely component. After passing a few good-natured comments about my dress sense, he launches into a tirade against cities. “Cities are dirty, filthy places,” he observes. “Five days in Barcelona are like five and paramilitary riot officers to prevent nuclear power stations appearing on their doorsteps. Or the strong eco- party lobbies - like Germany's Green Party - that win votes and respect from the mainstream. He smiles knowingly and then continues: “It’s a much better life in the country. It's good that there isanew consciousness in songs likethat one from Talking Heads about breathing good air. In some waysthatis what Kraftwerk are about, too." Thisisthe man who co-writes Kraftwerk songs and works on their graphics. He spends eight months a year onan island in the Bahamas, where he is building a one-roomed house, and he’s critical that the natives have been corrupted by Western ways. “Once they were strong and healthy; now they eat too much sweets and sugar, so they have become fat and soft. But you can’t tell them it’s bad,” he despairs. Schult fits into the Kraftwerk operation along with the computer technicians and mathematicians. Theirs is a multi-faceted, all- embracing corporation that preaches through its practices. Its ideals come close to that of Das Bauhaus, the ’20s school of thought with whom they share a great affinity. “I see us as the musical Bauhaus,” concurs Ralf Htitter. “In their time they could work in theatre, architecture, photography and short films, but they did not really have the \ KRAFTWERK there and keeping therest ofthe group as it was before. We close the door for three years and don't open it. We try to do it allthe way, imposing the process as a discipline on ourselves, really taking allthe way and then going out ofthe room to see where that takes us. I think that is very Germanic. technology to apply their ideas to music; we now have it. We see ourselves as studio technicians or musical workers - not as musical artists." Butit's notall work. Wolfgang and Ralfare habitual disco-goers, so after the concert, while Florian and Karl go looking for something to eat, the dancing duo visit Barcelona’s Studio 54. They look great, twitching like animated versions of the figures they bring on stage during “Showroom Dummies” among the bizarre mix of half-naked go-go dancers, Travoltas and tourists looking for a good time. They’re totally engrossed in their own movements, seemingly oblivious to all around them. Yet, as with all the environments they choose, they become very much part of it. So much so that I’m surprised Ralf Hütter isupin time - I'm surprised I'm upin time — for the scheduled interview only a few hours after we leave the disco for bed. He betrays no signs of tiredness from the previous night or exhaustion from the tour. In close-up his youthful looks are Broadening the subject slightly, the title track of Computer World hints at international conspiracy inits lines “Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard”. Well, now that it has been penetrated by micro- electronics our whole society is computerised, and each one of us is stored into some point of information by some company or organisation, all stored by numbers. When you get into Germany ata border, they place your passport into a machine connected to the Bundeskriminalamt in Wiesbaden so they can Manandmachine: belied by the streaks of grey in his hair. He is composed, yet good humoured, his soft voice willing to answer any questions, his English vocabulary seldom failing him. What's more his confidencein what he's doing means thereis none ofthe self-conscious stuttering that many English groups lapse into when they discuss their work. PART Il Ww HOSE details and history are in the government computers - the security force alone has records of morethan two million citizens. A person affected has no means of discovering, any more than they can check the combinations possible with this information and that from other computers... To produce acomplete ‘inventory’ of the population there is at present being developed in the Federal Republican information system and registration law which recalls the frightening visions of Orwell’s 1984. There is a plan for what are known as personal numbers.” (Sebastian Cobler: Law, Order And Politics In West Germany) BOHN: When I saw the titles of your new records were to be Computer World and “Pocket Calculator”, my first impressions were that Kraftwerk had slipped into self-parody. RALF HUTTER: Why did you think self-parody? The pursuit of New Age themes from showroom dummies through robots to computers... Well, I think that for us it was the only thing we could do at that moment because we had spent three years breaking up our studio and rebuilding it with computers. Just by looking around us - around our studio and outside -it made us see that... our whole society is computerised. And as we were working on the connection between numbers and notes, computers seemed the closest subject for us to do. It was not intended in a parodic way. To us it сет HE RalfHütteratLondon's "eA. 2 Hammersmith е Оаеоп, 1981 | seemed like the next step, from robots/physical — automation to | programming of thoughts = within Kraftwerk and | within society. Within g Kraftwerk because | everybody is programmed sociologically. And by | working over the yearswith reproductions on machines, tapes, photos and videos we found out so much about our | own programming of along time ago, atime when we were not aware of ourselves being programmed — in education, by parents, or those other things. The combination of studying computers and building them in the studio was almosta cleansing process of previous programming? Yes, processing is the word to describe the thing. Everything in our studio is now interconnected through the computers, so we had to rethink the whole system and program ourselves into that. Now everything is automatic, but we can always interfere as we have access to the programming. Itmeans that we can now play anything and that completely changes our relationship with physical music. You can no longer say, “That’s good music, but we need three more trumpets,” because if we want sounds we obviously just make the sounds ourselves. It’s going to create new tensions and possibilities for us. Does that frighten or excite you? We are, uh, nervous, but we are also fatalistic... Why fatalistic? Because we are German and there is afatalistic German quality of going all the way. Thereis never a question of maybe using a little computer here and plugging it into the synthesiser check whether you can enter or leave, for various reasons other than whether your passport is correct. It goes much further than that, there's a whole philosophy of, er — it's our 1981. But the willingness of the people to accept something like the Wiesbaden police computer complex seems to indicate that a majority ofthe German people wants order oratleastaregulated lifestyle. If you areinsecure about basic instincts of yourself then you have to look and maybe listen to outside impulses to tell you what to do. Which is not exactly what we are about, but certainly what alot of Germany is about - and by living there, working there, we can't dissociate ourselves from it completely. We have certainly discovered that those things are part of our programming. And working with computers all the time you become very much aware of how the control thing works and could be done - especially in Germany, where computerisation of control organisations is very big. There are stores and societies which control your financial situation, so the whole computerisation gets more like a 1984 vision. Our idea is to take computers out of context of those control functions and use them creatively in an area where people do not expect to find them. Like using pocket calculators to make music, for instance. Nobody knew you could do that. We always try to do things to break the normal order - and knowing it so well from Germany, we know how to break it... possibly [a slight smile]. It's about time technology was used in resistance; it shouldn’t be shunned, reviled or glorified. Yes, we created a softer attitude, going much more into the human behaviour of those type of things. What we always try to dois to plug ourselves in and steal a little away from those companies, using guerrilla > MARCH2021 - UNCUT · 101 BRIANRASIC/GETTY IMAGES KRAFTWERK tactics to steal from the rich conglomerates... Like we got this mathematician into doing something he wouldn't normally do - help make music. kindergartens, they always see things in terms of punishment, guilt, “We're attracted by certain thingsin motion": (from top) Flür, Bartos, Hutter KOHHASEBE/SHINKO MUSIC/GETTY IMAGES And we communicate data to him by computer, avoiding then the post office telephone monopoly on communications. It’s ironic that Kraftwerk have a reputation for being so distinctly German - in dress, observation of formalities, eating cakesin cafés - when you obviously don’t like some aspects of modern Germany. Ja, that’s the war, we have to go through this whole process because in England, or in America, you have a living culture, but in Germany we don’t have that. In the war Germany was finished, everything wiped out physically and also mentally. We were nowhere. The only people we could relate to, we had to go back 50 years into the ’20s. On the other hand, we were brought up in the British sector and that’s nothing we could relate to. There’s no living musical thing other than the 50-years-old musical thing or semi-academic electronic music, meaning psychologically we had to get ourselves going. And that has only been possible with our generation. You can see the generation before ours that is 10 years older and they could not do it. The only thing they could do was get fat and drink. There was so much accumulated guilt that it physically took another generation to be productive, to be willing to say, “OK, Fm doing a song called ‘Trans-Europe Express’,” or something. That's why we don't have any contact with people older than us. It’s just impossible — it’s areal break. But now with our generation it has begun again, with the films of Fassbinder, Herzog and Wenders or the writing of Peter Handke, for instance. Our music was used in the last section of Alexanderplatz (the famous ’20s novel of Alfred Doblin, recently subjected to a controversial TV serialisation by Fassbinder). There was about 20 minutes of visions and horror sequences with our music. (Asuitablelink between generations). How aboutrelations with your parents? It's difficult, but they are several years older, even pre-Nazi... We certainly represent the generation with no fathers. We have nobody to listen to, no old wise men or anything. We have to impose every question on ourselves and try to find the correct answer. That we were completely alone was very hard to accept at first, but after a few years we find that itis also in some ways encouraging because it gives you possibilities of doing new things. In England we’re partly encumbered by useless, decaying traditions that are nevertheless difficult to cast off... I think so, but that will crumble away... Getting back to your generation, weren’t the RAF/Baader-Meinhof Gang cited as reasons for the increased surveillance that resulted in the Wiesbaden centre? Maybe, but the people who created Wiesbaden are just putting their minds on the table. I mean, they have that in their heads for along time, so if it were the Baader- Meinhof Gang or the weather that gave them the excuse they would have done it, because that is theonlything they would think about doing. The people involved were brought up in Nazi 102- UNCUT - MARCH2021 'andSchneider attheKeioPlaza Hotelin Tokyo, September 1981 restrictions, everybody in a role. And they can never find out what they are like and they can't go thatfar back intothe programming process to change their modules of behaviour. The guy responsible for Wiesbadenisretired now, but he probably imposes the same system of orderin his house - it's so much part of his system. Your generation had two choices - identify with the foreign cultures of occupying powers or go back to the’20s? I think we are very anti-Americanina way because we were feeling so much how they came to Germany with Coca-Cola and chewing gum. As children we at first thought it was great, you know, big uncle coming down the street with Coca- Cola. I can still remember when I was very young how they came through the streets on tanks giving it out. We took it at the time, but over the years you more and more doubt what’s happening and where you stand. It has nothing to do with nationalistic feelings, it’s morea cultural thing — it has todo with more spiritual feelings, continental feelings... ^ й Were you worried that your identification with Germany would be misinterpreted abroad? No. For us it was more an identity thing. It was the process of finding out who we were. The whole thing of Kraftwerk going through those different LPs... Like Autobahn - everybody in Germany said singing German lyrics was crazy. Can you imagine that 75 per cent of our radio programmes were in English. Naturally we don’t wantit all to bein German, but sucha high percentage? Itis becoming better now — I’m really complaining about a few years ago. Having talked to younger German groups, like DAF and Der Plan, I’m always impressed by their sense of purpose and their unselfconscious willingness to talk about their music - an area which English groups often hedge around. Well, it’s so hard in Germany to be productive that you have to discipline yourself very much and put yourself through a lot of effort to get anywhere. When we first started it was impossibleto find anywhere to play. We builtour own equipment, telephoned andarranged everything ourselves... It was just little guerrilla tacticsin order to get EEA FT WERG anywhere. And once you have decided to do it, then you have adopted it as a lifestyle. But finally it has broken here and there is much activity in German now. Itis nolonger the case of people denying their identity and having to sing in English. Theintellectual process that has obviously goneinto the construction of your LPs manifests itselfin a simple pop form. Do you think it’s getting so simple that people are missing the point? No. We consider our music minimalist to a point and that again maybe has something to do with our so-called classical upbringing, where one ofthe highest goals is to play very complicated pieces. We would rather go for the meaning. If we wanted to play complicated things with our equipment it would be just a matter of pressing one or two more buttons. Besides, I never like practising, because that is again part of the system of order — you put the notes in order. The system imposes itself in every aspect of human life, not just passports, but music too. Music must be in order too. This created some very strange feelings in myself at the time. Our music is very primitive — the German word is geradeaus [straight ahead] and that is the best word for it. Simple means alittle stupid, minimalistic means reduced, but geradeaus means: you know where you are going and you try to get there as fast as possible. We once called our music Industrielle Volksmusik. I think that’s what we stand for. We’re very much involved with environment. Düsseldorfis called “the Office ofthe Riihr” (the heavy industrial belt of Germany) — itis all glass and steel and concrete and blocks... In England manyso-called futurist groups took The Man-Machine idea the wrong way, take a simplistic view of extolling machinery when they should have just used it. The Man- Machine is more like establishing a balance between man and the machine, morea friendship, otherwise we would have called the album “Machine”. Also, in the’70s everybody was Calling their albums something like “Man”, everybody simplistically talked so much about human qualities — “I love you baby, forever", for example. But we wanted to talk about the relationship between man and machines and the Russian context of Rabotnik, meaning worker. We always thought of ourselves as workers in sound, as studio or musical workers — not musicians or musical artists, but as musical workers, going into the studio to work. And the whole thing was to develop that. We had so many problems in the '705 because nobody was attuned to it. Coming back from last night’s concert, Emil Schult spoke of back-to-the-land movements and a healthier, more natural lifestyle. He said that Kraftwerk in a way represented this. That has to do with the second electronic revolution. We went through the mechanical side three years ago and now it's the electronic data and processing — we are getting more into software and organisms, how organisms come about. There’s a tendency to read bio-rhythms within the group of people who live in our home. For us there’s no longer a difference between all those things — they’ve all been part of the programming process. One time we called our Kling Klang Studio the “Electronic Garden” — we have bridged the gap between music and technology. Kraftwerk’s relationship to computers is more ambivalent, then? Ambivalence is right — we’re not glorifying anything. It’s more like by living in West Germany you can see how society can be manoeuvred with these electronic computers. What weare trying to dois firstly make that transparent and then maybe try to expose how you can do other things, because computers are like blank tapes: you can cover them with bits or change their direction, even though they too can change — they did change — our attitudes towards music... It’s really hard to express this in words because Computer World is still so close that I haven’t reflected upon everything in it. Don’t you get the urge to make more of this in your lyrics, which are mainly plainly descriptive? We always try to plant lyrics like clues, use them as codes, because otherwise lyrics tend to catch you intellectually and only that. That would disturb our Ganzheit [wholeness] principle. Also, it’s part of our Germanic thing, the little symphonic thing, where words are there but voices aren’t mixed very high. Our main thing was sound, and the words just slipped into our music. Playinglittle melodies: on stageat Ancienne Belgiquein Brussels, 1981 The music was more extreme once, a system of contrasts and opposites: loud/quiet, soft/hard, melodic/ cacophonous. It's become more unified, easier on the ear. Yes, but we have gone more radical synthetic. Everything we do now is completely produced by computerising the RALF HUTTER some degree of black humour in us — weare mostly wearing black! There’s a certain tradition of humour where we live, that has become part of us. There seems to bea glee about you during the performance of “Pocket Calculator" when you all wholething. Even the rhythms are horizontally and vertically organised. TheKraftwerk personnel seem strongly integrated into the Kraftwerk persona. Is there adifference between your stage and private persona? Our personal life is our stage life; sometimes we get confused and sometimes I get mixed up. It’s just a level of awareness, a feeling for the moment. There is really nothing else we do apart from Kraftwerk and related things. We have noother choice than going totally into that thing. It’s strange that you haunt the discos, enjoying the physical activity of dancing. Yes [withasly grin|, but we are dancing very mechanical. To usit’s all part of... we are situationists. It’s hard to express, maybe we should write some more songs about it. Like “Showroom Dummies”, which says, “It’s two o'clock, we start to dance, we are showroom dummies” coming to life. We are also living in the streets, in the cities. We can’t separate this life from that. It’s all one life and at the end we are dead. Do you see Kraftwerk as a comedy of manners? That’s behaviour? Certainly there’s Dummyrun: The Man-Machine albumlaunch, April 1978 leave your keyboards to perform a dance routine at the front ofthe stage. Yes, because mostly we are physically bound to elaborate equipment. Florian bought a [musical] pocket calculator last Christmas in the department store, brought itto the studio where westarted playing around with it. It was anew thing for us. Itwas a minimalistic liberation for us. Ithink that mini electronics are very interesting. Being sointerested in video and automated beings, why have you taken to the road yourselves instead of sending out visual/ mechanicalaids as stand-ins? We did that before, a couple of years ago. In New York we playeda press show with dummies. And one time in Paristolaunch The Man-Machine. What we wanted to do this time was put ourselves through the whole new situation of going out with our entire studio, because we had been locked in for three yearsto makethis new album and concept. For the first time we would be able to go out, make some little excursions, walk around and come back the other way. It’s a really open thing because we don't know howit’ll turn out. It will reflect in our music because we always draw our ideas from the work we do, putting our music and machinery through this whole process. Do you take a fatalistic interest in things at the point of crisis, when things are in the balance? [After along pause] Maybe, because that’s the point where changes come about and maybe, subconsciously at least, we are very easily bored by astable situation. Electronic music is a very liquid situation, not like rock'n'roll, which is a very stable format. We're not ina box like that, we're not afraid, we're attracted by certain things in motion... МАВСН2021 UNCUT · 103 GIEKNAEPS/GETTY IMAGES; SHERILYNN BEHR/ALAMY STOCKPHOTO E Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, December 17 Na briefinterview before her first band performance since last January, Courtney Barnett admits that, because they haven't really rehearsed, she doesn't know what to expect. “It will just be nice to be playing music with my friends again,” she says. Those friends are Bones Sloane (bass) and Dave Mudie (drums), who started playing with Barnett in psych-country/folk outfit Immigrant Union, plus cellist Lucy Waldron. Barnett’s doubt is natural. Alllive-streamed gigs are to some degree unpredictable but without fans to fillit, the Royal Exhibition Building — anelegantly ornate, World Heritage-listed temple ofindustry and culture, built in 1880 — has the potential to throw the feel of this low-key get-together further out of whack. When the cameras first pull back to show offits splendour in the Australian summer’s afternoon light, you can’t help wonder why Barnett and her band, set up on carpets in one of the vast galleries, chose the place. But despite her admission that she’s nota natural performer, her down-to-earth demeanour MARCELLEBRADBEER ІТ 104-UNCUT-MARCH2021; i" and obvious pleasure at being reunited with her mates carries her through. Similar qualities mark Barnett's songs, which pull offthe neat trick of appearing spontaneous and matter-of-fact when they'rein fact carefully crafted. Here are emotions and experiences of both a deeply personal and widely relatable nature, delivered via direct, often drolly humorous lyrics that have become her trademark. She's been playing music since she was 10 soit’s fair to say that 23 years on, Barnett's expression is settled: she’s not a showy guitarist, although she can let rip with gnarly riffs when she chooses to (just not here, as it turns out) and neither is she busting any songwriting conventions. Rather, she'sintent on documenting a life that happens to be her own, with its fixed weather patterns of anxiety, self-doubt and loneliness, via understatedly off-centre guitar work. Some stiffness at the set’s start is understandable. Emerging from a long spell of creative solitude can't have been easy but Barnett clearly felt the need to exercise some of her new songs, audience or no. There are three, two of which suggest she's tilting away from her characteristic, slacker-pop breeziness toward a more considered, countrified sound, with echoes ofWilco, Evan Dando and her compatriot Paul Kelly. Sheopens with a tentative *City Looks Pretty", from most recent album Tell Me Courtney Barnettand friends from the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne SETLIST City LooksPretty Walkin' On Eggshells Write A List Of Things ToLook ForwardTo Avant Gardener LetltGo Here's The Thing INever Get Lonesome Depreston NeedALittle Time We CouldBe LookingFor The Same Thing lf | Don't Hear From You Tonight Sunday Roast How You Really Feel: Barnett begins solo and is joined first by the cello’s gentle sawing, then drums and bass, the song soon tugged along by her familiar, lilting sing-speak before it switches key and drops down in pace, rather awkwardly, at the half-way point. After the Neil Young-ish drawl of “Walkin’ On Eggshells” it’s into first newie “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To”, which sees Barnett smiling as she starts to relax and confessing, “I would rent my soul for a minute of your time and I would tell you anything that's on my mind" over a steady chug that builds as if toaclimax butthen pulls unexpectedly back, before ending on a pleasing guitar twangle. By thetime they swing into “Avant Gardener”, from the “A Sea Of Split Peas” double EP — a fan fave and early marker of Barnett’s singularly wry mindset — she’s backin the zone, gently rocking on her heels and swinging her shoulders. She straps on her Gretsch for a roll through “Let It Go”, originally recorded with kindred spirit Kurt Vile, and dips her knees as ifto n——— — I Barnett once more wrings meaning from life’s minutiae guide the song’s dropdown, grinning at her own duffnote. “Cool,” she says at the end. Small talkis really not Barnett’s style. As the fading sun catches the venue’s wooden flooring and floods the gallery with toffee-coloured light, they start “Here’s The Thing”. It’s another new number, a bittersweet slowie with an elegant swing and slight Lou Reed undertow, in which Barnett once more wrings meaning from life’s minutiae. She reveals that while missing her love, she’s been writing (“It’s the only thing that Iknow how to do”) and later observes: “The windowsillis momentarily filled with sun/And it’s these small things that get me through the day/Until the next one”. The third newie of the set is the terrific “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight”. It’s nota radical diversion from Barnett’s signature sound but itis a noticeable one, its slightly old-school country roll recalling Gram Parsons and Porter Wagoner. The song also shows offthe singer's way with irregular scansion to great effect, in a snapshot of insecurity calmed by love's steadfastness. In between, there's a cover of Silver Jews’ country-pop winner “We Could Be Looking For The Same Thing”, complete with false start, and more surprisingly a take on Arthur Russell’s brief “I Never Get Lonesome”, where Barnett’s reading of its bittersweetness is bang-on and Waldron’s cello comes into its own. After thanking everyone for watching, Barnett and her band bow out with “Sunday Roast”, a song about family, friendship and belonging whose usual Vile-ish languor is cranked toa canter and whose repeated line, “Keep on keepin’ on, you know you’re not alone” assumes a new resonance in our fractured, uncertain present. It’s the easy intimacy of songs like this, coupled with the singer’s slight awkwardness in performing them, that smoothes the crack between the venue’s surreally grand surrounds and her unseen, scattered audience. A natural, on her own terms. © SHARONO'CONNELL MARCH 2021 : UNCUT : 105 Uneasy listening: * Buckingham openshisheart Athome with Lindsey Buckingham, December 5 INDSEY Buckingham is notalone among rock stars of his generation in observing that a song he wrote back in the 1970s has taken on new meaning in the present day. He introduces a sombre version of “Never Going Back Again” as a repudiation of four years of the Trump regime, while also acknowledging that it’s been a fairly grim time for him personally, citing “my separation from Fleetwood Mac” and “having a bypass”. He suggests both were equally devastating. Usually when an artist splits from their band, they endeavour to put as much psychic distance between themselves and their former situation as possible. This has never seemed likely or possible for Buckingham, and almost every song he plays on this (sometimes painfully) intimate livestream is either explicitly about Stevie Nicks or certainly leaves room for that interpretation. Without any fanfare or introduction we are thrown straight into his home studio where he’s sitting in a swivel chair playing “Bleed To Love Her”. It’s a beautiful song, but the immediate intensity is somewhat disconcerting; you half expect him to pull down his scoop-neck T-shirt and 106 - UNCUT -MARCH2021 start showing you his operation scars. This intensity, however, is what makes Buckingham more compelling than most rockers of his vintage. There is no sense of gliding serenely towards retirement here. He has always worn a slightly haunted expression; now, combined with the greying, bushy hair that sprouts directly upwards from the middle of his head, it looks as if he’s literally just seen a ghost. So for all the cranberry juice-swigging breeziness of prime Fleetwood Mac, when you stack a load of Lindsey songs on top of each other like this, it can befaintly harrowing stuff. “Two kinds of people in this world/Winners, losers” he laments on “Go Insane”. Then there’s “I’m So Afraid”, which does make you wonder what those ТӘН Bleed To Love Her Trouble Shut Us Down Never Going Back Again Golnsane BigLove Stephanie I'm So Afraid Go Your Own Way millions of casual Rumours consumers thought when they picked up the similarly styled Fleetwood Mac album only to be frogmarched to the edge of the abyss. “Agony’s torn at my heart too long”, wails Buckingham. “Slip and I fall and I die”. “Trouble” isa lighter moment, representing Buckingham’s ability to conjure moments of frictionless joy amid the torment. There’s also a welcome airing of “Stephanie”, a gorgeous instrumental from 1973's Buckingham/Nicks, even if he still manages to wring some pathos from it with a halting non-anecdote about Stevie's reason for naming the song. For most ofthe set, Buckingham plays unaccompanied on a series of handsome Rick Turner semi-acoustics, employing an abundance of his trademark echo to create drama and ambiguity where other fingerpicking guitarists might aim for authenticity and warmth. Even those familiar moments of pop majesty feel alittle on edge, “Big Love” spiralling inexorably towards a frenzied climax. “Tm So Afraid” is not exactly softened by the addition ofa chilly programmed drumbeat, Buckingham ending the song witha blizzard of string-bending riffage that barely seems plausible on sucha polite-looking guitar. He finishes, of course, with “Go YourOwn Way” which is never less than exhilarating, despite the hurt that underpins it. With Buckingham now seemingly exiled for good from the band he helped turn into megastars, that hurt feels raw once more. But given that it’s fuelled some of the most indelible songs in the pop-rock canon, his new album (due this summer) drops straight into the folder marked ‘highly anticipated’. © SAMRICHARDS Г OVE! WAR! POETRY! Тіс асопу | rm (һе ан. M ' 7 | ROR nut p —— P—— ACHS OF T? HI MON TE BEST MUSIC s E Y 1 л [ СООР IGGY, OPER Lc MES ы DAVID ДЕРТ Sg aue AFAT WULE 1255 4 Hil м ІГ БЕ т s NN SALUTES HIS HEROES ic ! 1101115 SLORIES OFTHE STRE e mum FLEET FOXES NEVER MISS AN Issue УА 90 E COURTNEY ANDREWS DELIVERED DIRECT E PAE ea TO YOUR HOME оло / Em | [ p г 4 n | Е ЕЕ Шы ТГ Ды. М зымы ete ert КОИ l: M мен око - RAN DUGRÉ « AERIAL EAST Direct Debit offeris available to UK subscribers only. £22.99 payable by six monthly Direct Debit. Offer ends December 31, 2021. This priceis guaranteed for the first 12 months and we willnotify youin advance of any price changes. Please allow up to six weeks for delivery of your first subscription issue. Thefullsubscriptionrateis for 12 months (12issues) andincludes postage and packaging.lf themagazine ordered changes frequency per annum, we willhonour the number of issues paid for, not the term of the subscription. For enquiries please call:01371 851882 or e-mail: support@uncut.co.uk. 130 Жа » "T TALS PEEP | ой 1 12 T n ] е M = ШИ “He sent i Р “ese oA hive 5 BT 1 wrk | : : [ ! i i 5 T P EID НАК m | | % Y Nd Ж” Ж ene Шш in. M b DIN ЕХ TET "Ҹ | шо ШЕН conic cratediqging eras? рты т B пасы caran баланы ашы шаі іе dr TT m m: ; № B NDIE AND FEHBIE HAFR'Y IB E THE ULTIMATE МЗ ТЕТЕ Lo JE GRACE SLICK тш THE MAKINGJOF GHOSTEEN Зе, АТ EE шы [ur e Mri ars « Sabbath story 71 — ШЙ e JL IN THE SOUP WITH НАМЕТ ETEN] KEI | nb dg Сурта, FLEETWOOD cep Гин dirus Tar f : Y сістісітініі i ДЕ mor d 1 P Tery T 3 ПЁ 1 ЛАН z E D кы } Leer | aA P TO GE 1 ИР ru STU is ИПИЕ? цы Ri nest ПЕТТЕ C. 1 т ЇЇ 7 | ] Тб” гей ты aan | ty poc c * т отар ے1‎ ZEE IU; "Нат. Кит j| Nec В KRAFTWERK: JOIN THE DISCUSSION | FORUM.UNCUT.CO.UK E i е" ТЕПЕ. ШИИ мт! ^" ЕТТ cuite Hbc ч ao | | 7 f ь LS 3j Ё ] | | a EE TOL s Pe Е LETTER TO "OU ge НЕ o ns E ТТТ м. HAT 9 г M pr LITER LI лме ЕЕ "КЕТ" "inim = n. wm Баа ги gum Tes bh kh. n rs = № . - | етш | d "M ULP ug np t. ka z и 4 ы i a т ^ ELI T CE, "nj a Ее. T. CROSBY, STILLS NASH & YOU NG A LIFE IN PIC TURES. Mie МІС. ТИЕ | m iU = (OA ae жы; | А, ee |a" E PE ‚ЕЕ. "na N the 1940s, with the Empress ofthe Blues already long dead, jazz writer Rudy Blesh persuaded two of Bessie Smith's sisters and her poisonous second husband, Jack Gee, to speak to him for a putative biography. Blesh was promised access to a trunk ofunseen material — photos, music, letters — only for Gee to nix the project with what seemed an outrageous last-minute demand for more money. The trunk promptly vanished. Short on primary sources, later biographers managed to scratch together rough portraits of the Jazz Age giant who recorded 150-or-so songs between 1923 and 1933, but Smith’s story remains tantalisingly blurry. First published in 1997, Jackie Kay’s portrait-cum- character-study brings no new material to light, but her new introduction makes a convincing case for the bisexual, unfettered blueswoman asa very modern kind of icon. “There isn’t anything that life could currently throw at her that would surprise her,” Kay writes. Anorphan from the age of eight, Smith helped to feed her siblings by singing on street corners in her hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, before becoming a performer in travelling minstrel shows. Fired as a dancer for being too dark-skinned, she prospered once she found her voice. The success of early 78s like “Downhearted Blues” and “Gulf Coast Blues”, allied to her burgeoning reputation as a performer, meant that by 1925 Smith could afford to buy her own train carriage to take her entourage from show to show. Her sometime assistant Ruby Walker remembered Smith as “a strong, beautiful woman witha personality as bigasa house” — and life on Smith’s train was certainly a giant leap away from the strictured mores of Prohibition-era America. Her personal appetites were reflected in her songs, which alluded to lesbianism, sadomasochism and bootleg liquor (as Kay puts it, “subjects the Spice Girls would run a mile from"). The Great Depression, changing fashions, and the brutish, controlling Gee led to Smith going offthe rails at the end ofthe'20s. Kay notes that while Smith kept performing, “She was still drinking the bad stuff even when the good stuff became legal again.” Just 43 when she was killed ina car crash, Smith lay in an unmarked grave until 1970, when Janis Joplin was among the grateful disciples who helped pay for her headstone. Aficionados may object to Kay's long passages of imagined interior monologue, but her poetic licence helps to illuminate Smith’s work, examining her motivations and exploring how she might have lived. The contents of that Smith family trunk may be lost forever, but here is something almost tangible to remember her by. ЕПТІ % Bessie Smith, February 1936: avery modern kindoficon REVIEWED THIS MONTH JACKIEKAY FABER, £10 7/10 HARRY SWORD WHITERABBIT, £20 7/10 AMID the remorseless clank of post-war West Germany, Faust's Jean-Hervé Peron heard a sound touched with the elemental and eternal: *The old Heidelberger - the cement mixer," he enthuses to Harry Sword in . “For me, that is like the sound of the sea.” A history of drone-based music, Monolithic Undertow starts off with the revelation that the Big Bang actually sounded more like a deep hum, and celebrates several millennia of ritualistic, repetitive and often atonal sounds that captured the deep growl ofthe universe. Sword samples prehistoric echo chambers and the sound of Aboriginal bull-roarers; he considers the Master Musicians Of Joujouka who so bewitched Brian Jones, before telescoping forward via Ravi Shankar, La Monte Young, John and Alice Coltrane and krautrock to find resonances in modern doom, ambient techno and avant noise. Fans of Julian Cope’s Krautrocksampler and Copendium will approve of Sword’s everything-turned-up-to-eleven gush as he bigs up Popol Vuh and Hawkwind, but if he is covering reasonably familiar territory there, he becomes a more useful cosmic travelling companion when it comes to the acts who took the slo-mo punk of The Melvins to greater depths from the 1990s onward. He shows how Earth’s 1993 album Earth 2: Special Low- Frequency Version was the clarion call for “ambient metal”, and applauds Sleep’s decision to take the down-tuned sludge of Black Sabbath to new extremes on 1996’s Dopesmoker. A one-track album, it exhorted listeners to “Drop out of life with bong in hand/Follow the smoke to the riff-filled land”. Considered unreleasable at the time by the band’s label, London, it ended up becoming an article of faith for a generation of disaffected metal kids, whose quest for the ultimate in room-shaking monotony led many to the extreme amp-worship of Sunn О))). Watching a Sunn O))) showin Amsterdam, Sword feels the rapture: “The churn unfolds at a glacial pace, the dry ice so thick you can’t see your own hands. The [sub-woofers], meanwhile, reach into the nasal cavities, chest, lungs, ribs, shake the hair follicles — your eyeballs vibrate in their sockets — it's a sonic bodily excavation." Extreme fun, but even hardened verse-chorus- verse recidivists will find that Monolithic Undertow drones on entertainingly enough. © JIM WIRTH MARCH 2021-UNCUT · 109 CARL VAN VECHTEN COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES Be wary when a film begins with a caption telling you that follows is (mostly) fiction". Let's say then that Gabriel Range's Stardust is *mostly' a biopic of pre-Ziggy David Bowie, plus a certain amount offancy. It's 1971, and a surprisingly naive Bowie (Johnny Flynn) arrives in America for a promotional tour. His host and driveris publicist Ron Oberman (Marc Maron), seemingly his only ally at Mercury Records. From the start, the singer manages to baffle and alienate everyone from American customs officials - "It's a man's dress," he explains — to DJs and journalists aggrieved at his awkward interview style. Stardust — not to be confused with a certain 1974 film that put to rest some of the hollower illusions of pop fame — plays its ironies archly. The main joke is that no-one wants to know this oddball who, ayear on, would become asignificant force in popular music. The late Ron Oberman - who went on to become a major player in the US music industry — 15 represented as being as much a nebbish as Bowie, his clapped-out car littered with his divorce papers. But he proves empathetic and supportive - and Maron gives him a nicely hard-boiled edge of wiseacre sanity. Johnny Flynn, even in period tresses, looks nothing like Bowie, yet carries him off rather adroitly, playing up the polite Anglo-hippie gaucheness, and making amusing use of his bibbity-bobbity hat. Conversely Jena Malone struggles, dealt the dud card of an Angie Bowie who's sourly unsympathetic to the point of parody. The script creaks - "Who are you, David, as an artist?” snipes manager Tony Defries. “A spaceman? A madman? A laughing dwarf?” (sic). The film flounders too when tackling Bowie’s relationship with his disturbed brother Terry (Derek Moran), presented as the key influence on his decision to “be someone else” — something that pays offin a climactic Ziggy performance, complete with appallingly dodgy wig. Somewhat cheap and cheerful in Directedby GabrielRange Starring JohnnyFlynn, MarcMaron Opens January 15 CertTBC 6/10 110-UNCUT - MARCH 2021 ЖП “Несоша leave em tohang...”: JohnnyFlynn asBowiein Stardust Directedby Darius Marder Starring Riz Ahmed, | OliviaCooke Opens January 29 Certi5 ( 8/10 execution - although that arguably lends it a persuasively early-°7os tone - the film suffers from being denied the use of any Bowie songs. Flynn contributes a dog's dinner ofa Velvet Underground pastiche, although he's pretty credible performing Bowie's Jacques Brel covers. An uncomfortable mix of flippant and crashingly earnest, Stardust nevertheless doesn’t ruinously dishonour its subject. When rockers boast about living dangerously, their insurers know what they're really talking about - the risk of wrecking their hearing. In Darius Marder’s Sound Of Metal, Riz Ahmed stars as Ruben, who plays drums in an American noise duo alongside his singer-guitarist girlfriend (Olivia Cooke). One day on tour, his hearing suddenly goes — and stays gone. Ruben checks in ata centre run by counsellor Joe (Paul Daci); he becomes a part of Joe’s deaf community, and gradually learns to let go, communicate and contribute. But he can't help looking to the past, which is where the film somewhat goes off the boil, ina Belgian-set coda. REVIEWED THIS MONTH Directedby Paul Greengrass Starring Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel Streaming from TBC CertPG 6/10 g B. 4 Acuteinits understanding of human fallibility and, one would imagine, deaf identity, the film has an authentic ring, not least in its evocation of life on the American fringe-metal circuit. It also owes much to the charismatically honest performance by Daci (an actor whoin reallife has a side gig fronting a sign language Black Sabbath tribute band). Ahmed, with his wonderfully eloquent air of vulnerable hyper-alertness, gives his second superb performance of the year as aman in crisis, following Mogul Mowgli. Sound Of Metal operates on a rare level of subtlety and emotional depth — not least because of Nicolas Becker’s densely layered sound design, merging noise, silence and acertain submarine ambience that’s dense and deep as deafness itself. Unlike the late unlamented tabloid, Paul Greengrass’s News Of The World is a determinedly non-racy proposition. Set in 1870s Texas, it stars Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former Civil War soldier who now travels around giving readings from the current Directedby Directedby ReginaKing Andrei Starring Konchalovsky | Kingsley Starring Yulia | Ben-Adir, Vysotskaya, Aldis Hodge Vladislav Streaming from Komarov January 15 Opens Cert15 January 15 7/10 Cert TBC 8/10 newspapers. One day, he finds himselfrescuing Johanna (Helena Zengel), a German orphan abducted by Native Americans, who now only speaks the Kiowa language. When the authorities prove indifferent, Kidd decides to escort her home, wherever that may be. The film continues a latterday cycle of westerns about elderly men having a redemptive experience late in their lives: Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, Tommy Lee Jones in The Homesman, Jeff Bridges in the Coens’ True Grit and Sam Shepard in Blackthorn. But the stakes don’t feel high here since Hanks, being Hanks, plays a man who’s decent from the start and remains decent throughout. While the question of Johanna’s true identity, European or Native American, echoes The Searchers, other themes struggle to emerge: the film gives little resonance to the device of Kidd’s newsreading, while the use of a robber baron character (played by imposing scowler Thomas Francis Murphy) barely generates the resonance it might have had in these latter days of Trump. Twelve-year-old Zengel is intriguingly, sometimes opaquely solemn, while Hanks is tender and careworn as few modern male stars know howto be. Dariusz Wolski’s photography is impeccable, in something of a post-Heaven’s Gate vein (good on mud, rain and murky lamplight). But there are few surprises and little tension. Greengrass eschews his usual kinetic intensity, but seems a little awed by old-school western tradition, resulting in something too glumly reverent to bring new life to the genre. The aim of One Night In Miami is to put you, as they say in Hamilton, in the room where it happened. In February 1964, four African-American legends met in a Miami hotel room —Malcolm X, Cassius Clay (yet to become Muhammad Ali), Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. Largely achamber piece, One Night... is based on a 2013 stage play by Kemp Powers, and elegantly helmed by actor-director Regina King — who recently dazzled in front of the camera in Barry Jenkins’s If Beale Street Could Talk. Following Clay’s championship win against Sonny Liston, Malcolm X has summoned the other three to celebrate, although at first they are none too enthusiastic about his insistence on sober reflection. What follows is unashamedly theatrical, and all the more effective for it, highlighting the crises on each man's mind - notably Clay’s conversion to Islam and Cooke’s agonising over his purpose as an artist. While the script sometimes lays out the issues of the civil rights struggle in bold type, a discreetly handled visual gloss captures the glamour and social tension of the period, while the performances are magnificent. Kingsley Ben-Adir is by turns severe and genial as Malcolm; Eli Goree vividly summons Clay’s inspired exuberance; Aldis Hodge makes Brown a measured foil, one sceptical eyebrow raised; and as Cooke, Leslie Odum Jr captures the uncertainty ofan established star who has all the rewards but is still seeking purpose. It’s no spoiler to say that when Odum finally gives us Cooke’s rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come”, no throat will be left without a lump. Russian auteur Andrei Konchalovsky has had one of cinema’s stranger careers — from co-writing Tarkovsky’s for-the- ages masterpiece Andrei Rublev to directing Stallonein Tango And Cash. Oflate, he has been on surer ground back home -in this case, back in the USSR, since Dear Comrades! is set in the Khrushchev era. The film recounts a grim Soviet episode, the Novocherkassk massacre of 1962, in which several factory workers were shot following a labour strike. Yulia Vysotskaya plays Lyuda, a dedicated local Party official but also a somewhat disillusioned nostalgist for the ‘glory days’ of Stalin’s reign. She finds herself questioning her certainties when the army and the KGB move in to quash the unrest. It’s never easy to gauge exactly how modern Russian cinema relates to contemporary politics, especially when tackling the past. But whatever subtexts it may carry, Dear Comrades! is superb cinema, showing the chaos gradually mounting despite — then because of - the official attempts to control it. Vysotskaya is terrific, crackling with anxiety and conflicted determination. Andrei Naidenov’s detached, luminous black- and-white photography makes you feel you’re watching a Soviet film of the early '60s, but tellingly filtered through several decades' worth of retrospective knowledge. © JONATHANROMNEY UFU 7m + miU zn. ж sisii " tan ot a: ч ReverendMartin Luther Kingat theFBI, 1964 В ; | T OPENS JANUARY 15 Sam Pollard's revealing documentary lifts the lid off JEdgar Hoover's dirty ops campaign against Dr Martin Luther King. OPENS JANUARY 22 Directed by Jasmila Zbanic, Bosnia's Oscars entry features a galvanizing performance from JasnaDuricic as a UN translator trying to save her family inSrebrenicain 1995. OPENS JANUARY 22 Taika Waititi-produced New Zealand comedy starring stand-up Rose Matafeo as atreesurgeonin crisis over the prospect of motherhood. OPENS JANUARY 29 Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan discover the pros and cons of a time travel drug in this sci-fi drama from genre specialists Benson and Moorhead. OPENS JANUARY 29 Mind-boggling documentary about two young women who were tried for killing the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un - except they claimed they were taking part in a TVprankshow. OPENSFEBRUARY 5 Exuberantly eccentric documentary exec-producedby Luca Guadagnino, aboutmen, their dogs and their shared passion for scouring Italy's forests in search of natures aromatic nuggets. OPENSFEBRUARY 12 StrikingFrench debut from Charléne Favier, abouta 15-year-old skier (Noée Abita) experiencing a world of pressure, exploitation and abuse. MARCH2021 - UNCUT : 111 BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES ED CARAEFF/GETTY IMAGES BU E I D D K MAGNOLIAPICTURES EXE THEREaren't E S&T many musicians | harder to squeeze | into documentary й 9 film format than $420 Frank Zappa. With 62 albums released during his lifetime, plus dozens more after his 1993 death, and a musical style that combines compositional complexity with sophomoric humor, Zappa's career isimpervious to today's playlist and streaming doc synopses. In his film, director Alex Winter represents this impossible task by returning again and again to the Zappa archives, shelves stacked floor to ceiling with audio and video tape inthe basement of his former home. But the 129-minute film largely punts ontrying to wrapits arms around the voluminous output of Zappa's short life, creating instead a character study ofthe singular, irascible and obsessively creative musician. The musician who is driven to work at all personal costs is a hoary rock- pic cliché, but if anyone earned it, it’s Zappa. A majority of the archival footage finds the lanky Rasputin figure rehearsing his band, hunched over notation paper, or conducting live concerts — often with his middle finger. The film is cut like you’re inside his restless imagination, with brief flashes of monster movies, gas masks from his youth growing up next toan Army chemical plant and graphic claymation. The movie also lets Zappa himself - never shy in interviews — do most of the talking; it’s 20 minutes before you hear from anyone else. There’s good reason for that, as Zappa kept nearly everyone at arm’s length throughout his career. A lengthy roster of band members is introduced in concert footage, most with a very short timeline of collaboration noted beneath their name. Guitarist Steve Vai says Zappa saw his fellow musicians as “a tool for the composer”, while Zappa himself admits in one interview that he has no friends, only a family that he rarely sees between tours. 112-UNCUT - MARCH2021 Frank Zappa inthe editing roomofhisLaurel Canyonhome,LA, March25, 1972 Inthe context of rock history, Zappais also portrayed as a man apart. While The Mothers Of Invention had all the trappings of late-’60s hippiedom, their thorny music is laughably incongruous with the writhing dancers at the Whisky A GoGo. Zappa famously didn’t do drugs, carried avery severe political and artistic ethos at odds with the loosey-goosey vibes of the time and was more concerned with intricately scripted music and theatrical hijinks than jamming out. The film honors this preferred identity, that of a 20th-century composer inspired by Varese and Stravinsky, who largely used the musical tools at hand to realise his vision: the electric guitar and whatever genre was currently popular, be it psych-rock, jazz fusion, prog, or new wave. One of the longest live clips included doesn’t feature Zappa at all, but the Kronos Quartet, performing a Zappa piece and comparing him to Ives, Partch and Sun Ra. At one point he flat out hires the London Symphony Orchestra to record some of his symphonic work, then throws shade on them to David Letterman. That no-bullshit prickliness served Zappa well in his eternal м battles with the record industry and hisunlikely late-life roles as free-speech spokesman and musical ambassador to Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution. All these chapters are given considerable screen time — they’re easier to explain than the plot of 200 Motels or Joe’s Garage — and his media and Congressional hearing campaign against the pearl-clutching censors of the Parents Music Resource Center remains heroic even if you don’t care for his music. And if you don’t, Zappa doesn’t make avery strong case for giving it another chance. Documentaries shouldn’t necessarily be commercials for their subjects, but the film never really sells why anyone unfamiliar with his heady concepts and absurd lyrics should reconsider; his songs are even more disorienting and impenetrable when cut up and combined with the rapid-fire visual editing. Apart from the unlikely novelty hits of “Dancin’ Fool” and “Valley Girl” — both of which Zappa dismisses, natch - there's little to suggest why he earned progressively larger crowds and a devoted following. But even at that remove, the film hitsits emotional climax with Zappa's final concert, conducting the Ensemble Modern in Germany. In the rehearsals leading up to the event and the performance itself, Zappa, fighting the prostate cancer that would kill him at only 52, finally appears satisfied (mostly) with the quality of the musicians reproducing the music in his head. Then he walks backstage and sits alone, while the crowd cheers on. It’s an oddly moving Mr Holland’s Opus ending for asubject even a sympathetic filmmaker has depicted as relentlessly cold and unsentimental. “You must have been thrilled?” an interviewer asks about the 20-minute ovation at the final show. “Twas happier that they did that rather than throw things at the stage,” Zappareplies. © BLUE SKY BFI 7/10 Tony Richardson's reputation rests _ onkitchen sink ^ dramas. His final » film (released posthumously in 1994) applies his NE social conscience tell to a tale of radiation and infidelity in the American west of the early 1960s. Jessica Lange won an Oscar for her Marilyn-like performance as Carly, an untameable bombshell who tests the patience of engineer husband Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), while he is preoccupied with the fallout from nuclear testing. The performances cover-up the plot’s simplicity. Extras:6/10. Commentary, nuclear shorts, essays. ALASTAIRMcKAY NERIS JOEBONAMASSA GUITAR MAN amazon 7/10 Despite more No1 Blues albums than any other artist, the unassuming Bonamassa still has something ofa branding problem. Cue this expertly assembled profile- piece, which charts a blues-rocky road from teen prodigy to arena-filler in 140-0dd minutes. It's a great watch, soundtracked by sparkling guitar playing and crunched with entertaining interviewees: step forward production honcho Kevin *Caveman" Shirley and Jason Bonham, Joe's bandmate in Zep-a-like supergroup Black Country Communion. A Clapton geek and self-confessed “student ofthe students” of the blues, his life story doubles as a light essay on the genre's legacy in the21st century. MARK BENTLEY BOBDYLAN ROLLING THUNDER REVUE CRITERIONCOLLECTION 9/10 Martin Scorsese's reframing of Dylan's 1975-76 big tent revue tour confused some with - itsoccasionaluntruths X whenreleased on ` Netflix. Even Scorsese, ES .intheextras, now » wm admits he has no idea what's true or false, an admission entirely in keeping with Dylan's intentions. As curated myth, it's fascinating, but the intense live performances dispel the static. Extras:8/10. Unseen live footage, interviews with Scorsese, editor David Tedeschi, Larry “Ratso” Sloman. ALASTAIR McKAY KEITH EMERSON FANFARE FOR THE UNCOMMON MAN: OFFICIAL KEITH EMERSON TRIBUTE CONCERT CHERRY RED 7/10 Held in LA in 2016, this concert saw a host of performers including Brian Auger celebrate the music of Keith Emerson. As you'd expect, itisa prolonged demonstration of exceptional virtuosity and showmanship, and not just on keyboards - at one point four guitarists spend five minutes playing the same solo in slightly different styles — but also great joy. The players work through a stash of synths, affectionately recreating Emerson's greatest moments in prog, rock and classical. All proceeds go to charity. Extras: 7/10.2CD with audio recording. PETERWATTS LITTLESTEVEN MACCA TOMECCA WICKED COOL/UME 7/10 IL EN [n late 2017, Van Zandt’s ТЕДІ j European tour with his Disciples Of Soul big band landed in Liverpool. Somehow l allis ofthem crammed ` ` onto the tiny Cavern Club stage to play an exuberant eight song set of Beatles classics, captured here in intimate style, after the film has suitably opened with McCartney himselfjoining the band to sing ajoyous “I Saw Her Standing There" during the tour’s London date. Extras: 7/10. Four discs of live audio recordings from the tour. NIGEL WILLIAMSON Letitia Wright playsactivist Altheia Jones inMangrove SMALL AXE 9/10 YOU’ LL be endlessly humming Janet Kay’s 1979 hit “Silly Games” after seeing Lovers Rock- one of the five stories that make up this quintet of films directed and co-written by the Black British filmmaker Steve McQueen. Each of McQueen's five films, originally made for BBCTV, takes a different perspective on the Black experience in London from thelate 1960s to the mid-1980s, touching onimportant historical moments but also digging deep into the emotions of what it meant and felt to be young and Black in those years. Lovers Rockis the high point: barely an hour, it’s short, sweet and soulful, almost entirely set at a house party in west London in 1980. These films build into an event. Individually, they are smart, sharp and pointed. Together, they are powerful and ground-shifting: a view ona culture we've nothad the chance to experience before, especially right there on the small screen, at prime time, slap bang in the middle ofa Sunday evening. Thefilmsin Small Axe are not autobiography, but they're surely personal for McQueen, a Londoner who grew upin the city inthe 1970s and '80s. The dominant perspective is young, Black and male. In Education, a young boy is shunted into the hell of the ‘special school’ system not because he has genuine learning problems but because his headteacher and others treat him differently from the white kids. In Alex Wheatle, a young man stumbles out of the care system and struggles to find his identity in 1980s Brixton, having to face up to his demons in jail. In Red, White And Blue, Leroy Logan (John Boyega) joins an almost entirely white police force and faces both on-the-job racism and scepticism from his own community, not least his own dad. There’s a close-up intimacy running through them all. But the grandest of the five in terms of sweep and story is Mangrove — the true story of how Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes), the Trinidad-born owner of the West Indian restaurant of that name in Notting Hill, ended up in court in 1970 alongside eight other Black activists and thinkers. A portrait ofa charged community turns into a furious courtroom drama alive with wit and intellect. There hasn't been a moment in British television like this. Orin film - and you could debate which this is, film or TV, as McQueen proudly brings the art of cinema to the small screen in terms of style and ambition. This is a Black British filmmaker distilling the surrounds of his own childhood and young adulthood into uncompromising storytelling that shows hard, unheard truths about the history of his country — and doing itin a way that’s tough at times but never far from humour, warmth and the glorious chaos of everyday family, school and work life. It’s genuinely essential. MARCH 2021-UNCUT + 113 ©McQUEENLIMITED/PHOTOGRAPHER: DES WILLIE BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES Obituaries Fondly remembered this month... Country-pop superstar (1934-2020) ADitnotbeen for an injury to his throwing arm, Charley Pride may well have realised his ambition to become atop pro baseball player inthe US. But sport’s loss proved to becountry music’s gain. Blessed with asmooth baritone and an everyman touch, Pride became country’s first black superstar, selling over 70 million records for RCA. Only Elvis Presley shifted more product for the label. Theson ofa Mississippi sharecropper, Pride started singing and playing guitar as a teenager, enthralled by the sound of Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb. He pitched fora number of minor league baseball teams during the ’50s and early 60s, while also holding down heavy manual jobs and playing local gigs in Helena, Montana. Scouted by country star Red Sovine, who convinced him to move to Nashville, Pride signed to RCA Victor in 1965 on the recommendation of Chet Atkins. His first major country hit, the Grammy-nominated “Just Between You And Me”, landed a year later; in 1967 he became the first black artist to perform solo at the Grand Ole Opry. From thereonin he could do little wrong, scoring chart successes with the likes of “All I Have To Offer You (Is Me)”, “(I’m So) Afraid Of Losing You Again”, "Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone”, “Wonder Could "Theepitome ofatrailblazer CharliePride, NYC, Nov 11,1975 theme to Sometimes A Great Notion. In 2020 he received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Country Music Association, who hailed him as “the epitome ofa trailblazer.” I Live There Anymore” and “Tm Just Me”. Pride reached a commercial peakin 1971 with “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” and the Oscar-nominated “All His Children” (with Henry Mancini), the Synth composer (1946-2020) Blind musician Pauline Anna Strom grew up steeped in classical music, but found her calling after moving to San Francisco, where she began composing on synthesisers anda Tascam 4-track. Under the pseudonym Trans-Millenia Consort, she issued seven works during the 1980s (mostly on cassette) before retiring from music to found a spiritual healing practice. A 2017 reissue programme led to Angel Tears In Sunlight, her first album for three decades, which is due in February. Love As Laughter mainman (1974-2020) Singer-guitarist Sam Jayne founded Love As Laughter in 1994, 114-UNCUT - MARCH2021 following the break-up of Olympia post-hardcore outfit Lync. The bandissued six albums under his stewardship, the last being 2008's Holy. Jayne was also involved with Modest Mouse and sang on Beck’s One Foot In The Grave. Mush guitarist (DOBUNKNOWN 2020) Guitarist Steven Tyson wasa key member of Leeds art-rockers Mush, who issued their much-fancied debut, 3D Routine, in early 2020. Tyson, whose cause of death has yet to be announced, wasa masterful player, at his best on scintillating single, "Alternative Facts". The band paid tribute by citing his *generosity andintelligence asa guitar player". Telescopes co-founder (1966-2020) David Fitzgerald was the original lead guitarist with The Telescopes, formedin Burton-on-Trent in 1987. He played a crucial role in their transition from psych-noise to a dreamier sound, reflected in the contrast between 1989's Taste and 1992 Creation debut, The Telescopes. After the band’s initial split in the gos, Fitzgerald went on to play with TheJunkyard Liberty. National treasure (1937-2020) Barbara Windsor became famous for her bawdy rolesin the Carry On franchise, though she first made hername on the stage, receiving critical plaudits for 1963’s Sparrows Can’t Sing and a Tony nomination for the Broadway run of Oh, What A Lovely War! Her place in the national psyche was ultimately sealed with her role as Peggy Mitchellin EastEnders. Country songwriter (1953-2020) Former R&B drummer Hal Ketchum reinvented himself as a country artist after moving to Texas from New Yorkin the early '80s. He made his mark with second album Past The Point Of Rescue (1991), which housed a cover of *Small Town Saturday Night” and his own “I Know Where Love Lives”. Ketchum’s other major successes included “Sure Love”, “Hearts Are Gonna Roll” and “Stay Forever”, co-written with Benmont Tench. Magnetic Fields collaborator (1964-2020) Though never an official member of The Magnetic Fields, LD Beghtol was an undeniable presence on 1999’s three-volume concept piece, 69 Love Songs. His distinctive tenor voice Soft- pedal pianist and composer (1936-2020) " AROLD Budd'sfirstlove was jazz, playing drums ontheLos Angeles club ІІ" 14 sceneasateenagerin the'50s. But his decision to take acollege coursein music theory changed his life. “From that moment on,” hesaid, “I had an insatiable appetite. Harmony, counterpoint, Renaissance music: I really heard it for the first time.” He began to compose minimalist music, influenced by avant-gardists Morton Feldman and Terry Riley, and the tonal qualities of Pharoah Sanders. Between 1972and’75 he recorded a cycle of works that included “Madrigals Of The Rose Angel”, apiece for harp, electric piano, celeste and percussion that caught the ear of Brian Eno. The resulting The Pavilion Of Dreams, Budd’s debut LP, was released on Eno’s Obscure label in 1978. Two joint efforts with Eno (1980's Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror and 1984’s The Pearl, co-produced with Daniel Lanois) showcased his “soft pedal” piano technique and established him as an ambient artist, alabel he quickly rejected as being too reductive. Budd moved to the UK in 1986, forming an alliance with Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthriethat began withthat year's The Moon And The Melodies. He and Guthrie went on to record a number of albums together, the mostrecent being 2020's Another Flower, recorded in 2013. Other significant collaborators included XTC's Andy Partridge (1994’s Through The Hill), Jah Wobble (the live Solaris, 2002), John Foxx Harold Budd backstage atthe AE Harrisin Birmingham, November 24,2011 (Translucence/Drift Music, 2003) and Daniel Lanois, who secretly recorded animpromptu piano performance by Budd at homein his living room in Los Angeles for 2003's La Bella Vista. can be heard on the likes of “All My Little Words,” “My Sentimental Melody” and “Bitter Tears”. A gifted designer, he also created the album artwork. Beghtol’s other projects included the bands Flare, LD & The New Criticism and Moth Wranglers. Jazz fusion organist (1943-2020) Versatile keyboardist Howard Wales backed such luminaries asJames Brown, Freddie King and Harvey Mandel, butis remembered by Deadheads for his association with Jerry Garcia. He played the organ on 1970's American Beauty, after which heand Garcia shared joint billing on jazz-rock expedition Hooteroll?. Alive album with Garcia, Side Trips, Volume One, was released in 1998. Darth Vader actor (1935-2020) Champion weightlifter and actor David Prowse was best known on British TV asroad safety superhero the Green Cross Man during the mid-’7os. But he achieved global renown after director George Lucas, impressed by his imposing frame in A Clockwork Orange, cast himas Darth Vader in Star Wars (although his character was voiced by James Earl Jones). Third Eye Blind co-founder (1971-2020) Formed in 1993, the original lineup of San Francisco’s Third Eye Blind included bassist Jason Slater. He helped them record their first demos, but quit after a year. Slater went on to co-found Snake River Conspiracy (also serving as producer and songwriter) and rap- rockers Brougham. He later became a go-to producer for heavy rock outfit Queensryche. Tubby Hayes sideman (1944-2020) Scottish double bassist Ron Mathewson honed his craft on the London jazz scene ofthe early '60s, sealing hisreputation as sideman to Tubby Hayes, with whom he played from 1966 through to Hayes' demise seven years later. Mathewson, whoseimpressive CV alsoincludes work with Stan Getz, Roy Eldridge and Oscar Peterson, went on to become aregular with Ronnie Scott. Gladiators frontman (1945-2020) Jamaican singer and guitarist Albert Griffiths was asession player for Coxsone Dodd when he decided to form The Gladiators in 1968. The band soon enjoyed a national hit with “Hello Carol”, reaching their peakin the ’7os with a number ofsides for Dodd at Studio One, including “Bongo Red” and “Roots Natty”. The Gladiators achieved international recognition when Virgin snapped them up, issuing debut Trenchtown Mix Upin 1976. Avant-jazz kingpin (1941-2020) Post-bop pianistStanley Cowell mettrumpeter Charles Tolliver while playingin Max Roach's bandinthelate '60s. He and Tolliver co-founded influential jazz label Strata-East in 1971, the pair issuing Music Inc later that year, alongside Handscapes, by the Cowell-led Piano Choir. Cowell, whose “Equipoise” was later sampled by The Pharcyde, issued scores of albums as bandleader and also served as sideman to Art Pepper and Stan Getz. Halfof’60s folk duo (1941-2020) Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde first met while studying at London’s Central School Of Speech And Drama, after which, in 1962, they began gigging asa folk duo. Chad & Jeremy scored a minor UK hit with the following year’s “Yesterday’s Gone” (produced by John Barry), but enjoyed greater success in the US. Among their biggest Billboard hits were “A Summer Song”, “Willow Weep For Me” and “Before And After”. Rockabilly rouser (1942-2020) Achance meeting with Carl Perkins’ drummer, WS Holland, led rockabilly singer Carl Mann to audition for Sun Records. He was still a teenager when he made the US Top 30 with a souped-up version of Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa” in 1959. He recorded for the ABCand Dotlabelsin the ’7os, before becoming a popular draw on the vintage circuit. Son of Muddy Waters (1964-2020) Joseph “Mojo” Morganfield was the youngest son of blues legend Muddy Waters, although he took a while to join the family business. Hestarted regularly playing the blues in 2017, issuing the “Mojo Risin’” EP, and was in the process of completing adebut album with his band, the Mannish Boyz. Prog bassist (1970-2020) Sean Malone joined Florida prog- metal band Cynic to add fretless bass to their 1993 debut Focus. After they split the following year, Malone released asolo effort (1996’s Cortlandt) and founded Gordian Knot, a free-flowing ensemble whose two studio albums feature the likes of Steve Hackett, Bill Bruford and Trey Gunn. He rejoined Cynic for 2008 comeback Traced In Air .© ROBHUGHES MARCH2021 : UNCUT : 115 STEVETHORNE/REDFERNS HIPGNOSIS АИ Emailletterseuncut.co.uk. Or tweetus at twitter.com/uncutmagazine LONGMAY NEILRUN Thanks, Uncut, for your Neil Young Top 40 [Take 285]! After all the understandable furore over the botched roll out of Archives IT and the madly overpriced anniversary reissue of After The Gold Rush, your list was a welcome reminder of what matters most: Neil’s music. There were tons of songs you could have included in your list, but what I enjoyed most were the first-hand recollections of so many wonderful musicians who've played with Neil throughout the years. Considering how many of his collaborators have sadly passed away - from Danny Whitten, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin to David Briggs and on through Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Dallas Taylor and more - it was heartening to read such vivid memories from so many other surviving musicians. PaulSharpe, Liverpool ...Ithought that your Neil Young Top 40 Was a pretty good representation of his best work over the past 50 or so years.... 50!? Pity there was no room for “Old Man”, “Love In Mind”, “New Mama”, “Pardon My Heart”, “Pushed It Over The Edge”, “Don't Be Denied”, “No More”... Itsa measure of the man that we’re able to arrive atso many choices for a Best Oflist. Long may he run! Stephen Gregory, Manchester Thanks, Stephen. Yes, we could have gone much further than a Top 40, had we the space. I’m pleased we managed to include some lesser- spotted gems in there, though, especially “Walk Like An Inca” and “Be The Rain”. [MB] INTO THE TREES Your Reissue Of The Month in Take 283 was the excellent Trees — 50th Anniversary Edition. It was hard to resist the four-page review with Jim Wirth’s evocative review, the candid Q&A with David Costa and Bias Boshell (great alliterative name), and contemporaneous photos by Hipgnosis’s Storm Thorgersen and Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell. So I ordered my copy. The music is joyous. The chaos of the first album, The Garden Of Jane Delawney, where they’re playing all the right notes but not always inthe right orderisOTTina seriously good way. The second LP, On The Shore, demonstrates that the band that stayed together could play together with even more rewarding 116-UNCUT -MARCH2021 results. The two discs of demos, remixes, radio sessions and live reunion material are fabulous. too. Topping it all off were the fanboy notes from the erudite Stewart Lee — appropriately, remixing his 2007 notes to the earlier reissue of Trees’ sophomore LP. The only bum note is the lack of Hipgnosis album covers in the CD booklet, when they are both clearly present and correct in the vinyl box set in your feature. So music 10/10 and packaging 7/10. Thanks for the recommendation, Uncut. Bruce Marsh, Newbury Park Thanks for the kind words about Jim’s review! Trees are very popular round here, Bruce, so we were delighted to give them plenty of space in the Reviews section. DOMESTICSTRIFE Iknow you'll receive lots of comment on your choices for Albums Of The Year and no arguments about His Bobness at No 10rtheinclusion of Laura Marling, Jason Isbell, Waxahatchee, the Boss or Lucinda, but you guys have certainly missed out on one of 2020's best. Iam referring to Domestic by Paul Armfield. I don’t believe you even reviewed it when it first came out, which was a sad omission on your part. Itis full of beautifully crafted songs, superb lyrics and wonderful musicianship and is fully deserving of inclusion in any end of year lists. Don't take my word for it, ask Mark Radcliffe, who appears smitten by it, and grab an earful yourselves. Aside from all that, a big thanksto the ever perceptive Laura Barton for her review of Lucinda Williams' livestream. John Rhodes, via email Consider us duly chastened, John... HEEPS OF PRAISE Great magazine! Always look forward to it especially during these grim lockdown days. Complete mystery to me however, why has there never been an appraisal of the mighty Uriah Heep? Deeply unfashionable perhaps? The 5o Years In Rock boxset has just been released and not so much asamention. It's particularly poignant now with the recent passing of Lee Kerslake and Ken Hensley, though the indefatigable Mick Box still pushes the band forward. Howard Burton, via email ACCADACCAROCK Long-time reader herein LA.I always look forward to finding a new issue at my local book shop. I hate to quibble with a review but, as aloyal AC/DC fan, I must say I think PWR/UP is the best record they have made since Back In Black. Every song is good. Hooks, riffs, tight, economical solos by Angus, terrific vocals by Johnson and the rhythm machine of Rudd, Williams and (another) Young. I listened to it 10 times in arowafter buying itand I’m still digging in! I particularly enjoyed your Cramps story few issues back and hope perhaps someday you will look at The Dictators, But the band that has never been given their duein your fine magazine remains The Stranglers. Thanks again for all your hard work and creativity. Paul McGuire, Canyon Country, California Hey, Paul. As an Australian, our reviewer Andrew Mueller has a deep emotional attachment to AC/ DC, so I think his review was pretty on the ball. Glad you enjoyed the Cramps piece! BEST BEFOREDATE In Take 285, Michael Bonner begins by saying, “Welcome to the final edition of Uncut for 2020", and itis indeed the week before Christmas. So why is the cover dated February 2021? Why don’t you align the issues with the correct month? And why does the press insist on doing the albums of the year before the year ends? There are always key albums released in December, at the last minute that need to be considered. Just because everyone else does it this way doesn’t mean it’s right or that you have to follow suit. I personally like to reflect on the year’s finest when the year is actually over. David JBennett, via email David, magazine covers are usually dated by the month they come off sale. So our first issue, which went on sale on May 1, 1997, was dated June 1997. Since then, our on-sale date has moved around a bit — but we can't change the sequencing of the cover date. THEMUSIC OFLIFE Ofallthe regular pieces in Uncut - An Audience With, Album By Album and Making Of... - theone that gives me greatest pleasure is My Life In Music. I'm a sucker for reading (or listening) to musicians talking about their favourite records and this page hits my sweet spot without fail every month. It's not justthe way it provides an insight into an artist's influences, but I've discovered so many great albums through recommendations on this page. Take Edie Brickell [Take 285], forinstance. A varied and adventurous choice of music - thanks for introducing me to Jean- Efflam Bavouzet - and it was great to see curveballs in there, too, like Stageinstead of a more obvious Bowie studio album. Job done - again! Philip Nash, Brighton DIREOMISSION Why noreview of the recent Dire Straits’ The Studio Albums 1978-1991 set? It would have been nice to have afresh appraisal of these albums considering how they have been much overlooked critically over the years since release — and following on from the very good Mark Knopfler interview featured a few years back! Alf, London Hey, Alf. It was a repress — on both CD and vinyl - of the 2013 vinyl box, so we figured we'd leave reviewing it again. TEXTUALHEALING Thanks for all your amazing work this year, Uncut. You've made a very difficult time for me a little bit easier to manage. I've found solace and stimulation in your issues. Take care. SamNorman, via email Thanks, Sam. And thanks to everyone who's written to Feedback this year, whether with bouquets, brickbats, encomiums, reminiscences or other meaningful observations. Please don't forget you can keep talking to us — and even to each other — over on https://forum.uncut.co.uk UNCUT JOIN THE DISCUSSION | FORUM.UNCUT.CO.UK HOWTOENTER CROSSWORD Oneoftwocopies of thenew Cory Hanson album on CD | The letters in the shaded squares form an anagram of a song by Leonard Cohen. When you’ve worked out whatitis, email your answer to: competitions@uncut.co.uk. The first correct entry picked at random will wina prize. Closing date: Wednesday, February 17, 2021. This competition is only open to European residents. CLUESACROSS CLUESDOWN 1+8A Vinyl copy ofa Neil Young songis ruined bythe stylus (3-6-3-3-6-4) 9+29A’6os art-rock band John’s Children briefly featured this Hackney mod (4-5) 11Cookies' songthatlinkstoacover versionby The Beatles (6) 13 Sobuyme | | andwhiskeycos TP’mgoing far away”, from The Pogues’ “Sally MacLennane” (4) 14 (See12down) 15 (See10 down) 16+18A’6os popstar whoserealname was Terence Nelhams Wright (4-5) 17 Arts movementresultingin a Primal Scream single (4) 18 (See16 across) 19 “Sol’mmoving to New York ’cosI’ve gotproblems withmy - " The Wombats(5) 21Whatwason the horizon for Thomas Dolbyafteralbum The____ Earth? (4) 22 Titled member of Deep Purple (4) 24lan Brown bringing attention to his heavenly body (2-4) 27Theiralbumsinclude Caravanserai andZebop(7) 29 (See9 across) 30 Asthealbumtitlesuggests, Chrissie Hyndewastheonly member of The Pretenders on this album (5) 31 The final rehearsal for PJ Harvey before her debut single (5) 1 World-wide chart-busting group formed by Phil Spector when he was just 19 (5-5) 2USbluesman whowasknownas King OfThe Slide Guitar (6-5) 3Helenand Pat confused together abouta White Stripes album (8) 4+18D Anticipating thethirdalbum from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (7-7) 5Skunk Anansie’s guitarist coming out of The Small Faces (3) 6Astageshowforalbum by Yes (5) 7“Baggy trousers, dirty shirts, pulling 22 andeating dirt”, Madness (4) 10+15ASomesolidandvaluable material onalbum from The Foo Fighters (8-3-4) 12+14A The onlybloketo have this early Neil Diamondsingle (8-3) 142012singlebyalt-J or1996 film starring Danny DeVito (6) 18 (See 4 down) 20 Arequest, politely made, forasong byU2(6) 23 Prog-rock band whose current lineupincludes Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer (4) 24 PinkFloydalbum, toa greater extent (4) 25 Crying out for Free’s debut album, TonsOf____ (4) 26 “Come gatherround people wherever you____”,fromBobDylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (4) 28 OwnarrangementofsinglebyUS band Ministry (1-1-1) ANSWERS: TAKE 284 ACROSS 1 Beat Surrender, 9 New York, 10 Crusade, 11 Sadness, 12 Matinee, 14 Native Sons, 20Sky, 21 Neil, 23 Nevermind, 25 Equals, 26 The Bends, 28 Breathe, 31 DOWN Hold On, 320ldham 19 Gun, 22+15D Letter To You, 24 Disarm, 27 Nash, 28 Boo, 29 End, 3o Ten 1Bend Sinister, 2Aswad, 3 Shore, 4 Rakes, 5ElCamino, 6 Doubt, 7 Rea, 8 Seven, 13 N.E.R.D. 16418A Vanilla Fudge, 17 Skin, 18 Fireball, HIDDENANSWER: Mamunia XWORDCOMPILEDBY: Trevor Hungerford UNCUT MARCH 2021 BandLab Technologies -2, 110 Southwark St, London SE10SU EDITOR Michael Bonner EDITOR (ONE-SHOTS) John Robinson REVIEWS EDITOR Tom Pinnock ART EDITOR Marc Jones SENIORDESIGNER Michael Chapman PRODUCTION EDITOR Mick Meikleham SENIOR SUB EDITOR Mike Johnson PICTUREEDITOR Phil King EDITOR AT LARGE Allan Jones CONTRIBUTORS Jason Anderson, Laura Barton, Mark Bentley, Dave Calhoun, Greg Cochrane, Leonie Cooper, Jon Dale, Stephen Dalton, Stephen Deusner, Lisa- Marie Ferla, Michael Hann, Nick Hasted, Rob Hughes, Trevor Hungerford, John Lewis, April Long, Alastair McKay, Gavin Martin, Piers Martin, Rob Mitchum, Paul Moody, Andrew Mueller, Sharon O'Connell, Michael Odell, Erin Osmon, Louis Pattison, Jonathan Romney, Bud Scoppa, Johnny Sharp, Dave Simpson, Neil Spencer, Terry Staunton, Graeme Thomson, Luke Torn, Stephen Troussé, Jaan Uhelszki, Wyndham Wallace, Peter Watts, Richard Williams, Nigel Williamson, Tyler Wilcox, Jim Wirth, Damon Wise, Rob Young COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Jill Furmanovsky PHOTOGRAPHERS: David Boswell, Pennie Smith, Lisa Haun, Glen E Friedman, Nic Chapman, Rebecca Lupton, Takehiko Tokiwa, Koh Hasebe THANKS TO: Sam Richards, Kevin Grant TEXT AND COVERS PRINTED BY Gibbons UK Ltd PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS PUBLISHING PRODUCTION MANAGER Craig Broadbridge DISTRIBUTED BY Marketforce (UK) Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER, COMMERCIAL & PARTNERSHIPS Gemma Lundy gemma.lundy@bandlab.com SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Charlotte Wort charlotte.wort@bandlab.com BANDLAB TECHNOLOGIES CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Meng Ru Kuok CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Ivan Chen UK COUNTRY DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF STRATEGY & PARTNERSHIPS Holly Bishop AVP, WEB TECHNOLOGIES Laurent Le Graverend AVP, COMMS & PARTNERSHIPS Lauren Hendry Parsons SENIOR MANAGER, BRAND & GROUP STRATEGY Krystle Hall MANAGER, CONTENT STRATEGY Iliyas Ong BANDLAB TECHNOLOGIES Allcontent copyright BandLab UK Limited 2020, allrights reserved. While we make every effort to ensure that the factual content of UNCUT Magazineis correct, we cannot take any responsibility nor be held accountable for any factualerrors printed. No part ofthis publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system orresold without the prior consent of BandLab UKLimited. UNCUT Magazine recognises all copyrights contained within this issue. Where possible, we acknowledge the copyright. MARCH 2021۰ UNCUT‘ 117 PHOTO:ALEXA VISCIUS. INTERVIEW: TOM PINNOCK My Life In Music BOB DYLAN TELL TALE SIGNS COLUMBIA, 2008 < When Iwas on tour about four or five years ago, I decided to go deeper into Dylan's catalogue. There's so much to uncover. I was working with ВОВ Р TT Ps ын м ЖЫҚ this producer, Mark Howard; he had alot of | sessions that were outtakes for this record, and Ibecame obsessed. I really like the reflective element of it — these are his nostalgic years where he’s kinda an old wise man reflecting on his life. There was a time when I listened to nothing but this record, and it’s become my favourite Dylan record. I feel like I learn more when an old man or woman is singing a song because you really believe the stories behind their years. coats CURTIS MAYFIELD CURTIS curtom, 1970 This is a recent favourite that the producer for my new record sent me when we were talking about our favourite productions. I fell into the well on this one. The production, the social stances that he takes on the record during that time are still important, the cultural relativism — it’s just so good. And his voice is insane; as a singer it’s probably one of my favourite voices. Also, there’s harp on this record, whichis so cool that that happened in 1970. Harp on a funk record, yeah! LUCINDA WILLIAMS WORLD WITHOUT TEARS LOSTHIGHWAY, 2003 l'velistened to Lucinda Williams' music since I was a kid — she’s a deep, deep inspiration for my own music. I first became attached to Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, which is an all-time favourite as well, but Ithinkin recent years I've gravitated to World Without Tears, because of the pain in her voice - it has a mark ofthis very particular momentin time, it feels like all of these songs were written ina month or something. It evokes a very certain feeling thatI just love. I think “Fruits Of My Labor” is one of the best songs ever written by anyone — asa songwriter, it's a world masterclass in songwriting. JONI MITCHELL BLUE reprise, 1971 It almost feels not fair to put this on a list — it should just be on everyone's. It was the first Joni record I heard, and now that I'm older there are certainly records of hers that resonate more, but honestly, for me this one just beats all. It's the perfect record song-wise; it has so many classics embedded in there. The vulnerability in her voice... It sounds like she's about to cry ona lot of these songs. It all sounds so full, but there’s hardly anything happening, just a hand drum under some of these songs. It just goes to show that ifit's a good song it'll carry the weight. Courtney Marie Andrews The Arizona singer-songwriter reveals the albums that empower and inspire her: “Harp ona funk record, yeah!” шете ARETHA FRANKLIN - INEVERLOVED AMAN THE WAY [LOVE YOU atLantic, 1967 I gotinto this record when I was about seven. Iwould sing itin my bedroom and knew every word. I learned to sing by listening to this — first Isang obnoxiously loud to try and match her power, then realised that’s not actually the technique. She’s the greatest singer of all time, and it’s incredible to me that these are one-take cuts in the studio — these are her having a goin one take. Also, her empowerment and the way she chose songs that really fit her is inspiring to me too. I’m forever a fan. I loved those gospel recordings that came outa couple of years back - just so good. She's on another level. TOMWAITS MULE VARIATIONS anti-, 1999 Oh man, I wasa Tom Waits naysayer in my early twenties. I just couldn’t get past his voice, even though! usually gravitate to strange voices. Then I heard the song “Take It With Me” from this album, my entire world flipped and I became the biggest Tom Waits fan you could ever meet! This is the perfect balance between his weird experimental stuff and his beautiful ballads, such a cool record. I’ve gone back through all his stuff now and I love his early work, but I’m still a sucker for his later records. Ima big fan of artists’ demos, so I love [2006 boxset| Orphans especially. There are some gems on there. Poetically, he’s probably my favourite writer. j LINDA RONSTADT CANCIONES DEMI PADRE ELEKTRA/ASYLUM, 1987 I didn’t grow up listening to Linda Ronstadt even though we're both from the same state, Arizona. But people kept drawing comparisons between us a bit, soIstarted getting into her catalogue. I knew the hits, but I went deeper and came across this record. Iove the sound of mariachi music; it makes me feel at home, because growing up in Phoenix people are always blasting mariachi everywhere, down the highway and in backyards. When I hear the sound ofitI feel at home, and when | get tired of understanding lyrics and words, I put this on and her voice is so soothing to me. It’s like my zen record! we NEIL YOUNG | HARVEST MOON REPRISE, 1992 It always surprises me that this record came outin the'9os - itsounds likeit could have been a follow-up to Harvest — but охе the songs, the harmonies are amazing, and just the feeling that this record evokes is really special. My dad is a huge Neil Young fan - he does a mean impersonation, so I grew up hearing Neil a lot. But if your parents like something, you wantto buy a punk record instead, so I bought a lot of them before I bought a Neil record and realised he's just as punk. He's such a simple writer that it can be hard for it to resonate as a teenager — but once it does, man, there’s no-one else like Neil. © ILS 8 7 FA BR IE Courtney Marie Andrews’ Old Flowers is out now; she'llplayaset as part of AmericanaFest UK, taking place virtually from Jan 26-28 118-UNCUT - MARCH2021 Iconic images curated by Uncut, completely refreshed for 2020. IC EDITI Including Robert Plant SONIC ONS and Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan Presents The Rolling Stones and more. ТНЕ Limited edition prints, individually numbered, hand printed and framed to order, from £59/$79 unframed or £89/$139 framed. COLLECTION Visit www.SonicEditions.com/Uncut M°CARINEY Ill NEW STUDIO ALBUM DECEMBER 117? Written, composed and produced by Paul McCartney MADE IN ROCKDOWN