Artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Marianne Faithfull covered TOM WAITS and KATHLEEN BRENNAN songs over the years.
A new compilation, named Where The Willow and The Dogwood Grow will feature a total of 19 of those covers. It comes with extensive sleeve notes featuring a track-by-track commentary and will be out on May 29.
For this occasion, UNCUT talked with famous fans such as Beck, Steve Earle, Rosanne
Cash, Lucinda Williams, about the sprawling genius of a true American original. From
boho troubadour to avant-garde alchemist.
Also in this issue: Tori Amos, Queen, Pixies, Kurt Vile, Rick Wakeman, Earth WInd & Fire,
Jack White’s, Country Joe McDonald, Gary Walker RIP, and many more.
This month’s Free CD, titled Songs In The Chest Of Love, features 15 tracks picked by Kurt Vile, including Kim Gordon, Sun Ra, Royal Trux, Steve Gun, Jessica Pratt, The Halo Benders, Red Red Meat; Vile himself and more.
You can purchase a copy of this new issue and let it be sent to your home. Info HERE.
Eternal pop heroes BLONDIE topped the US Singles Chart with RAPTURE, this day 45 years ago. It was written by Debbie Harry
and Chris Stein, and appeared on their 5th LP, named Autoamerican.
It was the band’s 4th number-one in America and the first No. 1 song
in the US to feature rap and lyrics, notable for name-checking hip-hop
pioneers Fab Five Freddy (a good friend of the band) and Grandmaster Flash.
Rap it up, Debbie.
“Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody’s fly
DJ spinnin’, I said, “My, my”
Flash is fast, Flash is cool
François c’est pas, flashé no deux
And you don’t stop, sure shot
Go out to the parking lot”
Track: OUT COME THE FREAKS
Lead single from the upcoming, final LP, titled Dancetaria. It was finished before co-founder Dave Ball passed away last October.
The song features Nona Hendryx‘s (once a member
of soul-disco trio Labelle) powerhouse voice.
TUTV: Back to the glittering 80s disco boom. Shake your booty.
Band: EMPTY HEAD Who: Noise-rock outfit
from Liege, Belgium
Track: CONQUEST
New piece from their upcoming debut
album Freakshow, out on May 29th.
The song takes aim at the hatred spread by the modern
era’s “big bad wolves”, and flips it into a wild trance.
TUTV: Expect a blasting-banging psych-rock jackhammer that attacks your eardrums the way you like it. It’s a sick bastard of a track for these sick times. No mercy for the bad guys. Get in your car, and zigzag your way through your conquering race.
Band: LIGER Who: Alternative rock team from Aachen, Germany, originally formed in Bristol (UK),
with a sound that sits between Shinedown, Beartooth, and Architects, emotional, powerful, and modern. Big hooks and a distinctive lead vocal meet an intense, high-energy live performance.
They released their debut full-length Rednight in 2020.
Track: CALL ME
First shared piece from
their upcoming EP.
Single artwork
TUTV: Holy smoke. A gigantic wall-of-insane-guitar sound explodes from the start. Call Me is a muscular whopper that never slows down and that trashes your stereo
non-stop, meanwhile the vocalist screams his 4 lungs out. Blimey, what a volcanic discharge. Alert your neighbours before you press play.
TUTV: This sonic trip is a feel-good, accordian-juiced, Americana voice jam. Groovy and funky. Everybody’s happy. Midway, a voltaic guitar solo pops up and country guest singer Elias Smith adds some soulful energy. Slowly but surely, the track heads towards a head-spinning climax. Dope stroke.
British icons ROXY MUSIC were crème de la crème on the showy, flashy, glittery
glam rock scene with their first spectacular run between 1970 and 1976 with 4 terrific
longplayers. Their flamboyant, androgynous costumes and makeup were part of their
eye-popping identity.
Eccentric keyboardist/musical orchestrator Brian Eno, who looked like a sort
pop star from outer space left after 2LPs and started a remarkable career as a
producer (U2, David Byrne, Paul Simon, David Bowie, John Cale, and many more)
and a solo/collaborative artist.
A first reunion occurred between 1978 and 1983,
a 2nd one between 2001 and 2011, with 3 more
albums added to the first 4 ones.
The now 80-year-old Casanova frontman Bryan Ferry had
the most notable solo career of all RM members with 16 LPs.
Let’s have a look back at history with 5 magazine covers.
Who: Acclaimed psych outfit fronted by Rishi Dhir, a songwriter and sitarist who
has spent twenty years blurring the lines between Western psych-pop and Indian
classical.
With a discography spanning 10 acclaimed releases, they remain at the forefront
of the modern movement, constantly deconstructing the past to find something
visceral, haunting, and undeniably human in the present.
Track: EVERYTHING EVIL
Lead single from the band’s new upcoming LP, baptized Asha.
It’ll come our way on August 26th. Tracklist and order info here.
It follows the 2024 album Back Into The Dream.
Dhir: “I wanted to come out of the door swinging. It feels like there’s a lot of evil in the world right now, and ‘Everything Evil’ is a direct response to that — it’s short, it’s angry, and it gets straight to the point.”
Press info about the album: “‘Asha’ is the Sanskrit word for ”Hope’ — is named after the late mother of Rishi Dhir, who passed away earlier this year. The album is a meditation on grief and the friction between sorrow and hope, written and recorded during one of the most personally difficult periods of Dhir‘s life.”
Album cover
TUTV: Expect a psychedelic whirlwind going fast forward from the get-go.
Totally overwhelming. An army of rampaging guitars and steadfast drum/bass
clobbering join arms for 113 head-spinning seconds, while Dhir zealous vocals
hover all over the dizzying groove. Anxious urgency. Then suddenly it’s over.
Well, you know where the repeat button is.
The OASIS LIVE 25 OPUS is an official photographic story of the band’s huge 2025 tour, with deluxe versions featuring 1000 unseen images, captured with rare behind-the-scenes access by acclaimed portrait photographer and film director Simon Emmett and created with assistance of the Gallaghers.
It comes as a hardback refined volume made for the fans.
Measuring 33.6 cm x 24.6 cm, covering 336 pages,
weighing approx 0.5 kg.
It’s out May 26th. Details and pre-order info here.
