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VE I F K R A L C E V A D E H UNCUT T J ¥ O A NI R E MI 212 N T A C 5 Z H N E A L L L M ¥ HI S APRIL 2015 P U FJ . ¥ A .P N .I ST (TAKE 215) Y R EVE LE N W S ¥ MADE IN GT BRITAIN FO PJ KIM HAR S ¥ VEY EED ¥ TH BAD S E THE ¥ NICK CAVE & THE 4 Instant Karma! In the studio with PJ Harvey, plus The Are we rolling? Yardbirds, Curtis Harding, Jellyfi sh OW DO YOU choose the greatest Joni 14 Phil Manzanera Mitchell song – or even, abandoning the An audience with the Roxy guitarist Hwild goose chase of objectivity, your 18 Sufjan Stevens personal favourite Joni Mitchell song? One of America’s most restless musical It’s a daunting challenge, and one that not all of the spirits explains how road trips, rodeos and grief led him to return to folk music illustrious contributors to this month’s cover story would accept. When we asked David Crosby to pick a 24 Nick Cave song, he gave us another one of his delightful pro-Joni Warren Ellis gives us the inside story and anti-Dylan rants, and scrupulously avoided of the Bad Seeds – from silences and specifics. “There’s so many songs of hers that are boils to respect for Australian goths… so brilliantly written,” he countered. “You can’t say 30 Joni Mitchell which one is the best. There are 30 or 40 best ones.” Her 30 greatest songs, as chosen by In the end, and with the help of Roger McGuinn, Matthew E White, Robert Plant, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Graham Nash, Linda Perhacs, Mike Heron and quite a few more, we settled Graham Nash, REM and more on 30 songs. To rank them in any kind of order, though, struck us as an 42 The Dave Clark Five excruciating and ultimately pointless procedure; to be honest, we bottled The making of “Glad All Over” it. On page 30, then, you’ll find 30 insightful pieces on 30 exceptional Joni 46 New Country songs, arranged in the order they were released, beginning with Uncut meets a young breed of country Radiohead’s Philip Selway on “Both Sides, Now” and ending with the artists, positioned between the grit of 2002 orchestral version of “Amelia”, nominated by Robert Plant. Americana and mainstream glitz I ended up contributing a few over-wrought words about “Song For 54 The The Sharon” to the piece, and in this issue I also wrote about PJ Harvey’s Album by album with Matt Johnson tantalising “Recording In Process” project, and Sam Lee’s new album, The Fade In Time, another one of those records I seem to be fixated on at 58 Kim Fowley the moment that makes deep, scholarly and emotional connections with We salute the late rock legend, and rescue a hair-raising 1972 Fowley interview from old traditions, without being hamstrung by them. the Melody Maker archives Serendipitous, too, that one of my favourite new albums that’s turned up 40 PAGES OF REVIEWS! in the last few days is by The Weather Station, ostensibly a Canadian singer- songwriter called Tamara Lindeman. Like great swathes of the new Laura 65 New Albums Including: Laura Marling, Ryley Marling album reviewed on page 74, The Weather Station’s Loyalty doesn’t Walker, Björk, Courtney Barnett really sound much like a record that could’ve been made in LA 40 years ago, but it does have a certain grace and profundity, a husky nuance or two that 87 The Archive hits a few familiar emotional triggers… “I see something of myself in Including: The Specials, Bob Marley, Roxy Music everyone,” as “Hejira” goes, “Just at this moment of the world.” Speak soon, 99 DVD & Film Altman, Winterbottom’s The Face Of An Angel, Joe Strummer doc JACK ROBINSON/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES ARCHIVE/GETTY ROBINSON/HULTON JACK 104 Live John Mulvey, Editor Julian Cope, Lambchop Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey COVER: 117 Books Kim Gordon, Sandy Denny 118 Not Fade Away This month’s obituaries 120 Feedback Your letters, plus the Uncut crossword 122 My Life In Music Jim Kerr 003 U215 Conts TPMM.indd 3 12/02/2015 15:30 BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 93UCT15APR102.pgs 12.02.2015 15:34 BACK TO THE GARDEN Your guide to this month’s free CD 1 SUFJAN STEVENS 5 STEVE GUNN No Shade In The Shadow & THE BLACK TWIG Of The Cross PICKERS An understated start this month, as Trailways Ramble FREE Stevens dials back the maximalist A few short months after excess of his recent work. The his Way Out Weather solo result, as this track illustrates so high, the unstoppable beautifully, is the sort of tender Gunn returns, with the CD! pop-folk that initially drew Stevens Virginian Black Twig Pickers so many comparisons with Elliott in tow. Droning fiddles and Smith. Our exclusive interview with mouth harps add a raga-ish the great man starts on p18. intensity, and banjos sub for associate of The National, Antony ecstatically technical noise-rock sitars. Gunn, meanwhile, sounds Hegarty, Sharon Van Etten, Rufus duo from Providence, if you haven’t 2 MATTHEW E WHITE transported, serene in the midst of Wainwright, Sam Amidon et al. encountered these notable forces of Rock’n’Roll Is Cold this barn-raising, old-time freakout nature before, with a skree from Hot on the heels of the wonderful from new album Seasonal Hire. 9 MOON DUO their first album in three years. Natalie Prass album, the Slow Down Low Spacebomb gang are back, this 6 HOUNDSTOOTH A choogling, dronerock take on 13 SAM LEE Blackbird time with the team leader on the Borderlands the old “Roadrunner” formula, Sam Lee’s second album has been mic. A droll and very catchy Mostly untroubled by hype thus enticingly, courtesy of Ripley on heavy office rotation this year , exploration of genre politics, far in their career, Portland’s Johnson, Sanae Yamada and, with its radical, inventive – and in “Rock’n’Roll Is Cold” sounds a bit new for this third album, a third this case, rather jazzy – new takes like late VU, produced by Allen member of the Moon Duo, on ancient British folk songs. Like Toussaint and with JJ Cale subbing drummer John Jeffrey. Johnson many of Lee’s finds, “Blackbird” for Lou Reed – can’t be bad! launches one of his trademark is Romany in origin, learned from guitar solos, all woozy wandering, one May Bradley of Shropshire. 3 RYLEY WALKER at 2:53. Very groovy handclaps, too. Primrose Green From our Album Of The Month, 10 WILL BUTLER “Primrose Green” is a ravishing Sing To Me example of the old magic that Ryley Houndstooth As the Arcade Fire’s latest stadium- Walker is conjuring up right now. A packing duties draw to a close, Will wilder talent than most of his folk- Butler has found time to record – at guitar contemporaries, Walker is Houndstooth are discreet ones to Electric Lady, no less – a debut solo shooting for the sort of jazzy highs watch in 2015. This beguiling track album. Policy is a ramshackle and that were once associated with Tim comes from their second album, mostly exuberant return to Butler’s Buckley. Ambitious, perhaps, but No News From Home, and is indie roots. “Sing To Me”, though, is Sam Lee on this form not unreasonable. reminiscent of another bunch of something different again – a stark unassuming classicists, Yo La and insidious prayer of sorts, over Tengo; just check Katie Bernstein’s sombre piano chords and the 14 JOHNNY DOWD unfussily intimate vocal, so subtlest of string arrangements. Cadillac Hearse redolent of Georgia Hubley. Dowd might have won Americana 10 MARC ALMOND Album Of The Month garlands in 7 23 SKIDOO Calypso Minotaur this issue, but the old trickster The quasi-industrial reputation When Uncut interviewed Almond remains endearingly tough to of 23 Skidoo always did them a last year about The Tyburn Tree, a categorise. “Cadillac Hearse” disservice. “Calypso”, from their song cycle about ‘Dark London’, he involves gothic storytelling, first album in 15 years, shows how promised his next album would be Suicide-like drum machines and Courtney Alex Turnbull’s group remain one “very posh, lustrous pop”. Here’s a big dirty guitar riff, not unlike Barnett of the most durable and underrated the proof: a luxurious synth ballad that of the “Peter Gunn” theme. British post-punk bands, here – produced and co-written by Lana looping a steel drum sample over Del Rey collaborator Chris Braide – 15 CAT’S EYES 4 COURTNEY BARNETT expansive, Eno-ish terrain. that features Almond at his most Requiem For The Duke Pedestrian At Best elegantly dramatic. Of Burgundy How best to follow up a rapturously 8 HANNAH COHEN To end this month, a flourish. acclaimed debut? By being as Just Take The Rest 12 LIGHTNING BOLT “Requiem” is the highlight of knowing and snarky as possible, Enchantingly dissolute warbles The Metal East Rachel Zeffira and Faris ‘Horrors’ if you’re Australia’s Courtney galore, from a New York singer who Change of pace, anyone? Not the Badwan’s score to the new Peter Barnett, who also has the good often recalls a coherent Liz Fraser easiest track to sequence, perhaps, Strickland movie, summoning sense to keep up the high standard or, perhaps more pertinently, but it’s great to have the bracing up strong memories of Michael of her grunge-pop. Key – critically long-lost Sunday, Harriet Wheeler.