You can read my report on page 100, but I was in Ireland at the start of May for the Kilkenny Roots Festival. Alongside established greats like Jody Stephens leading the Big Star Quintet and Rodney Crowell, the festival also provided a brilliant opportunity to sample plenty of upcoming bands. I wasn’t alone in having my head spun by Florry – as heard on last year’s Sounds Of The New West Vol 7, and a wild and vivid force live. It strikes me that one of the best parts of this job is discovery – hearing new music and sharing our excitement with you, Uncut’s readers. I’m very pleased to say you can read more about Florry’s adventures in our next issue.
Back to this month, though, and our new music remit is represented by Tyler Ballgame, whose recontextualising of old-school crooners finds a perfect setting when Sam Richards catches up with him in Paris. You can also meet Zoh Amba, whose Adrianne Lenker-ish debut album has been a recent favourite on the Uncut office stereo.
Elsewhere, there’s Kate Bush, The Specials, Cream, R.E.M., Peter Hammill (one of our most requested interviews), Jim O’Rourke and Elvis Costello, not to mention Ian Curtis, Graham Coxon, Greensleeves, Deep Purple and a fantastic Robert Fripp CD curated for us by the man himself. You can read Tom Pinnock’s encounter with Fripp on page 50. Among many revelations, you will also find out the names of his two pet rabbits…
As ever, let us know what you think at [emailprotected].
See you next month.