Uncut Magazine 302 (July 2022) Queen

Uncut Magazine 302 (July 2022) Queen

QUEEN: Welcome to Uncut’s deep dive into Queen’s 30 greatest songs – from glam smashes to arena-sized anthems, deep cuts and more. Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert share with John Lewis tales behind the band’s thrilling body of work and celebrate the many career highs of their inimitable frontman Freddie Mercury. Stand by for cameos from Groucho Marx, an Alfa Romeo and rock’s only known bicycle-bell solo, learn the secrets of “the Deaky box” and discover how The Who and Aretha Franklin proved to be unlikely influences on the band’s sound…

OUR FREE CD! KILLER CUTS: 15 of the best new tracks this month, including songs by Chris Forsyth, Faye Webster, Ty Segall, David Michael Moore and more.

Inside the issue, you’ll find:

THE CLASH: For The Clash, the making of Combat Rock was a time of chaos and internal conflict. Yet 40 years on, its infectious mix of dub, funk, punk and hip-hop remains as glorious as ever. Here, collaborators, eyewitnesses, fans and contemporaries – including Jim Jarmusch, Don Letts, Julien Temple, Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and Mark Stewart – celebrate the last hurrah of Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon. “Knowing them, and what they were trying to do,” we learn, “this is the classic Clash album.”

KING CRIMSON: An excellent new documentary, made to mark the 50th anniversary of King Crimson, may in fact commemorate the band’s “completion”. Uncut talks to Robert Fripp, King Crimson frontman Jakko Jakszyk and filmmaker Toby Amies to uncover a tale of bereavement, self-censorship and the importance of “getting out of the way of the music”. “It’s not 12-bar blues,” learns John Robinson.

THE DELINES: The Delines’ atmospheric blend of country soul balladry and hard-luck tales has reached stunning new heights with their latest album, The Sea Drift. Willy Vlautin and Amy Boone help Laura Barton join the dots between Richmond Fontaine, “low-level coke dealers” and “Rainy Night In Georgia”. Their secret? “We’re eavesdropping into people’s lives for moments at a time.”

BILLY CHILDISH: Over the last 40 years, the freewheelin’ Billy Childish has produced a gargantuan body of work encompassing bracing R&B, blues-infused punk, raucous rockabilly, art, poetry and beyond. Currently, he is bringing his rough and rowdy ways to the Bob Dylan songbook. But how does the Bard of Hibbing fare against Chatham’s very own Renaissance man? ““Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” is about the shortest song Dylan has ever done,” he tells Peter Watts. “So I wrote another 12 verses…”

NANCY SINATRA: Much more than “Frank’s daughter who sang “Boots…””, the ’60s icon talks Nancy & Lee, Kill Bill, Elvis, Sonic Youth and flooring her Ford Thunderbird.

YO LA TENGO: The making of “Sugarcube”.

DENNIS BOVELL: Album by album with the reggae guitarist.

JOAN SHELLEY: New parenthood and a songwriting circle helps increasingly ‘swell’-assisted songs attain captivating new heights.

In our expansive reviews section, we take a look at new records from Wilco, The Smile, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Current ’93 and more, and archival releases from Al Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Keith, and others. We catch Nick Mason and Ride live; among the films, DVDs and TV programmes reviewed are Vortex, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Men, The Innocents and Benediction; while in books there’s Rory Sullivan-Burke and Bob Stanley.

Our front section, meanwhile, features Mavis Staples & Levon Helm, John Prine, Sounds Of The New World on vinyl, the Bickershaw Festival and Steve Reich, while, at the end of the magazine, Laura Veirs shares her life in music.

Check out the Uncut website.