Uncut was launched in May 1997 and is still going strong(ish) today albeit it isn’t selling as many issues as it once did – circulation dropped by more than one-third between 2007 and 2013 but it still shifts in excess of 50,000 copies each month.
Although now almost exclusively devoted to music, the magazine initially a chunk of its content devoted to films, TV and books and made no secret that the audience it was catering for was 25-45 year olds. Each month the magazine includes a free CD. The one featured today is from the March 2002 edition. It was plucked at random from a pile sitting on a pile on the floor – at least this one had been opened and listened to. Far too often I’ve taken the CD from a monthly magazine and having looked at who was included and nor bothered with it.
The sub-title to this CD was 17-track to the month’s best music. That didn’t mean however, that it was all new material on the CD as the magazine was more than happy to include tracks from albums that had been newly reissued or remastered – which was certainly the case on a number of these
mp3 : Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair – Crush On You
mp3 : The Sound – Judgement
mp3 : Eileen Rose – Good Man
mp3 : Ian Dury & The Blockheads – The Ballad of the Sulphate Strangler
mp3 : The Arlenes – Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone
mp3 : Joey Ramone – Maria Bartiromo
mp3 : Willard Grant Conspiracy & Telefunk – Grun Grun
mp3 : Brian Wilson – Love & Mercy (live)
mp3 : Departure Lounge – King Kong Frown
mp3 : Cornershop – Heavy Soup
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Jonny Teardrop
mp3 : Giant Sand – Red Right Hand
mp3 : Morrissey – Late Night, Maudlin Street
mp3 : Free – Fire & Water (live)
mp3 : John Matthias – Three Cord Trick
mp3 : 1 Giant Leap – Racing Away
mp3 : The Rat Pack – Me and My Shadow (live)
My previous comments about free compilation CDs with music papers/magazines never really working out completely are well illustrated here. I may be a fan of some of the acts featured here, but I just never want to listen to anything by Free, even if it was deemed a live classic from when the band were at the peak of their powers back in 1970.
Few things worth mentioning:-
Red Right Hand is a very decent cover of the Nick Cave song
Teenage Club and Jad Fair sound as if they were tailor made for one another
Country/American aficionados are well look after with Eileen Rose, The Arlenes and Willard Grant Conspiracy (warning….the song from the last of these is strange!!)
1 Giant Leap was a concept in which a UK electronica duo (Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman) travelled the world and recorded vocals and music by numerous artists. The song on this particular CD features Horace Andy, Grant Lee Philips, Koalin Thompson and Kurt Vonnegut…..
I’m sure there really is something for everyone on this CD but don’t shoot the messenger for some of the unadulterated pish.
Enjoy
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 