The latest issue (cover date May 2020, issue 276) of the UK's respected music magazine Uncut, arrives in stores later this week, and has a fascinating article in it that is well worth tracking down.

George Harrison is on the cover of the new issue of Uncut, and they celebrate George's greatest achievements, aided by the recollections of his closest collaborators. Elsewhere in the issue, there's Brian and Roger Eno, Lucinda Williams, Michael Kiwanuka, David Roback and Andrew Weatherall RIP; a look at Eric Clapton's all-star Ginger Baker tribute, Shirley Collins, Mark Lanegan, Suzanne Vega, Thundercat, Wilco and more. There's also a cover-mounted 15-track CD showcasing the month's best new music.

Of principal interest to Floyd fans though will be the six-page look at Syd Barrett, through the words of none other than Nick Mason, with additional contributions from Roger Waters, and Aubrey 'Po' Powell (Pink Floyd's Creative Director).

Nick takes the reader from his first encounter with Syd, through the early days of the band, to when it all started to go wrong, and Syd and the Floyd parted ways. Nick's recollections are typically candid, and gives good insight into his view on events.

This magazine will be published on Thursday (March 19th 2020), and is due to appear in good UK stores that day, and despatched from this date for online orders. With the current situation with Coronavirus, you'll be pleased to hear that they are welcoming orders from around the world, through BandLabTechnologies.com. For UK orders please allow up to 5 working days, up to 8 working days for European orders and up to 10 working days for international orders.

A month ago, a special set of three evenings featuring Polly Samson, David Gilmour and guests, to celebrate Polly's new novel A Theatre For Dreamers was announced. Tonight, inevitably, due to the current COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic, these evenings have been rescheduled to later in the year, when hopefully the situation will be more stable.

These special events will feature Polly in conversation with journalist Rosie Boycott, readings, film and live music, including a new song "Yes, I Have Ghosts" written by David and Polly. On his social media channels, David noted that he'll "be performing a few songs, including [the] new one."

The rescheduled events (dates and locations are shown below) take place in September, and all tickets are valid for the new shows; ticket holders will be sent their signed first edition of the book and the exclusive portrait of Polly Samson and David Gilmour taken on Hydra and signed by them both, in the week commencing Monday, March 30th. For details of refunds, visit PollySamson.com. The book itself is published on April 2nd by Bloomsbury.

• Wednesday, September 9th, 7:30pm: Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester - Eventbrite Tickets
• Thursday, September 10th, 7:30pm: Town Hall, Birmingham - Eventbrite Tickets
• Friday, September 11th, 7:30pm: Central Hall, Westminster, London - Eventbrite Tickets

Due to the current global COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic, the annual Record Store Day has been postponed, and is now scheduled to take place on June 20th. All items that were due on April 18th should now be available from participating physical stores on the new date (assuming the situation globally has improved sufficiently by then).

From a Pink Floyd related standpoint, that includes the 7" single of Arnold Layne, recorded live at the Syd Barrett tribute held at the Barbican, Roger Waters Live In Berlin 1990 on 2LP clear vinyl, the Guy Pratt/David Gilmour collaboration on the Hackers soundtrack 2LP, and the 12" Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets single.

Obviously the pandemic is a developing situation and should there be more alterations, we will let you all know. At this stage, we suspect pressing plants are already producing these items so they should be available, in some matter, at some point...

To us, it is not a particularly surprising move, as those who have attended previous years will be aware that you will be stood queuing, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, for a number of hours. Add in the number of surfaces that will be touched by (in some cases) a few hundred people all in a short space of time, we were expecting this sort of precaution to take place.

Last night, a significant chunk of you would have been at cinemas in various countries, watching the special presentation of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets Live At The Roundhouse. Followed by an exclusive Q&A with the band, that was recorded a short while ago, reaction to the film (and the Q&A) has been thoroughly positive.

Brain Damage was at the world premiere on Monday evening, at London's Picturehouse Central, which included a nice introduction by Nick Mason before welcoming the rest of the band to join him in front of the screen. Pictures of this are below. 

For those who are yet to see the film (which is released on April 17th on Blu-ray, DVD, CD and 2LP, as well as digitally) we won't spoil things for you. Suffice it to say that a fantastic job has been done with the recording, and editing, of the Saucers' at the Roundhouse. Whilst some live albums and videos can be quite sterile, LATR has an involving and exciting feel to it. In places there are short interview segments, and these work well in the points of the show when the stage falls into darkness, and instruments are changed. The interview bits give good insight into the project, and only enhance things. You will NOT want to miss seeing this release...it has easily exceeded our hopes and expectations for the live recording.

Just for some clarification, we went direct to Sony to check out the situation with region coding on the Blu-ray edition as there is still some confusion or misinformation about it. We have had confirmation from them that the Blu-ray has NO region coding at all, so will be playable worldwide, irrespective of where you purchase it from.

ORDERING INFORMATION:
You can order the various editions through the following direct links, taking advantage of Amazon's pre-order price guarantee so you will automatically pay the lowest asking price between placing your order, and release, whilst giving Brain Damage much needed help with running costs without costing you any extra. We really appreciate it too!