Exclusive to Uncut.co.uk - more gigs - Today: Pixies and Throwing Muses

Our correspondent at the Venice Film Festival saw Todd Haynes' Dylan film I'm Not There this morning. Here's our exclusive report.

I knew I was heading for trouble at last night’s Hold Steady show at Camden’s Electric Ballroom when I realised that I was so excited by what I was listening to that I was knocking back a pint per song – which meant by rough reckoning that I was soon going to be either behaving outrageously or completely unconscious, unless one of us slowed down.

Exclusive to Uncut.co.uk - more gigs - Today: The Stone Roses

Strange to think that a format should have been so exciting, but when Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation emerged in 1988, among the intriguing things about it was that it was a double album. With the double albums that me and my friends played at the time – this would have been Electric Ladyland, The Song Remains The Same, if I’m honest Focus 3 – part of their mystique derived from the fact they were from another era.

Exclusive to Uncut.co.uk - more gigs - Today: The Rolling Stones

We’re back home after three days in a field by the Thames, clothes have been washed and hangovers nursed, so it must be time to discuss who rocked Uncut’s world at the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival and who rocked the boat of musical excellence…

I mentioned in yesterday's blog about how much of a fan I am of Near Dark, Kathryn Bigelow's vampire noir that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To be honest, it's been flapping round by brain all day like a rabid bat, so I thought why not write about it...

There’s nine-minute songs, endless guitar solos, an awe-inspiring light show... Smashing Pumpkins' headline appearance at Reading Festival was pure prog - but was it bad cabaret or awesome future-rock spectacle?