The desert rockers soak up some New Orleans spirit, with refreshing results...

Paul McCartney joined Damon Albarn on stage at the Africa Express show in London on Saturday night [September 8]. Appearing as a surprise special guest, the former Beatle first appeared playing bass on Rokia Traore's "Dounia", with former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on mandolin, before playing Wings' "Coming Up" and "Goodnight Tonight" with the Blur front man, Tony Allen and Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals among others.

Leonard Cohen played two shows at London's Wembley Arena over this last weekend [September 8 and 9]. On Saturday, the singer songwriter played an epic set of over three hours, taking to the stage just before 8pm (BST) and finishing up around 11.30pm, with a short interval in the middle of the show.

The internet has been hit with speculation after Led Zeppelin posted a cryptic status update on their official Facebook page on Saturday [September 8], the day after a Led Zeppelin Twitter account launched. Fans have been speculating what the picture of the word 'five' - written in same typeface as the Led Zeppelin logo for the Houses Of The Holy album – means, with many guessing that it could be a reference to an up-coming release of their 2007 O2 reunion concert on DVD. A Twitter account also went live on Friday [September 7], with a simple "Hello".

The Queen Of Versailles introduces us to David and Jackie Siegel, an American family struggling to cope in the aftermath of the global recession. David, 73, is the founder, CEO and president of Westgate Resorts – “the largest privately owned timeshare company in the world”.

Thom Yorke has spoken about his Atoms For Peace project, following the release of their debut single 'Default' yesterday, which you can listen to below. Yorke features in the group alongside longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and Red Hot Chili Pepper's Flea as well as drummer Joey Waronker and percussionist Mauro Refosco. Yorke said in a statement: "You may have heard that I have a new project called Atoms for Peace. The name comes from some shows of The Eraser that happened a couple of years ago with Mauro, Joey, Nigel and Flea."

Reading Twitter – as I do, too much – it seems as if most people I follow are in some way shocked and amused by the belated discovery that Bob Dylan has got a, yes, funny voice.

Chan Marshall’s new album, Sun, is reviewed in the latest issue of Uncut (Take 185, October 2012) – this week’s archive feature, from December 2006 (Take 115), finds Marshall recovering from a breakdown after perhaps her most successful year to date. Here, she tells Marc Spitz how she pulled herself back from the edge… ________________________________

Bob Dylan’s fantastic new album opens with a train song. Given the wrath to come and the often elemental ire that accompanies it, not to mention all the bloodshed, madness, death, chaos and assorted disasters that will shortly be forthcoming, you may be surprised that what’s clattering along the tracks here isn’t the ominous engine of a slow train coming, a locomotive of doom and retribution, souls wailing in a caboose crowded with the forlorn damned and other people like them.

As part of our Nick Cave cover story in the current issue of Uncut, I spoke to film maker John Hillcoat. Hillcoat and Cave’s friendship stretches back to Melbourne in the late 1970s, while their first professional collaboration came in 1981, when Hillcoat edited the promo video for The Birthday Party single, “Nick The Stripper”.