Pick up a copy of the May 2026 issue of Uncut – in shops now or available to order online by clicking here – and you’ll find it comes with a fantastic 15-track CD, Songs In The Chest Of My Soul, curated by Kurt Vile.
Pick up a copy of the May 2026 issue of Uncut – in shops now or available to order online by clicking here – and you’ll find it comes with a fantastic 15-track CD, Songs In The Chest Of My Soul, curated by Kurt Vile.
“This is a bunch of songs that inspire me,” explains Kurt. “Some are from friends, and some just hit me. Some are recent, and some are older – lately I’ve been stuck in the ’90s with the music I grew up on as a teen. These are all songs that I carry with me in my heart.” Check out the tracklisting below.
1 Caroline Polachek
Look At Me Now
“I met Caroline in 2017 when we played with John Cale. I knew her band Chairlift a little, and then I got into her solo records. Every time I fly, I play her record Pang, and this track in particular. She has such a beautiful voice. It definitely tugs on your heart.”
2 Mike Polizze
Cheewawa
“You can hear me singing in the background of this song, and playing harmonica. This song is short and sweet. Mike Polizze is the best guitar player in Philly. He’s from Purling Hiss, and he really honed his songwriter chops on his solo record Long Lost Solace Find.”
3 Royal Trux
Waterpark
“Whenever I sing with a snarl in my voice, it’s because of Jenny Herrema. This is her on lead vocals, with Neil Michael Hagerty, who is the best gritty blues rock guitar player. If you want to get pumped up, you play Royal Trux. If you want to get weird, you play Royal Trux.”
4 King Kong
Scooba Dooba Diver
“King Kong is Ethan Buckler, who was on the first Slint album but then left the band. He’s a really unique character. His music is primitive, almost like caveman music: very repetitive and hypnotic. This song, ‘Scooba Dooba Diver’, is really infectious and funny.”
5 Steve Gunn
The Handshake
“We grew up together without knowing it. Steve
is from my hometown, Lansdowne, and we’ve both played on each other’s tracks. He’s carrying the fingerpick torch. This is a very hypnotic, psych, fingerpick rocker. I play this one a lot.”
6 Red Red Meat
Gorshin
“I grew up on Red Red Meat. The whole album, Jimmywine Majestic, sounds crazy, and I go back to it all the time. This song has very slowed-down percussion and Tim Rutili is singing over and over again about scotch and ice. This was the golden age of indie rock.”
7 Oneohtrix Point Never
Krumville
“I love Dan Lopatin. He’s been killing it lately, doing scores for Safdie brothers films like Marty Supreme. This song is from his album Again and it sounds like future music. I can’t fathom his mind. This is my favourite song of modern times, for sure.”
8 The Halo Benders
Virginia Reel Around The Fountain
“Doug Martsch from Built To Spill is in this band with Calvin Johnson, who started K Records. I got this record around when it came out. There are a lot of funny lines about ‘rub your tummy and shake up your navel’. It’s just an infectious song.”
9 Jessica Pratt
World On A String
“I love Jessica, we’ve toured together. This song crept up on me. I just love it so much. I was shovelling a lot of snow, listening to this with my head in the clouds. It’s just such a good song,
that’s all.”
10 Kim Gordon
Dirty Tech
“Kim is a good friend of mine, I love her. I always think her records are cool, but this one in particular… it’s almost like the hip-hop record I always wanted to make. It’s all killer, no filler. Every song is no longer than two minutes. ‘Dirty Tech’ will get stuck in your brain.”
11 Viktor Vaughn
Vaudeville Villain
“I love MF Doom. He put out all these indie records under pseudonyms. I read that he said ‘no hooks, just rapping’ about this album, but it sounds pretty
hooky to me. It’s the best combination of grooves and noisy guitars at times, and his flow is undeniable. It’s such a good album.”
12 Stress Eater
Giving Back To The Universe
“Czarface is rapper Esoteric and DJ 7L’s group with Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan. This is from a Czarface side-project called Stress Eater, which features Kool Keith. Esoteric is a great rapper and lyricist, and their songs always have the most interesting combination of sounds. This song really grabbed me. It’s pretty, but it’s deep.”
13 Sun Ra
Trying To Put The Blame On Me (Live In Rome)
“I love this track. When I got deep into Sun Ra, I ordered this live record from Rough Trade. It’s all instrumental, pretty much, and it’s minimal because he’s by himself. On this one, there’s a guest singer and you can hear him playing and feeding the guy the lyrics. The call-and-response is priceless. It’s just a really good song.”
14 Sunburned Hand Of The Man
Nimbus
“This is my tour manager John Moloney’s band. They’re OG DIY guys, and they put out tons of CD-Rs and self-released stuff. This album came out in 2024 and caught me by surprise. This is the opening track and features the respected poet Peter Gizzi. I drove to Massachusetts to see Crazy Horse and listened to this album all the way up.”
15 Kurt Vile feat Awilda and Delphine Vile
Constant Repeat (Charli XCX cover)
“When Charli won an Ivor Novello award, they asked me to cover one of her songs. They knew I was a fan. I got my daughters, who love her, to sing on it. It turned out folky. ‘Constant Repeat’ was the first song that grabbed me, but I played that whole Crash album on repeat.”
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