- A pair of sour notes from our friends over at Slicing Up Eyeballs. First, a source from Universal Music Group tells Cure fan site Chain of Flowers that the planned triple-disc reissue of Disintegration has been delayed a third time. The set - which features the original LP, a disc of demos and outtakes and an expanded version of the live album Entreat - was originally slated for a Feb. 16 release before being pushed back to April 6. In the U.S., where distribution is being dealt with by Rhino Records, the Amazon pre-order link still has the same date. Of course, that may yet change, as other retailers (including Amazon's Canadian branch and Best Buy) have taken that date off the books.
- Additionally, the site also reports that Universal's reissuing of the Siouxsie and The Banshees discography has been cancelled. "As the final four albums don't have enough extras to warrant the double disc 'deluxe' treatment they have halted our programme four albums short," founding Banshee Steven Severin wrote in a post on his Facebook page. Asked why Universal was pressing for double-disc sets of the remaining four albums (Through the Looking Glass (1987), Peepshow (1988), Superstition (1991) and The Rapture (1995)) when only the band's debut LP, The Scream (1978) had been given the double disc treatment, Severin responded, "It's a way of using 'policy' to only focus on the big sellers. You have to read between the lines."
- In somewhat happier news, indie film score label Intrada has announced two new titles. Henry Mancini's semi-obscure score to The Hawaiians (1970) will be reissued in a two-disc set, limited to 1500 copies, that includes the original soundtrack LP with the complete score sourced from Mancini's personal 1/4" tape sessions in mono. Meanwhile, the label is also reissuing in unlimited quantities the original soundtrack to Manhunter, the 1983 adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon (this was the first film to feature Hannibal Lector, although Brian Cox's portrayal is worlds apart from Anthony Hopkins' Oscar-winning role). The LP, making its debut on CD, features music from post-punk and electronic acts including The Prime Movers, Red 7, Shriekback and The Reds and includes one previously-unreleased bonus track. Have a go at them here and here.
News Roundup: However Far Away, Banshees Banished and Intrada Releases
Mike Duquette
Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of music.
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Release Round-Up: Week of June 22
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There used to be a scathing review of the sonic inconsistencies in the Siouxsie remasters on Amazon.com, since removed but archived at http://tinyurl.com/yllr66b which really took the engineer to task, to almost libelous proportion. Some time after the review came news that the engineer who had remastered them announced his retirement, admitting that tinnitus had made his job impossible. So perhaps not only were they facing a lack of good extras, but they'd have had to get a new engineer interested in taking on the project.
Yikes! Those are some harsh words from the reviewer (although strangely, it only resulted in one star being docked from the review).
Wasn't at least one of the remasters reprinted because the sound quality was so bad? Wikipedia says that was the case with "The Scream" but I couldn't find anything to back it up.