News

This weekend offered so much news that we couldn’t wait to share it all with you!  From the first-time release of Dave Davies’ “lost” 1969 album to Kritzerland’s restoration of a classic Italian film score and Analogue Productions’ new Pink Floyd SACD, we’ve got something for everyone to kick off the week!

• Why Pink Floyd?  EMI answered that question with the May 10 announcement of a stunning new reissue campaign for the legendary band.  Now, another component of that series is confirmed to be on the way.  The eagerly-awaited 5.1 mix of 1975’s masterpiece Wish You Were Here, the band’s ninth studio album, will arrive on hybrid SACD on November 7.  The releasing label is Analogue Productions, the same company behind the recent Nat “King” Cole SACD remasters produced in association with EMI.  James Guthrie has mixed the original album into 5.1 surround sound and Gus Skinas has produced.  The SACD is arriving on the very same day as the Experience and Immersion editions of the album, the latter of which will also contain Guthrie’s mix on both Blu-Ray (96 kHz/24-bit resolution) and DVD (in both 448 kpbs normal resolution and 640 kpbs high resolution).  In addition, the Immersion edition will offer the album’s original quadraphonic mix on DVD.  For those fans of Wish You Were Here not willing or able to shell out for the Immersion edition, this single-disc, stand-alone SACD route seems a terrific way to make Guthrie’s 5.1 mix more widely available.  As this is a hybrid SACD, it is playable on all CD players, but will (of course) only play in stereo for those utilizing the CD layer.  Wish You Were Here, the 5.1 Analogue Productions SACD, is currently available for pre-order at Acoustic Sounds here.

• Pietro Germi’s Divorce, Italian Style remains one of the most beloved comedies in the Italian cinema canon, and its success wasn’t unrecognized in America.  The 1961 film won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, and was nominated for both Germi’s work as a director and Marcello Mastroianni’s turn as Actor in a Leading Role.  The film starred Mastroianni as a Sicilian nobleman who desires to marry his cousin (!) but there’s one small problem with the plan: he’s married.  With divorce then illegal in Italy, he tries to set his wife up to have an affair, so he can catch her, murder her, and receive a legal “slap on the wrist” for an honor killing.  (Yes, it’s a comedy!)  The prolific composer Carlo Rustichelli (1916-2004) supplied the original score, which is receiving its debut on CD today from Kritzerland.  Though based on the 1962 United Artists album presentation, the Kritzerland edition features additional, never-before-released music.  Producer Bruce Kimmel told Film Score Monthly’s discussion board that “we had the album master and we also had another reel that had stuff – most of what was on that reel was from the album master, but there were some additional cues, a couple of alternates and we squeezed about ten additional minutes. I love the score and I love the film. I think people just forget how popular it was – it’s a little shocking it’s never been on CD before.”  Divorce, Italian Style follows the label’s reissue of Dave Grusin’s score to the 1967 film Divorce, American Style, whose title was inspired by the Germi film.  (We’ll have a review of that soundtrack up later this week!)  It’s available as a limited edition of 1,000 units only, and can be ordered directly from Kritzerland here.

Hit the jump for the full scoop on Universal’s upcoming Lost Album for Dave Davies of the Kinks!

• Universal U.K. has been the recipient of a great deal of acclaim for its ongoing series of 2-CD expanded Kinks remasters, with each title making available mono and stereo mixes (where applicable) as well as rare and previously unreleased vault material.  Now, a most unexpected addition to the Kinks catalogue appears to finally be happening.  Amazon.com and SpinCDs.com are showing a U.K. release date of September 26 (October 4 in the U.S.) for a new compilation which is set to include Dave Davies’ “lost” 1969 album.  According to the brief initial statement, The Lost Album, or The Album That Time Forgot, “combines all his great work for the band as well as his highly underrated solo material.”  It continues, “A one-disc set with artwork by award winning designer Phil Smee and notes by Kinks fan club’s Russell Smith contains a complete selection of well known Davies compositions as well as rare mono and alternative takes from Dave’s career with the band and on his own.”  (The album has also been known to fans as A Hole in the Sock of Dave Davies and The Album That Never Was.)  Though a few tracks have trickled out over the years, including a few on the 1973 Reprise compilation The Great Lost Kinks Album (“Groovy Movies,” “There Is No Life Without Love,” “This Man He Weeps Tonight”), this will mark the first release of the 13-track album in its original (albeit expanded) form.  It appears that the original single versions of “Death of a Clown,” “Susannah’s Still Alive” and “Lincoln County” will also be included.  We promise a full run-down of the album’s contents in the near future; in the meantime, you can pre-order and peruse the full track listing here.