Happily for fans, Omnivore Recordings has willfully ignored the unwritten rule that reissue labels wind down for a bit toward the end of the calendar year. They've just announced the latest catalogue projects of what is already shaping up to be a busy 2014, with rare and unreleased recordings due from Paisley Underground group The Dream Syndicate, country-rockers Lone Justice and legendary ex-Hüsker Dü member Bob Mould.
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Omnivore announced yesterday the expansion of Workbook, Mould's 1989 solo debut, as a 2CD or 2LP set. Released a year after the Minnesota punk band's acrimonious split, the album saw Mould exploring intensely personal and furiously proficient songcraft (critics and fans have called Mould's guitar playing on Workbook some of his best), more than a little removed from the noisy power-pop bliss of his follow-up band Sugar. The two-disc Workbook 25 features the remastered album and non-LP B-side "All Those People Know" on one disc, and a mostly-unreleased live show from Chicago's Cabaret Metro, just two weeks after the album's original release. (Mould will also embark on seven tour dates to commemorate the album, commencing with a special set at San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival in February.) A double-vinyl version will add "All Those People Know," as well.
Mere weeks before The Dream Syndicate convened in the studio to record their full-length debut, The Days of Wine and Roses, they took to a studio inside the offices of KPFK-FM in Los Angeles, playing a rapturous set of new and old originals (from their self-titled EP released earlier that year) and covers of Donovan ("Season of the Witch"), Bob Dylan ("Outlaw Blues") and Neil Young ("Mr. Soul") to a receptive audience that included members of R.E.M. and The Bangles. First released nearly a decade after the band's split, The Day Before Wine and Roses captures the live spirit of this seminal band - a spirit which audiences recently got to experience in California for a special set of reunion shows alongside fellow Paisley Underground bands The Three O'Clock, Rain Parade and The Bangles. This reissue features both new liner notes by band frontman Steve Wynn and vintage ones from producer Pat Thomas.
Finally, a spate of unreleased tracks by L.A. rockabilly/roots group The Lone Justice, will be released by Omnivore. Recorded two years before their debut LP for Geffen (which featured an all-star supporting cast including producer Jimmy Iovine, songs co-written by Tom Petty and Steven Van Zandt and session work by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' own Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) with engineer David Vaught, the aptly-named This is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes is a successful snapshot of the band's raucous spirit as a then-primarily live act. In addition to its 12 tracks, nine of which are unreleased, the CD or red-vinyl LP package features a host of liner notes and essays, from guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and bassist Marvin Etzioni, Billboard's Chris Morris and even longtime fan Dolly Parton.
Expect This is Lone Justice on January 14, The Day Before Wine and Roses on February 4 and Workbook 25 on February 25. Hit the jump for full track listings for all of them!
Lone Justice, This is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes (Omnivore Records, 2014)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
- Nothing Can Stop My Loving You
- Jackson
- Soap, Soup and Salvation
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Dustbowl Depression Tune
- Rattlesnake Mama
- Vigilante
- Working Man's Blues
- Cactus Rose
- When Love Comes Home to Stay
- Cottonbelt
- This World is Not My Home
All tracks previously unreleased except Tracks 6, 8 and 11, which appeared on This World is Not My Home (Geffen GEFD-25304, 1999)
The Dream Syndicate, The Day Before Wine and Roses (originally released as Atavistic ALP42, 1995 - reissued Omnivore, 2014)
- Some Kinda Itch
- Mr. Soul
- Sure Thing
- That's What You Always Say
- Outlaw Blues
- Open Hour
- When You Smile
- Season of the Witch
- The Days of Wine and Roses
All tracks recorded live at Studio ZZZZ, KFPK-FM, Los Angeles - 9/5/1982
Bob Mould, Workbook 25 (Omnivore, 2014)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Disc 1: Original LP (released as Virgin 91240, 1989) and bonus track
- Sunspots
- Wishing Well
- Heartbreak a Stranger
- See a Little Light
- Poison Years
- Sinners and Their Repentances
- Brasilia Crossed with Trenton
- Compositions for the Young and Old
- Lonely Afternoon
- Dreaming, I Am
- Whichever Way the Wind Blows
- All Those People Know (B-side to "See a Little Light" - Virgin 99190, 1989)
Disc 2: Live At The Cabaret Metro - 5/14/1989
- Sunspots
- Wishing Well
- Compositions for the Young and Old
- Heartbreak a Stranger
- Dreaming, I Am
- If You're True
- Poison Years
- Sinners and Their Repentances
- Lonely Afternoon
- Brasilia Crossed with Trenton
- See a Little Light
- Whichever Way the Wind Blows
- All Those People Know
- Shoot Out the Lights
- Hardly Getting Over It
- Celebrated Summer
- Makes No Sense At All
DY says
So excited for the Lone Justice release! One tweak - Soap Soup and Salvation was on their first album.
Chief Brody says
Boy, talk about an embarrassment of riches coming from Omnivore! Lone Justice, Bob Mould, the Syndicate, and Camper, all in the next couple of months? Woohoo! I'll be eating cardboard sandwiches at this rate! Not that I mind, of course; great music makes everything taste better. 🙂