With summer just around the corner, Real Gone Music has just announced its first three releases available toward the end of the season in the beginning of August.

First up, coming out on August 4, is a two-fer from the band The Rain Parade.  The band was part of the Paisley Underground movement in 1980s California which combined psychedelia with vocal harmonies, owing a debt to The Byrds and Love from the 1960s.  The Bangles are the best known group to be a part of this genre.  Rain Parade was founded in 1981 by college roommates Matt Piucci and David Roback.  Roback's brother Steven would soon join and eventually so would Will Glenn and Eddie Kalwa.  They would release one single on the Llama in 1982 before having their album debut in 1983 on the Enigma/Zippo label: Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.  The ethereal but downbeat LP didn't dent mainstream charts that much (although it would hit No. 5 on the U.K. Indie survey) and Dave Roback would depart the group (eventually forming the group Mazzy Star).  The remaining foursome would next release an EP also on the Enigma/Zippo label in 1984:  Explosions in the Glass Palace.  The group (with more departing and new members) would then sign with Island and release a live and studio album before disbanding in 1986.  Steven Roback and Matt Piucci reunited with some former members and began performing as Rain Parade again in 2012.  Real Gone's new CD reissue combines the Emergency LP and Explosions EP on one CD and includes the song "Look Both Ways" which was not included on the U.S. version of the LP.  The CD has been newly remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision and the remaster has been approved by Matt Piucci and Steven Roback.  It also features liner notes by Paisley Underground historian Pat Thomas with quotes from Piucci and Roback.

Next on August 4 is a vinyl reissue of the soundtrack to one of the most iconic movies of the 1990s:  The Matrix.  Despite coming in the last year of the decade, the film by The Wachowski Brothers became a landmark of '90s cinema and spawned a phenomenon.  Starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving, the dystopian sci-fi motion picture combined elements of cyberpunk, anime, martial arts and action movie tropes with groundbreaking visual effects to produce something which had not been quite seen before.  It clicked with something in audiences earning over $430 million at the box office and spawning a franchise (with further installments opening to mixed reactions).  The soundtrack album continued the vibe of the film containing elements of electronic, hip-hop and metal music with such artists as the Deftones, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Prodigy, Rob Zombie, Ministry and Rage Against the Machine.  (A separate album featuring Don Davis' score would also be released.)  The soundtrack came out on March 30, 1999 and climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Charts.  The album has never appeared on vinyl until now.  Real Gone's new 2-LP "Red and Blue Pill" edition is limited to 1,500 copies.  It comes in a newly designed gatefold package featuring stills from the film.

One week later, on August 11, Real Gone is reissuing the second album from The Slits: 1981's Return of the Giant Slits on CD and limited edition vinyl.  The originally all-female British rock band was founded in 1976.  The Slits supported The Clash and appeared in 1978's The Punk Rock Movie.  They released their debut album Cut on Island in 1979.  It is considered to one of the defining albums of the post-punk era.  After that release, founding member Palmolive (Paloma Romero) left the group (she co-wrote some of the songs, but did not play on Cut).  The remaining trio of Ari Up (Ariane Forster), Tessa Pollitt and Viv Albertine moved to CBS Records and added drummer Bruce Smith of The Pop Group to the lineup.  Return of the Giant Slits was even more experimental than Cut and deemed uncommercial by the label, who didn't even release it the U.S.  The Slits broke up later that year but would reunite in 2009.  Return of the Giant Slits would receive a Japanese CD reissue in 2004 and a 2-CD edition from Blast First Petite in 2007.  Real's Gone's new CD reissue features new liner notes from John Dougan.  The vinyl edition is limited to 1,000 copies and comes in fluorescent yellow and features the original printed inner sleeve.  Both the CD and LP have been newly remastered by Maria Triana at Battery Studios.

We've got the preorder links below if you'd like to give any of these titles a listen.

AUGUST 4, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

Rain Parade, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip/Explosions in the Glass Palace (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)

Various Artists, The Matrix Original Soundtrack Album (Limited Red and Blue Pill Vinyl Edition) (2-LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)

AUGUST 11, 2017 RELEASES FROM REAL GONE MUSIC

The Slits, Return of the Giant Slits (CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)

The Slits, Return of the Giant Slits (Limited Fluorescent Yellow Edition) (LP) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD)