Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend - including favorites from a late '80s U.K. pop queen and the quickest digital reissue ever.
Sinitta, Sinitta! (Expanded Edition) / Wicked (Expanded Edition) (Sony Music U.K.)
SInitta: iTunes / Amazon
Wicked: iTunes / Amazon
Though Sinitta Malone was born in Seattle, her biggest chart successes occurred across the pond. Working with Stock Aitken Waterman in the late '80s, her singles "So Macho," "Toy Boy," "Cross My Broken Heart" and "Right Back Where We Started From" were all Top 10 hits in England. Now, her two albums for the Fanfare label (the first success for music impresario Simon Cowell) make their digital debuts, featuring the bonus cuts heard on physical reissues by Cherry Red in the 2010s.
Donna Summer, I Feel Love (Remixed by Rollo / Sister Bliss and Masters At Work) (UMe) (iTunes / Amazon)
A trio of remixes of Donna Summer's second Top 10 hit (and first U.K. No. 1); these were commissioned in 1995 and helped the track reach the Top 10 in England once more.
MC Tunes vs. 808 State, The Only Rhyme That Bites / Tunes Splits the Atom (The Crematonic Alternative) / Voiceprint: MC Tunes vs. 808 State's Greatest Bits (ZTT)
Rhyme: iTunes / Amazon
Atom: iTunes / Amazon
Voiceprint: iTunes / Amazon
If you liked last week's "Tunes Splits the Atom" single - the second team-up by the Manchester-based rapper and electronic collective - there's more to discover. Mixes of their first single, the U.K. Top 10 "The Only Rhyme That Bites"; four unreleased "Atom" mixes and some new-to-digital tracks from the sessions to The North At Its Heights, Tunes' 1990 debut album.
Nicholas Britell, Andor: Volume 1 (Episodes 1-4) - Original Score (Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Records) (iTunes / Amazon)
There's not been a Star Wars series quite like Andor. The gritty drama, covering the formation of the Rebel Alliance with a character-driven plot that will segue into the 2016 spin-off film Rogue One, has earned high praise for taking a more mature and thoughtfully paced approach to the galaxy far, far away. Similarly, Britell's score achieves delirious action highs and sinister lows without trafficking on either the themes or the styles established some 45 years ago by John Williams.
Taylor Swift, Midnights (3 a.m. Edition) (Republic) (iTunes / Amazon)
Is it a reissue if it's barely an issue? Only three hours after releasing her highly-anticipated 10th album last night, Taylor Swift unveiled a surprise expansion featuring seven songs that didn't make the final cut (including three with The National's Aaron Dessner, a recent producing partner of Swift's; the final album was co-written and produced by Jack Antonoff).
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Of course, the "Swifty's" will snap up ANYTHING she releases, immediately.
First off, cool about Sinitta...those 2 albums are delightful bright SAW productions, beyond mere guilty pleasures...her cover of Maxine Nightingale's Right Back Where We Started From is as good as the original, if a bit brighter...her mom was pretty good too...Miquel Brown of So Many Men So Little Time game...and Taylor Swift...album is brilliant & those other 7 tracks are amazing, possibly even better than the main album...they must come out physically, maybe a subsequent EP in the future...Taylor is at the top of her game on "Midnights"...
I applaud Taylor Swift for her marketing, she learned from Team McCartney albeit her product is much better than McCartney III and she keeps the limited vinyl options to a limit. Not a Swiftie at all but kudos to all she does.