In addition to Real Gone's Music and Second Disc Records' reissue of the soundtrack to The Flasher by Pool-Pah and songwriter-arranger Rupert Holmes, Real Gone also has three other titles hitting store shelves today.  All three hail from the 1990s or 2000s and all are making their vinyl debuts.

First up is the only album from hip-hop group Ill Biskits: 1995's Chronicle of Two Losers.  The German-born, Virginia-based duo of Deeda (M. Warrens) and Kleph Dollaz (Darrel Durant) released their first single on the independent NYC label Khari Entertainment in 1994.  It gained local and college airplay and garnered the attention of Atlantic Records, who signed them to a recording contract.  Their only release for the label came a year later.  Featuring D.I.T.C. producers Buckwild and Lord Finesse, Chronicle of Two Losers includes deep rhymes and hypnotic beats.  But the album never had a chance to find a wide audience as it was pulled from shelves almost as soon as it was released.  The pair was summarily dropped from Atlantic, never recording another project.  The album has become a collectible over the years and even a 2007 CD reissue is relatively rare.  Kleph would go on to produce for artists including Talib Kweli, M.O.P., Sadat X and Sean Price, among others.  He released the album Square in the Circle on Bandcamp in 2011 but passed away the next year due to a heart attack.

Real Gone's new reissue is the first time Chronicle of Two Losers has appeared on vinyl.  It features an inner sleeve showcasing the original CD artwork and comes on coke bottle clear vinyl.  It is limited to 1,000 copies.

Next up is the 1999 self-titled solo debut from the late William Reese Owsley III (known professionally as Owsley).  The Alabama native started playing guitar at age nine, but would eventually branch out to other instruments.  He joined Judson Spence's band and would go on to form the power pop group The Semantics with Millard Powers.  Their lineup would also include Jody Spence and eventually Zak Starkey.  However, The Semantics' debut album would take years to produce and finally only see release in Japan.  In the meantime, Owsley became the touring guitarist for Amy Grant in 1994, a position he would hold for the rest of his life.  He began to write and produce as well as work as a session musician.  This would lead him to also joining Shania Twain's band as a guitarist and harmony singer.  During the 1990s he worked with many country and Christian artists including Vince Gill, Michael W. Smith, the Neville Brothers, and Wynonna, among others.

In 1998, he recorded his first solo album at his home recording studio, Owsley, and released it via Not Lame Records.  Bursting with power pop energy, it found a new home the next year on Warner imprint Giant Records after being remixed by Tom Lord-Alge and J.R. McNeely.  He scored a minor hit with "I'm Alright."  The album was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineered Album.  Owsley would release his second album, The Hard Way, on Lakeview Entertainment in 2004 and a single for UMe Digital in 2005.  During the 2000s, he kept up a busy schedule as a touring and session musician and as a producer.  Owsley died in 2010 from an apparent suicide; Vince Gill paid tribute to him with the Grammy-nominated song "Threaten Me with Heaven."  Gill, his wife Grant, and Owsley had co-written it, and it was performed at Owsley's funeral.

Owsley makes its vinyl debut in this new reissue from Real Gone.  Featuring a full-color inner sleeve, it comes on tan vinyl and is limited to 1,000 copies.

The final item on Real Gone's slate is a reissue of Hans Zimmer's score to The Last Samurai.  The 2003 film, directed by Edward Zwick, stars Kenneth Watanabe in the title role and Tom Cruise as a Civil War soldier who travels to Japan and becomes embroiled in the clash between the Imperial Japanese Army and traditional Japanese samurai culture.  While there were some complaints over racial and societal portrayals in the film, it received generally good reviews and grossed over $450 million at the box office.  It received four Academy Award nominations.

The Last Samurai was the prolific Zimmers' 100th score.  (In 2003, he also composed the soundtracks to movies Something's Gotta Give, Matchstick Men, and Tears of the Sun).  The film's Japanese setting allowed him to incorporate some instruments from the country such as utilizing the traditional Japanese taiko drum for action sequences and the shakuhachi flute and koto for more pastoral passages.  Upon its release, the soundtrack album peaked at No. 24 on the Soundtracks chart.  It also garnered Zimmer a Golden Globe nomination.  He has continued his prodigious output over the last twenty years.  Just this year alone, he has contributed music to the video game Ashfall, written the scores for the films Are You There God?  It's Me, Margaret and the upcoming Dune sequel as well as releasing the album Hans Zimmer Live on Sony (which includes a suite from The Last Samurai).

Real Gone's reissue marks the soundtrack's debut on vinyl.  The 2-LP set comes in gatefold jacket on gold vinyl and is limited to 1,000 copies.

If you would like to give any of these titles a try, we've got the ordering links and full tracklistings below.

Ill Biskits, Chronicle of Two Losers (Limited Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Atlantic Records CD 82836-2, 1995 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. Chronicle I (Intro)
2. Exclusive Debut
3. Chill Factor
4. A Better Day
5. Chronicle II (Interlude)
6. Broker Than Ever
7. Illustrations
8. God Bless Your Life

Side 2

1. Let 'Em Know
2. Chronicle III (Interlude)
3. Bare Essentials
4. Place to Be
5. Escape the Funk
6. Recognize

Owsley, Owsley (Limited Tan Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Giant Records CD 9 24715-2, 1999 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. Oh No the Radio
2. I'm Alright
3. Coming Up Roses
4. Good Old Days
5. The Sky Is Falling
6. Sentimental Favorite

Side 2

1. Zavelow House
2. Sonny Boy
3. The Homecoming Song
4. Uncle John's Farm
5. Class Clown/Class Clown (Reprise)

Hans Zimmer, The Last Samurai (Original Motion Picture Score) (Limited Gold Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Elektra CD 62932-2, 2003 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

LP 1

Side 1

1. A Way of Life
2. Spectres in the Fog
3. Taken

Side 2

1. A Hard Teacher
2. To Know My Enemy
3. Idyll's End

LP 2

Side 1

1. Safe Passage
2. Ronin
3. Red Warrior

Side 2

1. The Way of the Sword
2. A Small Measure of Peace