Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. Beyoncé repeats history, ZTT goes live and James gets more Whiplash, all streaming and on sale this week!
Beyoncé, Grown Woman (Parkwood/Columbia) (iTunes / Amazon)
Perhaps you remember where you were on December 13, 2013, when Beyoncé Knowles surprise-dropped her self-titled fifth album with a host of accompanying short films to boot. (I actually do: fans' reaction tweets were among the last things I saw before some eyedrops dilated my eyes at the ophthalmologist.) While the release really did take critics and fans by surprise, one breadcrumb had been hidden in plain sight for a few months: "Grown Woman," a track heard briefly in a Pepsi commercial she shot that summer. The song was not included on the final track listing for the album, but a video with an accompanying remix appeared on the visual portion of the release. Now, a decade to the day since Beyoncé dropped, history repeats in miniature as the original mix of "Grown Woman" has been surprise released as well. Have fun basking in the glow of prime Queen Bey!
Various Artists, The Value of Entertainment (Time Capsule Highlights) EP (ZTT) (iTunes / Amazon)
With just two more to go in ZTT's digital "Definition Series" to mark their 30th anniversary this year, the label is issuing a real good one: five live tracks from Art of Noise, Propaganda, Instinct, Andrew Poppy and Anne Pigalle recorded at a 1985 label showcase at London's West End Theatre. Released on video as The Value of Entertainment (itself later put out on DVD alongside an expanded edition of the contemporaneous label compilation Sampled some 30 years later), this is Zang Tuum Tumb at its earliest, rarest and finest.
James, 1997 Singles & B-Sides (Mercury/EMI) (iTunes / Amazon)
The latest in James' streaming-only overview of their singles and bonus tracks covers the period of 1997's Whiplash, a part-electronic, part-folk album co-produced by Brian Eno and featuring the British Top 10 hit "She's a Star" - one of 22 songs and mixes on this collection.
The Romantics, In Heat (2023 Remaster) (Epic/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)
Finally, for no clear reason at all - a 40th anniversary, maybe? - a new remaster of The Romantics' fourth and most successful studio album, featuring the No. 3 smash "Talking in Your Sleep."
So Amazing: Companion Album to Luther Vandross Documentary Features Unreleased Songs
The Weekend Stream: June 29, 2024
Release Round-Up: Week of April 12
Holy Eponymity! Recalling "December 13, 2013, when Beyoncé Knowles surprise-dropped her fifth self-titled album...." clearly the artist has a right to name her individual works but couldn't this degree of consistent indentification only underscore their sameness...?
Oh, that's actually on me! Should read "self-titled fifth album," which at the late hour The Stream is usually edited I had originally mislabeled as her fourth album. (Of course, THAT album was called...4.)
Apologies for my unfamiliarity with her catalogue but are the albums all titled “Beyoncé Knowles” followed by a numeral? Again, while she may have titled each record herself, this would not make them eponymous…or?
40th anniversary of ZTT...