Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Iconic Seattle punk, a new Elton John single and fresh Duran Duran remixes kick things off - plus another round of esoteric Christmas cheer!

The Gits, Frenching the Bully / Enter: The Conquering Chicken / Kings & Queens / Seafish Louisville (2024 Remasters) (Sub Pop)

Frenching: iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp
Enter: iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp
Kings: iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp
Seafish: iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp

Though their punk sound was much rawer and unique from what was bubbling up from the grunge scene at the time, The Gits were considered one of the most formidable acts in Seattle in the early '90s. Their story turned from triumphant to tragic in 1993 when, days after discussing a plan to jump from local indie C/Z to Atlantic Records, the group's outspoken frontwoman Mia Zapata was murdered. (An arrest was made a decade later.) The remaining members now team with Sub Pop to reintroduce The Gits' work to a new generation: breakthrough album Frenching the Bully (1991), posthumously completed follow-up Enter: The Conquering Chicken (1993), 1996 release Kings & Queens (featuring a self-released collection from 1988) and 2000 outtakes compilation Seafish Louisville have all been remastered by Seattle veteran producer/engineer Jack Endino and feature newly-designed artwork. Physical editions of Frenching will be available in January. The New York Times went deep on the news this week.

Elton John & Brandi Carlile, Never Too Late (Mercury) (iTunes / Amazon)

Ahead of the release of the Disney+ documentary of the same name about the British piano pop/rock icon, Elton John and alt-country hero Brandi Carlile (who were tapped to enter the studio not long after Elton's lyricist Bernie Taupin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year) have teamed up for a new Andrew Watt-produced single.

Duran Duran, Evil Woman (The Remixes) (Tapemodern/BMG) (iTunes / Amazon)

Spooky season may be over, but you can always dance to Duran Duran! A few weeks after their so-good-it's-scary Halloween show at Madison Square Garden - part of a tour to promote this year's reissue of last year's haunting collection Danse Macabre - the band have unveiled a suite of remixes of the reissue's second single: a dancefloor-ready version of Electric Light Orchestra's "Evil Woman," created by both Brazilian DJ Bruno Martini as well as a new "night version" by band bassist John Taylor and producer Joshua Blair.

INXS, Black and White (Extended Version) (Petrol/Atlantic) (iTunes / Amazon)

The latest in the final All Juiced Up Part 2 drop is the original remix of the Shabooh Shoobah cut "Black and White," one of a few remixes in this set that were already available digitally, as part of a 2022 digital deluxe edition for the 40th anniversary of that album. This campaign has been kind of funny that way in occasionally tapping into remixes that have been available on other products. Who can explain it?

Madonna, Like a Virgin (2024 Remaster) (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon)

This week marked the 40th anniversary of one of Madonna's most enduring singles, so it's only expected that Rhino would release another digital single from the Queen of Pop. Surprisingly, while this product features new remasters of her second album's title track and closer "Stay," as well as the original 7" sleeve art, it does not feature the track's 12" remix. (Let's also hope, once more, that some of these digital rarities get physical releases, as were teased, in a manner of speaking, years ago.)

Reefer Madness: The Musical - The New Los Angeles Cast Recording EP (Yellow Sound Label) (iTunes / Amazon)

The 2001 off-Broadway debut of the blissfully silly, sharply satirical Reefer Madness: The Musical was one of the shows that welcomed audiences back to New York following the tragic events of 9-11.  With marijuana now legal in nearly half of the United States, the time is ripe to rediscover this show with a score by Dan Studney and Kevin Murphy.  The acclaimed 25th anniversary staging in Los Angeles was recorded by Yellow Sound, and three tracks are now streaming.  The full album will arrive on digital/streaming and CD (with two bonus tracks in the physical format) on January 10, 2025.  In the meantime, partake in your favorite recreational pastime and take a listen to "Reefer Madness," "The Stuff," and "Mary Jane/Mary Lane."

T.3, FaLaLa Lonely (Arts Music) (iTunes / Amazon)

Here at TSD HQ, we're already in the Christmas spirit.  So is T.3, the vocal trio consisting of Liam Fennecken, Jim Hogan, and Brendan Jacob Smith.  The group has just released a new EP, due on CD December 13. FaLaLa Lonely features songs to make merry including the original title song, Frozen favorite "Let it Go," the carol "O Holy Night," and a new, appropriately harmony-drenched rendition of The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick" with special guest Joshua Lee Turner.

Legacy Recordings' Christmas cornucopia continues to yield exciting and unusual musical treasures...

Gladys Knight & The Pips, Bless This House (The Christmas Album) (Buddah) (iTunes / Amazon)

Unfairly overlooked amongst their Buddah Records catalog, Gladys Knight & The Pips' Bless This House put the group's signature Southern soul spin on versions of "Do You Hear What I Hear," "Silent Night," "Away in a Manger" and even a gospel medley for good measure.

Jack Webb, Dragnet: The Christmas Story (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

Could this be it - the strangest holiday record you'll stream all season? Dragnet was well-known as the preeminent police procedural when actor Jack Webb developed it for radio in 1949, taking it to TV for two successful runs between 1951 and 1959 and in color from 1967 to 1970. This 1953 record features audio from an episode that was purportedly Dragnet's first color production, although most resources title it "The Big Little Jesus." (It was remade under the album title for the 1967 season.) Webb's pitch-perfect Sgt. Joe Friday was joined by partner Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) and the orchestra of Walter Schumann, who composed the series' immortal theme.

Lew White, Six of the Best Known Christmas Carols (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

Precisely what it says on the early album packaging: originally released on three shellac discs, these are renditions of "Silent Night," "Joy to the World," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and three others, recorded in 1938 by Smith on the organ at New York's Paramount Theatre - one of several places Smith's proficient organ playing could be heard in the late '30s. (He was also the house organist for the Roxy Theatre, and played for programs aired by NBC and CBS.)

Mitchell Boychoir, Christmas Carols (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

Under the aegis of founder Bob Mitchell, the Mitchell Boychoir was a fixture of Los Angeles, performing in films from Going My Way to The Bishop's Wife during the '40s. In 1950, two years before another collection that was recently made digitally available, they recorded these dozen traditional favorites.

Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra & Chorus, Christmas Magic (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

A noted arranger for RCA Victor in the '50s, where he worked with the likes of Harry Belafonte, Perry Como, Eartha Kitt and others, Winterhalter's orchestra and chorus (along with featured soloist Judy Valentine) here take on classic ("Carol of the Bells," "Deck the Halls") and modern ("White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland") holiday songs, plus some left-of-center choices like "Christmas Island," made famous by The Andrews Sisters. (Interestingly, this title uses the cover of a 1958 reissue on the Camden label that had two additional, non-holiday tracks - "Swingin' on a Star" and Peter Pan favorite "The Second Star to the Right" - but what you hear here is what was released on 10" vinyl in 1953.)

University of Redlands Choir, A Christmas Festival - A Recorded Performance from the Celebrated "Feast of Lights" (Epic) (iTunes / Amazon)

The University of Redlands' still-ongoing annual sacred Christmas ceremony has been a southern California fixture for decades, and the university privately pressed several volumes of music recorded from the celebration. But in 1963, the choir scored a coup with an album of their performance released on the growing Epic label. What follows is seriously traditional sacred carols preserved for new generations.