Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’ve got some new music from old pop favorites, a few Record Store Day Black Friday releases, and a pop icon and a big rock band moving their catalogues from one label to another. It’s a lot to keep up with, but we’ve got your back!

Bruno Mars, “I Just Might” (Atlantic) (Apple / Amazon)

Though Bruno Mars has hardly been absent from the pop charts recently – earning a No. 3 hit with “APT.,” an addictive duet with Korean singer Rosé and topping the charts for five weeks last year as a duet partner to “Lady Gaga” on the power ballad “Die with a Smile” – the singer/songwriter/producer last released a solo album, 24K Magic, at the end of 2016, just over nine years ago! (He and Anderson .Paak did cut an album in 2021 under the name Silk Sonic, too.) In any case, that drought is about to end hard with next month’s release of The Romantic. Just-released lead single “I Just Might,” a perfect pastiche of ’70s pop soul with fuzzed-out guitar, bright horns and hooks aplenty, proves that time away hasn’t affected his ability to craft a super-fine potential hit.

Robyn, “Talk to Me” / “Sexistential” (Konichiwa/Young) (Apple / Amazon)

Last month, Robyn set fans’ hearts aflutter with “Dopamine,” her first original single since the release of 2018’s Honey. Could a new album be in the works? We now have a resounding yes: after performing in Times Square for New Year’s Eve and some full shows in New York City, the Swedish dance-pop icon has announced Sexistential, a new LP due March 27. Two songs she performed at those shows – the Max Martin co-write “Talk to Me” and the title track, an eyebrow-raising cut including a rap about IVF(?!) – have been made available, meaning a third of the nine-track album can be heard now.

David Byrne, “drivers license” (Geffen) (Apple / Amazon)

This month, “drivers license,” the chart-topping epic breakup ballad that put teen-pop singer Olivia Rodrigo on the map – helping her pick up three Grammy Awards including Best New Artist – celebrates its fifth anniversary. The singer spent the week teasing material in celebration of the milestone (as well as its parent album Sour), and that commemoration will, in part, include covers of her songs by other artists. The series kicks off with a wild one: Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has his take on “license”; it’ll be released on a 7″ single on April 3 with an exclusive B-side of Byrne and Rodrigo covering “Burning Down the House” at the Governors Ball music festival last summer.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Feb 25, 1970 / Music Hall – Cincinnati, Ohio (Neil Young Archives)

A very low-key “winter solstice gift” release for Neil Young Archives subscribers, this oft-bootlegged but seriously cleaned-up set – featuring the onstage debuts of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” and “Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown” – is one of the earliest Crazy Horse sets in circulation, back when Young was primarily touring with Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Madonna, MDNA / MDNA (Deluxe) / Give Me All Your Luvin’ (feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) [Remixes] / Girl Gone Wild (Remixes) / Turn Up the Radio (Remixes) / Superstar (Remixes) / Rebel Heart / Rebel Heart (Deluxe) / Living for Love (Remixes) / Ghosttown (Remixes) / Bitch I’m Madonna (feat. Nicki Minaj) [Remixes] / Madame X / Madame X (Deluxe) / Medellín (Remixes) / Crave (Remixes) / I Don’t Search I Find (Remixes) (Boy Toy/Warner/Rhino)

MDNA: Apple / Amazon
MDNA (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
“Give Me All Your Luvin'”: Apple / Amazon
“Girl Gone Wild”: Apple / Amazon
“Turn Up the Radio”: Apple / Amazon
“Superstar”: Apple / Amazon
MDNA World Tour: Apple / Amazon
Rebel Heart: Apple / Amazon
Rebel Heart (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
“Living for Love”: Apple / Amazon
“Ghosttown”: Apple / Amazon
“Bitch I’m Madonna”: Apple / Amazon
Madame X: Apple / Amazon
Madame X (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
“Medellín”: Apple / Amazon
“Crave”: Apple / Amazon
“I Don’t Search I Find”: Apple / Amazon

This is going to require some explaining: none of these releases are “new,” per se; they mostly represent the Queen of Pop’s last three studio albums (MDNA (2012), Rebel Heart (2015) and Madame X (2019)) and their attendant singles. Some of them are, in fact, on major digital channels twice – and therein lies the interest. These have all switched distribution, being owned by Madonna herself and initially licensed through a deal with Live Nation and Interscope; they’re now moving over as part of a previously-announced deal with Madonna’s longtime label Warner Music Group, thereby bringing her catalogue under one commercial roof. (Some tracks seem to be newly supplied, including MDNA‘s expansion, with a remix of “Masterpiece” by Kid Capri; the MDNA promo single “Superstar”; and deluxe cut “Auto Tune Baby” on Rebel Heart.)

Chris Difford, 50 Years (self-released) (Apple / Amazon)

Though Squeeze are ready to release Trixies, an album featuring the earliest songs Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook wrote together, in the spring, lyricist Difford has been busy elsewhere, too. He recently put the finishing touches on What Happened?, an autobiographical podcast so ambitious that it has a soundtrack of new songs: 50 Years, a 14-track affair penned with another longtime musical partner, songwriter/producer Boo Hewerdine.

Sabrina Carpenter, Man’s Best Friend (Bonus Track Version) (Island) (Apple / Amazon)

Pop’s pint-sized princess released her seventh album this past summer, following up her commercial breakthrough Short N’ Sweet from the year before. While it featured the hits “Manchild” and “Tears,” it also courted controversy for its semi-provocative cover art featuring Carpenter in a black dress adopting a vaguely lascivious pose next to a man grabbing her hair; she offered several alternatives, and one, sold through her official web store, had one bonus track, “Such a Funny Way.” That version is now available to stream or download.

Whitesnake, Slide It In / Slide It In (Special 2019 U.S. Remix / Bonus Track Version) / Slide It In (The Ultimate Edition) / Whitesnake (2018 Remaster) / Whitesnake (30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) / Slip of the Tongue (2019 Remaster) / Slip of the Tongue (Super Deluxe Edition / 2019 Remaster) / Restless Heart (25th Anniversary Edition / 2021 Remix) / Restless Heart (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition / 2021 Remix) / Still…Good to Be Bad / Live At Donington 1990 (30th Anniversary Complete Edition / 2019 Remaster) / The Purple Tour (Live) Unzipped / Unzipped (Super Deluxe Edition) / The Rock Album (2020 Remix) / Love Songs (2020 Remix) / The Blues Album (2020 Remix) / Greatest Hits (2022 Remixes) (Craft)

Slide: Apple / Amazon
Slide (Remix): Apple / Amazon
Slide (Ultimate): Apple / Amazon
Whitesnake: Apple / Amazon
Whitesnake (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
Slip: Apple / Amazon
Slip (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
Restless: Apple / Amazon
Restless (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
Still…Good to Be Bad: Apple / Amazon
Donington: Apple / Amazon
Purple Tour: Apple / Amazon
Unzipped: Apple / Amazon
Unzipped (Deluxe): Apple / Amazon
Rock Album: Apple / Amazon
Love Songs: Apple / Amazon
The Blues Album: Apple / Amazon
Greatest Hits: Apple / Amazon

Similar to Madonna, it looks like the recently-retired David Coverdale is moving all of Whitesnake’s recent catalogue activity from Rhino to Craft: box sets, remixes and more. (As with Madge, there’s a lot of repeats, even within the new Craft products, but we’ve linked all the essential, non-repeats above.)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Vibrations in the Village (Live At The Village Gate in New York City November 1963) / Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse (Resonance)

Vibrations: Apple / Amazon
Seek & Listen: Apple / Amazon

Two unissued live sets from the jazz multi-instrumentalist – one recorded in 1963 for an unproduced documentary and another recorded for radio in 1967 – were released for Record Store Day Black Friday last year and are now available more widely.

Various Artists, Flowers in the Afternoon: Late ’60s Sunshine (Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

Another Record Store Day Black Friday compilation, this set, curated by Grammy-nominated historian/writer Alec Palao, collects a trove of 16 radio-friendly lost nuggets from the sunshine pop era.

Lester Young, Lester Leaps In: Live At Birdland 1951-1952 (Liberation Hall) (Apple / Amazon)

And one last RSD Black Friday title: tenor sax legend Young blows at Birdland, New York’s famed jazz club, on eight performances recorded for ABC Radio’s Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid.

Bobby Lee Springfield, All Fired Up! (Epic) (Apple / Amazon)

A Nashville songwriter who’d penned tunes for Marty Robbins and Eddy Arnold, Bobby Lee Springfield recorded a major label album of his own in 1987, and even got a country chart hit in the lovelorn swing of “Hank Drank.” SuperVisible Multi Media is responsible for getting this one hooked up digitally for the first time.

Tiffany, “I Saw Him Standing There” / “Feelings of Forever” (Geffen)

“Standing”: Apple / Amazon
“Feelings”: Apple / Amazon

UMe recently dropped a pair of EPs featuring material from ’80s pop star Tiffany’s chart hot streak. The last two singles from her 1987 debut album – a gender-flipped, synth-tastic cover of The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” that reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, and the slick “Feelings of Forever” – are represented here (“Standing” in non-album dance remix form) alongside a total of four songs from the debut album sessions that were exclusive B-sides.

Ragtime (2025 Broadway Cast Recording) (Concord Theatricals) (Apple / Amazon)

Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime took Broadway by storm in 1998 despite being somewhat overshadowed by the massive success of Disney’s The Lion King. Whereas that blockbuster is still running today, Ragtime closed in 2000 after (a very respectable) 834 performances; it subsequently inspired productions all around the world including a smaller-scale 2009 Broadway revival. Now, the epic musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel is back and arguably more powerful, and more relevant, than ever. The cast recording of the production directed by Lear DeBessonet has arrived on Concord Theatricals, starring Joshua Henry (Coalhouse), Nichelle Lewis (Sarah), Caissie Levy (Mother), Colin Donnell (Father), Brandon Uranowitz (Tateh), and Ben Levi Ross (Younger Brother). Featuring William David Brohn’s grand original orchestrations, this new recording of Ahrens and Flaherty’s sweeping and anthemic score captures the power of the stage production. It’s out now digitally, with the 2CD version coming February 6 and 2LP vinyl due April 3.

One last thing…the spirit of MTV lives on! The Internet was in a bit of a furor around the start of the new year due to a deeply misunderstood news story. MTV last year announced plans to shutter a few spinoff, thematic channels in international markets that – like the original launch back in 1981 – primarily played only music videos. Somehow, to a surprising amount of fans and even writers, that news got spun into the idea that MTV was going away entirely, which is not true. (No, it really doesn’t play music videos, but it hasn’t for years.) Former VJ Dave Holmes wrote a pretty succinct summary of the situation – but the coolest side effect to it all may be the fan who put together MTV Rewind, a slick, unofficial player loaded with more than 33,000 vintage videos you’d find on the station in various eras. You can toggle between decades, programming blocks like 120 Minutes or TRL, or shuffle everything in the player; the only ads included are uploads of vintage commercials, and the clips play at random, just like back in the day. You don’t even need to call your cable company to say “I want my MTV”!