Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson's first album is slated for remastering and reissue this spring. Brushfire Fairytales was the Hawaiian musician/surfer/environmentalist's first release, on the label Enjoy Records in 2001. Enjoy - now known as Everloving - licensed the album to Universal, Johnson's home since then, with the stipulation that the master tape return to their possession after 10 years. With that time now passed, Everloving has enlisted Bernie Grundman to remaster the record for
Friday Feature: "Casino Royale" (1967, 2006)
"The dry riffle of the cards and the soft whirr of the roulette wheel, the sharp call of the croupiers and the feverish mutter of a crowded casino hide the thick voice at Bond's ear which says, 'I will count up to ten.'" So read the blurb on the jacket of the original printing of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel Casino Royale, which introduced Agent 007 to the world. Fleming's novel set the tone for those that followed, introducing the "Bond girl" (Vesper Lynd), the larger-than-life villain (Le Chiffre,
FSM Fetches Classic Canine Scores
Film Score Monthly's first release of 2011 is a whopper: five discs' worth of dog-related film scores, anchored mostly around the lovable star Lassie. Created by writer Eric Knight in a short story that was expanded into a 1940 novel, Lassie was a loyal collie who treks across Depression-era Yorkshire, England to reunite with his young owner. The film spawned several sequels and spin-offs, most notably a long-running American television show that ran from 1954 to 1973. The dog is one of only
Back Tracks: Queen, Part I
This week's remaster and reissue of Queen's first two greatest hits LPs in the U.K. (on new home Island Records) is the start of what promises to be a massive reissue campaign for the band's 40th anniversary. The band's first five LPs are slated to be expanded and released in March, with additional batches to follow through 2011. Of course, this isn't the first time the Queen catalogue has been rolled out on CD. While British audiences got straight CD transfers throughout the late '80s,
Lowe's "Labour" Not Lost: Reissue Due in March
Nick Lowe never was lacking in confidence. The former Brinsley Schwarz bassist/vocalist had already defined pub-rock as a member of that band, and did much the same for the burgeoning punk movement as producer of Elvis Costello’s first albums. Now he was in the forefront of the so-called “new wave” vanguard, and Lowe realized there was little he couldn’t do. Armed with hubris but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, he named his 1978 Radar Records (U.K.) debut Jesus of Cool. Its artwork depicted
Reissue Theory: Sting, Compiled (UPDATED 1/12)
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today's installment concerns a former Police man and his lack of decent compilations over the past few decades. There's something disconcerting when an artist gets to the point where they're comfortable enough to do whatever they want, but that "whatever they want" just doesn't count toward reissues, box sets or the like. One such example I've been
Back Tracks, In Memoriam: Margaret Whiting (1924-2011)
In 1997, a musical revue came and went at Broadway's Royale Theatre. The revue, Dream, was a mostly unexceptional journey through the music and lyrics of the legendary Johnny Mercer. Why the "mostly," then? Dream had one very exceptional living link to Mercer, and that was the resplendent Margaret Whiting, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86 in Englewood, New Jersey. When Mercer (along with Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs) started Capitol Records in 1942, one of the first artists he
"Isn't Anything" Sacred? Another MBV Release Date Change
It's unsurprising and a bit morbidly hilarious to report, as Slicing Up Eyeballs did the other day, that reissues of My Bloody Valentine's shoegaze masterpieces Isn't Anything and Loveless have been delayed once again. The straight remastered discs are slated for release on March 14, pushed back from a prior date in January, itself part of a long line of releases that stretch back to June of 2008. These things better sound flawless. Veteran collectors: what other reissue/remaster/box set delays
One is Not the Loneliest Number
Exactly one year ago today, The Second Disc uploaded its first post, an assessment of the best reissues of the prior year. It was taken from my personal Facebook page, which I'd been posting thoughts on music and pop culture here and there for some time. I was a college graduate working in a part-time job I was not particularly fond of, in dire need of something to fill time. After some deliberating over what a blog about reissues and box sets - my favorite kind of music - should be called
Getz Set for New Box from Hip-o Select
Hip-o Select kicks off 2011 with a new set of early works by Stan Getz. Quintets: The Clef & Norgran Albums is three discs of Getz in his first recordings for Verve founder Norman Granz's earliest labels. Five 10" LPs are represented here, alongside some single and EP tracks and three previously unreleased alternate takes. If you can believe it, the set marks the CD debut of much of this material as well. Order the set from the label now and have a look at the track lists after the jump.
The Dead Go to Meadowlands in New "Road Trips" Set
The first entry in The Grateful Dead's Road Trips series for the new year has been announced. Road Trips Vol. 4, No. 2: April Fools '88 is only the second Dead show ever released from that year, a year which was preceded by highlights on either side of the calendar. (The previous year saw the release of the band's Top 10 hit "Touch of Grey" and a tour with Bob Dylan; the next year saw a flurry of officially released live material.) This set captures, over three discs, the band's April 1, 1988
Release Round-Up: Week of January 11
Queen, Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits II (Island/UMe) Queen's 40th anniversary celebration kicks in the U.K. off with a new remaster of the band's first two greatest hits compilations on the band's new label in England, Island Records. (The music of Queen is still licensed by Disney's Hollywood Records in the U.S.) Remastered and expanded studio albums will follow later in the year, which American fans will also have to import. (Official site) Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley: Deluxe Edition
Smokey Robinson, Live from Cracker Barrel
Great music often turns up in the darnedest places. In addition to eating a hearty meal and browsing a selection of rustic tchotchkes at your local Cracker Barrel, you now can pick up a new CD by none other than Motown legend and the man Bob Dylan once called "America's greatest living poet," Smokey Robinson. Cracker Barrel has long carried a selection of exclusive music; new CDs have been offered from artists like Dolly Parton (who provided Cracker Barrel with an expanded edition of her 2008
Intrada Sets Watch to "48 Hrs.," Makes "Great Escape"
Intrada's first releases of the new year are two big name scores sure to please a few generations' worth of film music fans. First up is the world premiere release of James Horner's score to 48 Hrs., the 1982 buddy cop comedy starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in one of his first major motion picture roles. This disc features Horner's complete score (one of his earliest successes of the '80s), plus three tracks by The Busboys (including end credits tune "The Boys Are Back in Town") and one
Fela! In a Box!
Fans of Nigerian musical maverick Fela Kuti have something to celebrate: a whole bunch of Fela-related reissues are coming in the next few weeks from Knitting Factory Records. The blog Altered States reports that a multi-LP vinyl box set will street on February 1. Consisting of six of Fela's albums - 1975's Everything Scatter and Expensive Shit, 1977's Fear Not for Man and Sorrow Tears and Blood, Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1986) and Beasts of No Nation (1989) - in reproductions of their
Dave Grusin's "Dry White Season" Revisited
With a cast including Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon and Marlon Brando in one of his final film triumphs, 1989's A Dry White Season had the potential to be an instant classic. Yet despite this star-studded assemblage, strong reviews and an impressive pedigree (it was based on Andre Brinks' powerful novel which was banned in South Africa for challenging apartheid), audiences stayed away, and A Dry White Season vanished from theatres. Still, Brando was recognized with a Best Supporting Actor
"Stop" the Presses! Classic Hollies on the Way
Before discovering his golden vocal blend with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, Graham Nash made sweet music with Allan Clarke as a member of The Hollies. With a core lineup of Nash, Clarke, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliott (with bassist Eric Haydock replaced by Bernie Calvert in 1966), The Hollies possessed arguably the finest harmonies of any British Invasion act, and the band was finally rewarded with a coveted spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones
Legacy Promises Cash Rewards
Details have been released for that forthcoming set of "bootlegs" from Johnny Cash through Columbia/Legacy. From Memphis to Hollywood: Bootleg Vol. 2 is a hefty double-disc set chronicling the earliest years of Cash's career. One disc includes a radio broadcast from 1955, a dozen or so unreleased demos and rare tracks from Cash's Sun Records sessions. Another disc includes rare single sides, some of which are getting their first domestic release on CD. The track list and press release are
Short Takes: Weekend Round-Up
A few small notes that trickled out of the pipeline on Friday: Pearl Jam have confirmed that there are more reissues forthcoming from their extensive discography, to commemorate their 20th anniversary. The Seattle rockers, who reissued landmark debut Ten (1991) as a Legacy Edition in 2009 and will release a live anthology, Live on Ten Legs, later this month, are planning similar deluxe sets for Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) later this year. A documentary directed by Cameron Crowe is also
And the Nominees Are...
The Grammys are happening! On February 13! As usual - well, at least since the 1990s - there will be a CD compiling the highest-profile nominees. It now has a track list and cover art. It's a pretty solid cross-section of the best-known artists, songs and nominations. Of course, there are some hilarious questions to ask about the track list. Why are nine of these songs from 2009? (That's probably due to eligibility requirements.) Did we really need to put the censored version of Cee-Lo's catchy
Friday Feature: "TRON"
One of the most-talked about film scores on the market right now is the score to TRON: Legacy, composed by French electronic act Daft Punk. Everything about it is delightfully unconventional: it's a score for a Disney blockbuster - a sequel to a cult classic released nearly 30 years ago - composed by two killer musicians best known for making fresh music through technological, not organic means. But the hybrid electronic/orchestral score is a knockout, arguably a serious Oscar contender and one
Ain't That a Kick in the Head? Rat Pack Comp to Feature Unreleased Sinatra Track
The three core members of the superstar collective known as "The Rat Pack" - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. - have had their share of catalogue reissues and box sets, more than all the riches in Las Vegas. But together, there have only been a few compilations, thanks to the necessary wrangling between labels (Sinatra's Rat Pack era material was captured between Capitol and his own Reprise label; both of which saw releases from Martin and Davis). The last such release was
In Case You Missed It: Good Charlotte, Compiled
Feeling old and/or nostalgic? Pop-punk outfit Good Charlotte have a greatest-hits compilation due out in the U.K. on January 31 - and it already came out in Australia back in November. Good Charlotte - led primarily by twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden - were one of many bands in the early 2000s that played really cleanly-produced, semi-angsty, occasionally-dance oriented punk for the Hot Topic set. The brothers Madden were also known for dating a bevy of young beauties including Paris
More Howard Jones Reissues on the Way
Note: in my haste I forgot to accredit the fine Addicted to Vinyl for first mentioning the Wounded Bird reissue of The 12" Album, which in turn led to my checking for new remasters and having something to report. Thanks, guys! The Howard Jones box set from late last year, which compiled remasters of Humans Lib and Dream Into Action alongside a bonus disc of vintage live cuts - was a fun if light tribute to one of the more underrated artists of the '80s. Happily, Jones' independent label, Dtox
A Reissue for the Morning After
Legacy has just announced a deluxe edition for one of Columbia's more recent classics: the debut LP by Pete Yorn. The New Jersey-born singer-songwriter rose to prominence with 2001's musicforthemorningafter at the age of 26, after being signed to Columbia for two years and co-writing the score to the film Me, Myself & Irene (2000). Tunes like "Life on a Chain," "For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)" and "Strange Condition" were modest hits on Billboard's Adult Top 40 and Modern Rock charts, and
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