Well, today is Cyber Monday, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we've filled the guide with over 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as noteworthy releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers.
Live at the Village Gate
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore One day after what would have been his 84th birthday, Omnivore Recordings premieres a 1988 concert from the late Night Tripper, Dr. John, recorded at New York's Village Gate on March 5, 1988. Accompanied by such accomplished musicians as Lou Marini, Lew Soloff, and Ronnie Cuber, the Good Doctor ran through favorites and rarities alike for an appreciative audience. This joyful set of classic N'awlins R&B is out on 2 CDs and digital
Mardi Gras Day: Omnivore Celebrates Dr. John with "Live at The Village Gate"
The Doctor is in! Today, November 20, would have been Dr. John's 84th birthday. While The Night Tripper, a.k.a. Mac Rebennack, himself passed away in 2019 at the age of 77, his musical legacy lives on - and Omnivore Recordings is celebrating in high style. Tomorrow, the label will premiere Live at the Village Gate, a previously unreleased concert, in 2CD and digital formats. Live at The Village Gate captures the singer-songwriter-pianist in his element at one of his favorite venues, New
The Best of Eric Burdon & War
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Condensed from this year's The Complete CD Collection, this is a 2CD, 20-track overview of funk-rock combo War's earliest recordings with British rocker Eric Burdon of The Animals. It includes three unreleased tracks, including an unedited remix of this iteration's biggest hit, "Spill the Wine." A double vinyl version will be available exclusively at participating retailers on Record Store Day Black Friday - the same date as this set's CD release.
The Weekend Stream: October 18, 2025
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. There's much to cover: digital box sets, anniversary editions, new remixes, old stand-up comedy - and a quartet of memorials to musicians and more. Neil Young, Neil Young Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) (Reprise) (Apple / Amazon) One of the biggest box sets of last year is now available in a slightly more compact form. The digital
Smile Happy: Rhino Unveils New Quadio Batch with America, WAR, Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship
Earlier today, Rhino unveiled a new batch of Quadio reissues, reissuing vintage quadraphonic mixes on Blu-ray Audio. This time, it's all classic rock, with three titles celebrating their 50th anniversaries and one just shy of that milestone: America's Hearts (1975), Hot Tuna's America's Choice (1975), WAR's Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975), and Jefferson Starship's Spitfire (1976). The WAR mix is previously unreleased in any format. All Blu-rays also include a high-resolution stereo mix, with
Release Round-Up: Week of October 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Randy Newman, Trouble in Paradise: Expanded Edition (Warner/Rhino) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino Reserves LP: Rhino.com We Love It! Rhino reissues Randy Newman's seventh studio album, Trouble in Paradise, as a 2CD expanded edition featuring previously unreleased demos and a rare concert performance. With
Power to Consume: Legacy Unveils Record Store Day Black Friday Slate with Prince, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, More
We're continuing our look at this year's Record Store Day Black Friday releases with a rundown of the nine titles coming your way on Friday, November 28 from Legacy Recordings. These include classics from Miles Davis, Prince, and Billy Joel, a rarity from Bob Dylan, a spirited Danny Elfman soundtrack, and more! Click here for a list of participating Record Store Day shops, and stay tuned for more RSD Black Friday news here at The Second Disc! Cage the Elephant, Live from The Vic in
Compilation Watch: New Hits Sets from Devo, Kool & The Gang, Boomtown Rats
Three very different bands with venerable catalogues are getting new greatest hits collections added to their discographies. First up is a new set documenting Irish post-punkers The Boomtown Rats. The First Fifty Years: Songs of Boomtown Glory is a non-chronological compilation covering all seven of the Dublin group's studio albums - the majority released between 1979 and 1984, before frontman Bob Geldof pivoted largely to pop-rooted activist causes including the spearheading of Band Aid and
Jump to the Beat: Edsel Reissues "Disco Ladies" and "Disco Boogie" Collections
Late in 2023, Demon Music Group revived its Disco Discharge series on the Edsel label. Two recent 2CD volumes, Disco Ladies and Disco Boogie, continue presenting the series in a deluxe, oversized seven-inch format. These titles, chockablock with disco deep cuts and hits alike, were originally issued on the Harmless label in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and have been tweaked (likely due to licensing restrictions) for this go-round. Disco Ladies offers a cross-section of the many women with
Disco Connection: Ace Releases Isaac Hayes' "Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2"
Last year, Ace released the first of a two-volume series collecting Isaac Hayes' single sides for the Stax label and his own Hot Buttered Soul imprint of ABC Records. As Hayes was known for his epic productions, the shorter single edits offered a very different listening experience than the full album tracks. Earlier this year, the second volume arrived, and though Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2: 1972-1976 chronicles a period in which Hayes had less crossover success, it's nonetheless filled
In Memoriam: Sly Stone (1943-2025)
"I am everyday people," boldly proclaimed Sly Stone on Sly and The Family Stone's 1968 chart-topping single. "I am no better and neither are you/We are the same, whatever we do/You love me, you hate me, you know me and then/You can't figure out the bag I'm in..." Using straightforward, direct language, a penchant for nonsense words that nonetheless carried weight (ooh-sha-sha, scooby-dooby-dooby, boom-laka-laka-laka), and the funkiest grooves ever to find their way to a vinyl platter, the
The Weekend Stream: June 7, 2025
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. This week brings posthumous recordings by Prince and Donna Summer, a new spin on Star Wars disco, and plenty of cast recordings leading into the Tony Awards this Sunday! And just a quick programming note: our Unplugged series is taking the week off, but will be back with some new and exciting Weekend Stream extra content very soon! Prince,
Release Round-Up: Week of June 6
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Dusty Springfield, Longing (Real Gone Music) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Real Gone Music premieres a lost album from Dusty Springfield: 1974's Longing. Produced by Brooks Arthur, the album features a number of singer-songwriter-oriented compositions including
Smile Happy: WAR's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Deluxe Box Comes to CD
Following its release last week on vinyl for Record Store Day, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of WAR's seminal 1975 album Why Can't We Be Friends? is coming to CD and digital formats. On June 6, the 3CD box will arrive in stores via Rhino and Avenue Records. WAR's seventh album, Why Can't We Be Friends? found the large musical collective - Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, and Lee Oskar - continuing on its path blending funk,
Release Round-Up: Week of May 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Jackie DeShannon, Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jackie DeShannon signed with Liberty Records and Metric Music in 1960 as a performer and songwriter. Her big break would come in 1964 when she would open for The Beatles on their first U.S. tour. The next year
Collected
Universal's overseas arm developed the Collected series as a line of compilations that would appeal to both casual and hardcore fans, combining an artist's biggest hits with harder-to-find material. (For instance, a 2017 volume on Huey Lewis and The News offered rare edits and 12" mixes, guest appearances and even a single track from the group's pre-News existence as American Express.) Now distributed through the Music on CD label, Collected is still going strong - as evidenced by a forthcoming
Oooh, This I Need: Adam Mattera Talks 'Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook'
Last year, The Second Disc had nothing but good things to say about Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook, Cherry Red's triple-disc tribute to the music of Prince. The set told a story of The Artist's massive impact on pop, rock and soul by way of songs he gave others to record and a galaxy of genre-bending covers. In a year of considerable challenges in Prince fandom, it was a veritable oasis in a desert. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Mattera, the curator and
Record Store Day 2025: The Best of the Rest
Next Saturday, April 12, is certainly one of the most packed Record Store Days in recent memory. Since the list was announced, we drilled down on titles from Craft Recordings, Legacy Recordings, Rhino Records, Universal Music Group, Real Gone Music, Omnivore Recordings, BMG, Cooking Vinyl and Demon Music Group, as well as some notable titles that were getting later general releases on CD. Well, if you thought that was it, you're wrong! We pored and pored over the list and are here to share
Baby, You Give Me a Feeling: Robinsongs Collects Five Albums from Roy Ayers' Ubiquity
Last evening, TSD learned that jazz legend Roy Ayers had passed away at the age of 84. Prior to the sad news, we had completed and scheduled this news item on Cherry Red and Robinsongs' recent collection of five albums he recorded with the loose collective he called Ubiquity. We dedicate this piece to Roy Ayers and celebrate his enormous legacy. When vibraphonist-composer Roy Ayers moved to the Polydor label in 1970, he titled his debut album Ubiquity. In an interview quoted in the new
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Legacy releases the soundtrack to the latest documentary by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021's Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) . This new companion album to this highly-anticipated look at the life and legacy of Sly Stone features 21 favorite hits and album cuts, about half of which are unreleased
The Weekend Stream: February 15, 2025
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! We're taking it way back today with reissues and rarities by Peggy Lee, Brenda Lee, The Fleetwoods, and The Five Satins - plus more Luther Vandross rarities! Luther Vandross, Never Too Much: Greatest HIts (Epic/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Released late last year ahead of the new documentary on the late R&B legend, Luther Vandross' Never
Review: WAR, "Live in Japan 1974"
"The Japanese were nice, but really afraid of us," remembers WAR's producer-manager Jerry Goldstein in the liner notes to the band's new Live in Japan 1974. "That's how we came up with the 'Hey, why can't we be friends?' concept. In the dressing room that night, Lonnie was playing the keyboards and we started doing the song. No verses, just the 'why can't we be friends' part. We wrote it there, went back to the U.S., and in January [1975], we recorded it." The catchy plea "Why Can't We Be
Thankful N' Thoughtful: Legacy Releases Soundtrack to Sly Stone Documentary
A pleasant surprise available digitally today and on CD and 2LP in May is the soundtrack to an exciting new documentary about one of the great musical icons of the '60s: Sly Stone. SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) - the latest documentary by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021's Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) - has a new companion album that features 21 favorite hits and album cuts,
Release Round-Up: Week of February 7
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn for qualifying purchases. WAR, Live in Japan 1974 (Rhino/Avenue) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino's ongoing refresh of the WAR catalogue continues with its first release of 2025: a set of previously unheard live material from the band's tour of Japan, more than half a century ago and
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