Our friends at Iconoclassic Records are teeing up a prolific 2025 following their release earlier in the year of Dwight Twilley’s Scuba Divers: Blueprint Edition. On April 25, the label will bring the late Ian North’s 1979 album Neo to CD for the first time; that’s followed on May 16 with David Sancious’ 1981 set The Bridge. Then, on May 30, comes the Original Master Edition of Natural Gas’ self-titled album – a fitting salute to the band’s late Joey Molland. Brooklyn-born Ian North (1952-2021) rose to prominence in power pop band…
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 with you more than four dozen one-offs, archival…
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Release Round-Up: Week of March 21
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. Tina Turner, Private Dancer: 40th Anniversary Edition (Parlophone/Rhino) 5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Pearl LP with art card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Picture Disc: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Tina Turner’s smash 1984 “comeback”album Private Dancer – featuring the hits “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” the scintillating title track and more – will be reissued as a 5CD/Blu-ray deluxe box packed with rare…
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They’ll Be There for You: 10 Record Store Day Exclusives Getting CD Releases
The Record Store Day round-up marches on! After covering in detail the vinyl offerings from Universal Music Group, Legacy Recordings, Rhino Records, BMG, Craft Recordings, Real Gone Music, Omnivore and U.K. labels Cooking Vinyl and Demon Music Group, we’ve still got a few things to highlight…notably, the work of labels who are serving one of Record Store Day’s least-served fans. There are plenty of business and financial reasons why some Record Store Day titles are limited solely to vinyl, but we at The Second Disc will never stop banging the drum for those…
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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 Robinsongs release anthologizing five of the leader’s…
On View at the Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada A celebrated jazz guitarist, cornerstone of the Blue Note roster in the late ’50s and early ’60s and still-standing link to a thriving era in American jazz, Kenny Burrell will be celebrated this spring with a deluxe revisitation of his first live release. On View at the Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters collects the original 1960 album, recorded in New York City with a killer quintet line-up, along with nine additional tracks from the same club dates – six of which are being released…
A New ‘View’: Celebrated Kenny Burrell Live Set Gets Expanded
A celebrated jazz guitarist, cornerstone of the Blue Note roster in the late ’50s and early ’60s and still-standing link to a thriving era in American jazz, Kenny Burrell will be celebrated this spring with a deluxe revisitation of his first live release. On View At the Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters collects the original 1960 album, recorded in New York City with a killer quintet line-up, along with nine additional tracks from the same club dates – six of which are being released for the first time. Available on two CDs…
Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Expanded Edition)
Craft Recordings delivers a newly expanded edition of 1964’s Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, the first in a series of fateful collaborations between jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi and Charles M. Schulz’s lovable Peanuts characters. The 2CD set offers a fresh remaster of Guaraldi’s initial nine compositions devoted to Charlie Brown and friends – including the immortal “Linus and Lucy” – and adds a bonus disc of 16 rare and unreleased outtakes. It’s the latest in an incredible bounty of discoveries from Guaraldi’s discography of late, including sonically upgraded reissues and…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 28
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. Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Picture Disc: Official Store Liquid-Filled LP: Official Store Cassette: Official Store After celebrating their debut album with a deluxe edition last year, Bon Jovi will offer similar treatment to their biggest album: 1986’s Slippery When Wet. The New Jersey rockers’ third LP (featuring “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name”) will be reissued in a variety of…
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Happiness Is: Vince Guaraldi’s First Charlie Brown Album to Be Expanded by Craft Recordings
Happiness is many things to many people: good friends, childlike wonder, catchy tunes…and, perhaps, a warm puppy. From Craft Recordings comes a new reissue that includes all four: a newly expanded edition of 1964’s Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, the first in a series of fateful collaborations between jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi and Charles M. Schulz’s lovable Peanuts characters. The 2CD set, available April 4, offers a fresh remaster of Guaraldi’s initial nine compositions devoted to Charlie Brown and friends – including the immortal “Linus and Lucy” – and adds…
The Weekend Stream: February 22, 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! A great Carly Simon deep cut gets a fresh mix, plus Phil Collins in concert and new music from The Stylistics. Carly Simon, “Share the End” (2025 Remaster) (Elektra/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Though merely billed as a remaster in the metadata, this upbeat, heartbreaking side-two opener to Simon’s sophomore album Anticipation has been newly remixed. It’s a dramatic revisit of a song that resonates still, and hopefully a portent of…
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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 Too Much: Greatest Hits has already been expanded, and for good reason! The album’s biggest discovery was…
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The Voice of Love: Julee Cruise’s Collaborations with Badalamenti and Lynch Compiled in New 2CD Set
In one of the more unintentionally-timed releases of the year, Cherry Red will revisit the most popular works of the late singer Julee Cruise, known for her haunting work with the late, influential filmmaker David Lynch. FALL_FLOAT_LOVE (Works 1989-1993), available April 25, brings together expanded editions of 1989’s Floating Into the Night and 1993’s The Voice of Love, both of which were written and produced by the iconoclastic writer/director and his longtime musical collaborator, Angelo Badalamenti. It’s on that first album that listeners first heard “Falling,” an ethereal piece of dream-pop whose instrumental…
Rhino Readies Nearly 50 Titles for Record Store Day Including Titles from Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, More
As usual, Rhino is leading the Record Store Day pack with a whopping slate of almost 50 titles scheduled to arrive in independent shops everywhere on Saturday, April 12. The label has brought out many of its heaviest hitters, including Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, and Jethro Tull, among others. Head over to RecordStoreDay.com for the complete list of participating stores, and below you’ll find details for all of Rhino’s releases! We’ve linked to the full descriptions of each title at the official RSD site. a-ha, Hunting High…
They Will Have Their Way: Legacy Plans Packed Record Store Day Slate
Is it just us, or has Record Store Day felt a little muted in recent years? Obviously the annual Black Friday celebration boasts less titles than the festivities held every April, but it’s sometimes been a struggle to identify great archival titles or worthy re-pressed discs. Well, that certainly isn’t the case this year: labels seem to have gone into overdrive stockpiling interesting LPs and singles worth a second (or first!) look – and one of the strongest showings might be Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings, who are bowing no less than 16…
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Just As Long As We Have Love: Rhino’s Quadio Series Continues with Aretha, Spinners, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Cobham
This morning, Rhino unveiled its first batch of Quadio titles for 2025 – and this time, the emphasis is on classic soul and R&B with a twist of jazz! The series, reissuing vintage quadraphonic (four-channel) surround mixes on Blu-ray Audio Discs, welcomes Aretha Franklin’s Live at Fillmore West (1971), Curtis Mayfield’s Roots (1971), The Spinners’ Pick of the Litter (1975), and Billy Cobham’s Spectrum (1973). The Queen of Soul’s Live at Fillmore West followed 1970’s Spirit in the Dark in her storied Atlantic discography. Recorded over three nights at the San Francisco…
Craft Recordings Unveils RSD Slate with Vince Guaraldi, Celia Cruz, Thelonious Monk, Collective Soul, More
Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 12 – that’s the date this year for Record Store Day, the date upon which fans, collectors, and everyone in between flocks to local independent record stores and hopefully gives those brick-and-mortar stores a leg up for the year! The full list has been posted, and here at TSD, we’ll start today by spotlighting various releases from some of our favorite labels! Craft Recordings is among those labels, and they’ve just announced a batch encompassing jazz, rock, soul, and salsa. Below, you’ll find the RSD 2025…
Not So Simple Songs: Ace Records Compiles Sly Stone Covers
A timely new collection will pay tribute to the work of Sly & The Family Stone through a diverse group of covers and rarely-heard singles written and produced by the group’s iconic frontman for others. Everybody is a Star – The Sly Stone Songbook is the latest entry in Ace Records’ Songwriter Series, chronicling some of the greatest modern songwriters of the last century. Naturally, the man born Sylvester Stewart is a prime candidate for such an overview. His mix of R&B, funk, pop and rock music sounded like nothing else in…
The Weekend Stream: February 1, 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! A new charity cover from Def Leppard, reissues of classic albums by Simple Minds and Sheena Easton, and a mess of vintage jazz is on the menu today – plus a heads-up for a forthcoming way to help the ongoing California wildfire relief effort. Def Leppard, Stand by Me (Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) While also a single from the new Netflix film Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger…
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Release Round-Up: Week of January 31
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. Dwight Twilley, Scuba Divers: Blueprint Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The road to Dwight Twilley’s second album, 1982’s Scuba Divers, was a long one. Now, Iconoclassic Records is expanding that 10-track album with a whopping 15 bonus tracks (11 of which are previously unreleased) chronicling the arduous journey to Scuba Divers that began as the sessions for an album called Blueprint. Vic Anesini has remastered all audio from the master tapes,…
Out of This World: Verve Record Club Promises Heavyweight Vinyl Pressings and Rarities
Verve Label Group is getting into the subscription vinyl game with the recently-announced Verve Record Club. The new monthly venture will offer fans new vinyl pressings of classic albums from the Verve, Impulse!, Mercury, CTI, Decca and MGM label catalogues, promising titles by John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Ahmad Jamal and Sarah Vaughan, to name a few. The new pressings will all be remastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Each title will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl at…
The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum
Verve has unearthed Ella Fitzgerald’s June 30, 1967 concert at Oakland, California’s Coliseum at which she was backed by members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra and combined classic standards with such then-contemporary material as “Alfie” and “Music to Watch Girls By.” The concert has been newly mixed and mastered from producer Norman Granz’s original tapes. Available on CD, LP, and digitally. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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What’s It All About: Verve to Release Long-Lost 1967 Concert from Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald ushered in 1967 with a new label affiliation; she had decamped Verve for the Capitol label where she would release two albums – one of hymns, and the other of traditional Christmas carols – that year. In concert, Ella was in a period of transition. While rewarding her audiences with the classic standards they expected, she was also experimenting with newer material from the pop-rock songbook. On February 28, Ella’s once and future home of Verve will release The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum, preserving her June 30,…
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The Weekend Stream: January 18, 2025
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! This week, we’re heavy on the classic rock plus a vintage soundtrack, a dash of modern classical, and more! Fleetwood Mac, Live from the Record Plant (December 15, 1974) (Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Coinciding with its standalone vinyl debut as part of Rhino’s Start Your Ear Off Right, this vintage pre-Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood Mac concert hit digital services earlier this month. (Better late than never!) Featuring the classic early-era tracks “Hypnotized,” “Oh…
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Release Round-Up: Week of January 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. Vince Guaraldi, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (Lee Mendelson Productions) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Lee Mendelson family continues its series of debut releases from the Peanuts animation library with this premiere audio release of the score for 1975’s Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. The 50th anniversary release includes Vince Guaraldi’s complete 22-cue score plus eight never-before-heard bonus tracks. Guaraldi was joined…
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