Safely tucked underneath a controversial slate of Grammy nominations in the major categories - seriously, Rihanna's Loud got an Album of the Year nod and Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy didn't? - there were a fantastic batch of reissue and box set-oriented nominations in this year's 54th annual ceremony. Without further pithy commentary, here they are: Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Radiohead, The King of Limbs (ATO Records) Donald Twain & Zachariah Wildwood,
Soundtrack Round-Up: Intrada Commits "Robbery," La-La Land Bows Final Titles for 2011
The end of the calendar year is a boom time for all those working in reissues, especially the soundtrack labels. Today, six major titles go on sale that are certainly worth a look here at Second Disc HQ. Intrada's two latest sets, announced last night, are pretty major. One is a brand new reissue of the score to The Great Train Robbery, Jerry Goldsmith's classic soundtrack to the film directed by author Michael Crichton from his best-selling novel. Though the score is no stranger to CD, having
Release Round-Up: Week of November 29
Now begins the drought. A couple of respectable catalogue titles, but it's going to be shorter round-ups from here through 2011. The Monkees, Instant Replay: Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade) Three discs and 87 tracks worth of this underrated entry in The Monkees' catalogue, featuring stereo and mono mixes and session takes galore. Smashing Pumpkins, Gish / Siamese Dream: Deluxe Editions (Virgin/EMI) The first releases in a planned three-year reissue project for Billy Corgan and his Pumpkins,
Start Me Up: Rolling Stones' Digital Archive Unveils Vintage Concerts and More
Once famously reluctant to unlock their vault, The Rolling Stones are swinging those doors wide open. Following the deluxe, expanded editions of Exile on Main St. (1972) and Some Girls (1978), the world’s greatest rock and roll band has turned its attention to the aptly-titled Stones Archive, a digital repository of all things that Glimmer. The band’s official site promises fans “can listen to unheard music, view unseen photographs and films, and look at rare merchandise. Fans have the
Friday Feature: Muppet Memories
This month, it's finally time to play the music and light the lights, with the release of The Muppets, a brand new film featuring Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo and just about all of Jim Henson's furry, felt-covered creations in an all-new story co-written by fabulous funnyman and human co-star Jason Segel (star of TV's How I Met Your Mother and co-writer and star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall). The film, which sees the Muppet gang reunite after years out of the
Thanks!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfM9gQkfwyg] With Thanksgiving approaching at Second Disc HQ, we're doing what most folks are doing this weekend and engaging in radio silence, more or less. There might be a Friday Feature coming up, timed to one of the big, excellent new movies in theaters this weekend. And you'll definitely want to keep an eye out for La-La Land Records, who will announce their last four catalogue soundtrack titles for the year at midnight (Pacific time) on
Pet Shop Boys Flush "Format" with New B-Sides Compilation
Add another catalogue set for 2012 to the list: this winter will see the release of the Pet Shop Boys' second B-sides compilation, spanning the past 15 years of their recording career. As reported by our dear friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs, the Boys (who are also working on a new LP for the new year) revealed to Varsity, Cambridge University's paper, their intent of releasing a new B-sides set, following the tradition of 1995's Alternative, the group's first two-disc set of rarities from 1986
Test of True Faith: New Order End Peter Hook Era with Outtakes Album
It looks like it finally may be time to end the classic chapter of alt-rock icons New Order, with the upcoming release of a set of outtakes from the band's 2005 album Waiting for the Sirens' Call, their last album with original bassist Peter Hook. Recent years have been tough for longtime fans of the band. The British outfit formed out of improbable circumstances - the tragic suicide of Ian Curtis, frontman for Joy Division, caused the band to rename itself and shift direction toward danceable,
Q Applause For Mr. Jones and Mr. Hefti: "Enter Laughing" and "Synanon" Come to CD
If you don’t know the name Neal Hefti, you undoubtedly know the man’s music…whether it’s the indelible, insinuating, harpsichord-and-brass theme to The Odd Couple, or the frenetic, groovy Batman theme from the Caped Crusader’s campy television show. And Quincy Jones, the man known as Q, needs no introduction. Like Hefti a veteran of jazz and big band, Jones’ trailblazing productions on landmark albums such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller (to name just one) ensured his place in the pantheon.
Jackson, Cymone, Hendryx Move to Funky Town
It seems that the rush of catalogue titles for 2012 is starting earlier than normal. This week, we've already seen a lot of announcements and plans from the major labels, the likes of which are probably going to get us through the rest of the calendar year as day-to-day news goes. The advance notice trend is hitting some of the indie labels, too - Funky Town Grooves just announced a bumper crop of expanded releases for January and February. And we think some of them will be right up your
Soulful and Seductive: Grateful Dead, Glen Campbell, The Roches, Bill Medley, Maynard Ferguson Kick Off Real Gone 2012
Are you ready to get gone, Real Gone, with the new kids on the reissue block? The label founded by Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana is following its debut slate (reviews to come!) with an eclectic group of releases for January 2012 that will start the New Year off right! One batch of titles is due January 24, with the remaining releases arriving the following week. Few artists have had a career as legendary as that of Glen Campbell, and few have been as brave in the face of tragedy.
Release Round-Up: Week of November 21
Another Monday release date, ostensibly to get the jump on an abbreviated week with the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday! And it's another big week, to be sure. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls: Deluxe Edition (Rolling Stones/UMe) Whether you think it's the last truly great Stones album or not, it's hard to deny that this is the biggest of the deluxe releases this week. (That super-deluxe edition, with a bonus DVD and vinyl, doesn't disprove the notion, either.) Bob Seger, Ultimate Hits: Rock
Review: The Cool Revolution Continues - Four From CTI and Kudu
When he established Kudu as an offshoot of his titanic jazz label CTI, Creed Taylor wore his ambitions on his sleeve. The label was named after the long-horned African mammal and its logo adorned with Afro-centric colors, as Taylor intended to do no less than make Kudu a home for releases "indigenous to the black popular music of the United States." Taylor always knew the importance of a visual, and much as CTi releases were recognizable for their striking, provocative cover photographs and
Review: R.E.M., "Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011"
R.E.M.'s Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 (Warner Bros. 529088-2) marks the fourth compilation by the Athens band in my collection. As a young teen, I fell in love with their melodic, confident pop/rock with In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 - but that was only part of the picture. The rest would be filled in by the 2006 release of And I Feel Fine...The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, which captured the quartet at what may be their creative peak. (The third
Rammstein Zusammenstellung
How metal is metal? For 16 years, German band Rammstein has pushed the limits of the genre, in the studio and onstage - and next month, they're going to celebrate their work with their first compilation, Made in Germany 1995-2011. With songs like "Mein Herz Brennt," "Engel," "Pussy" and "Du Hast" (arguably their most notable song in America), Rammstein took the best of industrial and symphonic rock, added a dash of electronica and techno and created a sound that was hard for metal audiences to
ODB's "36 Chambers" Reloaded for Deluxe Set
Indie label Get On Down Records is preparing a lavish deluxe reissue of Return to the 36 Chambers, the solo debut by late, iconic Wu-Tang Clan member Ol' Dirty Bastard. Almost no one could have predicted the meteoric success of the Wu-Tang Clan, upon the release of 1993's landmark Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, a seminal East Coast hip-hop record that slow-burned its way to a million copies by 1995 and spawned definitive tracks like "C.R.E.A.M." and "Method Man." That said, the gritty,
Review: Frank Sinatra, "Best of the Best"
There’s simply no getting around it: Frank Sinatra is the voice of the Great American Songbook. That’s not to discount the dozens of other significant voices that brought life to the House That George, Ira, Irving, Cole, Jerome, Richard and Lorenz Built. (Again, just to name a few.) But Frank Sinatra’s voice, as well as his persona, has become such a deeply ingrained part of the American musical fabric that it’s hard to find new ways to present it. The body of work created by Sinatra at
Release Round-Up: Week of November 15
A brief note before we kick off the Release Round-Up: first, an apology for missing the last one. And second, a moment of crowd-sourcing from you, our beloved readers. As nice a service as the Round-Up is, it also seems....boring. Do you agree? How might one change it up? Sound off in the comments. The Who,
ZTT Ascends to New "Heights"
ZTT Records has had a bit of success this year releasing archival projects by 808 State, expanding and reissuing four of their albums in 2010 and issuing a career-spanning anthology, Blueprint, earlier this year. Now, Japanese audiences have another 808-related title to enjoy: an expanded edition of The North At Its Heights, the debut album by Madchester artist MC Tunes. Tunes, born Nicholas Hodgson, was only 18 when he became the first rapper signed to the ZTT label. He was signed right as 808
I've Got Your Letters: Rivers Cuomo Announces "Alone III," "Pinkerton" Diaries Set
Until recently, you may have been wondering what to get the Weezer fan in your life for the holidays. After all, the long-running, hysterically polarizing pop/rock band haven't released any albums this year, after four albums put out since 2008 (including two in 2010: Hurley, their first for Epitaph Records, and Death to False Metal, an outtakes compilation on longtime homebase Geffen). There was, of course, also the deluxe edition of beloved sophomore effort Pinkerton from a year ago. At the
Judas Priest Unfurls "Wings of Destiny" with Repressings of Early Albums
Rock legends Judas Priest have long been known for their killer blend of metal on the Columbia label in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. But two albums predating that contract - both of which are once again about to be independently reissued on CD - were fans' real first taste of the Priest. In 1974, Judas Priest, a hungry upstart rock band from Birmingham, had been together for about five years. A year before, the band's lineup had started to crystallize: lead guitarist K.K. Downing and bassist Ian
Weekend Wround-Up - Holiday Edition: Dean Martin, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and The Muppets!
Dean Martin only recorded two Christmas albums in his career, one for Capitol (1959’s A Winter Romance) and one for Reprise (1966’s The Dean Martin Christmas Album). Yet every year, Martin’s holiday catalogue from both labels is usually reconfigured for a new release, often with songs added (singles, alternate takes, remixes), dropped or otherwise altered. 2011 is no exception, so completists might want to be on the lookout for this year’s edition of My Kind of Christmas on the Hip-o Records
Cherry Pop Laces Up Dancing Shoes with Compilation of Rare '80s, Motown Mixes
Cherry Pop Records has a major treat next week for British club junkies of the '80s: a double-disc set of rare and unreleased remixes by noted engineer Phil Harding. If you're a British pop junkie who came of age in the '80s, you're doubtlessly familiar with three names: Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio of producers hit it big with Hi-NRG pop, all clean beats and shimmering synths, from Bananarama's "Venus" to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." All told, the trio racked
Universal Europe Offers "Complete Masters" For Armstrong, Fitzgerald, Bechet, Parker, Holiday
If you’ve ever been looking to build a solid jazz library without spending too much coin, look no further. The European arm of Universal Music Group, through its EmArcy and Decca labels, has announced a series of Complete Masters boxes that offer considerable bang for your buck! The Complete Masters slate kicks off with five box sets devoted to Louis Armstrong (1925-1945, 14 discs), Ella Fitzgerald (1935-1955, 14 discs), Billie Holiday (1933-1959, 15 discs), Sidney Bechet (American Masters
From "Space" to "The Bottom of the Sea" in La-La Land's Penultimate Releases for 2011
La-La Land Records inched closer to the end of their 2011 reissue slate yesterday with a pair of sci-fi-oriented releases - one a reissue, and one appearing for the first time anywhere. Television fans are going to enjoy the label's newly-released three-disc set of music from the cult classic series Space: Above and Beyond. Though it only ran for one season, the scope of the show - a planned, five-year saga about a war between Earth and an alien race in the mid-21st century - anticipated the
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