Here at Second Disc HQ, we know that we can count on Omnivore Recordings for some of the most colorful and fun releases for Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday shopping event! On the day after Thanksgiving, you might find yourself at your local indie record store to pick up one of Omnivore's three Black Friday collectibles. As usual, it's a diverse trio, with releases from two late troubadours - Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark - and one legendary late comedian, Ernie Kovacs. This past
Release Round-Up: Week of October 29
Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving / Bananarama / True Confessions / Wow! / Pop Life / Please Yourself: Deluxe Editions (Edsel) The pop trio's London discography gets the royal treatment with these 2CD/1DVD expanded editions featuring loads of rare and unreleased bonus tracks. Deep Sea Skiving: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Bananarama: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. True Confessions: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Wow!: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Pop Life: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Please Yourself: Amazon U.S. /
Review: Van Morrison, "Moondance: Deluxe Edition"
Over forty years after Van Morrison first declared it a “marvelous night for a moondance,” the Irish troubadour’s seminal 1970 album has become even more marvelous, ‘neath the cover of October skies. Warner Bros. Records has afforded Moondance the deluxe treatment, adding three CDs of session material and one Blu-ray with high-resolution stereo and surround mixes to the original 10-song album. With this truly immersive listening experience, Morrison’s third proper solo album takes its place
In Memoriam: Lou Reed (1942-2013)
Tough, uncompromising and honest – the music of singer, songwriter and guitarist Lou Reed might have been the very quintessence of New York rock and roll. Since first making a splash with 1967’s The Velvet Underground and Nico, Reed, who has died unexpectedly at the age of 71, doggedly pursued his own personal muse. Even as he synthesized numerous influences like doo-wop, jazz, R&B and Tin Pan Alley pop into his own ultimately influential rock style, he always stayed true to his roots as a
Review: Belinda Carlisle Deluxe Remasters From Edsel (1987-1993)
As lead singer of California rock group The Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle conclusively proved that she, indeed, had the beat. In her solo career, she applied her powerfully soaring pipes - one minute honeyed, the next smoky - to some of the most iconic pop songs of the era. Edsel has recently repackaged Carlisle's second through fifth albums as truly deluxe, hardbound 2-CD/1-DVD editions, and they're a nostalgic trip back to the days when power ballads ruled the radio and one singer stood at the
Beyond "Baby Blue": Edsel Collects Badfinger Albums, BBC Sessions
An estimated ten million people watched the September 29 series finale of AMC’s Breaking Bad, with a memorable final scene set to Badfinger’s “Baby Blue.” By the following morning, the Pete Ham song produced by Todd Rundgren for the 1971 Apple Records release Straight Up had been downloaded more than 5,000 times – boosting its sales by some 3,000 percent! “Baby Blue” remained in the iTunes Top 20 for next two days. It also racked up roughly 30,000 downloads over the following week,
I Hear A Knockin': Legacy Explores "The Spiritual Side of Wynton Marsalis"
Though he’s just 52 years of age, there’s precious little that Wynton Marsalis hasn’t accomplished in music. The New Orleans-born trumpeter has won nine Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, performed with the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock, not to mention Eric Clapton and Crosby, Stills and Nash. He’s tirelessly promoted jazz to young audiences, and programmed the esteemed hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he currently resides as Artistic
Neil Young Opens The "Cellar Door" With Vintage 1970 Concerts
No, there’s still not a date on the calendar for the much-talked-about release of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 1974 concert tapes last scheduled for August 27 and currently anticipating release next year. (Or so it’s been reported.) But Neil Young has a solo live release scheduled for December 10 that should whet appetites for that CSNY project and excite fans and collectors in its own right, too. Young’s camp has confirmed Live at the Cellar Door, the latest installment of Young's
Release Round-Up: Week of October 22
Tears for Fears, The Hurting: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe) The landmark debut album from the U.K. hitmakers celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new double-disc deluxe edition stocked with rare single-only material and a deluxe box set version with a bonus disc of John Peel sessions and the In My Mind's Eye live concert film on DVD. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Van Morrison, Moondance: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino) Though Van would rather you
Kritzerland Can't "Wait" For Two Dave Grusin Premieres; "Moon" Swings With Billy May, Too!
For more than fifty years, Robert David Grusin – or Dave Grusin, as he’s better known – has been making music to the tune of multiple Grammys and an Oscar, not to mention Golden Globes and various other honors. Grusin has successfully scored for motion pictures and kept a busy profile in pop, soul and jazz, co-founding GRP Records and encouraging compact disc technology at the dawn of the era. The Kritzerland label has visited the Grusin well before with releases of his scores to films as
"Smile": Laura Nyro's 1976 Album Returns To CD From Iconoclassic
Iconoclassic Records is giving fans of the late Laura Nyro a reason to Smile with tomorrow’s expanded reissue of the singer-songwriter’s 1976 album of the same name. Smile marked Nyro’s return to music after a four-year hiatus following her Gamble and Huff-produced Philly soul gem Gonna Take a Miracle. This reissue – which appends three bonus tracks receiving their first domestic release – is the latest in Iconoclassic’s impressive series which also includes reissues of Season of Lights (1977),
Their Feet Keep Dancing: Rhino U.K. Updates CHIC Compilation, Plans Triple-Disc Disco Set
Rhino U.K. is bringing disco back with a new triple-disc compilation of dance classics, and an updated reissue of a successful compilation released earlier this year. First up, Rhino's reissuing the new Nile Rodgers/CHIC compilation Up All Night. The double-disc set, originally compiled by Wayne A. Dickson of Big Break Records and mastered by Dickson and BBR engineer Nick Robbins, with liner notes from Christian John Wikane, was released in July to capitalize on Rodgers' highly enjoyable wave
Some Kinda Wonderful: RPM Reissues Paul Young's Retro-Flavored "Q-Tips"
Before blazing the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with songs like “Every Time You Go Away,” “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home,” “Oh, Girl” and “Love of the Common People,” Paul Young paid his dues. The English-born singer served his time in bands including pub-rockers Kat Kool and the Kool Kats and Streetband, but the latter group’s success with the U.K. Top 20 novelty-esque hit “Toast” (a humorous B-side which was flipped to the band’s dismay) threatened to pigeonhole them. In late
Back to Black: Legacy Unveils Record Store Day Black Friday Exclusives From Simon, Dylan, Davis, Nilsson, Hendrix & More
It's that time of year again! Though Black Friday has taken a backseat in recent years to the once-unheard-of Thanksgiving Day sales, the folks at Record Store Day still hold the day after Thanksgiving in high esteem. News has begun to trickle out about this year's RSD Back to Black Friday exclusives, and the team at Legacy has certainly put together a collection of special vinyl releases - and a handful of CDs, too - that look back to recent releases from the label and forward to future
Doors, Dead, Duran Drafted by Rhino for Record Store Day
It's less than 70 days until (holiday name redacted because it's too early to think about it), which means it's almost time for Record Store Day's Black Friday event! On November 29, participating stores will be stocking exclusive titles from major and independent labels. Warner Music Group's Rhino catalogue arm - long thought on the ropes until a slew of releases this year - has five strong catalogue vinyl projects to offer on that special day, including one we've previously reported on (which
Shower The People: "The Essential James Taylor" Blends Best of Columbia, Warner Years
If you, like me, immediately think of James Taylor whenever you hear the initials "JT" in the context of a music superstar, then Legacy Recordings has a release just for you! The Essential James Taylor, due on October 29 like The Essential Boz Scaggs, is the troubadour's first-ever 2-CD career-spanning anthology. Its 30 studio and live tracks draw on the artist's tenures at Warner Bros., Columbia and Hear Music, from 1970's breakthrough Sweet Baby James through 2007's One Man Band. Following
Happy Hearts: The Four King Cousins Return With "More Today Than Yesterday"
In those halcyon days of television variety, when ABC's The Hollywood Palace rubbed shoulders with CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show, it wasn't hard to spot the music-making King Family. After all, the ensemble was more than 30 members strong, consisting of big band sweethearts The King Sisters, guitarist Alvino Rey, and some 32 brothers, sisters, children, wives, aunts and uncles. Following much-talked-about appearances on Hollywood Palace, The King Family went on to headline its own variety show
UPDATE: Real Gone Music Is "Obsessed" With Late November Slate, Featuring Animals Box Set and Live Tower of Power
Real Gone Music’s November 25 release slate is so packed that the label has decided to roll it out a few titles at a time. The label is kicking things off for the pre-Thanksgiving rush with some soulful Southern rock, a hidden gem from one of the stars of 20 Feet from Stardom, a slab of metal, a previously unissued live concert from the soulful horn band Tower of Power, and a 5-CD box set from the pride of Newcastle upon Tyne, The Animals! Real Gone is going wild with perhaps its most
The "Lowdown" On Legacy's Upcoming "Essential Boz Scaggs"
Earlier this year, Boz Scaggs returned from a five-year absence from the studio with Memphis, a collection celebrating classic southern soul like “Rainy Night in Georgia,” “Love on a Two Way Street” and “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl.” In just a couple of weeks, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will be celebrating Scaggs’ own music with the October 29 release of the 2-CD anthology The Essential Boz Scaggs. This 32-song set draws on Scaggs’ landmark tenure at Columbia Records which yielded
Caught in a Mosh, Again: Anthrax's "Island Years" Features Classic LPs, Bonus Tracks Aplenty
Influential thrash-metal band Anthrax were celebrated in the U.K. this week with The Island Years, a new budget box set combining four of their most notable albums, plus a bevy of bonus material. The New York City-based quintet, dubbed one of metal's "Big Four" alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, earned early accolades in the mid-1980s, signing to Island Records and garnering fans for their intense musical style and accessible, non-serious image. The band's colorful MTV-style
Review: Paul Simon, "The Complete Albums Collection" and "Over the Bridge of Time"
I. Hello Darkness, My Old FriendMore than 45 years ago, Paul Simon dramatized a journey “to look for America” in the song boldly and simply called “America.” Over 3-1/2 gorgeously elegiac minutes beginning with hymn-like vocalizing, Simon abandoned conventional song structure and rhyme to portray two young people searching for the heart of this promised land. The conversational lyric is both deceptively simple and densely packed. Optimism (“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes
Release Round-Up: Week of October 15
Eric Clapton, Unplugged: Expanded and Remastered Edition (Reprise/Rhino) The guitar god's '90s comeback was done on an acoustic. The Grammy-winning, best-selling album and the acclaimed episode of MTV Unplugged from which it was taken are paired up and considerably expanded, more than two decades later. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) King Crimson, The Road to Red (Panegyric) Holy crumbs, this 21CD/1DVD/2BD set is a massive tribute to King Crimson's Red album, including new stereo and surround
Omnivore Re-Joins Jellyfish Fan Club with Unreleased Radio Performances
Fans of eternally underrated power-pop outfit Jellyfish have had nothing but friends over at Omnivore Recordings. The label first released the band's two studio albums, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk, on vinyl. Then there was the unreleased Live At Bogart's and the Stack-a-Tracks compilation, which featured mostly-instrumental mixes of the two albums uncovered from the vaults. Now, Omnivore prepares Radio Jellyfish, a ten-track compilation of radio broadcasts recorded two decades ago. All but one
In A Sentimental Mood: Pablo Expands Sarah Vaughan's "Ellington Songbooks"
Over a long recording career encompassing roughly ten labels and 45 years, “Divine One” Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) followed her muse wherever it led. That meant she might record an album of poetry by Pope John Paul II one day (1984’s The Planet is Alive...Let It Live!) and bossa nova with Sergio Mendes the nest day (1987’s Brazilian Romance, recently reissued as part of Legacy’s Complete Columbia Albums Collection, or a Beatles anthology (1977’s Songs of the Beatles, belatedly released in 1981)
Review: Tony Bennett, "Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas 1964"
It's been a busy week for Tony Bennett, one of the few artists today for whom "legendary" truly applies. Bennett, 87, supported the release of Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 as well as the digital release of his entire Columbia Records catalogue with a "digital day" for the books. Bennett engaged in a HuffPost Live Chat, took questions on Twitter via the hashtag #AskTony, shared videos on Facebook, and even participated in a reddit AMA. Here's to the next 87, Tony! Though named for
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