While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Rick James, Glow (Deluxe Edition) /
As we approach the end of 2020, soundtrack labels are working overtime to put out some great archival score presentations. Not to be ignored this time of year is an impressive line-up from European label Quartet Records: last week they announced three incredible expanded releases and a new re-recording. Additionally, they recently issued another two expanded releases that are absolutely worth fans' time. Those recent releases are a pair of acclaimed scores from 1990: Jerry Goldsmith's work on
For years, the El imprint of Cherry Red has been collecting all the strangest and most fascinating avant-garde classical pieces, electronic experiments, and oddball rarities for a fervent group of admirers. Though their releases can be a little esoteric, El's collections have always been able to welcome in new listeners. And now, they offer what might be the essential introduction to twentieth-century avant-garde and classical (at least for listeners tuned to popular music). It's called I'd
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up. Here's what's on the way today, March 22! Aretha Franklin, Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic Catalog Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings presents Aretha Franklin's iconic concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972 in full. Both the Thursday night and Friday night sets are accounted for, spread across four 180-gram LPs. For
In recent months, the U.K.'s Dutton Vocalion label has reissued a number of rare quadraphonic mixes on SACD, including titles from Poco, Johnnie Taylor, The Guess Who, The Hues Corporation, Rick Derringer, Art Garfunkel, and more. The label has just announced its slate for September, highlighted by the SACD debut of the quad mix of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music and two film score releases from movie maestro Charles Gerhardt. All of Vocalion's quadraphonic SACDs are hybrid discs,
Cherry Red's El imprint has recently turned its attention to a trio of disparate composer-conductors. Happy Sounds Forever reissues the 1963 album from James Last, the king of "happy music," and adds selections from the catalogue of Bert Kaempfert ("Strangers in the Night") to round out the disc. On the other end of the spectrum, the label also has The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann, a collection dedicated to film score maestro and Alfred Hitchcock's most notable musical
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Impressions, The Best of The Impressions: The Curtom Years (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Varese Vintage has an impressive line-up of releases this week! First up, the label has brought together 18 prime cuts from the premier purveyors of Chicago soul, Curtis Mayfield and the legendary Impressions. This set features singles released on the Curtom label between 1968 and 1976 including the R&B hits "Fool for
Kritzerland has announced its latest release, and it's another classic score from the pen of the legendary Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Vertigo). Twentieth Century Fox's lavish 1952 film The Snows of Kilimanjaro starred Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner under the direction of Henry King and cinematography of the renowned Leon Shamroy. Kilimanjaro, nominated for two Academy Awards, was one of the year's most successful movies, and yielded more memorable music from the veteran composer
Fresh off its successful Indiegogo campaign, Kritzerland has returned to the music of Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Taxi Driver) for its latest soundtrack release. Two Herrmann scores - 1945's Hangover Square and 1952's 5 Fingers - have been paired on one CD. Though both have been previously released on CD, they have been newly transferred for Kritzerland by our friend Mike Matessino, and Hangover Square (a favorite score of none other than Stephen Sondheim) has been expanded by sixteen
Happy Birthday, Kritzerland! Ten years ago this month, producer Bruce Kimmel, known for his work at labels including Bay Cities and Varese Sarabande, launched the Kritzerland label. Since 2005, Kritzerland has released over 150 CDs: classic soundtracks from composers like Burt Bacharach, Henry Mancini, John Barry and John Williams, vintage cast recordings of musicals including stunning remixes of Follies and Promises, Promises, and solo albums by artists such as Sandy Bainum and the elusive
Romeo and Juliet at sea? Such was the premise behind 1953’s epic adventure Beneath the 12-Mile Reef. Only the third film shot in the widescreen CinemaScope process, the Twentieth Century Fox film starred Robert Wagner and Terry Moore as the star-crossed lovers from warring families on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Adding luster to the picture was the score by Bernard Herrmann. By 1953, Herrmann was already well-known for his Oscar-winning score to The Devil and Daniel Webster and nominees Citizen Kane
Klaatu barada nikto. With those three words, Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) saved the world from certain destruction at the hands of the eight-foot robot Gort in the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. Director Robert Wise’s film remains one of the most chilling and effective Cold War-era films, wrapping its plea for peace in a compelling, documentary-style sci-fi narrative. Chief among its assets was a score by maestro Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Taxi Driver). Herrmann’s intense, exciting