Edsel has recently continued a pair of box set series with the release of Disco Discharge Presents More Sin (1980-1989) and David Hepworth: More Deep ’70s. In late 2023, Edsel revived the long-dormant Disco Discharge series with the first Box of Sin. This second volume, More Sin: Full Length Gay Clubbing, follows the template of the first, taking listeners on a journey through the gay club scene of the 1990s and tracing the development of dance music from disco to house. As Ian Wade puts it in his introductory note, “These are…
Light in the Attic Compiles Lou Reed’s Earliest Work for Pickwick Records
For most people – let’s say the 30,000 or so people who started a band after buying their debut – The Velvet Underground was the band that introduced the world to the uncompromising rock energy of Lou Reed. As the latest archival title of his released by Light in the Attic Records will illustrate, Reed’s talents were first put on record in a possibly more unusual place than with The VU. Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed At Pickwick Records 1964-1965 will serve as the first official anthology (blessed by both…
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All That is Her Own: Early Nico Albums Due for CD, Vinyl Reissue in March
Anyone who thought they had the sound of German actress/singer Nico figured out from her work on 1967’s The Velvet Underground & Nico and Chelsea Girl would not have expected what she did next – chapters in a musical career that will be explored on new reissues by Domino Recording Company. On March 29, the label will issue newly remastered versions of 1969’s The Marble Index and 1970’s Desertshore on CD and vinyl, featuring unseen photos of the artist in the liner notes. The Marble Index includes two bonus tracks included on a 1991 reissue, making…
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Not Too Late: LITA Debuts Lou Reed Archive Series with “Words and Music – May 1965”
“I was working for a record company as a songwriter,” Lou Reed remembered in 1972, “where they’d lock me in a room and they’d say, ‘Write ten surfing songs,’ ya know, and I wrote ‘Heroin’ and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got something for ya.’ They said, ‘Never gonna happen, never gonna happen.’” Reed wasn’t able to introduce “Heroin” to the world until March 1967 when the Verve label released The Velvet Underground & Nico. The VU’s debut album disappointed commercially but became greatly influential; Brian Eno once quipped that while the LP…
Waiting for the Man: Soundtrack for Todd Haynes’ Velvet Underground Film Due in October
Director Todd Haynes has long emphasized music in his filmography. One of his first works to garner significant attention was 1987’s controversial and unauthorized Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story; four years later, his evocation of the glam rock era in Velvet Goldmine made more commercial waves. More recently, he’s been attached to direct Michelle Williams in the forthcoming Peggy Lee biopic Fever. But before Haynes tackles Peggy, he’s returning to a different Velvet: The Velvet Underground. On October 15, The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film by Todd Haynes will be released in…
The Weekend Stream: June 5, 2021
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 Saturday feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Nelly Furtado, Loose (Expanded Edition) (Geffen/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) Portuguese-Canadian…
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Rhino To Release A Whopping 29 Titles(!) for Record Store Day 2020
Rhino, the label that manages the catalogue of the Warner family of labels, has announced its upcoming Record Store Day releases. A mouth-watering 29 titles will hit shops on April 18, available exclusively at brick-and-mortar locations. These include the previously announced David Bowie titles; a rare live set from Alice Cooper; rarities from Jethro Tull; a box of John Prine’s early albums; a set of core Notorious BIG records; BBC sessions from The Pogues, New Order, and Hawkwind; a sought-after live album by The Pretenders; and so much more! Keep scrolling for…
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Keep a Close Watch: Ace Salutes “The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby” with Nick Drake, Richard and Linda Thompson, Iain Matthews
The subject of a new collection from Ace Records isn’t exactly a household name. But if you didn’t know the name of Robert Kirby before, you certainly will after a listen to When the Day is Done: The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby. The titular orchestrator is best known for his lush adornment of Nick Drake’s records, conjuring up a pastoral England that couldn’t be more removed from the swingin’ era that preceded it. A brief track from Drake opens this collection before it cedes to an exploration of Kirby’s other work as…
There They Go Again: New Velvet Underground Vinyl Box Features ‘1969’ Compilation
In the spring of 1967, after sitting on it for about a year, Verve Records issued The Velvet Underground & Nico, a strange yet ultimately captivating album by a New York band comprised of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen “Moe” Tucker – with vocal contributions from Nico, a German singer and model introduced to the album at the behest of artist and album producer Andy Warhol. Producer Brian Eno summed the album up better than anyone in in 1982: while sales were modest – only…
Big White Cloud: Ace Collects Folk Rock Sounds on “English Weather”
To many, the phrase “English weather” conjures images of fog, clouds, and rain. To Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, English weather means something “melodic, melancholy, with jazz and folk touches, and the same similar shrug of resignation…” So explains the compilers of the recent English Weather, an absorbing 18-track compendium from Ace Records collecting rare and unusual songs that might be, in their words, akin to “an unfamiliar album with a hint of Crosby, Stills and Nash, but an identifiably British pall hanging over the sunny harmonies.” They were referring to an album…
The American Metaphysical Circus: Esoteric Label Mines Art Rock From The USA, John Cale
Under the auspices of its new president, Clive Davis, Columbia Records aggressively courted the rock revolution in the late 1960s. The classy home to Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams built upon its successes with Paul Revere and the Raiders, Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan to tap into the youth market with a wide variety of rock artists. Two outré albums from the venerable Columbia catalogue have recently been reissued by Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint, and they both live up to the label’s name. The United States of America…
