The last calendar page of the year (and, in this case, even the first!) means a bounty of soundtrack reissues! La-La Land Records, Varese Sarabande and Quartet have all recently planned some exciting expansions for your favorite score collector. La-La Land may have claimed that they were “serving coal” this year, with a lot of their typically big end-of-year titles stuck in approval delays – but they still prepared two late-period favorites from two classic film composers (plus an exciting vinyl title for James Bond fans) before kicking off January with two…
The Weekend Stream Extra: A Guide to ‘MTV Unplugged’ on Paramount+ (Part 2)
Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV’s great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We’re running a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that’s currently streaming on the station’s parent streaming network Paramount+! (Part 1 can be read here.) The evolution of MTV Unplugged was not unlike that of the network itself. If those first years on the air from 1989 to 1991 were proof of the format’s artistic viability, the episodes recorded…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
An Offer You Can’t Refuse: La-La Land’s 2022 Black Friday Batch May Be Their Best
Black Friday isn’t just a day for holiday sales and Record Store Day’s second event of the year – it’s also the day La-La Land Records announces their final (and often biggest) soundtrack reissues of the year. And it might not get bigger than 2022’s batch of titles, which feature two underrated scores from a pair of legendary composers, two massive franchise favorites with rich themes, and the soundtrack to what some consider the greatest American film ever made. Up first is one of those works from a great composer: perennial favorite…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Get on Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia Vol. 1 (Snapper/United Souls) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Burning Shed) Get On Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 is the first in a series of box sets from the U.K.-based United Souls label, an imprint of Snapper Music, which will ultimately collect the entire Philadelphia International albums discography on CD. The slipcased, 8-CD/1-12″ single hardcover book-style set will feature the following eight albums, originally released between 1971 and 1973: Billy…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Shake It Up! Rhino Announces Offering for Start Your Ear Off Right 2021
Rhino’s annual resolve to Start Your Ear Off Right continues into 2021 with new and exclusive, limited-edition releases to be released throughout January. The campaign begins today and includes titles by a diverse lineup: Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones, Buffalo Springfield, The Cars, Dire Straits, Danny Elfman, Genesis, k.d. lang, Curtis Mayfield, John Prine, Talk Talk, and Talking Heads. You can find all the details about these releases below, and be sure to grab these releases from your favorite independent record shop or their online storefronts as well as select Barnes…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
They’re Red Hot: AIDS-Combating Compilations Get Digital Reissues for 30th Anniversary
Since 1989, the Red Hot Organization (RHO) has been combatting the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Red Hot has primarily raised money through the creation of music compilations beginning with the 1990 release Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter. Now, that star-studded release and numerous others have come to digital and streaming services to continue raising money for the charity. RHO co-founder John Carlin, an entertainment lawyer spurred into action by the devastating losses suffered by the New York cultural community, envisioned an album of Cole Porter songs performed by world-class…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Mercy! Expanded Edition of Roy Orbison’s “Black and White Night” Arriving on Vinyl TODAY!
By the middle of the ’80s, Roy Orbison was primed for a comeback. In 1986, his epic ballad “In Dreams” was placed prominently in David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet, which sparked renewed interest in the velvet-voiced crooner and rocker. The following year, The “Big O” staged the ultimate comeback concert with a remarkable lineup of guests including Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, J.D. Souther, k.d. lang, and Jennifer Warnes. The star-studded group had convened at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub for the special performance, which would be broadcast…
In The Tower of Song: Leonard Cohen Covers Collected on “Hallelujah,” New Ace Records Compilation
With his acumen for gripping poetry, inimitable baritone, and trademark Spanish-influenced fingerpicking, Leonard Cohen married his talents for poetry and song-craft to create some of the most enduring music of the singer-songwriter era and beyond. Like every great songwriter, Cohen’s work continues to inspire an array of cover versions. Sure, there’s the million-and-one covers of “Hallelujah,” but even before the 1967 release of his debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, early supporters like Judy Collins and Buffy Sainte-Marie helped propel his words into the public consciousness. Years later, Cohen reflected on the joys…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 14
Welcome to another Release Round-Up. Here’s a look at what’s coming out today, December 14! Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen on Broadway [2CD] (Columbia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Springsteen on Broadway captures songs and selected stories from The Boss’ acclaimed, Tony Award-winning engagement on the Great White Way. Mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig, the album arrives one day before the closing show, and also just before it’s broadcast in full on Netflix. The streaming giant will premiere the production at 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET on…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Release Round-Up: Week of July 14
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Dusty Springfield, A Brand New Me: The Complete Philadelphia Sessions (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Dusty Springfield’s 1970 A Brand New Me LP (her follow-up Atlantic effort to the landmark Dusty in Memphis) found Dusty traveling to Sigma Sound in Philadelphia to work with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, architects of the orchestrated soul known as “The Philadelphia Sound.” Springfield would have a #3 AC hit with the album’s title song. Brand New Me forms the basis of…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Constant Craving: k.d. lang’s Breakthrough Album to Be Expanded
This summer, k.d. lang will celebrate the 25th anniversary of her breakthrough album Ingénue with a newly-expanded deluxe edition pairing the album with previously unreleased performances from her MTV Unplugged special. Ingénue found lang moving away from the country style she had earned acclaim with in the late ’80s to a more cabaret-pop sensibility–less Patsy Cline and more Edith Piaf, The Los Angeles Times suggested. Reuniting with producers Greg Perry and Ben Mink from her fourth album, Absolute Torch and Twang, the album’s small-group arrangements, with esoteric albums like accordions and cellos,…
