Month: July 2013

Rod Stewart / Rarities 2CD

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

rarities

Universal are issuing a new 24-track two-CD collection of Rod Stewart rarities from his Mercury Records era (1969 to 1974).

Presumably they are looking to capitalise on Time, Rod’s recent UK number one album, because Rarities seems to re-treads familiar ground with at least a third of the tracks previously released on the 2009 Sessions four-CD box set.

That said, if you only have some or all of the five albums from Rod’s best period (An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down, Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment and Smiler) then there will be much here to enjoy with its alternate versions, singles, B-sides, studio outtakes and covers.

Rarities is out on 2 September 2013.

Rod Stewart / Rarities track listing:
Continue reading “Rod Stewart / Rarities 2CD”

Circles: The Mod 45s vinyl box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

circles

A new Mod themed seven-inch vinyl box set will be issued on 26 August 2013.

Circles: The Mod 45s is a lift-off lid box that collects six 45rpm vinyl singles, from eleven different sharply dressed British bands, that include The Birds, the Small Faces, and The Alan Bown Set.

All of the singles appear on their original labels, housed in replica range bags (company sleeves) of the period and in are in the original Mono mixes. A download voucher is also included.

Circles: The Mod 45s Box / Track listings:

Single 1

  • The Birds – Leaving Here
  • The Poets – That’s The Way It’s Got To Be

Single 2

  • Jimmy Winston And His Reflections – Sorry She’s Mine
  • Small Faces – Own up Time

Single 3

  • Loose Ends – Tax Man
  • The Hipster Image – Make Her Mine

Single 4

  • The Eyes – When The Night Falls
  • The Eyes – I’m Rowed Out

Single 5

  • The Quik – Bert’s Apple Crumble
  • Robb and Dean Douglas – ‘Phone Me

Single 6

  • The Alan Bown Set – I Really Really Care
  • The Koobas – A Place I Know

front

Sly & The Family Stone / There’s a Riot Going On: Gold Edition

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Sly & The Family Stone / There's a Riot Going On: Gold Edition

Released in the UK on the same day as Sony Legacy’s Higher! box set (it’s already out in the US) music label Get On Down have created a special edition of Sly & The Family Stone’s 1971 album There’s A Riot Goin’ On.

This CD is described as a ’24k audiophile gold disc’ and although this new edition lacks any bonus material, it is packaged in a deluxe box emblazoned with a unique embroidered flag cover and includes a 48 page hard cover book filled with photos and liner notes.

There’s A Riot Goin’ On was the fifth studio album from Sly & The Family Stone, and features the number one US hit single Family Affair.

This Gold Edition is out in the UK on 26 August 2013 and earlier in other territories.

Sly & The Family Stone / There's a Riot Going On: Gold Edition

Sly & The Family Stone / There's a Riot Going On: Gold Edition

Sly & The Family Stone / There's a Riot Going On: Gold Edition

Nilsson / Flash Harry expanded CD

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Harry Nilsson / Flash Harry expanded reissue

This summer is proving to be a great season for fans of Harry Nilsson. Not only has Sony Legacy’s RCA Album Collection 17CD box set just been issued, but Nilsson’s very last studio album, 1980’s Flash Harry, is to be issued on CD for the first time on 13 August 2013.

The record features contributions from ex-Python Eric Idle who actually sings the first track Harry, and has his own Bright Side Of Life performed by Nilsson as the album closer. Nilsson’s co-write with John Lennon, Old Dirt Road, (originally on Lennon’s 1974 album Walls and Bridges) also makes an appearance, while Ringo Starr drums on the album and earns a co-writing contribution himself with How Long Can Disco On.

This new CD release features four bonus tracks, including three previously unreleased tracks and an alternative version of Old Dirt Road.

Flash Harry track listing

  • 1. Harry (Eric Idle and Charlie Dore)
  • 2. Cheek to Cheek
  • 3. Best Move
  • 4. Old Dirt Road
  • 5. I Don’t Need You
  • 6. Rain
  • 7. I’ve Got It
  • 8. It’s So Easy
  • 9. How Long Can Disco On
  • 10. Bright Side of Life
  • 11. Old Dirt Road (alt. version)
  • 12. Feet (Previously unreleased)
  • 13. Leave The Rest to Molly (Previously unreleased)
  • 14. She Drifted Away (Previously unreleased)

Crosby Stills and Nash / CSN: Audio Fidelity 24k Gold remaster

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Crosby, Stills & Nash / CSN 24k Gold CD

CSN, the third 1977 studio album by Crosby, Stills & Nash is being reissued on 13 August 2013 as a 24k Gold CD from Audio Fidelity, specially remastered for this edition by renowned audio engineer Steve Hoffman.

This classic album features the singles Just A Song Before I Go and Fair Game, with the former a Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit.

The 1991 Crosby, Stills & Nash 4CD box set which bears the same title, is also reissued in September.

The Beta Band / The Regal Years 6CD career spanning box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

regal

Parlophone Records are to release The Regal Years (1997-2004) a six-disc career retrospective of material from cult British indie group The Beta Band. 

The set will include all three studio albums (with bonus tracks), the Three E.P.’s collection, a disc of live BBC sessions and a sixth CD featuring unreleased demos and additional live performances. In total 25 tracks are previously unreleased (see full track listing below).

The Regal Years (1997-2004) is issued on 7 October 2013.

back_regal

Full track listing:
Continue reading “The Beta Band / The Regal Years 6CD career spanning box set”

Out This Week / 29 July 2013

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Nilsson / The RCA Albums Collection 17CD box set

Nilsson / The RCA Albums Collection (17CD box set)

This Nilsson box from Sony Legacy has just about everything: all the RCA albums, previously released bonus tracks and lots of unheard rarities – all at a relatively affordable price. Read more

Big Country / At The BBC box set

Big Country / At The BBC (3CD+DVD box set)

At The BBC consists of three CDs of Big Country BBC radio sessions (John Peel, David Jensen), coupled with a massive amount of live material (such as Hammersmith Palais ’83 and Hammersmith Odeon ’89) and a DVD which includes every Top Of The Pops appearance, and many other TV performances.

knebworth

Robbie William / Live At Knebworth 10th Anniversary (2DVD+Blu-ray+CD box set)

Whether the world needs a 10th anniversary of Robbie Williams‘ Live at Knebworth set is debatable, but this top-of-the-range version of the reissue is at least comprehensive by including two DVDs, a Blu-ray, and CD and a book.

Pet Shop Boys / Vocal CD single

Pet Shop Boys / Vocal Remixes (CD single)

The Pet Shop Boys have thrown caution to the wind, and their latest UK CD single is the lengthiest in their 28 year history, with nine mixes. It’s also notable for lacking a B-side which is virtually unheard of for the disco duo. Read more

rocknroll

Luke Haines / Rock and Roll Animals

If you thought Luke Haines‘ output couldn’t get any weirder than 2011’s hallucinogenic 9½ Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and early ’80s, then think again. Rock and Roll Animals sees Sham 69 singer Jimmy Pursey cast as a fox, Gene Vincent as a cat, and Nick Lowe as a badger. The narrative in this concept album see these ‘rock and roll animals’ take up the fight against some birds and Antony Gormley’s Angel Of the North. Wit, warmth, and great songs make this a triumph.

Fairport Convention / Rising For The Moon 2CD deluxe edition

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

rising2

Rising For The Moon, the last Fairport Convention album to feature Sandy Denny, will be reissued as a two-CD deluxe edition on 26 August 2013.

The 1975 album was reissued in 2005 with four bonus tracks, including three Denny demos (none of which are repeated here), but this time around the basic album comes with five extra tracks including White Dress as performed live on London Weekend Television (LWT) and a bonus disc of 16 live cuts.

Rising For The Moon Deluxe Edition track listing:

Disc: 1

  • 1. Rising For The Moon – ( 4.08 )
  • 2. Restless – ( 4.01 )
  • 3. White Dress – ( 3.44 )
  • 4. Let It Go – ( 2.00 )
  • 5. Stranger To Himself ( 2.51 )
  • 6. What Is true ? – ( 3.35 )
  • 7. Iron Lion – ( 3.27 )
  • 8. Dawn – ( 3.42 )
  • 9. After Haloween – ( 3.38 )
  • 10. Night – Time Girl
  • 11. One More Chance ( 7.55 )
  • 12. White Dress: Previously Unreleased – Live on LWT – ( 3:44 )
  • 13. Dawn – Alternate Take – ( 4:11 )
  • 14. What Is True ? (Studio Demo ) – ( 3:20 )
  • 15. After Halloween (Demo ) – (3:04 )
  • 16. The King And Queen of England (Home Demo-Alternate Take )-( 3:12 )

Disc: 2

  • 1. Down In The Flood – Live
  • 2. Ballad of Ned Kelly – Live
  • 3. Solo – Live
  • 4. It’ll Take A Long Time – Live
  • 5. She Moves Through The Fair – Live
  • 6. The Hens March Through The Midden & The Four Poster Bed – Live
  • 7. The Hexamshire Lass – Live
  • 8. Knocking On Heavens Door – Live
  • 9. Six Days On The Road – Live
  • 10. Like An Old Fashioned Waltz – Live
  • 11. John The Gun – Live
  • 12. Down Where The Drunkards Roll – Live
  • 13. Crazy Lady Blues – Live
  • 14. Who Knows Where The Time Goes – Live
  • 15. Matty Groves – Live
  • 16. That’ll Be The Day – Live

Elvis Costello / Brutal Youth vinyl debut via 2LP reissue

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
Elvis Costello's Brutal Youth vinyl reissue
Elvis Costello’s Brutal Youth was never issued on vinyl

The 1990s was a decade that saw Elvis Costello produce some great music as a result of collaborations. His desire move beyond releasing straight rock/pop albums led to some fruitful partnerships including the G.B.H. soundtrack with Richard Harvey, the underrated Juliet Letters album with The Brodsky Quartet, and the sublime Painted From Memory with Burt Bacharach. The even learned to read music along the way.

Ironically, despite all this, the nineties highpoint for many is his 1994 album Brutal Youth, which saw Costello reunite which his former cohorts, The Attractions for the first time in eight years.

Even though bassist Bruce Thomas didn’t survive the experience (Nick Lowe stepped in to play on most of the record) Brutal Youth was a fine return to form, after the somewhat impenetrable Mighty Like A Rose from 1991. The touching ballads (Too Soon To Know, Favourite Hour) complemented the spikier tracks (Kinder Murder, 20% Amnesia, Sulky Girl) perfectly, but best of all was the simplicity and consistency of the sound and Mitchell Froom’s production. The lofty musical ambitions of his previous few solo records were thrown out the window and this was Costello and the Attractions doing what they do best, with the ever-brilliant Steve Nieve really shining.

It did get a 2002 two-CD reissue, but amazingly, Brutal Youth has never been available on vinyl. All that is about to change, as Music On Vinyl prepare to release the album as a 180g 2xLP set on 19 August, complete with gatefold sleeve. This is the standard 15-track album with no bonus material.

Brutal Youth 2LP track listing:

LP 1

  • 1. Pony St.
  • 2. Kinder Murder
  • 3. 13 Steps Lead Down
  • 4. This Is Hell
  • 5. Clown Strike
  • 6. You Tripped At Every Step
  • 7. Still Too Soon To Know
  • 8. 20% Amnesia

LP 2

  • 1. Sulky Girl
  • 2. London’s Brilliant Parade
  • 3. My Science Fiction Twin
  • 4. Rocking Horse Road
  • 5. Just About Glad
  • 6. All The Rage
  • 7. Favourite Hour

RELIEF! Peter Gabriel finally gets his back scratched

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
Peter Gabriel / And I'll Scratch Yours
The cover of Peter Gabriel’s “And I’ll Scratch Yours”

Three and a half years after his Scratch My Back covers album, Peter Gabriel finally gets the favour returned. And I’ll Scratch Yours – released on 23 September –  features all but two of the artists, whose songs Gabriel covered originally, performing songs by Peter. Amongst the 12 tracks, Arcade Fire tackle Games Without Frontiers, Elbow try their hand at the evocative Mercy Street from So and Paul Simon performs Biko.
Continue reading “RELIEF! Peter Gabriel finally gets his back scratched”

Chic / The 12-inch Singles Collection / Vinyl box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

12inchcover

Warner Music will release a Chic vinyl box set via their Rhino imprint on 26 August 2013.

The 12″ Singles Collection contains five 12-inch vinyl records, complete with period sleeves and labels. The ten tracks included in this set take in a selection of Chic singles in their original extended form, including disco classics Good Times, Le Freak and Everybody Dance.

Chic 12″ Singles Collection track listing:

Record 1

  • A: Dance, Dance, Dance
  • B: Everybody Dance

Record 2

  • A: Le Freak
  • B: I Want Your Love

Record 3

  • A: Chic Cheer
  • B: Good Times

Record 4

  • A: My Forbidden Lover
  • B: My Feet Keep Dancing

Record 5

  • A: Hangin’
  • B: Chic Mystique

Monterey International Pop Festival 4CD set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

cover

In 1967, during the so-called ‘Summer Of Love’, 200,000 fans gathered on the Pacific Coast in California for a three day music festival and enjoyed performances from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Mamas And The Papas, The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane, to name but five.

This Monterey Pop Festival set from Salvo Music, celebrates the festival with a 70-track selection across four CDs and comes complete with an 88-page booklet. Great value at around £15 at the time of writing.

Full track listing:
Continue reading “Monterey International Pop Festival 4CD set”

Yes / High Vibration 16 SACD box set from Warner Music Japan

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Yes / High Vibration 16 SACD box set

Okay, brace yourselves… Warner Music Japan are about to release one of the most expensive music box sets ever featured on SuperDeluxeEdition.

High Vibration is a limited edition 16 SACD (Super Audio CD) box set, featuring the 13 albums released by English prog rock supergroup Yes, between 1968 and 1987, including live album Yessongs. A unique 12-track bonus SACD features rare selections such Owner of a Lonely Heart (Move Yourself Mix) from 1991 and 1972’s Total Mass Retain (single version) is also included.

Everything has been newly remastered in Japan by Isao Kikuchi, and these SACDs are packaged as mini-LP CDs (a.k.a. paper sleeves / vinyl replica). If you own The Beatles in Mono box set, you will know how good these are.

The SACDs are all hybrid discs [compatible with all CD players] with the SACD layer offering hi-res 96khz/24bit and the CD layer delivering the usual 44.1kHz/16bit.

The good news is this also comes with a 200-page book. The bad news is that it’s in Japanese.

At the time of writing High Vibration is available on various non-Japanese amazon sites as an expensive import – it’s over $500 in the USA and Canada and £488 in the UK. In Germany the current price is around £450. Those high prices are likely to drop at some point, given that at just under 40,000 Yen locally, the equivalent pound sterling figure is around £260. That probably equates to nearer £350 when you factor in shipping, UK import duties and ‘handling fees’, so at the moment it’s just over a £100 premium for the convenience of shopping via Amazon in your local territory.

Whether it is ‘worth’ paying the much money for this set, is up to the individual. The presentation will undoubtedly be excellent, and being a Japanese release offers appeal and exclusivity. The Robert Palmer Island Years paper sleeve box from 2007 has some similarities – unique mastering, only available in Japan – and that is now worth a small fortune.

High Vibration is released on 4 September 2013.

High Vibration full track listing:
Continue reading “Yes / High Vibration 16 SACD box set from Warner Music Japan”

The Beatles / The BBC Archives: 1962-1970 hardcover book

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

beatles_bbc

This autumn is going to be a busy (and expensive) period for fans of The Beatles. The Mono Vinyl Box Set is expected, a year after the stereo set, and we know that the first part of All These Years – Mark Lewisohn’s long awaited Beatles biography – is due for release in October.

Another tome which is making the most of the 50th Anniversary celebrations is The BBC Archives 1962-1970. This book is a collection of the surviving transcripts of the Beatles’ appearances on BBC Radio and Television from 1962 to 1970, featuring commentary from author and Beatles expert Kevin Howlett, alongside rare photographs and memorabilia from the BBC.

The large hardcover book will feature previously unpublished transcripts of interviews, as well as personal reminiscences from presenters, producers, and studio staff to reveal the creative and personal evolution of the band.

The Beatles / The BBC Archives: 1962-1970 is released on 10 October 2013.

The Band / “Live at the Academy of Music 1971” / 5-disc box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
The Band / Live at the Academy
Click to enlarge

26 July UPDATE: Full track listing added at the bottom of this post, and we can confirm that disc five, is a DVD with the tracks from discs 1 and 2 in 5.1 Surround, plus Alk and Lerner’s filmed performances of ‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’ and ‘The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show’.

A five-disc deluxe box set celebrating The Band‘s 1972 live album Rock Of Ages, will be issued on 17 September 2013.

Rock Of Ages was originally a 2LP set compiled from recordings made during The Band’s series of shows in late December 1971, at the Academy of Music in New York City, where they were augmented by a five-man horn section, with arrangements by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint.

Although details around this set have not yet been officially announced, a close look at the artwork for Live At The Academy Of Music provided to Amazon, indicates that discs one and two are the Rock Of Ages concert across two CDs, newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain. A further two CDs appear to be soundboard recordings of the fourth and final night of the gigs – New Years’ Eve 1971. The fifth and final disc is either an audio-only 5.1 surround sound DVD/Blu-ray OR it is a DVD with video footage sync’d to a 5.1 surround soundtrack.

This discs will come packaged in a hardback book, similar to The Who Quadrophenia Director’s Cut box set of 2011, or the Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks… box of 2012.

More details on the Live At The Academy Of Music box set when we get them.

5-disc box set

2CD Edition

Continue reading “The Band / “Live at the Academy of Music 1971” / 5-disc box set”

Sly & The Family Stone / Higher! box set: US-only bonus disc details

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Higher! Sly and the Family Stone 4-disc box set

Earlier this month, we told you about a new Sly & The Family Stone four-CD box set from Sony Legacy which is due for release at the end of August.

Exclusive to Amazon.com, the US version of this set comes with a fifth bonus disc containing six more rarities. They are:

  • 1. Stand! (long version)
  • 2. TV Medley: Sing A Simple Song/ Hot Fun In The Summertime / I Want To Take You Higher
  • 3. Time For Livin’ (alternate Record Plant mix)
  • 4. Saint James Infirmary (instrumental) (live)
  • 5. Sittin’ On My Fanny
  • 6. Dust To Dust (instrumental)

Curiously, the 8LP vinyl box also comes with this bonus CD. European and other non-US fans are unfortunately denied this bonus selection, and will have to resort to the cost and hassle of importing, if this CD is considered a ‘must have’.

4CD Box Set (bonus CD is an Amazon.com exclusive)

Japanese 4xBlu-Spec CD2 box set

8LP+CD Vinyl box set (bonus CD is an Amazon.com exclusive)

1CD ‘Highlights’ release

Van Morrison unhappy with deluxe reissue of “Moondance”

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

moondance_deluxe

Only a day after Warner Music announced their forthcoming deluxe reissue of Van Morrison‘s Moondance, the man himself has taken to his website to distance himself from the re-release, claiming “I did not endorse this, it is unauthorised and it has happened behind my back.”

‘Van the Man’ goes on to say “My management company at that time gave this music away 42 years ago and now I feel as though it’s being stolen from me again.”

Although it is unlikely that Warner Music needed Morrison’s permission for this reissue (rendering his ‘unauthorised’ claim rather meaningless), it’s hardly helpful for them to have the singer songwriter come out so aggressively against a product that bears his name.

Leave a comment, and let us know your thoughts on this situation.

Statement in full:

“A MESSAGE FROM VAN MORRISON.

Yesterday Warner Brothers stated that “Van Morrison was reissuing Moondance”. It is important that people realise that this is factually incorrect. I did not endorse this, it is unauthorised and it has happened behind my back.

My management company at that time gave this music away 42 years ago and now I feel as though it’s being stolen from me again

18th July 2013″

Pre-order Deluxe Moondance:

5-disc Deluxe Edition
•  USA Pre-order: Moondance Deluxe Edition (4 CDs/1 Blu-Ray Audio)

2-CD Expanded Edition
• USA Pre-order: Moondance Expanded Edition (2 CD)

Standard single disc remaster
• USA Pre-order: Moondance Remastered Standard Edition
• CANADA Pre-order: Moondance

Alan Parsons Project / “I Robot” two-disc Legacy Edition

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

rob2

A 35th Anniversary ‘Legacy’ edition of the Alan Parsons Project 1977 concept album I Robot, will be issued on 17 September 2013.

The set will feature a remastered version of the album on disc one, with a bonus disc containing 14 additional tracks, nine of which are previously unreleased.

Alan Parsons has personally overseen this project with Sally Woolfson (daughter of Eric Woolfson, manager, sometimes singer, and co-founder of the Alan Parsons Project).

2CD version

vinly

2LP Gatefold Vinyl

Disc: 1

  • 1. I Robot
  • 2. I Wouldn t Want To Be Like You
  • 3. Some Other Time
  • 4. Breakdown
  • 5. Don’t Let It Show
  • 6. The Voice
  • 7. Nucleus
  • 8. Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)
  • 9. Total Eclipse
  • 10. Genesis Ch1 v32

Disc: 2

  • 1. U.S Radio Commercial for I Robot
  • 2. Boules (I Robot Experiment)
  • 3. Hilary Western Soprano Vocal Rehearsal
  • 4. Extract 1 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide
  • 5. Extract 2 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide
  • 6. I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You (Backing Track Rough)
  • 7. Some Other Time – Complete vocal by Jaki Whitren
  • 8. Breakdown (Early demo of backing riff)
  • 9. Extract 3 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide
  • 10. Breakdown – The Choir
  • 11. Don’t Let It Show Demo
  • 12. Day After Day (Early Stage Rough Mix)
  • 13. Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32 – Choir Session
  • 14. The Naked Robot