Author: Paul Sinclair

#ZTT30: Art of Noise in talks about reforming for possible live dates

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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The original founding members of influential avant-garde synthpop outfit the Art Of Noise are hoping to get back together and tour again, possibly in 2015.

Interviewed (separately) for this blog, Fairlight Programmer J.J. Jeczalik and Engineer/Producer Gary Langan both confirmed that there were ongoing “conversations” about hitting the road.

Langan told us: “What I’d really like, my wish for the future, is that somehow the Art of Noise gets back together again and we go on tour, and we do it properly. There are conversations, everybody’s aware of it.”
Continue reading “#ZTT30: Art of Noise in talks about reforming for possible live dates”

Hue and Cry / Remote: Major to Minor / 4-disc deluxe package

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Scottish pop duo Hue and Cry are reissuing one of their most successful albums as a special deluxe book set.

Their second album, 1988’s Remote, becomes Remote: Major To Minor – a 3CD+DVD set packaged within a 48-page hardback book.
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#ZTT30: Japanese CD of the Day: Frankie Goes To Hollywood / BANG!

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

FRONT

If you wanted to buy an ‘import’ CD or music release in London in 1985 there was only one place to go – Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus. A record store so cool that you didn’t have to leave the tube station to go shopping (there was an entrance within the station itself).

It was there that this unique Frankie Goes To Hollywood Japanese EP was purchased almost 30 years ago.
Continue reading “#ZTT30: Japanese CD of the Day: Frankie Goes To Hollywood / BANG!”

Joe Satriani / The Complete Studio Recordings / 15CD box set

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Sony’s Legacy Recordings division will release the The Complete Studio Recordings of rock guitarist Joe Satriani in April 2014.

All 14 studios albums, starting with 1986’s Not Of This Earth, are included in this 15CD box set, with the final disc being made of a selection of rarities specially curated by Satriani himself (Added Creations and Bonus Tracks).
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The Rolling Stones / “Let It Bleed” blu-ray audio coming soon

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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The high resolution blu-ray audio of The Rolling Stones‘ Let It Bleed will be issued on 24 February 2014.

The 1969 album will be the third Rolling Stones release to get the Pure Audio treatment after the GRRR! release in late 2012 kicked off the format and Exile On Main Street arrived in the latter part of 2013.
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#ZTT30: Close (To The GRAMMY)

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
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Gary Langan’s GRAMMY, photographed by Gary Langan for SDE

“I was persona non grata”

In an extract from an exclusive interview with SuperDeluxeEdition Art of Noise member Gary Langan recalls when the band were nominated for a GRAMMY award in 1987 for Peter Gunn. By this stage Gary had left the band and relations has soured to the extent that he wasn’t invited to the awards…

Gary Langan: “I was producing Spandau Ballet. I was doing “Through the Barricades” and I was in Munich in Germany. We’d been put up for a Grammy Continue reading “#ZTT30: Close (To The GRAMMY)”

Out This Week / 10 February 2014

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

ZTT / The Art of the 12", Volume Three / 2CD remix compilation

Various Artists / The Art of the 12″, Volume Three 

One of four ZTT releases this week, The Art of the 12″, Volume Three is probably the pick of the bunch with a fine selection of rare, obscure and new-to-CD remixes. The usual suspects (Frankie, Propaganda, Art of Noise) are joined by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, ABC, Nasty Rox Inc, and The Belle Stars, amongst others. Read more

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Neil Finn / Dizzy Heights

The Crowded House frontman’s first solo album from 13 years is produced by Dave Fridmann with Neil Finn opting for a more expansive and experimental sound.

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Lisa Stansfield / Seven

Lisa Stansfield finally follows up 2004’s The Moment (produced by Trevor Horn and released on ZTT, fact fans) with Seven. Hubby and writing partner Ian Devaney is back producing and there is a deluxe edition which includes a bonus studio recording and two live tracks.

Frankie Said Deluxe Edition: Frankie Say It Again...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood  / Frankie Said  Deluxe

The excellent Frankie Said compilation is expanded into a Frankie Goes To Hollywood audio/visual experience thanks to the inclusion of a DVD which features videos and Top of the Pops performances. Read more

Continue reading “Out This Week / 10 February 2014”

#ZTT30: Blank & Jones working on ambitious ZTT SoEighties set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
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Jaspa Jones (left) and Piet Blank (right) with an original Roland Jupiter 8 at work in their studio on their ZTT SoEighties project

DJs, producers, compilation curators and general eighties enthusiasts Blank & Jones are this year undertaking perhaps their most ambitious task to date.

The duo are working on a new volume of their well regarded SoEighties remix compilation series, but this one will be themed solely around ZTT releases from the classic era of the early eighties. What’s special about this project is that Trevor Horn has agreed to hand over the original multi-tracks and the pair have set about reconstructing new mixes with the self-imposed restriction of only using the original parts available from the original tapes. This will offer the freshness and excitement of a new reworking, coupled with the authenticity of a period remix.
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The Stranglers / Giants and Gems 11CD anniversary box set

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The Parlophone Label Group (now part of Warner Music) will issue a 40th Anniversary Stranglers box set called Giants and Gems: An Album Collection.

This set includes the six studios albums issued in the UA/Liberty Records era, plus live albums Live (X Cert) and Live at the Hope and Anchor. 1986 B-sides compilation Off The Beaten Track also makes an appearance with The Stranglers two most recent albums Suite XVI (2006) and Giants (2012) making up discs 10 and 11.
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The Beatles / “US Albums” price drop

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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Just in case anyone out there who wants the new Beatles US Albums box hasn’t picked one up yet, Amazon in the UK have just reduced it again by around £50 to £107. The last time they reduced the price similarly, it went back up to £150 after less than 24 hours.

Tabu confirm box set tracklisting

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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A year after it was first announced, the Tabu box set will finally be released on 10 March 2014.

This is now a seven-disc set (6CD+DVD), or eight if you count the bonus seven-inch single, and features 93 tracks, some of which are on CD for the first time all “extensively re-mastered”.
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#ZTT30 / Celebrating ZTT Records

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
Frankie Goes To Hollywood / Relax (Sex Mix) 2014 vinyl
#ZTT30 Anniversary celebrations start next week on SuperDeluxeEdition

Next week sees a number special releases from Salvo Music to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of ZTT Records.

The deluxe version of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood compilation Frankie Said (reviewed here) hits the ‘shops’ and is joined by The Art of the 12″, Volume Three and another two-CD collection The Organisation of Pop (London Edition). Salvo are even putting out a limited twelve-inch vinyl version of Frankie’s Relax which is exclusive to Amazon.

SuperDeluxeEdition is joining in the celebrations; every day next week we will be bringing you ZTT-related news, reviews, interviews and competitions. Continue reading “#ZTT30 / Celebrating ZTT Records”

Fleetwood Mac / “Boston” repackaged

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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It seems that Snapper Music’s round packaging for their three-CD Fleetwood Mac Boston set has not been universally popular with fans, some of whom have struggled to get the discs in and out of the box, aside from the issues of storing something that rolls, on a shelf.

The good news for FM fans is that Snapper will be putting out a version in more traditional clamshell box on 7 April 2014. More details on the original Boston release can be found here. We’ll let you know when the new version is available for pre-order.

UFO / The Complete Studio Albums 1974-1986 / 10CD box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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In March 2014 Rhino will issue The Complete Studio Albums 1974-1986, a box set collecting the work of British hard rock band UFO.

This 10CD collection includes the albums Phenomenon (1974), Force It (1975), No Heavy Petting (1976), Lights Out (1977), Obsession (1978), No Place To Run (1980), The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent (1981), Mechanix (1982), Making Contact (1983) and Misdemeanour (1985).
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The Who / Sensation: The Story of Tommy / Blu-ray and DVD

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sensation

Eagle Vision will next month issue Sensation: The Story of Tommy a documentary on the making of The Who‘s Tommy album that runs just shy of two hours.

We had the opportunity to see this late last year. It’s a superb film with Pete Townshend on typically candid form as he talks extensively on camera about the background, creation and impact of Tommy. Of course, Roger Daltrey contributes similarly and is interviewed separately. There is plenty of archive footage and this Blu-ray / DVD release includes a bonus 33-minute feature from the Germany TV Show Beat Club.
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T Rex / “Tanx” and “Zinc Alloy” deluxe set available to order for US fans

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T Rex / Tanx and Zinc Alloy 4CD+DVD deluxe

Demon Music’s five-disc T Rex deluxe book set that combines new Visconti-remasters of Tanx and Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow is now available on Amazon in the UK and can therefore be ordered by fans in North America and Canada, who previously were unable to do so via the official T Rex store.

Each album is offered across two CDs and comes with an enormous amount of bonus material, including A-sides, B-sides, demos and outtakes. The DVD offers Top Of The Pops performances, promo films and other TV appearances. The 12″ x 12″ hardback book comes with new notes by Mark Paytress and Tony Visconti.

This Tanx and Zinc Alloy set will be released on 3 March 2014.

Track listing:

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Mark Lanegan / Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011

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Mark Lanegan / "Has God Seen My Shadow: An Anthology 1989-2011"

Having recently produced the really lavish Lee Hazlewood box set, US label Light In The Attic keep things relatively simple for this two-CD (and three-LP) exploration of the solo work of American musician and singer-songwriter Mark Lanegan.

Best known for the Screaming Trees and being in Queens Of The Stone Age, Lanegan has semi-regularly put out solo albums for over two decades starting in 1990 with The Winding Sheet which was issued on Sub Pop. This Anthology uses that record as a starting point and ends with 2004’s Bubblegum (issued on Beggars Banquet). That’s only half the story though, because the entire second disc in this set is previously unreleased. Many date of those tracks date from the late nineties and early noughties.
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Kylie Minogue / “Kiss Me Once” box

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Kylie Minogue‘s role as a judge on the UK version of “The Voice” has certainly raised her profile here in Britain. She is taking full advantage, with the impending release of her 12th studio album Kiss Me Once.

There is a deluxe edition that adds two songs to the 11-track album (Mr President and Sleeping With The Enemy) and comes with a rather lame looking bonus DVD which features the video to first single Into The Blue, alongside some very thin, inessential content such as the trailer for Into The Blue, and the making of Into The Blue… you get the idea.
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DEAL OF THE DAY / The Beatles: The US Albums 13CD box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

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Who wants a Beatles “US Albums” box for around £60? Yes, two weeks after the release, Amazon in Canada have reduced The Beatles US Albums box set to just $106 Canadian (correct at the time of writing).

If you’re are in the UK the combination of such a low price and favourable exchange rates make this an absolute steal. Obviously, remember to factor in possible import or VAT duties, but as a comparison this set is £145 on Amazon UK, or £95 more expensive!