Pet Shop Boys will release a fourth single from their Nonetheless album in September.
They’ve gone with the song ‘Feel’ as, presumably, the final single and like the others it will be available on CD. The five tracks on this CD single include a radio edit of ‘Feel’ and a previously unreleased song,‘Everybody will dance’, which was written and demoed in 2015 during song-writing sessions prior to the recording of the Super album.
Additionally, the CD features a Floorplan remix of the first Nonetheless single, ‘Loneliness’, a Superchumbo remix of ‘Everybody will dance’ and the ‘Deutsch demo’ of album track ‘The Schlager hit parade’ called ‘Schlager-Hitparade’ which is sung in German (by Chris!).
The CD single is packaged in a gatefold card wallet and features photography shot on the Feel video (which has been directed by Corbin Shaw).
Feel is released on 27 September 2024, via Parlophone. The blu-ray of Nonetheless with exclusive SDE slipcase and a special blu-ray bundle with the ‘Dancing Star’ CD single are available via the SDE shop.
Joan As Police Woman (aka Joan Wasser) issues a new studio album, Lemons, Limes and Orchids, next month.
The album follows 2021’s collaborative The Solution is Restless, 2020’s Cover Two and Damned Devotion from 2018 (read SDE’s interview with Joan here).
Joan says the following about Lemons, Limes, and Orchids: “I was ready to make an album that truly featured my voice. The basics were recorded like they used to be – with me singing live along with the band. My good friend told me this is the sexiest album I’ve ever made. Honestly, I think she’s right.
‘Long For Ruin’ from Lemons, Limes and Orchids
The record is described as “a nocturne about love and loss and a reckoning with our collective disorientation, part hymn to holding on and part benediction of letting go”. It can be pre-ordered on CD or tangerine-coloured vinyl.
Lemons, Limes and Orchids will be released on 20 September, via PIAS.
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Joan As Police Woman
Lemons Limes and Orchids - tangerine coloured vinyl LP
The Alan Parsons Project/PyramidCD, Vinyl, Blu-ray
The Alan Parsons Project’s third album, 1978’s Pyramid, is reissued in a number of formats including a massive seven-disc super deluxe edition box set.
Jethro Tull’s 1969 album was originally reissued in 2016 but the 2CD+DVD deluxe is now available again this week. One of a series of reprints (see below).
This 2CD+2DVD set of Tull’sWar Child album was released in 2014 for its 40th anniversary. As with the other albums above, it has now been made available again.
This 2017 collection of theSuede frontman’s solo work features all four of his albums issued between 2007 and 2011, plus bonus tracks and a fifth disc of live performances. Newly packaged in seven-inch gatefold style presentation with 32-page booklet.
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Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson: Collected Solo Work 5CD Deluxe Gatefold Packaging
The pre-order window for the Thin Lizzy1976: Jailbreak and Johnny The Fox SDE-exclusive blu-ray is about to close.
#27 in the ongoing SDE Surround Series, this blu-ray audio features the band’s two studio albums released in 1976 – Jailbreak and Johnny The Fox – in the following audio streams:
Dolby Atmos [48/24]
5.1 Surround [48/24]
2024 Stereo Mix [48/24]
Stereo Instrumentals [48/24]
Remastered Original Stereo Mix [96/24]
Don’t miss out! The blu-ray audio will ship with a free and collectible SDE slipcase and is exclusively available via the SDE shop using this link or the buttons below.
The pre-order window closes tomorrow on 18 August and is the last point you can guarantee a copy of this release, although as always, there might be some availability around the release date (27 September) due to cancellations.
Tracklisting
1976: Jailbreak and Johnny The FoxThin Lizzy/SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio
Blu-ray
Jailbreak: Dolby Atmos, 5.1, 2024 Stereo, Instrumental and Original Stereo mixes
Jailbreak
Angel From the Coast
Running Back
Romeo And the Lonely Girl
Warriors
The Boys Are Back in Town
Fight Or Fall
Cowboy Song
Emerald
Johnny The Fox: Dolby Atmos, 5.1, 2024 Stereo, Instrumental and Original Stereo mixes
German band Nena’s self-titled debut album is to be reissued as expanded 2CD and 2LP deluxe editions in November.
Originally released in January 1983, Nena features the original ’99 Luftballons’ hit single and topped the charts in Germany and Austria but the album wasn’t released internationally. Over a year later, when the English language version of ’99 Luftballons’ (’99 Red Balloons’) was a massive hit in the UK and an album called 99 Luftballons was released further afield, which consisted of songs from the band’s first and second albums (the second album ? had been issued by this point) in a mix of German and English language versions.
2CD deluxe of Nena (click image to enlarge)
BMG in Germany are very much sticking to the original Nena album for this reissue, so for example, it doesn’t even feature ’99 Red Balloons’ as a bonus track, which for the audience beyond Germany and Austria is going to seem slightly odd. The 10 extra songs on the second CD include B-sides, live tracks and ‘Amour Candide’, a French language version of the song ‘Nur Geträumt’.
The label make the point that everything has been “lovingly remastered” from the original tapes “to ensure excellent sound quality” and while labels often say this, the specific emphasis hopefully means this should sound good.
The 2CD set includes a 24-page booklet with a personal note from Nena to late band member Carlo Karges. There’s also a snazzy looking 2LP set pressed on red vinyl which features the same 10 bonus tracks on the second LP.
Nena is released on 1 November 2024 via BMG in Germany.
Thomas Dolby’s 1984 album, The Flat Earth, will be reissued next month as a limited edition coloured vinyl pressing.
Now 40 years old, Dolby’s second album peaked at No 14 on the UK album chart and was a top 40 hit in the US. It features the single. ‘Hyperactive!’, ‘The Flat Earth’ and ‘Dissidents’.
The Flat Earth is pressed on 180g translucent blue vinyl for this reissue and is limited to just 750 numbered copies.
It will be released on 27 September 2024, via Music On Vinyl. Secure a copy from the SDE shop via this link or by using the button below.
Green Day’s 2004 album American Idiot will be reissued for its 20th anniversary in October.
The band’s seventh record was a critical and commercial success – a concept album which features the singles ‘American Idiot’, ‘Jesus of Suburbia’, ‘Holiday’, ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’, and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’.
Two box sets share the same audio and video content, with a 4CD + 2 x blu-ray set and an 8LP vinyl + 2 x blu-ray super deluxe both offering 15 unreleased demos, a 15-song 2004 concert from Irving Plaza, NYC (9 songs previously unreleased), and 14 B-sides and bonus tracks.
4CD box set includes two blu-rays and some items of memorabilia (click image to enlarge)
The boxes are completed with two blu-rays that feature the film Heart Like A Hand Grenade, 35 minutes of Green Day live at the BBC, and a new, unreleased documentary: 20 Years of American Idiot
The CD box comes with a 48-page book, an enamel pin set, sticker sheet, and cloth patch, whereas the vinyl box includes a 36-page book, large Green Day flag and an American Idiot red tie. David Fricke contributes sleeve notes.
A red splatter 2LP vinyl is also available via some indie retailers, such as Rough Trade (UK link, US link).
American Idiot is reissued on 25 October 2024, via Warner Records.
In case the £1350 super deluxe edition of John Lennon’sMind Games wasn’t enough for you (or even the £130 deluxe for that matter), some new mixes of just the title track of John’s 1973 album are being released on a limited edition 3LP vinyl package.
Called the ‘Meditation Mixes’, these nine mixes see the song “radically altered, slowed down and extended” with running times ranging from 5 to over 23 minutes. We are told this allows “the musical soundtrack to wash over the listener and provide a relaxing, immersive, deep listening and meditative experience”.
Mind Games Meditation Mixes on 3LP clear vinyl (click image to enlarge)
Here’s some more blurb from the official announcement: “Four of these tracks are presented as ‘Binaural’ versions that each focus on different types of brain waves: Beta, Delta, Gamma and Theta. Named ‘Mind’, ‘Space’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Love’, these tracks utilise the effect created when the ears hear left and right frequencies which combine to be perceived as a new frequency that can activate different brain patterns for scientifically proven therapeutic effects”.
These mixes have been produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and engineered by Sam Gannon with additional recording engineered by Scott Holingsworth. None of them are available in either version of the box set and there’s no CD version either, just the 3LP vinyl which is pressed on 180g crystal clear vinyl which is packaged in a triple gatefold mirrorboard sleeve.
These Meditation Mixes of Mind Games will be released on 11 October 2024, two days after what would have been John Lennon’s 84th birthday.
Therapy?’s 1994 album Troublegum will be reissued as two different vinyl editions for its 30th anniversary.
The Northern Irish band’s second album on A&M (and their fourth overall), Troublegum was recorded at Chipping Norton Studios and RAK in London and ultimately delivered five top 30 hits, including lead single ‘Screamager’ which reached number 9 in the UK charts. In the middle of all this was the non-album single ‘Opal Mantra’, which peaked at number 18.
Lavender and grey 2LP vinyl set offers bonus tracks
The 30th anniversary reissue is a vinyl-only affair (a 3CD deluxe was issued 10 years ago for the 20th anniversary) and the two editions are as follow: a 2LP set on lavender and grey vinyl, with the bonus LP offering 14 B-sides/rarities; and a single LP pressed on ‘caramel’ coloured vinyl.
Troublegum will be reissued on 27 September 2024 via Proper Records.
Porcupine Tree’s 2021 album. This deluxe edition features a blu-ray audio with three bonus tracks and all 10 songs in Dolby Atmos, 5.1, hi-res stereo. The two CDs feature the album, an instrumental version of the album and the bonus tracks in stereo.
Jethro Tull/The Zealot Gene 3LP+2CD+blu-ray box3LP+2CD+blu-ray super deluxe
Ten Years After’s legendary Woodstock performance is issued as a standalone release. Audio has been newly restored with fresh mixes from the original two-inch multitrack tapes. Sleeve notes are by Chris Welch.
David Sylvian’s compilation Everything and Nothing is being released on vinyl for the first time, in October.
Released in 2000, it’s a career-spanning compilation that features key songs from David’s solo recordings, collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Robert Fripp, Mick Karn, Alesini & Andreoni, and tracks by Japan and Rain Tree Crow.
Everything and Nothing released on vinyl for the first time (click image to enlarge)
It’s a mix of previously released, unreleased, re-recorded, non-album and alternate versions of tracks from Sylvian’s 20 years with Virgin Records, focusing entirely on vocal compositions.
Everything and Nothing was originally issued on CD, minidisc and cassette but not vinyl. To accommodate the 29 tracks, this new issue is a triple vinyl package.
Everything and Nothing will be released as a 3LP set on 4 October 2024, via UMR.
The fourth volume of Joni Mitchell’s ongoing Archives series will be released in October.
Subtitled ‘The Asylum Years 1976-1980’ Archives Vol. 4 features live tracks from her time in Bob Dylan’sRolling Thunder Revue during 1975 and 1976, songs from her 1979 tour and unreleased studio sessions and alternate versions of tracks from the albums Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus.
The 6CD version of Archives Vol. 4 The Asylum Years 1976-1980 (click image to enlarge)
Packaged in a similarly to previous sets, Vol. 4 will also include notes taken from Joni in conversation with Cameron Crowe. The music is available as a 6CD box with 100 tracks or a 4LP ‘highlights’ edition with 40 tracks.
Archives Vol 4: The Asylum Years 1976-1980 will be released on 4 October 2024, via Rhino.
5CD+blu-ray box set • Coloured vinyl LPs • SDE blu-ray which features BOTH albums in Atmos, 5.1, stereo and more – Quick Pre-order
Next month UMR will release a Thin Lizzy box set called 1976 which celebrates the band’s two studio albums of that year: Jailbreak and Johnny The Fox. There will also be vinyl editions and a standalone SDE-exclusive blu-ray edition.
Jailbreak, released in March 1976, features the classic title track and the career-defining ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ while Johnny The Fox, issued just six months later in October, includes the improbably funky ‘Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed’ and the hit single ‘Don’t Believe A Word’.
Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham has the following to say about these records: “The great thing was the writing, it was killer. I still don’t know if it was just something that happened naturally or because the pressure was on. But there are songs on these records we still play now. Songs that will always be in the Thin Lizzy set.”
The Boys Are Back in Town from Jailbreak
The 5CD+blu-ray box set includes remastered original stereo and new stereo mixes of both albums, plus two discs of outtakes. The fifth CD features a WMMS radio broadcast of Thin Lizzy Live In Clevelandfrom May ’76. The box set also includes a blu-ray with Atmos, 5.1, new stereo and original stereo mixes of both albums.
The box is a 10″ x 10″ presentation and comes with a 40-page hardcover book with sleeve notes by Mark Blake. There will also be two coloured vinyl editions of both albums which feature the new stereo mixes.
SDE exclusive blu-ray includes five audio streams of both albums, including exclusive instrumental mixes
However, there is also an SDE-exclusive standalone version of the blu-ray which includes everything on the blu-ray in the box set but adds exclusive instrumental versions. So both albums, with no less than 10 audio streams, as follows:
Jailbreak
Dolby Atmos Mix (48/24)
5.1 Mix (48/24)
2024 Stereo Mix (48/24)
Instrumental Mix (48/24)
Remastered Original Stereo Mix (96/24)
Johnny The Fox
Dolby Atmos Mix (48/24)
5.1 Mix (48/24)
2024 Stereo Mix (48/24)
Instrumental Mix (48/24)
Remastered Original Stereo Mix (96/24)
The new mixes have been undertaken by Richard Whittaker, overseen by legendary Lizzy Guitarist Scott Gorham and mastered by Andy Pearce.
Don’t Believe A Word from Johnny The Fox
The SDE-exclusive blu-ray is #27 in the SDE Surround Series, is packaged in the clear amaray blu-ray case and comes with a FREE and collectible SDE-slipcase.
The SDE blu-ray is a limited edition; the pre-order window will be open for 10 days, closing on Sunday 18 August. You can pre-order only via the SDE shop using this link or the buttons below.
All formats of 1976 and the two vinyl albums are released on 27 September 2024, via UMR (The only format we’re not stocking on the SDE shop is the box set).
Johnny The Fox meets Jimmy The Weed (from Johnny The Fox)
Paul McCartney’s never-issued 1974 documentary known as One Hand Clapping is getting a theatrical release in September (“an exclusive cinema event” to quote the press release).
The soundtrack was recently released in CD and vinyl audio configurations (read SDE’s review) but now David Litchfield’s original documentary (filmed on video) will be shown on the big screen and will incorporate the previously unreleased BackyardSessions, where Paul McCartney played a few songs in the back garden of Abbey Road Studios on acoustic guitar, including ‘Blackpool” and ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ (these tracks were included on the seven-inch single which formed part of the D2C 2LP+7″ package).
Songs from One Hand Clapping film were featured on the DVDs of some of McCartney’s deluxe archive editions (notably Band on the Run and McCartney) but it has never been officially released in full.
Since this is being produced by Mercury Studios is seems more than likely that a Blu-ray/DVD release will follow. Even though, as noted, this was filmed on video, it has been scanned and restored to 4K although that seems rather pointless since the new clip of Band on the Run (above) confirms that a 4K restoration of dodgy video still looks like dodgy video.
Tickets go on sale on 16 August via the official website and screenings begin from 26 September. The screenings also boast an exclusive filmed introduction by Paul McCartney and previously unseen Polaroid photographs from the sessions.
The record features newly recorded versions of songs from Gilbert’s back catalogue, including classic hits such as ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ and ‘Clair’. ‘Blue Anchor Bay’ is from 2022’s Driven (which was #3 in the SDE Surround Series) and there’s also a brand new track called ‘A Kiss is a Kiss’.
These are “paired down” versions, recorded at Lafayette, King’s Cross in late 2023 with Gilbert’s longtime friend, Bill Shanley on guitar and backing vocals.
The album is currently only available via Gilbert O’Sullivan’s online shop, but the editions with the signed art card appear to have sold out.
Songbook is released on 27 September 2024, via BMG.
Frank Zappa’s 1974 album Apostrophe (‘) is being reissued in September for its 50th anniversary.
Zappa’s first Gold-selling record in the US features the songs ‘Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow’, ‘Cosmik Debris’, ‘Uncle Remus’ and ‘Stink-Foot’.
The key format so far as this reissue campaign is concerned is a 5CD+blu-ray super deluxe edition. This features the original album newly remastered by Bernie Grundman, session outtakes from the vault and two bonus concerts spanning the year of 1974. The Blu-ray contains the new remaster in hi-res formats, a brand new Dolby Atmos Mix (by Karma Auger and Erich Gobel) and Zappa’s 1974 Quadraphonic mix, which has never been reissued. In total, there’s 75 tracks.
The 5CD+blu-ray super deluxe of Apostrophe
Also included is a 52-page booklet with essays by Simon Prentis and Joe Travers, and never-before-seen images from the archive of Sam Emerson, who shot the now iconic front cover photo.
Additionally there’ll be two vinyl versions: a single LP ‘Gold Nugget’ vinyl pressing and a D2C 2LP+7″ version which sees both records pressed on white vinyl with yellow-snow splatter (cut from the original analog tape by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in 2024). The seven-inch is a reprodution of Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow (glow-in-the-dark vinyl with yellow splatter).
Apostrophe (‘) will be released on 13 September 2024 via UMR.
a-ha’s 2016 compilation Time and Again: The Ultimate a-ha, is being made available on vinyl for the first time. This format offers two extra tracks from more recent albums.
Music fans have poured scorn on Rough Trade’s newly touted ‘Flip Vinyl’ initiative (announced yesterday) that sees the legendary indie retailer entice collectors to “swap your pre-loved records for cash” via a collaboration with German outfit Flip Vinyl (described by RT as “one of the fastest-growing second-hand vinyl buyers in Germany”).
In theory it’s a good idea. You simply sell your records via the Rough Trade website in the same way you normally buy them, by adding them to your shopping cart and completing the transaction. You then print off a free postage label and pop the package into your local Evri Parcelshop collection point and get paid five days.
The problem is, the sums being offered are but a fraction of the item’s true value, and people have been quick to point this out on social media. By way of example, Rough Trade will pay you just £10.06 for the 8LP NirvanaNevermind super deluxe box set. Since this box set was only released little over a year ago, Rough Trade still have this on sale. They are selling it new for £189.99!
David Bowie’sFive Years 13LP box set from 2015 is now extremely rare and has been out-of-print for a long time. So much so that the cheapest copy from a UK seller on Discogs is currently £800, and even that has “shelf wear”. The median price on Discogs is £626. However, Rough Trade’s Flip Vinyl portal is offering you an insanely low £9.28 for the same item! That’s about 1.5 percent of Discogs median price.
FlipVinyl will only pay you £9 for a vinyl box set worth many hundreds of pounds
By way of comparison, a good second-hand record shop should give you somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of the item’s true retail value, depending on a number of factors including condition and how rare/valuable the item is. You are not, of course, getting the ‘full value’ but fans accept this because clearly the record shop needs to made money by selling it on and it’s a relatively easy way to shift vinyl or CDs (compared to going the eBay or Discogs route).
This FlipVinyl initiative has been described by fans on social media as “insulting”, “indefensible”, “pure profiteering”, and “an absolute rip-off”. In fact, Rough Trade felt compelled to follow up and defend the scheme yesterday with this tweet:
“Please note! We appreciate this service won’t be suitable for everyone’s needs i.e. those seeking to maximise collectible items. However for anyone looking to trade casually for a quick turn-around i.e. to make space, then this could well be a great solution.”
This did little to change anyone’s opinion and in fact rather poured fuel on the flames. Surely RT will feel compelled to have a serious rethink, or simply ditch this idea that has so antagonised their core audience.
Update: 16.00 BST 3 Aug: Rough Trade have announced they are suspending the FlipVinyl service “to reassess” and say “they understand and appreciate these criticisms”.
Chartwatch
It’s so quiet at the moment, in terms of releases (and reissues), that Eminem’s new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) remains at number one in the UK for a third week, with a paltry 10,757 sales! And according to Music Week, of those 10k+ sales only 105 units were actually physical sales (all cassettes!). Remarkable.
Blur’sLive at Wembley Stadium album entered the UK charts at number 6 but The Police’sSynchronicity reissue only went in at 30, which is slightly disappointing for what is a great reissue (see the SDEtv unboxing). Having clearly agreed to the project and supplied all those very cool demos, Sting did zero promotion which can’t have helped. With less than 3,500 copies of all formats sold, the concern here is that future Police box set plans will be scaled down or cancelled, because the demand is not there. Let’s hope not!
Rhino will release Mirage Tour ’82, live recordings from Fleetwood Mac’s two sold-out shows at The Forum in 1982, in September.
This 22-track live collection features six previously unreleased recordings from the 21 October 1982 show, including Landslide’, ‘Don’t Stop’, and ‘Never Going Back Again’.
The other songs were recorded at the 22 October show and have appeared on various releases through the years, including recent-ish Live super deluxe edition (2021), the Mirage super deluxe from 2016 and originally on the 1983 concert video Mirage Live.
Mirage Tour ’82 is being released as a 2CD set and a triple vinyl package with both having all 22 tracks. It’s out on 20 September 2024, via Rhino.
