We are pleased to announce that, going forward, any music fans in the European Union who order items from the SDE shop will no longer have to pay any import VAT or associated ‘handling charges’ on their order, so long as the order value (not including shipping) is less than €150.
This change has come about because we have signed up to the IOSS scheme (International One Stop Shop) which tells customs at the point the goods enter your country that the VAT has been paid (this info is also sent electronically). The package will have an IOSS logo on it (or our IOSS number) and no extra charges should be incurred. It should also speed up the process of getting your order to your front door.
We’ve been working in the background for the last few months to bring this initiative to fruition and we’re delighted that our friends and customers in Europe will no longer incur these extra charges. The only thing to bear in mind is that if the ‘consignment’ value is more than €150 (value of goods before shipping) then the charges will be levied, as before.
The SDE shop opened in 2016 as way to bring interesting and exclusive product to SDE readers directly. The first example of this was the SDE-curated Sam Brown box set (The A&M Years 1988-1990) which was signed by Sam. In the last 20 months or so, it has been the only place to buy the SDE Surround Series of blu-ray audios with spatial audio and other content.
Brian Eno’s music from the Netflix series Top Boy will be released on CD and limited vinyl formats in September.
The first two seasons of the British crime drama series originally aired on Channel 4, in 2011 and 2013 respectively. Netflix later reviewed it and seasons four and five were shown in 2019 and 2022. A fifth and final season is due to start on 7 September, 2023.
This official release (“Score from the Original Series”) is the first time any music from the ongoing drama has been issued. This 19-track selection includes two cuts that were not actually used in any episode of the series (so far), including ‘Cutting Room I’ which you can preview below.
Talking about his work on this project, Brian Eno says: “From the beginning of Top Boy, I was given the freedom to work in the way I prefer, making music and atmospheres and then giving it to the film makers to use as they saw fit. I try to absorb the idea of what a piece is about and from that I produce a lot of music, and say, ‘Here it is. Use it as you wish.’ If you’d been scoring it in the conventional Hollywood way, the temptation would be to up the excitement factor, up the danger factor, all the time. But Top Boy is really about children in a pretty bad situation. So I explored the internal world of the children, not just what’s happening to them in the external world. Quite a lot of the music was deliberately naive, it was sort of simple. The melodies were simple, not really sophisticated, or grown-up.”
2LP edition pressed on ‘crystal clear’ vinyl (click image to enlarge)
This score by Eno is being released in two formats and both are interesting. The CD edition is made in Japan and is a four-panel wallet with OBI and booklet. This is an ‘UHQCD’ (which stands for Ultra High-Quality CD) but don’t worry, they’re compatible with all CD players.
The 2LP vinyl edition is available in two variants: silver-coloured vinyl and ‘crystal clear’ vinyl. The former is available via Brian Eno’s shop and Music On Vinyl’s ‘At The Movies’ store (limited to 500 units), while the latter should be widely available at the usual places.
Top Boy (Score from the Original Series) will be released on 29 September 2023, via Music On Vinyl and Beat Records.
Cooking Vinyl have confirmed that their Alan Parsons ProjectComplete Albums Collection vinyl box set from last year will not be repressed.
The 11LP collection includes the 10 original studio albums plus The Sicilian Defence which was originally recorded in 1979 and was previously unreleased until it was offered in the 11CD box in 2014.
All albums have been half-speed mastered at Abbey Road and cut from hi-res files transferred from the best available analogue master tapes (digital master tapes for all albums from 1983 onwards). Everything has been approved by Alan Parsons.
The box comes with a 60-page 12″x 12″ hardcover book which feature lyrics, new sleeve notes and an essay from Miles Showell about the half-speed mastering. This package also comes with a large A1 poster.
The Complete Albums Collection can be ordered via the official Alan Parsons Project online shopor via the usual channels (see widget below). It still seems relatively easy to get hold of, but it was limited to 1500 copies and once they’re gone, they’re gone!
The Complete Albums CollectionThe Alan Parsons Project/11LP vinyl box set
LP 1: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination Edgar Allan Poe (1976 Version)
A Dream Within A Dream
The
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Cask Of Amontillado
(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether
The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Instrumental)
(i) Prelude
(ii) Arrival
(iii) Intermezzo
(iv) Pavane
(v) Fall
To One In Paradise
LP 2: I Robot
I Robot (Instrumental)
I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You
Some Other Time
Breakdown
Don’t Let It Show
The Voice
Nucleus (Instrumental)
Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)
Total Eclipse
Genesis CH.1 V.32 (Instrumental)
LP 3: Pyramid
Voyager (Instrumental)
What Goes Up
The Eagle Will Rise Again
One More River
Can’t Take It With You
Pyramania
Hyper-Gamma-Spaces (Instrumental)
Shadow Of A Lonely Man
LP 4: Eve
Lucifer (Instrumental)
You Lie Down With Dogs
I’d Rather Be A Man
You Won’t Be There
Winding Me Up
Damned If I Do
Don’t Hold Back
Secret Garden
If I Could Change Your Mind
LP 5: The Turn Of A Friendly Card
May Be A Price To Pay
Games People Play
Time
I Don’t Wanna Go Home
The Gold Bug (Instrumental)
The Turn Of A Friendly Card
(i) The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part One)
(ii) Snake Eyes
(iii) The Ace OF Swords (Instrumental)
(iv) Nothing Left To Lose
(v) The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part Two)
Official Prince channels have very recently posted teasers of what can surely only be a reissue of the purple one’s 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls which was recorded with the New Power Generation.
On X (formerly twitter) the post even specifies the date saying “So you’ve been wanting more music? Stay tuned for our Announcement on 8/24…”. This is accompanied by an alternate version of the album cover photo.
The Diamonds and Pearls album features some big hit singles including ‘Cream’, Prince’s fifth, and final, US number one; and the title track and ‘Gett Off’, which were top five singles in the US and UK respectively.
It remains to be seen what formats will be offered when a reissue is announced, but the 2020 Sign ‘O’ The Times reissue was extremely generous, being offered in 8CD and 13LP vinyl super deluxe editions, both with DVDs.
What do you want to see in a Diamonds and Pearls reissue? Leave a comment.
Neil and Tim Finn’s 1995 collaborative album Finn will finally be reissued on CD in October, 15 months after Needle Mythology put out the 2LP vinyl set.
Released in close collaboration with Tim and Neil, the newly-expanded Finn comes with an entire album The Finn Demos, which gathers together 10 songs from 1989’s legendary Murchison St sessions, remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Convening at Neil’s new Melbourne apartment with a view to making an album together, Tim and Neil embarked on an intensely productive period, writing several songs that would briefly result in Tim joining Crowded House for the resulting Woodface album. Tracks include ‘It’s Only Natural’, ‘Catherine Wheels’, ‘Weather With You’, featuring a whole extra verse, and the previously unreleased ‘Four Stepping in 3/4 Time’.
The official shop offers the 2CD set with a free enamel badge
The 2CD set comes packaged in a card sleeve and if you order it from the official shop you get a free Finn enamel badge! Various bundles are available along with the original vinyl release.
Finn is reissued on CD on 20 October 2023 via Needle Mythology.
Released in 1978, City to City was Gerry Rafferty’s second solo album. It features the classic ‘Baker Street’, a top five single in both the USA and the UK. This vinyl reissue sees the album newly remastered, at half-speed, by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios
Alanis Morissette’s 2005 ‘best of’ is released on vinyl for the first time. This collection spans the decade between 1995 and 2005 and features the expected hits plus a few interesting soundtrack selections and a cover of Seal’s smash single ‘Crazy’. UK indie version pressed on limited ‘transparent grape’ coloured vinyl!
Joni Michell’s archive campaign continues in October with Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years 1972-1975 which is available as a 5CD box set or a 4LP vinyl collection.
This latest volume includes early demos and alternate versions from sessions from For The Roses (1972), Court& Spark (1974), and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (1975); historic live show recordings, including the entirety of Mitchell’s 1972 return to Carnegie Hall and a gig with her Court And Spark backing band Tom Scott & the L.A. Express; and tracks from sessions cut alongside James Taylor, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
The 5CD edition of Archives, Vol 3: The Asylum Years 1972-1975 (click image to enlarge)
The 5CD box set includes a generous 96 tracks in total, while the 4LP vinyl edition offers ‘highlights’ with 40 tracks across eight sides of vinyl. Full tracklistings are below.
Both boxes come with an accompanying book featuring photos and a conversation about this period between Joni Mitchell and longtime friend Cameron Crowe.
Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years 1972-1975 will be released on 6 October 2023 via Rhino.
50th anniversary edition of King Crimson’s classic 1973 album • The Complete Recording Sessions · Dolby Atmos ·2023 Mixes
King Crimson’s 1973 album Larks’ Tongues in Aspic is to be reissued for its 50th anniversary in an all encompassing four-disc set that includes brand new Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and stereo mixes and “the complete recordings of every session recorded for the album”.
This set comprises two blu-ray audio discs and two CDs. The first blu-ray contains Steven Wilson’s brand new Dolby Atmos Mix which is described as “more expansive than the earlier mixes as released in 2012, while still retaining and enhancing the core power of the original material”. Since Wilson’s Atmos process involves going back to the multi-track tapes and first building a new stereo mix and then a 5.1 surround mix, we are presented with three brand news mixes for this product.
While Steven was working on this aspect of the material Alex R. Mundy and David Singleton were mixing every single take of the original studio sessions. These unreleased early takes are presented not as traditionally blended pieces, but with maximum separation, with the idea being to mimic “the experience of sitting in the studio with the individual elements being performed around you”.
David Singleton’s ‘Elemental mixes’ apply this same approach to the main album takes to give a fresh view on the familiar, with the focus often falling in unusual places, some originally hidden, some unused. Four of the album’s core tracks feature: extended mixes of ‘Larks’ 1’ and ‘Talking Drum’ along with ‘Easy Money’ and ‘Larks’ 2’. This material is also on the first blu-ray alongside Wilson’s three mixes and some instrumental mixes.
Thanks to the capacity of the blu-ray audio format, the second blu-ray disc contains the complete recordings of every session recorded for the album. As stated, all of this material has been newly mixed from the original performances and is presented on disc for the first time in hi-res 24/96 stereo. This second blu-ray also includes the original stereo mixes of the album and David Singleton’s audio documentary of the album recording Keep That One, Nick. These are the sole previously released elements in this package (both were included in the 2012 box set).
As if all that’s not enough, there’s two CDs. The first includes the 2023 stereo mix and instrumentals of the album and the second offers the elemental mixes and selected master reels.
In terms of packaging these four discs come in two gatefold sleeved editions with a new booklet with new notes by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith. All of this slots into a rigid outer slipcase. In other words, this sounds consistent with the 2019 In The Court of the Crimson King 3CD+blu-ray offering.
Additionally, there’s a 2LP vinyl version, with LP 1 being Steven Wilson’s 2023 stereo mix and the second record featuring David Singleton’s four ‘Elemental’ mixes.
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic will be reissued on 20 October 2023 via Panegyric. Full tracklistings below. You can pre-order both editions via the SDE shop using this link or the buttons (‘pre-order’) below.
TECHNICAL NOTES: This blu-ray audio requires a blu-ray player. Decoding the Dolby Atmos mix requires a Dolby Atmos-certified soundbar or a Dolby Atmos-compatible AV Receiver/Amp. The Dolby Atmos mix will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 or stereo if a Dolby Atmos decoder is not detected.
EU SHIPPING NOTES: If you are ordering from the EU please be aware that that goods may be subject to import VAT when they arrive from the UK. The prices the SDE shop charge you do not include VAT
Tracklisting
Larks’ Tongues in AspicKing Crimson/2 x blu-ray + 2CD set
Blu-ray 1
All previously unreleased:
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic – 2023 mixes.
NOW That’s What I Call Music continue their occasional vinyl-only ‘NOW Presents…’ series with Now Presents… Classic Soul a 5LP collection pressed on black vinyl that presents 85 solid gold hits from the 1960s and 70s.
NOW presents Classic Soul is a 5LP black vinyl box set
This set is chock-a-block with ludicrously great songs from artists such as Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, The Delfonics, The Temptations, Minnie Riperton, Timmy Thomas, Jackson 5 and many more!
Now Presents… Classic Soul is a ‘strictly limited’ edition (the previous Electronic set was limited to 1200 and 1970s was 1000 units. This new 5LP set will be released on 22 September 2023.
SDEtv takes a look at the recent Stevie Nicks box set in limited edition 16LP vinyl guise.
Complete Studio Albums & Rarities is out now as a 10CD box set or a limited 16LP clear vinyl. The vinyl edition is only available via Rhino D2C channels (UK link and USA link).
Kylie Minogue’s 1988 debut album, Kylie, is being reissued on vinyl to mark the 35th anniversary of the original release.
The album features the UK chart-topper ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ and three other hit singles (‘Got To Be Certain’, ‘The Locomotion’ and ‘Je Ne Sais Pas Porquoi’) all of which got to No 2 in the UK.
This neon pink vinyl gatefold is one of two vinyl editions that are being made available (click image to enlarge)
The Kylie album was, of course, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and spent six weeks at the top of the British album charts.
Massively comprehensive 6CD+DVD deluxe set of Almond’s 1991 album
Marc Almond’s 1991 album Tenement Symphony will be reissued as a 6CD+DVD deluxe edition in October.
After 1990’s excellent Enchanted spawned just one top 40 single, the Trevor Horn-produced Tenement Symphony delivered three, including ‘Days of Pearly Spencer’, Almond’s last top 10 hit in the UK (it reached No 4).
Not that the album was anything other than a creative endeavour; listening to the record was supposed to be like looking through the windows of different rooms in a tenement building and with narrative songs about disparate characters residing therein. The album also saw Marc work with his old mucker Dave Ball, from Soft Cell. They co-wrote three songs (‘Meet Me in My Dream’, ‘I’ve Never Seen Your Face’ and ‘My Hand Over My Heart’).
This forthcoming reissue goes above and beyond when it comes to bonus material. The first CD features the album and six B-sides, and then there is FIVE additional CDs of remixes, edits, demos and so forth. One of those five discs is devoted to live material – including some ‘time shifting’ performances from 2000 and 2016 – but there’s also a CD completely made up of live cuts from 1992.
The label claim 34 audio tracks that have never been commercially released, which is insane, and to top things off, there’s also a DVD with promo videos and BBC TV appearances.
If this is all too much for you, there’s a 2CD set which simply is discs one and two from the deluxe. A 2LP transparent blue vinyl edition spreads the album over two and a bit sides and fills out the space with B-sides and a few remixes.
Tenement Symphony will be released on 6 October 2023 via Cherry Red imprint SFE.
The 50th anniversary of the career of songwriter and guitarist JJ Cale is marked by the release of Tulsa Sound, a limited edition coloured vinyl 9LP box set.
This new package offers Cale’s first eight albums – Naturally, Really, Okie, Troubadour, 5, Shades, Grasshopper and #8 – and a bonus LP called The Early Years which is a collection of his 1960s singles.
Tulsa Sound is a 9LP coloured vinyl box set (click image to enlarge)
The audio has all been remastered at Abbey Road and this box also includes All have been a 40-page hardcover book with a foreword from a certain Mark Knopfler.
One of the most important artists in the history of rock, quietly representing the greatest asset his country has ever had… His records are really minimal, light, it’s all about finesse. It’s almost like he’s whispering in your ear but you hear everything single word. I don’t know how he does it. It’s such a cunning technique.”
Eric Clapton on JJ Cale
The unassuming Cale was raised in Tulsa, hence the ‘Tulsa Sound’ that he was crediting with originating. His work in this vinyl box spans the period 1971 to 1983. Cale’s influence was enormous, with many, many artists covering his work including The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Captain Beefheart, Santana, Jerry Garcia and more.
Tulsa Sound will be released on 6 October 2023 via UMR.
CD 2: PETE TOWNSHEND’S LIFE HOUSE DEMOS 1970 – 1971 – PART 1
Teenage Wasteland (Demo)*
Too Much (Demo) *
Going Mobile (Demo)*
There’s A Fortune in Those Hills (Demo)*
Love Ain’t For Keeping (Demo)*
Bargain (Demo)*
Greyhound Girl (Demo)*
Mary (Alternate Mix) (Demo)**
Behind Blue Eyes (Demo)*
Time Is Passing (Demo)*
Finally, Over (Demo)**
Baba O’Riley (Original Demo)**
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 3: PETE TOWNSHEND’S LIFE HOUSE DEMOS 1970 – 1971 – PART 2
Pure And Easy (Home Studio Mix) (Demo)*
Getting In Tune (Alternate Mix) (Demo)**
Nothing Is Everything (Let’s See Action) (Demo)*
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Demo)*
Baba O’Riley (Demo)*
Song Is Over (2021 Remix) (Demo)**
Pure And Easy (Olympic Studios Mix) (Demo)**
Mary (Original Mix) (Demo)*
Baba O’Riley (First Editing Demo)**
Song Is Over (Original Demo)*
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 4: RECORD PLANT, NYC SESSIONS MARCH 1971
Don’t Do It (aka Baby Don’t You Do It) [Take 2, Unedited, March 16, 1971]**
Won’t Get Fooled Again [Take 13, March 16, 1971]*
Behind Blue Eyes (Version 1) [Take 15, March 16, 1971]**
Love Ain’t For Keeping [Take 14, March 17, 1971]*
The Note (aka Pure and Easy) [Take 21, March 17, 1971]*
I’m In Tune (aka Getting in Tune) [Take 6, March 18, 1971*
Behind Blue Eyes (Version 2) [Take 10, March 18, 1971}*
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 5: OLYMPIC SOUND STUDIOS, LONDON SESSIONS 1970-72
Pure And Easy*
I Don’t Know Myself [B-side with Unreleased Count-in]
Time Is Passing [Stereo Mix]**
Too Much of Anything [Original 1971 Vocal]**
Naked Eye [1971 Remake]**
Bargain (Early Mix)**
Love Ain’t For Keeping (Unedited Mix)**
My Wife (Unedited Mix)**
Getting In Tune (Take 1 with Jam)**
Going Mobile (Alternate Mix)**
Song Is Over (Backing Track) [with Nicky Hopkins]**
When I Was a Boy**
Let’s See Action (Unedited Mix)**
Relay (Unedited Mix) [Alternate Vocal]**
Put The Money Down [Remix with Original Vocal]*
Join Together [Unedited Remix]**
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 6: SINGLES & SESSIONS 1970-72
The Seeker (Original Single Mix)
Here For More [Original Single Mix]
Heaven And Hell [New Stereo Mix]**
Water [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
I Don’t Know Myself [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
Naked Eye [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Unedited Mix]**
Postcard [Eel Pie Sound Studio – Original 1970 Mix]**
Now I’m A Farmer [Eel Pie Sound Studio – New Remix]**
The Seeker (Unedited Version)**
Water (IBC Version)**
I Don’t Know Myself (IBC Version)**
Let’s See Action (Original Single Mix)
When I Was a Boy (Original Single Mix)
Join Together (Original Single Mix)
Relay (Original Single Mix)
Waspman (Original Single Mix)
Long Live Rock (Original Olympic Mix)
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 7: LIVE AT THE YOUNG VIC, LONDON – APRIL 26, 1971
Love Ain’t for Keeping*
Pure And Easy*
Young Man Blues*
Time Is Passing*
Behind Blue Eyes*
I Don’t Even Know Myself*
Too Much of Anything*
Getting In Tune*
Bargain*
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 8: LIVE AT THE YOUNG VIC, LONDON – APRIL 26, 1971
Pinball Wizard**
See Me, Feel Me**
Baby Don’t You Do It*
Water*
My Generation*
(I’m A) Road Runner*
Naked Eye*
Bony Moronie*
Won’t Get Fooled Again*
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 9: LIVE AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 12, 1971
Introduction**
I Can’t Explain*
Substitute*
Summertime Blues**
My Wife*
Baba O’Riley**
Behind Blue Eyes*
Bargain*
Won’t Get Fooled Again**
Baby Don’t You Do It*
Magic Bus**
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
CD 10: LIVE AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SAN FRANCISCO – DECEMBER 12, 1971
Introduction To Tommy**
Overture**
Amazing Journey**
Sparks**
Pinball Wizard**
See Me Feel Me**
My Generation**
Naked Eye*
Going Down*
* Previously released with new remix
** Previously unreleased tracks
Blu-ray Audio
Steven Wilson Atmos Mix (48kHz 24-bit)**
Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix (96kHz 24-bit)**
Steven Wilson Stereo Mix (96kHz 24-bit)*
Original 1971 Stereo Mix (96kHz 24-bit)
Baba O’Riley
Bargain
Love Ain’t For Keeping
My Wife
The Song Is Over
Getting In Tune
Going Mobile
Behind Blue Eyes
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Bonus Tracks: Steven Wilson Atmos Mix (48kHz 24-bit) & Steven Wilson 5.1 Mix (96kHz 24-bit), Steven Wilson Stereo Mix (96kHz 24-bit)*
This ‘Ultimate’ Greatest Hits celebrates 50 years of Aerosmith. Have it your way, with 44 tracks on 4LP or 3CD, 20 tracks on a 2LP vinyl set or 18 tracks on a single CD. The SDE-value-o-meter shows that vinyl fans get charged around £2.90 (4LP) or £1.85 (2LP) per track, whereas CD buyers get charged 66p (single CD) or 48p (3CD set) per track.
The 2015 Erasure compilation is released on vinyl for the first time. This 2LP set features 18 tracks from the 20-track single CD edition – omitting ‘Be With You’ and ‘Sometimes (2015)’ – while adding ‘Love You To The Sky’ and ‘Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling)’ (from 2017’s World Be Gone and 2020’s Neon, respectively) bringing it right up to date. Nice touch.
Bad News / Every Mistake Imaginable: The Complete Frilly Pink Years 1987-1988
Complete collection of the recordings by spoof metal act Bad News. Created for UK Channel 4’s The Comic Strip Presents series in 1983, the spoof rockers went on to issue two albums: their Brian May-produced self-titled debut (1987) and Bootleg (1988).
Ocean Colour Scene / Yesterday Today 2005-2013 (4LP box set – signed)
The OCS vinyl box sets continue with Yesterday Today 2005-2013 which includes the albums A Hyperactive Workout For The Flying SquadOn The Leyline, Saturday and Painting. Coloured vinyl and comes with a signed print.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Howard Jones’ recorded music career, Cherry Red are releasing a new compilation called Celebrate It Together: The Best of Howard Jones 1983-2023.
This will be available in four formats: a 64-track 4CD clamshell box, a 2CD digipak with 35 tracks and a 2LP edition pressed on ‘mint green’ vinyl with 22 tracks. This best of brings together his Warner-era recordings as well as work from his independent Dtox label.
The deluxe 4CD box includes collection of hit singles, remixes, key album tracks, live versions and alternative recordings, with each disc themed (Popular Hits, Electro, Chill and Curiosities). Given that the album reissues have been amazingly comprehensive, there’s not a whole lot left in the vault, but there’s still room for four previously unreleased tracks and a further six tracks that have never been issued on CD.
The 4CD edition of Celebrate It Together (click image to enlarge)
Although Cherry Red kicked off their Howard Jones campaign back in 2017 with another best of (Best 1983-2017) they boast that the new compilation is the “first anthology that looks at his entire catalogue” which is somewhat disingenuous, given 1993’s The Best of Howard Jones looked at his complete catalogue at that time, as did the the 2017 compilation!
The 2CD version does away with any themes and just distils the offering down, although casual fans are going to know next to nothing from the second disc. However, there is a new remix of an old number towards the end (New Song (2023 Elephant Talk Remix).
Celebrate It Together: The Best of Howard Jones 1983-2023 will be released on 6 October 2023, via Cherry Red.
Duran Duran’s 10th studio album Pop Trash will be released on vinyl for the first time in September.
Released in 2000, the long-player features the single ‘Someone Else Not Me’ and was the last studio album to feature guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. John Taylor was also not in the band at this point. Not long after release, the original Duran Duran line-up reunited and started working on what would become the Astronaut album.
The exclusive 2LP vinyl picture disc edition of Pop Trash (click image to enlarge)
Originally issued on Hollywood Records, Pop Trash was out of print for decades until BMG reissued it on CD last year. There was no vinyl reissue at that time, but that is now corrected with the label offering a 2LP black vinyl edition and a snazzy 2LP picture disc version which is exclusive to the official Duran Duran store and limited to 1500 units worldwide.
Kudos to the label for including bonus tracks on side four rather than going the ‘etched’ disc route.
Pop Trash will be released on vinyl on 1 December 2023 (was 29 September) via BMG.
Mike Viera, who runs the excellent spatial audio-celebrating Life in Surround YouTube channel, asked if he could talk to me on camera about SDE and, in particular, the ongoing SDE Surround Series of exclusive blu-ray audios. I told him that I’d be delighted to do that and you can watch the interview below!
The latest release in the SDE Surround Series is ABC’s The Lexicon of Love, which is still available at the time of writing exclusively via the SDE shop. You can browse the other titles in the Surround Sound section of the SDE shop.
Now That’s What I Call Music celebrate 1973 with a new Yearbook devoted to those 12 months which includes hits from Elton John, Paul McCartney & Wings, Slade, T. Rex, Faces, Billy Joel, Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and more.
As usual you can choose from the 4CD deluxe set in book packaging or a standard card sleeve version. Both offer 83 tracks from 1973 and there’s even room for some David Bowie this time, although perhaps not the track you were expecting.
A 3LP vinyl edition offers a cut down 47-track selection and is pressed on red vinyl. Full tracklistings for both formats can be found below.
NOW Yearbook ’73 will be released on 8 September 2023.
Compare prices and pre-order
Various Artists
NOW yearbook 73 - 4CD deluxe hardcover book edition
Get the Message: The Best Of Electronic, the 2006 compilation featuring music by Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner’s 1990s ‘supergroup’ Electronic, will be issued on vinyl for the first time, and expanded on CD, in September.
The 15-track compilation featured hits like ‘Getting Away With It’ and ‘Get The Message’ with a fair sprinkling of single mixes and radio edits.
On CD, this re-released version now comes with a second disc offering a selection of remixes and bonus tracks (the original deluxe CD came with a DVD with videos). The new 2LP vinyl edition (cut by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road) has the same 15 tracks as CD 1 on the 2CD set.
Get the Message: The Best Of Electronic will be released on 29 September 2023 via Parlophone.
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Electronic
Get The Message - The Best of Electronic - 2LP vinyl
