A special Easter edition of the week’s New-Not-New.
Hello, Friends.
Nancy & Lee Again is the grandiose second collaboration between Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, reissued for the first time this week to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Following the bestselling debut Nancy & Lee, the original odd couple rejoined forces for an album of ballards, weirdo pop experiments and cinematic orchestrations. It’s more politically charged than their previous collaborations, a product of the influence of massive social change and the Vietnam war. Their chemistry remains irrepressible and this album includes some of their most honest and poignant moments. It’s a belter, as you’d imagine.
+ Available on Limited White Colour Vinyl.
+ Newly remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin.
+ Beautifully packaged and expanded gatefold LP featuring a 20-page booklet.
+ Q&A with Nancy & GRAMMY®-nominated reissue co-producer Hunter Lea.
+ Never-before-seen photos from Nancy Sinatra’s personal archive.
A double this week under the Blue Note Tone Poet Series, with Stanley Turrentine in flowing form with Mr. Natural and Chet Baker’s immaculate Chet Baker Sings and Plays. Mr Natural - that was originally shelved by Blue Note for some 15 years - includes the graceful and winding Shirley, the deliciously hip Tacos and a really killer take on The Beatles Can’t Buy Me Love. The group are really in flight and we just can’t get enough of Ray Barretto’s congas. Chet is - admittedly - one of our most favourite voices - but Chet Baker Sings and Plays just has such an iconic vibe. The follow up to his breakthrough ‘Chet Baker Sings’ a year earlier, this 1955 set showcases both his sweet and trouble-free voice, but also his dexterity as a trumpeter. Both albums are high recommended.
Stanley is in stereo, Chet is Mono, and both albums were produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes. Pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
The Flaming Lips celebrate the 20th anniversary of their landmark Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album this week, with seriously comprehensive fan editions to include demos, b-sides and live takes. The wide-eyed optimism - in particular - of the album has aged beautifully; it’s a collection full of big feelings.
We also managed to get a few restocks in for the recently released Fight Test EP and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EP, both of which are pressed on super-fun colour vinyl.
Musique Pour La Danse compiles to sets of weighty, warehouse-ready club classics with Bleeps, Breaks + Bass Vol. One and Vol. Two. The sets look at the meeting point between bleep techno and breakbeat hardcore, with rare and sought-after tracks from the early ‘90s selected by label founders Olivier Ducret and Bunkerheadz. Time capsule stuff, this really gets it pumping.
+ Half Speed mastering & cut at 45RPM for louder bass.
+ Pressed on heavy vinyl.
+ Artwork from legendary designer Trevor Jackson.
+ Extended liner notes from Dance Music Historian Matt Anniss (Join The Future).
+ Mastering by Robert Gordon (Forgemasters / Warp).
Aside from Nancy & Lee, we also have a couple of really lush reissues on LITA this week, with limited “Pink Glass" and "Blue Seafoam Wave" colour vinyl pressings of Haruomi Hosono’s iconic Hosono House and Clear Red edition of Public Image Ltd.’s First Issue. We don’t have many of either, we’ll try and get some more as we like having both of these in the racks as often as we are able.
Another one that we love to have in stock is Thee Oh See’s electrifying 2012 Putrifiers II. It’s one of the fuller Oh See albums from that period and one of the jump off points for the massive space rock that would follow. It really rattles along, such a great band, always have been.
+ Limited White colour vinyl repress
+ 300 only for the UK
Fat Possum have repressed Al Green’s Al Green Explores Your Mind, his fantastic eighth album of soul grooves that rips to life with Sha-La-La, only to be followed by his OG performance of Take Me to the River. Beat that!
In print this week we have Eddie Piller’s Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances: A Life In Mod – From the Revival to Acid Jazz; the memoir of a teenage mod from the East End of London. He’s a great storyteller and talks decades of Mod through scooters, clothes and music.
Lastly this week and one that we just love, Magnolia Electric Co.’s Sojourner Box Set is back in print for the first time in over ten years and on vinyl for the first time. The set is in four parts, with the four distinct recording sessions that followed the band’s debut album. Secretly Canadian have done a really lush job here, a gorgeous re-use of the original box set art for the LP covers and it’s all housed inside a custom made wooden box. With each year that passes since we lost him, it just becomes all the more clear what a mercurial talent Jason Molina was. Been playing this a lot, we’ll gladly spend all day any day listening to his voice.
Okay, wishing you all a relaxing end to your long Easter weekends. We’re back in action tomorrow and we’ll have plenty to tell you!
- Drift