A contrasting selection of reissues to soundtrack your week.
Hello, Friends.
Fire Records kick off our new-not-new this week with a 30th Anniversary Edition of The Lemonheads’ breakout sixth LP, Come on Feel. We have a limited bookbound LP edition, plus an indie exclusive on double Yellow and Red Vinyl. Expanded to include acoustic versions and live sessions.
Ninja Tune - in collaboration with the Steve Reid Foundation - present a very limited reissue of Sarathy Korwar’s brilliant debut LP, Day To Day. A brilliant flow of Jazz, electronics and swirls of sidi traditional tones. This limited edition is pressed on Translucent Orange/Black marble vinyl.
The Reverberation Appreciation Society smash it clean out the park this week with a first ever pressing of Thee Oh Sees 2012 Live At LEVITATION romp. An absolutely electrifying set at Austin’s Emo's East, with scorchers taken from the Help and Carrion Crawler/The Dream LPs, plus various singles from the period.
+ Available on exclusive Neon Pink & Green Half & Half colour vinyl.
+ Also available on Coke Bottle Clear colour vinyl.
A Leftfield double next with new pressings of Leftism, the debut studio album by the electronic duo and also the follow-up Rhythm & Stealth that was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Cranked them up in the morning sun and R&S - in particular - still gets blood pumping like fresh coffee out of the Moccamaster.
Much to revel for the Jazz heads again this week, with a very fresh pressing of Miles Davis’ Volume 1 BLP 150, some of his earliest recordings and his first on Blue Note back between 1952-1954.
Also released under the Classic Vinyl Series programme is The Fabulous Fats Navarro Vol. 1. A similar time period and a proper leading light of bop who died tragically young. Both albums are in mono, all-analogue, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original masters, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
Also this week, Craft / Acoustic Sounds present André Previn & His Pals Shelly Manne & Red Mitchell’s West Side Story, eight cuts from the musical soundtrack reinterpreted in a jazz style.
Again, this one is hugely sonically impressive. Recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this edition was pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP with (AAA) lacquers cut from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman and is presented in a tip-on jacket.
Soul Jazz gold with a 2023 edition of YO! BOOMBOX, a deep dive into the gem-laden world of early rap and hip-hop. ‘Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro And Disco Rap 1979-83’ to include the first releases of seminal groups such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and The Funky Four Plus One More through to a host of rarities and little-known obscurities such as the Carver Area High School band’s ‘Get Live 83’, an awesome record made at a Chicago high school.
+ We have a very-limited one-pressing only special deluxe version that comes with an extra bonus super-rare 7” single of ‘Magic’s Rap’ by Magic’s Trick, aka ex-marine Magic Fraga, a record that was only ever available on US military bases!
And lastly today, purring across the speakers as we type is the inimitable Serge Gainsbourg and the all-time iconic Histoire De Melody Nelson. Its impact remains so big on pop culture, it’s hard to look back at how groundbreaking it was at the time, but the production - in particular Jean-Claude Vannier’s arrangements - instantly reinvented cinematic orchestral pop. A proper swooner, it’s going down very well.
- Drift
