Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs.
ARTIST: Bryan Ferry
RELEASE: Olympia
BACKSTORY: The crooner reunites with Roxy Music members Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay (plus members of Radiohead, The Stone Roses and Pink Floyd) this week on his first album of new material in eight years and his first recorded collaboration with those ex-bandmates since 1973’s For Your Pleasure. (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: Olympia via Amazon.com
ARTIST: R.E.M.
RELEASE: “Live From Austin, TX”
BACKSTORY: The band this week releases a DVD featuring its full March 13, 2008, “Austin City Limits” appearance remixed and remastered in LPCM stereo and DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound “to provide the highest-quality concert DVD available.” The 17-song film heavily focuses on the group’s last album, Accelerate, and includes such favorites as “Man on the Moon,” “Losing My Religion” and “Drive,” plus three tracks not included in the original TV broadcast: “So. Central Rain,” “Fall on Me” and “Imitation of Life.” (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: “Live From Austin, TX” via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Elvis Costello
RELEASE: National Ransom
BACKSTORY: The rocker re-teams with producer T Bone Burnett for the fourth time on this new album, due out this week in the U.K. — but not until next week in the U.S. The disc features members of The Imposters and The Sugarcanes, as well as high-profile guests Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Marc Ribot and Buddy Miller. (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: National Ransom via Amazon.co.uk
ARTIST: The Fall
RELEASE: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall: Omnibus Edition
BACKSTORY: Beggars Archive this week releases in the U.K. (and next week in the U.S.) a 4CD “Omnibus Edition” of Mark E. Smith and Co.’s 1984 album. The 50-track box set will include a remastered edition of the original album, a second disc with singles and rough mixes, a third disc of BBC session recordings and a fourth disc featuring a concert broadcast on Dutch radio. (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall: Omnibus Edition via Amazon.co.uk
More releases from Marc Almond, Prefab Sprout, Crowded House and more after the jump…
ARTIST: Marc Almond
RELEASE: Stranger Things
BACKSTORY: The former Soft Cell singer this week releases, in the U.K., a 2CD deluxe edition of his 2001 solo album that was recorded in collaboration with Icelandic producer Johann Johannson. The new release features a second disc with 18 demos, remixes, alternative versions and rarities, curated by Almond himself.
BUY IT: Stranger Things via Amazon.co.uk
ARTIST: Prefab Sprout
RELEASE: Let’s Change the World With Music
BACKSTORY: More than a year after its release in the U.K., the reclusive sophisti-pop act’s first new album in eight years — bandleader Paddy McAloon’s long-lost follow-up to 1990’s Jordan: The Comeback — finally is released this week in the U.S. in a new digipack edition with photos and liner notes by McAloon himself.
BUY IT: Let’s Change the World With Music via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Crowded House
RELEASE: The Very Very Best Of
BACKSTORY: A week after its U.K. release comes the U.S. edition of a new 19-track best-of that covers 1986’s self-titled debut through 2007’s reunion album Time On Earth, but stops short of including anything off of this summer’s Intriguer. There’s also a limited-edition version with a DVD featuring 25 music videos. (See full tracklist here.)
BUY IT: The Very Very Best Of via Amazon.com
ARTIST: The Superions
RELEASE: Destination… Christmas!
BACKSTORY: B-52s frontman Fred Schneider this week releases a collection of 11 completely original and allegedly “party friendly” holiday tunes — including “Santa’s Disco,” “Fruitcake” and “Jingle Those Bells” — that he’s written and recorded with his Orlando, Fla.-based side project The Superions. (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: Destination… Christmas! via Amazon.com
