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 : Erasure
RELEASE: Tomorrow’s World
BACKSTORY: The venerable synthpop duo this week releases in the U.K. its 14th studio album, and its first in four years (the U.S. release has been pushed back to Oct. 11). Initial copies come with an eight-track bonus disc featuring demo versions and remixes of tracks from the record. (Stream the full album here.)
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD
ARTIST : Pop Will Eat Itself
RELEASE: New Noise Designed by a Sadist
BACKSTORY: The reunited alternative-industrial rockers return this week in their native U.K. with their first new album in 17 years, an 11-track effort featuring such songs as “Nosebleeder Turbo TV,” “Chaos & Mayhem,” “Back 2 Business,” “Captain Plastic” and more. The album currently is slated to be released digitally in the U.S. in early November.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD
ARTIST : Dinosaur Jr
RELEASE: Dinosaur, Bug, You’re Living All Over Me
BACKSTORY: Jagjaguwar Records this week reissues the indie rockers’s first three albums — originally released on the Homestead and SST labels — on vinyl. But it’s a no-frills release: These aren’t being pressed on 180-gram audiophile vinyl, as is increasingly the norm, and there is no bonus material.
BUY: Amazon.com (Dinosaur, Bug, You’re Living All Over Me
ARTIST : The Smiths
RELEASE: Complete: Deluxe Edition
BACKSTORY: This week, the vinyl and deluxe CD-and-vinyl editions of Rhino’s new box set arrive in the U.K., featuring remastered editions of the band’s eight albums and, in the case of the deluxe set, 25 7-inch singles, a DVD and more, as well. The full U.S. versions are coming later in October. (For a chance to win the deluxe U.S. box set, go here.)
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (Complete: Deluxe Edition
ARTIST : The Jesus and Mary Chain
RELEASE: Stoned & Dethroned, Munki
BACKSTORY: The Scottish noise-pop legends this week wind up their U.K. reissue campaign with 2CD/1DVD editions of the band’s fifth and sixth albums, originally released in 1994 and 1998, respectively. See full tracklists here, and video previews here.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (Stoned & Dethroned, Munki)
PWEI may have sounded industrial on their last record, but they’re known as a grebo-rock band a la Jesus Jones, Carter USM, and EMF. Also, this isn’t a reunion at all. Core-member co-songwriter and one of two vocalists Graham Crabb has put together a wholly new band, albeit with now-hollywood-composer and PWEI co-founder Clint Mansell’s blessing but non-involvement.