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 : Peter Murphy
RELEASE: The Secret Bees of Ninth
BACKSTORY: The former Bauhaus leader this week releases a six-track digital EP that features three previously unreleased songs (“Rose Hunter,” “Good Works,” “Secret”) in addition to current single “Seesaw Sway,” off his new album Ninth, and the “full version” of Ninth track “Secret Silk Society” (see full tracklist here).
BUY: Amazon.com (Digital
ARTIST : Bjork
RELEASE: Biophilia
BACKSTORY: The onetime leader of The Sugarcubes returns this week with her eighth solo album, a 10-track record that’s being released on CD and vinyl, and as a multimedia iPhone/iPad app in conjunction with Apple. The singer has described the project as “encompassing music, apps, Internet, installations and live shows.”
BUY: Amazon.com (CD
ARTIST : Peter Gabriel
RELEASE: New Blood
BACKSTORY: The singer’s foray into classical music continues this week when he follows last year’s orchestral covers album Scratch My Back with a collection of symphonic reworkings of his own material, including “In Your Eyes,” “Digging in the Dirt,” “San Jacinto” and “Don’t Give Up,” with Ane Brun taking the Kate Bush part (see tracklist here).
BUY: Amazon.com (CD, digital
ARTIST : Kate Bush
RELEASE: “Wild Man”
BACKSTORY: The enigmatic singer this week give fans their first taste of her new album 50 Words for Snow — her first collection of new material since 2005′s Aerial, and only her second new studio album in 18 years — when she releases “Wild Man” digitally as the record’s first single. The seven-track album follows on Nov. 21.
BUY: iTunes (Digital
ARTIST : Paley & Francis
RELEASE: Paley & Francis
BACKSTORY: Pixies frontman Black Francis this week releases a brand-new studio album he recorded as a duo with singer-songwriter Reid Paley. The 10-track album was recorded in two days last September in Nashville, Tenn., between Pixies gigs and is entirely comprised of first takes (see tracklist here).
BUY: Amazon.com (CD, digital
ARTIST : The B-52s
RELEASE: With the Wild Crowd! Live in Athens, Ga.
BACKSTORY: The Athens, Ga., party band this week returns with a live album recorded this past February in its hometown; the record features performances of classics such as “Private Idaho,” “Planet Claire,” “Love Shack,” “Rock Lobster,” “Roam” and much more (see full tracklist and enter to win a copy here).
BUY: Amazon.com (CD
ARTIST : Erasure
RELEASE: Tomorrow’s World
BACKSTORY: The venerable synthpop duo this week releases in the U.S. its 14th studio album, and its first in four years (the record already is out in the group’s native U.K.). 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.com (CD, digital
ARTIST : Talk Talk
RELEASE: Laughing Stock
BACKSTORY: The revered final album from this experimental outfit — which saw the group fully abandon its synthpop roots for a more experimental, art-rock sound — this week receives its first-ever vinyl release in the U.S. this fall alongside a vinyl reissue of frontman Mark Hollis’ lone solo album, originally released in 1998.
BUY: Amazon.com (Vinyl
