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: Orange Juice
RELEASE: Coals to Newcastle
BACKSTORY: The early-’80s indie-pop outfit this week releases a comprehensive 6CD/1DVD box set in the U.S., a collection that includes all four of the Scottish band’s albums, a host of singles and B-sides, BBC sessions, live performances and a DVD featuring the rare concert film “Dada With Juice.” (See complete tracklist here.)
BUY IT: Coals to Newcastle via Amazon.com
ARTIST: XTC
RELEASE: Skylarking
BACKSTORY: The Andy Partridge-run Ape House Records this week releases a new limited-edition, double-vinyl edition of the band’s 1986 album “as it was intended to sound, but never has due to human error. ” The new LP also features the original “banned” artwork featuring male and female public hair. (See details here.)
BUY IT: Skylarking via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Nine Inch Nails
RELEASE: Pretty Hate Machine
BACKSTORY: Trent Reznor this week reissues NIN’s 1989 debut, remastered “for a greatly improved sonic experience,” and featuring a “reinterpreted” version of the original artwork. The only bonus track is a cover of the Queen song “Get Down, Make Love,” which originally appeared as a B-side to “Sin.” (See details here.)
BUY IT: Pretty Hate Machine via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Heaven 17
RELEASE: Penthouse an Pavement: Special Edition
BACKSTORY: The reunited synthpop group this week releases, in the U.K., an expanded 2CD/1DVD reissue of its classic 1981 album with 20 previously unreleased “demos, instrumentals and experimentation” from that era, plus a DVD featuring “The Story of Penthouse and Pavement.” (See tracklist here.)
BUY IT: Penthouse an Pavement: Special Edition via Amazon.co.uk
See more releases from U2, Robyn Hitchcock, Alphaville and Killing Joke after the jump…
ARTIST: U2
RELEASE: Wide Awake in Europe
BACKSTORY: On Friday, the Irish megaband will release a limited-edition (5,000 copies), vinyl-only EP through independent music shops participating in Record Store Day’s “Black Friday” event. The three-song record will feature live tracks, including the first-ever release of the song “Mercy” (see full tracklist here).
BUY IT: List of participating record stores
ARTIST: Robyn Hitchcock
RELEASE: Moss Elixir/Mossy Liquor
BACKSTORY: The quirky singer-songwriter this week reissues his 1996 album Moss Elixir paired with the first-ever CD release of a vinyl-only companion called Mossy Liquor, which was released a few weeks prior and featured some all-new tracks plus demos and alternative versions of the music that comprised Moss Elixir.
BUY IT: Moss Elixir/Mossy Liquor via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Alphaville
RELEASE: Catching Rays on Giant
BACKSTORY: Led by single “I Die For You Today,” the long-running German synthpop group — best known for its 1984 hits “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young” — has released its first new album in seven years, a disc available on import this week. The 12-track album also comes in a deluxe edition with a bonus DVD.
BUY IT: Catching Rays on Giant via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Killing Joke
RELEASE: Absolute Dissent
BACKSTORY: This week sees the belated U.S. release of the landmark postpunk act’s first new album in four years and the first since 1982’s Revelations
BUY IT: Absolute Dissent via Amazon.com
ARTIST: The Fall
RELEASE: The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, This Nation’s Saving Grace
BACKSTORY: Beggars Archive this week releases a pair of Fall albums on low-priced vinyl, part of a new campaign of budget LP reissues. The sets feature no bonus tracks, just the albums as they originally were released.
BUY IT: The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, This Nation’s Saving Grace via Amazon.com
I’m pretty stoked for the NIN release. I still gotta pick it up and give it a listen.