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: The Slits
RELEASE: The John Peel Sessions
BACKSTORY: Seven months after the death of frontwoman Ari Up, the late-’70s/early-’80s punk band releases a new compilation of 11 songs recorded over the course of the group’s three John Peel sessions in 1977, 1978 and 1981. The set is fleshed out with one bonus track: “Vindictive,” recorded during a 2006 reunion show in Brooklyn, N.Y.
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD)
ARTIST: KMFDM
RELEASE: WTF?!
BACKSTORY: The long-running German industrial act returns to record stores with a brand-new 11-track album, preceded by lead single “Krank” and featuring tracks such as “Rebels in Kontrol,” “Take it Like a Man” and “Come On – Go Off.” The album features guest appearances by members of Static-X and Legion Within, among others.
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD,
ARTIST: The Beautiful South
RELEASE: Live at the BBC
BACKSTORY: The long-running Housemartins off-shoot this week releases, in the U.K., an exhaustive 3CD/1DVD box set compiling a trove of material recorded and broadcast by the BBC over a 15-year span. Disc 1 features sessions recorded during six sessions between 1989 and 2005; Disc 2 is a full live set recorded in Blackburn, England, in 1992; Disc 3 includes live highlights from several late-’90s tours of the U.K.; and the DVD is a compilation of material filmed for BBC shows such as “Later with Jools Holland,” on which the band performed no fewer than five times.
BUY IT: Amazon.co.uk (CD/DVD
ARTIST: The Beat
RELEASE: Special Beat Service
BACKSTORY: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab this week releases a numbered, limited-edition, audiophile vinyl pressing of the 2 Tone-era ska band’s third and final album, originally released in 1982 on I.R.S. Records. The record features such favorites as “I Confess,” “Save it for Later,” “Ackee 1-2-3” and “Pato and Roger a Go Talk.”
BUY IT: Amazon.com (Vinyl)
