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 : Johnny Marr
RELEASE: The Messenger
BACKSTORY: The former guitarist for The Smiths this week releases his first solo album since 2003’s Healers album Boomslang. The 12-track album features such tracks as “The Right Thing Right,” “New Town Velocity,” “Upstarts” and more (stream the full album).
BUY: Amazon.com (CD, vinyl, digital)
ARTIST : KMFDM
RELEASE: Kunst
BACKSTORY: The German industrial powerhouse this week releases its 18th studio album — featuring Femen/Pussy Riot-inspired cover art by long-running associate Aidan “Brute!” Hughes. The album includes “The Mess You Made,” “Pussy Riot,” “Next Big Thing,” “Ave Maria” and more.
BUY: Amazon.com (CD, vinyl, digital)
ARTIST : Kirsty MacColl
RELEASE: A New England: The Very Best Of Kirsty MacColl, A Concert for Kirsty MacColl
BACKSTORY: The late singer is honored this week with a new CD/DVD best-of as well as a CD chronicling the 2010 tribute concert featuring performances by Billy Bragg, Alison Moyet and more.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (A New England, A Concert for Kirsty MacColl)
ARTIST : Fine Young Cannibals
RELEASE: Fine Young Cannibals, The Raw & The Cooked
BACKSTORY: The two albums from short-lived chart toppers — comprised of singer Roland Gift and former English Beat members Andy Cox and David Steele — are reissued in the U.K. this week as expanded 2CD sets featuring bonus B-sides, remixes and non-album tracks (see full tracklists).
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (Fine Young Cannibals, The Raw & The Cooked)
ARTIST : John Foxx and the Maths
RELEASE: Evidence
BACKSTORY: The former Ultravox singer and synth pioneer this week releases in the U.K. his third album with his band The Maths, a 15-track record originally envisioned as an EP and featuring collaborations with The Soft Moon, Gazelle Twin, Xeno & Oaklander and Matthew Dear.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD, digital)
ARTIST : The Blue Aeroplanes
RELEASE: Beatsongs
BACKSTORY: Cherry Red Records this week reissues the U.K. art rockers’ 1991 album — featuring the singles “Yr Own World” and “The Boy in the Bubble” — in an expanded 2CD edition with 10 bonus tracks, including B-sides, mixes and a pair of previously unreleased tracks (see full tracklist).
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD)
ARTIST : The Human League
RELEASE: All the Best
BACKSTORY: The classic synthpop outfit this week receives one of EMI’s new All the Best best-ofs, a new 2CD, 40-track collection featuring such favorites as “Don’t You Want Me,” “Love Action (I Believe In Love),” “Mirror Man,” “Being Boiled,” “The Lebanon” and more.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD)
ARTIST : The Sound
RELEASE: All Fall Down
BACKSTORY: Originally released in 1982, the third album from the acclaimed U.K. postpunk act is reissued this week on CD and vinyl on the 1972 label. The album features cuts such as “Party of the Mind,” “Where the Love Is,” “We Could Go Far,” “Glass and Smoke” and “Calling the New Tune.”
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD, vinyl)
