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: Paul Weller
RELEASE: Wake Up the Nation
BACKSTORY: The Modfather returns this week with his 10th solo album (in the U.K.; the U.S. release is next month), which includes two tracks with former Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, as well as contributions from My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields. There’s also a deluxe edition with a second CD of remixes by the likes of Richard Hawley and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
BUY IT: Wake Up the Nation via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Arcadia
RELEASE: So Red the Rose
BACKSTORY: The lone album from this mid-’80s, studio-only Duran Duran spinoff is reissued this week in an expanded 2CD/1DVD package featuring the remastered original album, 19 bonus tracks (remixes, B-sides and the non-album single “Say the Word”) and a DVD that compiles all of the short-lived group’s music videos.
BUY IT: So Red the Rose via Amazon.com
ARTIST: Recoil
RELEASE: Selected
BACKSTORY: Ex-Depeche Mode keyboardist Alan Wilder this week releases a 14-track best-of in his native U.K. commemorating his electronic project, which produced five albums between 1988 and 2007. There’s also a limited-edition 2CD set that includes a second disc featuring a dozen remixes and alternate takes.
BUY IT: Selected via Amazon.com
See releases from J Mascis’ Sweet Apple and The Jesus and Mary Chain after the jump…
ARTIST: Sweet Apple
RELEASE: Love & Desperation
BACKSTORY: This new band finds Dinosaur Jr guitar slinger J Mascis trading his six-string from the drum kit and teaming up with two members of Cobra Verde — John Petkovic (vocals/guitar), who also played in Guided By Voices, and Tim Parnin (guitar) — and one of his Witch bandmates (bassist Dave Sweetapple) for this 12-track debut album.
BUY IT: Love & Desperation via Amazon.com
ARTIST: The Jesus and Mary Chain
RELEASE: Darklands
BACKSTORY: Originally released in 1987, the classic 10-track second album from the Jesus and Mary Chain’s songwriting brothers Jim and William Reid — which includes favorites such as “April Skies,” “Happy When it Rains” and “Darklands” — this week is reissued on 180-gram audiophile vinyl, but without any bonus cuts or other extras.
BUY IT: Darklands via Amazon.com
