The Vinyl Cut

As part of its Rocktober campaign, Rhino Records is releasing 13 new titles in its impressive Rhino Reserve #vinyl series. Here are reviews for two of them, for great '70s artists who didn't quite become household names: Mott the Hoople and Doug Sahm.

The rundown of this week's new #vinyl reissues is overstuffed, with a bunch of Rhino Rocktober titles, Vinylphyles of Sublime and Sinatra, one-steps of Dr. Dre and MCR, a Rodriguez MoFi, the conclusion of Rough Trade 50, and a bounty of other really fab records hitting stores this Friday.

Mobile Fidelity have expanded their purview beyond the expected rock titles from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Case in point: their excellent new #vinyl pressing of Angel Olsen's 2016 album My Woman.

Public Image Ltd's controversial Album from 1986 was recorded with studio aces like Ginger Baker, Bernie Worrell, Tony Williams, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Steve Vai. The Rhino Reserve #vinyl reissue tames the extreme treble of the original pressing in favor of a warmer, more enduring sound.

Holy majoly! Tons of new #vinyl reissues this week, including a gaggle of Rhino Rocktober releases, hard-to-find Eno, live Hendrix, a slightly puzzling Tears for Fears campaign, sooo much jazz, and a wonderful hidden gem from Scottish indie band the Orchids. Plus, the latest reissue announcements!

We're giving away a test pressing of the Definitive Sound Series' one-step of Beck's Morning Phase to one of our paid-tier subscribers. You can't get this piece of vinyl anywhere else, so subscribe and enter to win! #beck #vinyl #giveaway

Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones started Nice Records to be an artist-led label, reissuing classic records as the band intended. Nice's gorgeous editions of two essential Small Faces LPs—Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake and The Autumn Stone—prove the label is more than up to the challenge.

Lots more #vinyl reissues are landing this week, including Genesis, Hole, Judas Priest, the National, Small Faces, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Barbara Moore, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, John Mayall, and what may well be the definitive pressing of Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This week's new #vinyl reissues include must-have albums by Minnie Riperton and Antônio Carlos Jobim, the launch of Rhino Rocktober, a Rush one-step from MoFi, an Elvis Costello 49-year anniversary, two new Tone Poets... oh, and something from a little band called the Quarryme—I mean, the Beatles.

An in-depth look at the excellent new #vinyl box set for the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul, which turns the act of listening to a beloved album into something akin to a university-level course. #beatles #rubbersoul

For its (slightly premature) 30th anniversary, Buena Vista Social Club has received a new #vinyl pressing on pearl-colored vinyl, with five extra tracks and a nice thick booklet. How does it sound?

Go-Betweens and Mothers of Invention and Alice in Chains, oh my! It's another big week in the world of #vinyl reissues, with newly remastered platters from Crowded House, Sonny Clark, the Bluegrass Album Band, Grant Green, A Perfect Circle, Wes Montgomery, and many more.

For the John Coltane Centennial: Revisiting Coltrane's "first" "solo" album, 1957's Coltrane (aka "Prestige 7105"), alongside Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (feat. Coltrane, from the same year), both newly reissued on #vinyl for Craft's Original Jazz Classics line.

It's impossible to pigeonhole Terry Callier's sound, which is part folk, part soul, part jazz, and a lot more. Occasional Rain, his 1972 collaboration with producer Charles Stepney, has received a loving new all-analog #vinyl reissue from Slow Down Sounds, cut from tape by Kevin Gray.

It's another big week in the #vinyl reissue world, with newly pressed stuff from the Velvet Underground, R.E.M., David Bowie, Phil Collins, Kasey Musgraves, Stiff Little Fingers, Bob Dylan, Terry Callier, Chuck Berry, Coleman Hawkins, and many more. Plus, the latest reissue announcements!

Vinylphyle is one of the few #vinyl reissue lines devoted to the music of the 1990s. We've got in-depth reviews of five recent Vinylphyle versions of big '90s albums, including Counting Crows, the Cranberries, Sheryl Crow, D'Angelo, and GZA.

The new AAA #vinyl reissue of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain is here! But that's not all: This week also sees killer reissues from Ann Peebles, Quiet Sun, the Millennium, Marcos Valle, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Edu Lôbo, Gary Bartz, and plenty more.

Funkadelic's Maggot Brain has been ill-served on #vinyl over the past couple of decades. A new terrific-sounding all-analog pressing from Org Music, sourced from restored master tapes, puts an end to that trend.

Two #vinyl reviews to take you into the long weekend: Woody Shaw's fearless 1973 album Song of Songs, in an AAA cut for Jazz Dispensary. And a further batch of outtakes from the Waterboys' insanely prolific sessions for their 1988 album Fisherman's Blues.

This week in the world of #vinyl reissues sees new MoFis from Rush and Angel Olsen, plus the return of Nirvana's Incesticide to vinyl, two new Tone Poets, a long-out-of-print Terry Reid cult classic, and much more.

The inaugural release for the Dutch audiophile imprint Artone Signature revisits the biggest album from the biggest Dutch rock band: Golden Earring's Moontan, via a deluxe 45 RPM edition.

A review of the new edition of Television's 1977 debut Marquee Moon from Mobile Fidelity as part of their UltraDisc One-Step line, pressed at 45 RPM on two LPs.

A big week of #vinyl reissues, including the launch of MoFi's Rush series, a very limited Dick's Picks, and some blues from Bluesville and Craft. Plus, a look at some just-announced reissues, including the new R.E.M. DSS, 3 new Vinylphyles, and all 54 titles that are coming for Rhino's Rocktober!

In-depth reviews of two recent Rhino High Fidelity #vinyl reissues, cut from tape by Kevin Gray: Crosby, Stills & Nash, the 1969 debut that never quite lived up to its reputation as a generation-defining album, and Joni Mitchell's 1971 masterpiece Blue, which ended up transcending generations.

This week's new #vinyl reissues include Warren Zevon on MoFi, UK reissues of Primal Scream and the Sundays, an unreleased live show from Bob Marley, and reissues to commemorate the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

Spanish reissue label Dust and Memory focuses on #vinyl reissues of overlooked gems from the American indie scene of the 1990s and 2000s. I reviewed their new pressings of Burlington's Guppyboy and Philadelphia's Mazarin.

A metric ton of new #vinyl reissues to sift through this week (we didn't actually weigh them), with new/old stuff from Television, Elephant's Memory, Mazarin, Charanjit Singh, Jackie McLean, Lisa Loeb, Cluster, and some exciting Malaysian jazz that has likely eluded longtime jazz explorers.

Two #vinyl reviews for your weekend, including the superlative (but pricy) Definitive Sound Series one-step pressing of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, and a fantastic collection of previously unreleased early work from country bad boy Gary Stewart.

New #vinyl reissues this week include Fontana's Thousand Club, several greatest hits albums in Rhino's Spirit of '76 line, live Ramones, Neo Boys, Whiskeytown, Sun City Girls, lots of AAA jazz, and more. Plus, a rundown of all the recently announced upcoming #vinyl reissues heading our way.

The hard-to-find soundtrack to Rokk Í Reykjavík—the 1982 documentary about the Icelandic music scene, featuring performances by a young Björk among more than a dozen other punk, post-punk, and new wave bands—is back on vinyl.

A new Rhino Reserve pressing of Al Stewart's Year of the Cat faces steep competition from the countless #vinyl copies that can be found in the cheap bins of every used record store. The new cut-from-tape version proves there is, in fact, more of the story to tell.

The road to the Flamin’ Groovies' 1976 power-pop classic Shake Some Action was a long one. A new 50th anniversary #vinyl reissue gives the album a new all-analog cut plus a bonus disc of outtakes, new mixes, and some raucous live material from an Aug 1976 show at the Roxy.

I've got a review of the terrific new Rhino Reserve pressing of Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's Express Yourself, an LA soul masterpiece. Plus, #vinyl announcements including TWO upcoming Definitive Sound Series releases, plus archival stuff from David Bowie and Phil Collins.

In 1979, Fela Kuti's baritone saxophonist and bandleader Lekan Animashaun recorded (most of) a solo album that few Afrobeat fans are even aware of. Strut Records have given Animashaun's 'Low Profile' the vinyl reissue it deserves. It's essential for Fela devotees.

The #vinyl reissues are coming fast and furious, with fresh represses from Thin Lizzy, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Cat Power, the Stooges, Geto Boys, Doobie Bros, Roy Ayers, Gil Evans, Art Farmer, and sooo many more. Check out this week's highlights.

Today we review two gems of Miami soul reissued by Rhino Reserve: Betty Wright's I Love the Way You Love and Little Beaver's Party Down. Plus, news of the upcoming Funkadelic Maggot Brain AAA reissue (yes!!), as well as MoFi's reissues of the Rush discography and Donald Fagan's Kamakiriad.

This week's new #vinyl reissues include Fountains of Wayne, the Grateful Dead, Sun Ra, Tevin Campbell, Death Angel, a lost City Pop classic, and much more. Plus we've got a roundup of some recent record-related news.

Review: Curtis Mayfield’s Super Fly on Rhino High Fidelity. The immortal 1972 soundtrack gets an all-analog reissue on Rhino's premium #vinyl line with a new cut by Kevin Gray. How does it stack up against an original pressing—or against the 2022 version that was also mastered by Kevin Gray?

Lots of #vinyl reissues this week, including the launch of a new audiophile series, Artone Signature, and their 45 RPM press of Golden Earring's immortal Moontan. Plus Coltrane, Alicia Keys, Del the Funky Homosapien, Fela Kuti's bandleader Lekan Animashaun, Grateful Dead, DSS in stores, and more.

Today's reviews offer 2 cases of how redesigned packaging can enhance or detract from the experience of the original #vinyl album: Joseph Jarman & Famoudou Don Moye's 1980 experimental jazz album Black Paladins (via Nashville's Dead Currencies), and a new picture disc of Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity.

New reissues from D'Angelo, the Band, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Doors, Local H, Hadley Caliman, Rokk í Reykjavík, ELP, Hank Mobley, John Lee Hooker, and lots more—all in our weekly roundup of everything old that's been made new again on #vinyl.

Here's our thorough examination of the different 60th anniversary reissues of the Beach Boys’ immortal Pet Sounds, including the Definitive Sound Series one-step, the Vinylphyle mono/stereo edition, and the new Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights compilation.

This week in new #vinyl reissues sees shiny new represses from Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band, This Heat, Cluster, Roy Ayers, Effigy, Albert King, Creedence, Cream, Eddie Kirkland, Iggy and the Stooges, Tony Banks, and more. Read all about it!

In 1975, the Beau Brummels released a reunion album that showcased the sterling songwriting of Ron Elliott and the peerless voice of Sal Valentino. Either maligned or outright forgotten, it's been resurrected in a great-sounding 2-LP set from Real Gone Music, with an album's worth of outtakes.

The first proper edition of my new newsletter — a rundown of the Portland albums released so far this year that I really enjoyed — just went out into the world. Give it a read, eh? www.isthisrealpdx.com/my-favorite-...

Drink in this week's new #vinyl reissues, which includes LPs from Pink Floyd, the Beau Brummels, Allen Toussaint, the Wipers, the Doobie Brothers, the Time, Van Morrison, Bobby Hutcherson, and more.

Reviews: Joni Mitchell's 1974 classic Court and Spark and Cher's 1969 Muscle Shoals-recorded 3614 Jackson Highway got the high-end Rhino High Fidelity #vinyl treatment. How do these cut-from-tape reissues sound?

You should subscribe to my new thing: isthisrealpdx.com

This week's #vinyl reissues include Smashing Pumpkins, ELO, Megadeth, Camper Van Beethoven, the Visitors, Miles Davis, Allen Toussaint, the Monkees, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and more. Plus, news about Fontana's all-analog Thousand Club series and Rhino's Spirit of '76 reissue campaign!

Today's review is for Dr. K. Gyasi and His Noble Kings's 1Sikyi Highlife, a Ghanaian highlife classic that was a revolutionary record for 1974, incorporating horns and organ into the highlife sound. (Plus, some pics of the huge Velvet Underground #vinyl collection at Seattle's Easy Street Records!)