News

The vinyl gods have indeed given us strength with the announcement that The Songs of Bacharach & Costello, a comprehensive collection of the creatively fruitful, decades-long aural collaborations between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach, is set for release as a wide-ranging 4CD/2LP super deluxe box set from UMe on March 3. Additionally, a separate 140g 2LP edition comprised of the 2023 original-tape remasters of September 1998’s Painted From Memory and six bonus selections from their unreleased Taken From Life musical will be released concurrently. Read on to find out what each version entails, and whether you should plan to get either or both of them for your listening pleasures. . .

A man needs to harvest a heart of gold, and Neil Young’s groundbreaking February 1972 album Harvest provides all the aural goods on wax to do just that. (Yes, I mashed up a few album titles there, but you get the point.) To wit: A new box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of Harvest is coming via Reprise on December 2 that will include the original album on one 180g LP, plus another LP comprised of an unreleased of-era live BBC solo performance, and a 7-inch EP with a trio of unreleased Harvest outtakes. Read on to find out what appears in this must-have box set. . .

The opening salvo ahead of our upcoming holiday gift guides is here! To wit: Paul McCartney recently announced the limited-edition release of The 7″ Singles Box, which features 80 (count ’em!) 7-inch Paul McCartney singles culled from all across the full wingspan of his long and winding solo career, for December 2. The preorders have already been fast and furious, so read on to see if you can secure your own copy now in advance, and/or need to get all buddy-buddy with the retailer of your choice ASAP. . .

You asked for it, and now you’ve got it. To wit: Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records have partnered together to resurrect the popular Verve By Request reissue series. Focusing on rare gems and fan-requested jazz albums from the Verve Label Group’s stable of iconic labels, this intriguing vinyl series will offer two titles per month, each entry having been handpicked by Verve and Third Man. These selections will include long-out-of-print titles from the vault, in addition to first-ever vinyl pressings for albums released in the 1990s and 2000s that were only available on CD and digital formats. Read on to find out which vintage albums are making the initial Verve/Third Man 180g cut for proper reissuing between November 2022 and June 2023. . .

The Beach Boys sailed into quite a creatively fruitful period in 1972, and a new 180g 5LP+1EP box set dubbed Sail On Sailor - 1972 — slated to be released on November 18 via Capitol/UMe — captures the gist of their labors during such a key transitional year in the band’s history. In addition to the linchpin bookend releases Carl And The Passions – “So Tough” and Holland, this 105-track collection also includes 80 unreleased outtakes, live recordings, demos, alternate versions, alternate mixes, instrumentals, and a cappella tracks. Read on, reader to find out everything that lies within this historical Beach Boys collection. . .

This past Saturday, vinyl mastering gurus Bernie Grundman and Ryan K. Smith, together with Acoustic Sounds founder and CEO Chad Kassem, all partook in a fascinating livestream event during which they discussed the mastering process and its role in creating a “perfect” vinyl LP. Read on to find out more of what they said, and how you can check it out firsthand. . .