Suche:the first edition

Changin’ Times
Eighties Disco-Funk meets Hip Hop’s early sparks. All Platinum's Sylvia Robinson is responsible for this masterpiece. Reissued for the first time in four decades. Special edition rainbow foil sleeve.

OVERVIEW: Brownswood Remix Editions 007 sees Brownswood Recordings return to two classic moments from its back catalogue, offering a new vinyl edition of standout reworks by Moodymann and Yoruba Soul. Both remixes have become favourites among collectors and DJs alike, and this release brings them together on wax for the first time in over a decade.

The A-side features Moodymann’s remix of José James’ “Desire”, a seductive and slow-burning reinterpretation first released in 2008. With his signature raw soul and deep house textures, the Detroit visionary stretches out the track into a hypnotic, late-night groove—balancing José’s smooth vocal delivery with dusty drums and smoky atmosphere.

On the flip, Osunlade—under his Yoruba Soul alias—reimagines Ben Westbeech’s “So Good Today”, transforming it into a gently percussive, spiritually infused house cut. Drawing from Afro-Caribbean rhythms and warm keys, the remix remains one of the most enduring and beloved versions of Westbeech’s breakout track.
Though both remixes have long been available digitally or on separate releases, Brownswood Remix Editions 007 brings them together in a unified edition that highlights Brownswood’s long standing commitment to collaboration, reinterpretation, and timeless sound.

The discovery of Doris Dennison's score represents a genuine musicological breakthrough—what once would have been "a tree falling in the woods" thirty years ago now holds the potential to render "a thunderous clap in our minds." While researching Anna Halprin's lesser-known collaborators, scholar Tom Welsh uncovered the archives of AA Leath, one of Halprin's principal dancers. Buried within these materials was Dennison's handwritten score for Earth Interval, dated May 1956. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1908, and raised near Seattle, Dennison (1908-2009) encountered John Cage while teaching Dalcroze eurythmics at the Cornish College of the Arts. She joined Cage's earliest percussion quartet—alongside Margaret Jansen, the composer and his wife Xenia—in the group widely regarded as having performed the first complete concert of percussion music in the United States. This historic December 1938 concert was followed by tours and the landmark May 1941 performance at the California Club, comprising Cage and Lou Harrison's Double Music, the premiere of Cage's Third Construction, and Harrison's 13th Simfony.

As Bradford Bailey observes in his extensive liner notes, Earth Interval demonstrates "an extraordinary balance of elements that imbues the piece with a sense of clarity, directness, and constraint that is both distinct and ahead of its time." The work's most remarkable innovation lies in its approach to extended techniques, particularly Dennison's notation for the central movement: "In 2nd movement, 1st player lowers + raises a gong into a tub of water while beating." This technique, absorbed from Cage's experimental vocabulary, generates what Bailey describes as "fields of acoustic abstraction that bend and warp time through sustained resonances, beat, and space." The temporal sophistication of these manipulations anticipated Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I (1964) and Annea Lockwood's water-based sound investigations by over a decade. After joining Mills College as dance accompanist, Dennison maintained crucial connections to the Bay Area's experimental scene, collaborating with figures like Merce Cunningham and programming Cage's music throughout the 1950s.

Comprising three movements—Land Form, Air Tide, and Earth Play—Earth Interval is scored for recorder, drums, gongs, maracas, muted gongs, and bowl gongs. In total, the piece is just under eight minutes: "a fleeting glimmer of moment in time, a life spent at the cutting edge, and a singular creative vision that packs a powerful punch." When viewed in historical context, placed in contrast to roughly contemporaneous avant-garde percussion works by Cage, Harrison, Louis Thomas Hardin (Moondog), and Harry Partch, or important precursors like Edgard Varèse's Ionisation (1931) and Henry Cowell's Ostinato Pianissimo (1934), it's clear that Dennison was following her own path. Earth Interval is not derivative. It is a precursor to what was yet to come, alluding to developments of avant-garde and experimental music that wouldn't begin to appear on the cultural landscape until the 1970s and '80s, with the emergence of Post-Minimalism and more idiosyncratic artists and ensembles like Midori Takada, Ros Bandt, Peter Giger, Frank Perry, Christopher Tree, Michael Ranta, Gamelan Son of Lion, and Niagara.

This recording by Chicago's Third Coast Percussion, captured in March 2022, represents the first complete documentation of this pioneering work. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity while maintaining its historical specificity. Where Cage, Harrison, and Partch employed "self-consciously off-kilter polyrhythms," Dennison's rhythmic sensibility anticipates minimalist developments by nearly a decade, yet integrates "forceful rests, as well as sharp shifts in sonic character, tempo, and meter, that break the momentum and breathe a sense of life into the piece's structure." This positions her work closer to Post-Minimalism decades before its emergence. The architectural approach demonstrates Dennison's understanding that "the composer almost entirely disappears" in favor of phenomenological listening experience, creating what might be called an egoless music that places its realities and meaning entirely in the ear of the beholder. The present recording, realized by Chicago's distinguished Third Coast Percussion ensemble, represents a significant achievement in experimental music scholarship and performance practice. As specialists in the Cage tradition and contemporary percussion repertoire, Third Coast Percussion approached Earth Interval with the historical sensitivity and technical precision required to illuminate Dennison's subtle compositional innovations. The March 2022 recording sessions, engineered by Colin Campbell, capture both the work's intimate chamber music qualities and its bold exploration of extended techniques. The ensemble's interpretation reveals the piece's remarkable contemporaneity—its ability to speak directly to current musical concerns while maintaining its historical specificity.

This recording serves multiple scholarly functions: it provides the first complete documentation of Dennison's compositional voice, offers insight into the broader network of experimental music practitioners surrounding Cage and Harrison, and demonstrates the sophisticated level of compositional thinking that was occurring within the Bay Area's dance-music collaborations of the 1950s. The work's emphasis on phenomenological listening—what might be called an "egoless" approach to musical experience—places it within a lineage of American experimental music that prioritizes perceptual process over compositional personality. The work's original obscurity—limited to AA Leath's performances at venues like the 1957 Pacific Coast Arts Festival at Reed College—paradoxically allowed it to remain "entirely on its own terms," free from the constraints of historical categorization. Drawing on Jacques Derrida's Archive Fever, the argument emerges that "the archive can acknowledge, celebrate, and resurrect" overlooked voices, transforming our understanding of experimental music history. The present Blume edition, featuring Third Coast Percussion's authoritative interpretation, includes a lavishly illustrated 16-page booklet designed by Bruno Stucchi / dinamomilano, containing complete scholarly apparatus, historical photographs, and detailed production notes. This recording enables "cross-temporal intersectionality," allowing Dennison to "belong to a newly formed and more dynamic understanding of the present and past," demonstrating how forgotten voices can reshape entire historical narratives when given proper scholarly attention and performance advocacy.

Five Dollar Bill was originally released in 2003, and is now going to be widely available on vinyl for the first time. This record includes songs that are staples in Corb Lund’s live set, such as “(Gonna) Shine Up My Boots” and “Time to Switch to Whiskey.” In addition to these lively jams, Five Dollar Bill features everything from romantic imagery of Corb’s homeland, “Short Native Grasses (Prairies of Alberta),” to songs that give the listener a glimpse into the life of working class folks, such as “Roughest Neck Around” which is an ode to oil riggers and the grit that is required with that lifestyle. “‘Five Dollar Bill’ was a big milestone for me for lots of reasons. It was my first record after my metal band, The Smalls, broke up and it’s when I got really serious about western music. I really dove into my family’s cowboy ancestry and my very rural upbringing in this batch of songs. It was also our first record of many produced by Harry Stinson who is now a very close friend, and our first brush with Nashville, Tennessee, as we recorded half the record down there. It was our last record with Ryan Vikedal on the drums before he flew off into fame and fortune with Nickelback. It was also our last record as a trio. It was my first gold album,” says Lund, “And we are still playing lots of these songs at our shows. It really defined my path forward as a western songwriter and helped lay the foundation for my whole career."

This limited edition release is part of the Corb Lund - Dark Horses Club. New West Records will be releasing unreleased records and material from Corb Lund throughout 2025 and 2026.

Since its founding back in 2014, Blume has carved a unique place in cultural landscape, issuing free-standing works, spanning the historical and contemporary, that represent singular gestures of creativity within the field of experimental sound. Joining their broad efforts in building networks of context and understanding that already includes the works by Werner Durand, Sarah Hennies, Bruce Nauman, John Butcher, Jocy de Oliveira, Mary Jane Leach, Valentina Magaletti, Alvin Curran, Julius Eastman, Alvin Lucier, and following the first ever vinyl release to attend to James Tenney's legendary Postal Pieces, the label now presents the first LP published by the visionary Swiss composer Jürg Frey. Drawing from the transformative power of breath and resonance, this release represents one of the most profound explorations of musical metamorphosis to emerge from the contemporary experimental landscape.

The completed work represents a "conjunction of these two artists" that has "activated a transformative form of experimentalism." These renderings "dance with an airy lightness, humour, and play, imbuing them with a beauty and emotiveness that can be rare within experimental music." They exist as "breaths, carrying the curiosities of life, belonging to no time and all time, to no one and everyone: a human music to be inhaled and pondered, for which the outcome remains unknown." In this liminal space between composition and interpretation, between breath and resonance, Zurria and Frey have created something that transcends the boundaries of experimental music itself, offering what might be called a metaphysical cartography of sound in its most essential form. As Bradford Bailey observes in his penetrating liner notes, "music is rarely a fixed entity," existing instead in a state of perpetual flux, "taking on the influences of its interpreters and performers." This fundamental truth finds its most eloquent expression in the transformative collaboration between Italian flutist Manuel Zurria and Frey, longtime member of the Wandelweiser Group. Where conventional recordings might preserve a definitive version, this release activates what Bailey calls "states of unknowing and continued experimentation," allowing Frey's compositions to evolve into entirely new dimensional territories. The original string quartet and piano works dissolve into breath-carried architectures of sound, where "the original remains in a constant dialogue with its transformation." This is not mere arrangement but ontological metamorphosis - an alchemical process through which crystalline harmonies are reborn as atmospheric phenomena.

The metaphysical dimensions of this transformation become clear through detailed analysis of the musical result. Where Frey's original compositions operate through what he calls "basic confidence in the clear and restricted material," Zurria's interpretation activates entirely new perceptual territories. Space holds almost atomic sense of weight against the airy punctuations of timbres, textures, and tones, creating "suspensions of time within which questions and identities posed by instrumentation fade." The Extended Circular Music pieces - each comprising "a small number of bars to be repeated an undetermined number of times" - become organizations of sound that defy being definitive or fixed. Originally scored for different combinations of violin, viola, cello, and piano, these works now exist as pure phenomena of breath and resonance, where "hanging, breath-length utterances dance and intertwine amongst complex harmonic clusters and conjunctions."

The philosophical implications of this transformation illuminate a lineage of composers who have moved "away from abstraction and responding to the need to create" something beyond mere technique. Drawing parallels to Morton Feldman's understanding of non-functional harmony, Zurria's approach represents "a transformative form of experimentalism" that activates what Frey calls the "thaumaturgic power" of music - its capacity to heal and transform consciousness itself. The result is "a radical reimagining of ambience: sprawling sonorities and resonances adrift in space, carrying the liberated traces of the work's former incarnations and their truths." In Zurria's interpretation, Frey's String Quartet n.3 becomes something approaching "an organ played in slow motion, its seals leaking," while the Extended Circular Music pieces transform into "glacial chords from a diverse palette of voicings, harmonies, timbres, and tones."

Performed by Manuel Zurria. Recorded and mixed by Zurria at BigCardo, Catania between 2022-2024, with mastering by Bruno Germano at Vacuumstudio, Bologna, this Blume release represents a profound exploration of musical transformation.

Back in 2016 a talented wordsmith from the Bronx going by the name Mickey Factz teamed up with producer Nottz to release his full-length "The Achievement: Circa '82". The album is an ambitious piece of work that finds Mickey trying to encapsulate all his thoughts in lieu of this very moment, with Nottz serving as the executive producer providing a plethora of landscapes for Mickey to illustrate his stories. Featuring guest appearances by names such as Styles P, Smoke DZA, Phonte, Curren$y, Royce Da 5'9", Skyzoo, Stalley and several others, this deluxe and extended edition also presents a few remixes and unreleased tracks, all packed in a 2LP limited edition vinyl, bringing Mickey's achievements on physical copy for the first time ever.

INSTIGATORS are back, with their first shows in over 30 years, and to tie in Boss Tuneage is making their classic second and third albums "Phoenix" and "Shockgun" available again on vinyl, as limited edition colour vinyl pressings as part of the highly acclaimed Boss Tuneage Retro Series. "Shockgun" was originally released in 1988, hot on the heels of extensively touring the US and Europe, and was the second album from the classic second phase of the band, which feature original guitarist Simon Mooney teamed up with Andy "Tez" Turner (ex XPOZEZ) on vocals and the rhythm section of Bob Gorlik on bass and Steve "Cuzzy" Curran on Drums. Restored and remastered by Andy Pearce, it has never sounded better! The first time this album has been available on vinyl for over three decades!! This is a must own purchase for anyone in an interest in 1980's UK punk.

GIMP FIST feiern ihr 20jähriges Bestehen und hier ist ihr Geburtstagsgeschenk: seit über 10 Jahren ausverkauft, sind jetzt die Alben #2, #3, und #4 als spezielle Sammler-Editionen wieder erhältlich: "Your Time Has Come", "The Place Where I Belong" & "Marching On And On" enthalten jetzt jeweils einen zusätzlichen, seltenen Bonustrack und kommen als 180gr farbiges Splatter-Vinyl! Jede farbige Ausgabe ist auf nur 233 Exemplare limitiert! Spätestens mit Album Nummer 4 (Marching on and on, 2013), einem weiteren absoluten Hit mit Songs wie ,First in Line" und ,Battered & Bruised", war klar: Gimp Fist sind eine Ausnahmeband und haben das gewisse Etwas, das sich die Band aus Norwich bis heute erhalten hat. Ein dreifaches Prost auf Jonny, Mike & Chris!

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance-disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its fateful maiden voyage.

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success. Nominated for fourteen Academy Awards, it tied with All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations and won eleven, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying Ben Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark.

Titanic is available as a 25th anniversary edition of 10,000 individually numbered copies on silver & black marbled vinyl and includes an 8-page booklet, XL fold-out poster and a print replica of the historical newspaper front page. The 2 LPs are housed in a deluxe heavyweight gatefold sleeve with alu-brush finish and metallic embossing.

GIMP FIST feiern ihr 20jähriges Bestehen und hier ist ihr Geburtstagsgeschenk: seit über 10 Jahren ausverkauft, sind jetzt die Alben #2, #3, und #4 als spezielle Sammler-Editionen wieder erhältlich: "Your Time Has Come", "The Place Where I Belong" & "Marching On And On" enthalten jetzt jeweils einen zusätzlichen, seltenen Bonustrack und kommen als 180gr farbiges Splatter-Vinyl! Jede farbige Ausgabe ist auf nur 233 Exemplare limitiert! Mit Zweitling "Your Time Has Come" (2008) machten sich Gimp Fist schnell einen Namen in der weltweiten Punk- und Skinhead-Szene. Ihr auf den Punkt gebrachtes Songwriting, kombiniert mit energiegeladenen, melodischen Street-Punk-Hymnen, sprach für sich selbst und traf den Nerv der Zeit. Songs wie ,Skindeep", das Clash-eske ,More War Stories" und ,Whatever Happened" gelten zu Recht als Meilensteine des britischen Punkrock im neuen Jahrtausend. Alles Gute zum 20. Geburtstag Jonny, Mike & Chris, Happy Birthday Gimp Fist!!! GIMP FIST celebrating their 20th anniverary and here's their birthday present: sold out for over 10 years here are the first three (official) releases available again as special collector's editions: "Your Time Has Come", "The Place Where I Belong" & "Marching On And On" each include a rare bonus track now, and come as 180gr colorued splatter vinyl! Each coloured edition is limited to only 233 copies! With their 2008 album, "Your Time Has Come," Gimp Fist quickly made a name for themselves in the punk and skinhead scene worldwide. Their to-the-point songwriting combined with energetic, melodic street punk anthems spoke for itself and hit the spot. Songs like "Skindeep," the Clash-esque "More War Stories," and "Whatever Happened" are rightly considered milestones of UK punk rock in the new millennium. Happy 20th birthday Jonny, Mike & Chris, Happy Birthday Gimp Fist!!!

2025 has been a big year for Drop Nineteens. They finally officially released their long lost pre-curser to 1992's Delaware, the demo collection 1991. These releases comprise the band's early run and as Pitchfork noted in their review of both albums earlier this year, "established Drop Nineteens' reputation as leading lights of U.S. shoegaze." Along with the band's 2023 album Hard Light, the band is back and as much of a presence in 2025 as they ever were. The band follows up 1991 with their first ever 7", White Dress b/w White Dress (demo). The song features the band's cover of the Lana Del Ray classic in two versions. It comes on the anniversary of the band's digital release of "White Dress." This is an edition of 500 7"s and is sure to be a collectable item for fans of shoegaze and Drop Nineteens alike.

Following the success of the CD release, "Warszawski Rapton", the unique project by Bilon & Nowa Ferajna, is now available for the first time on 2LP vinyl in a strictly limited collector’s edition. Each copy is hand-numbered, making it a true gem for fans and vinyl collectors.
"Warszawski Rapton" is a musical tribute to the old urban folklore of Warsaw – melancholic, reflective, and boldly avant-garde. The album blends pre-war Warsaw street vibes with modern production, creating what Bilon calls a manifesto of avant-garde neofolk, deeply rooted in the cultural soul of the city.
The album features guest appearances by Marysia Starosta, Żary, Rufuz, Marek Dylak, and Solka. Production is by Szwed SWD, with live instrumentation by top Polish musicians, including DJ Cent on cuts and scratches.
This is more than just music – it’s Warsaw’s history told through rhythm, sound, and soul.

GIMP FIST feiern ihr 20jähriges Bestehen und hier ist ihr Geburtstagsgeschenk: seit über 10 Jahren ausverkauft, sind jetzt die Alben #2, #3, und #4 als spezielle Sammler-Editionen wieder erhältlich: "Your Time Has Come", "The Place Where I Belong" & "Marching On And On" enthalten jetzt jeweils einen zusätzlichen, seltenen Bonustrack und kommen als 180gr farbiges Splatter-Vinyl! Jede farbige Ausgabe ist auf nur 233 Exemplare limitiert! Mit Zweitling "Your Time Has Come" (2008) machten sich Gimp Fist schnell einen Namen in der weltweiten Punk- und Skinhead-Szene. Ihr auf den Punkt gebrachtes Songwriting, kombiniert mit energiegeladenen, melodischen Street-Punk-Hymnen, sprach für sich selbst und traf den Nerv der Zeit. Songs wie ,Skindeep", das Clash-eske ,More War Stories" und ,Whatever Happened" gelten zu Recht als Meilensteine des britischen Punkrock im neuen Jahrtausend. Alles Gute zum 20. Geburtstag Jonny, Mike & Chris, Happy Birthday Gimp Fist!!! GIMP FIST celebrating their 20th anniverary and here's their birthday present: sold out for over 10 years here are the first three (official) releases available again as special collector's editions: "Your Time Has Come", "The Place Where I Belong" & "Marching On And On" each include a rare bonus track now, and come as 180gr colorued splatter vinyl! Each coloured edition is limited to only 233 copies! With their 2008 album, "Your Time Has Come," Gimp Fist quickly made a name for themselves in the punk and skinhead scene worldwide. Their to-the-point songwriting combined with energetic, melodic street punk anthems spoke for itself and hit the spot. Songs like "Skindeep," the Clash-esque "More War Stories," and "Whatever Happened" are rightly considered milestones of UK punk rock in the new millennium. Happy 20th birthday Jonny, Mike & Chris, Happy Birthday Gimp Fist!!!

For the first time ever, Casey Veggies’ breakthrough album Life Changes is coming to vinyl! PNCINTL is proud to bring this iconic project to collectors and fans worldwide with an exclusive limited-edition pressing.

Originally released in 2013, Life Changes marked a defining moment in Casey Veggies’ career, blending sharp lyricism, smooth West Coast vibes, and unique storytelling. From anthems like Faces and She In My Car to deep cuts that still resonate today, this album became an underground staple and a must-have!

Fagus’ debut album INTER offers a hypnotic journey through layered black metal soundscapes, crafted with precision and shaped by influences beyond the genre’s borders. Originally released in 2022 and recorded at Iguana Studios, it now sees its first-ever vinyl edition – classic black vinyl via Silent Future Recordings.

Alanis Morissette Delivers the Equivalent of a Spiritual Awakening on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie:
Introspective Themes and Compassionate Emotions on Eastern-Tinged Album Have Grown More Relevant
1998 Smash Plays with Enhanced Detail, Rich Textures, and Sharp Focus on Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP Set:
First-Ever Audiophile Edition Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies
1/2" / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Alanis Morissette refuses to adhere to convention on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. While most artists follow-up their breakthrough with an album that closely parallels the approaches that helped make them famous, the maverick singer-songwriter stayed true to herself and drew inspiration from travel to India before she began the recording sessions. As much as the preceding Jagged Little Pill put her on the global radar, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie confirmed her role as a vital generational voice — and proved her blockbuster success was no fluke. Having set a mark for most sales of an LP in its debut week by a female artist, the 1998 smash remains a pop-rock staple.

Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM 2LP set of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie presents the triple-platinum LP in audiophile sound for the first time. Benefitting from defined grooves that befit the album’s nearly 72-minute length, this pressing plays with enhanced detail, refined clarity, sharper focus, and broader dynamics than prior versions.

Those traits are key given Morissette’s use of more textured and atmospheric soundscapes, not to mention her evolution into a more nuanced and controlled singer. Similarly, the scale and reach of David Campbell’s string arrangements come across as orchestrations should. Ditto the synth-based architecture shaped by producer and principal Morissette collaborator Glen Ballard. All in all, Mobile Fidelity’s collectible edition simply delivers more information via transparent means.

Notable for its balance, sophistication, and richness, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie at heart finds Morissette pausing, taking a breath, and learning how to navigate life in a healthy manner after enduring one of the most exhausting and rocket-to-fame stretches any musician ever experienced. It’s the sonic equivalent of a spiritual awakening, a call to betterment, a brave assessment of the self and humanity as a whole. As such, the tunes on her second international (and fourth Canadian) release teem with gratitude, compassion, love, empathy — emotions that lend themselves to the largely mellow, contoured scope and Eastern-tinged melodies of the songs themselves.

“How ‘bout how good it feels to finally forgive you,” Morissette sings on the lead single “Thank U.” “How ‘bout grieving it all one at a time.” Those sentiments, and the vocalist’s embrace of concepts such as divinity and acceptance, not only provide a foundation on which Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie rests. They also reflect the personal maturation she gained from her embrace of Buddhist culture in India and a mindset bent toward notions of reconciliation, peace, and sensuality that were nearly absent in popular music in the late ‘90s.

Those themes continue on “That I Would Be Good,” a confident reflection that takes stock of one’s mental, physical, and emotional state in the face of both changing and unpleasant circumstances — and concludes with Morissette performing a flute solo, further exposing the raw intimacy of the introspective tune. She channels relatable simplicity and joy on “So Pure,” with her invocations of “dance” and “freestyle” speaking to the freedom of expression that courses throughout Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. And perhaps no song finds Morissette showcasing her refreshed attitude toward life and opening up more than the relationship-themed “Unsent,” whose unconventional structures and lack of a chorus only add to its directness.

Akin to many albums that were ahead of their time, and despite the critical and commercial accolades afforded it upon release, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie attracted new appreciation and perspective as it got older. Issued during an era where its ideas of serenity, absolution, tranquility, and contentment seemed largely alien, the record — akin to the ways its predecessor foreshadowed a movement — now functions as a visionary beacon that foretells of way to maintain sanity, dignity, and goodness amid a contemporary landscape filled with constant distractions, polarizing views, and incessant calls to purchase, promote, and produce without questioning the what-for purpose.

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie dares to ask the questions and, at its best, supplies meaningful answers and alternatives that lead to longed-for enlightenment, healing, and laughter. For these reasons alone, it’s a record that never goes out of style.

Experience the Double-Platinum 1996 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time
Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Is Sourced from the Original Analogue Tapes
1/2” / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

If great art, as many believe, is inherently polarizing, then the Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop easily ranks as the California-based band’s finest album. Simultaneously celebrated and castigated upon release in spring 1996, the group’s third full-length finds vocalist Scott Weiland and company expanding their “grunge” palette with a smart blend of glam rock, psychedelia, jangle pop, and other related styles. Having benefited from long-view reassessments that shed the biases and meanness of initial criticisms, the double-platinum effort is now largely and rightly seen as a creative masterwork. All the more reason why it deserves reference-grade production.

Overseen by producer Brendan O’Brien, Stone Temple Pilots used bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, and the lawn to capture a broad blend of textures, spaciousness, and ambience that helped underline the group’s obvious (and somewhat unexpected) leap from normal “alternative” status to an artist whose aspirations went beyond that of many of its contemporaries. You can hear the multitude of details and tonalities with previously unattained clarity, presence, and scope on this fantastic reissue, which also delivers the impact and punch every rock record deserves. Another tremendous asset: The depth, grain, and pitch of Weiland’s voice.

For all the contagious choruses and glossy melodies that help make Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sparkle, the vocal performances of the late singer arguably rank as the best that the much-missed Weiland committed to tape. None other than the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan — who, like many peers and critics, felt a pressing need to reevaluate the record as both time marched on and the self-importance attached to the “alternative” scene faded — praised Weiland’s efforts by noting: “Like Bowie can and does, it was Scott's phrasing that pushed his music into a unique, and hard to pin down, aesthetic sonicsphere.”

Smooth and diverse, those traits are everywhere on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. From the clever combination of emotional closeness and distance he brings to the catchy albeit ultimately melancholic “Lady Picture Show”; to the lounge-fly balladeering that causes “And So I Know” to lightly swing akin to a bleary-eyed house band’s final number at a 4 A.M. bar; to the effortless cool and laissez-faire casualness he articulates on the grinding “Pop’s Love Suicide”; to the dimensional raspiness, defiant energy, and let-loose wail that sail through the crunchy “Big Bang Baby.”

The latter tune, the record’s first single and per Weiland a conscious attempt by the band to deconstruct its prior approaches, clearly borrows from the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Because of it, the song drew all kinds of barbs from naysayers. Their disdain extended to most material on Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, which indirectly references other prized acts such as the Beatles, Cheap Trick, T. Rex, and Lush. Those cynics failed to grasp that Stone Temple Pilots were paying homage and having a blast, with even Weiland, then battling serious substance-abuse and legal issues, getting in on the action.

Stone Temple Pilots’ skeptics also turned a deaf ear to the records’ stellar pop craftsmanship, sticky hooks, and sly commentary on music-industry machinations and fame. Not to mention the band’s intent, made clear from the outset. In an interview conducted in 1994, guitarist Robert DeLeo stated: “The last thing I wanted to do with this band was make everybody believe we invented something.”

Seen through that lens and the hindsight afforded history, and appreciated independent of the self-righteous authenticity standards of the day, Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop sounds borderline fearless while authoritatively checking all the right boxes for fun, flavor, and finesse. Part winking send-up, part tribute to the glitter rock age, and part middle finger towards the hip crowd that didn’t know what they were missing, this mid-90s classic repeatedly invites you to drop the needle and press play.

The extroverted blend of attitude, energy, and ostentatiousness that spills from the New York Dolls’ self-titled debut can be seen in full view on the album cover. Depicting the quintet in its hallmark flash-and-trash apparel and in drag appearance, the 1973 album scared away a considerable amount of potential listeners while capturing the attention of a sizable audience that recognized the band for what it was: zeitgeist pioneers who helped develop the punk and glam rock movements.

Named by Rolling Stone the 301st Greatest Album of All Time and by Mojo the 49th greatest album of all time, New York Dolls receives long-overdue audiophile treatment on Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set. Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, this collectible version marks the first time the group’s career-making statement is available to be experienced in audiophile quality.

Far from harboring the crude elements that became associated with the punk scene, New York Dolls benefits from keen production overseen by none other than Todd Rundgren. Though more accustomed to working far higher-caliber musicians, Rundgren — taken by the New York Dolls’ charisma and cool, if not their instrumental approach — fully understood the ensemble’s aesthetic. He captured what went down at New York City’s Record Plant with an astute blend of live-on-the-floor feel, raw authenticity, and professional acumen.

On Mobile Fidelity’s definitive-sounding reissue, you can hear those facets as well as key details, dynamics, and textures with previously unimaginable insight. Rundgren preserved generous degrees of grit, grime, and grease while bestowing the raucous music with elevated levels of separation, solidity, and impact every landmark recording deserves. His vision extends to introducing choice accents — barroom piano notes, Moog synthesizer passages, Buddy Bowser’s honking saxophones — that add to the songs’ appeal without interfering with the primary architecture.

Afforded extra groove space on this pressing, the tenor, presentation, and attack of both vocalist David Johansen and now-iconic guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain come across with stunning vibrancy and vitality. The New York Dolls often seem headed off the rails and into the red, but somehow, the strut, swagger, and sloppiness — and the associated sleaze and scruff, scrape and snarl, frenzy and feverishness those characteristics entail — remain together as a whole that shakes its collective fist at the frustrations, isolation, disarray, and disillusionment of youth chaos and urban decay.

Kicking off its debut with “Personality Crisis,” cited by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the band makes obvious its grasp of alienation, deviance, displacement, and suburban disaffection — as well as its capacity to play hanging-by-a-thread boogie, noisy rock ‘n’ roll, and Brill Building-inspired pop. The lipstick-kissed New York Dolls possesses traits many of its harsher predecessors would overlook: joyfulness and melody, topped with a knack for knowing how and where to take a song inside of three-and-a-half minutes.

Dive and dash with the belligerent “Looking for a Kiss”; stomp your feet and clap your hands to the big choruses of “Jet Boy”; surrender to the demands and provocations of the coded “Vietnamese Baby”; decide whether “Bad Girl” yearns to explode or implode. It’s one of several tunes here that allude to the world coming to end. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a fling before everything burns. “There’s no place I gotta go,” yowls Johansen. And he means it.

Adorned with tonal crunch, glitter, and gristle, New York Dolls takes pride in its brashness and brattiness. The rambunctious effort, which earned the band the distinction of being voted both “Best New Group of the Year” and “Worst New Group of the Year” in the pages of Creem, displays knowing reverence for the blues without calling attention to the style. The folk-laden “Lonely Planet Boy” is nothing if not a collision of heart-on-the-sleeve emotions and the desire in the face of challenges to maintain a tough-skinned exterior. An interpretation of Bo Diddley’s “Pills,” complete with shivering harmonica and clattering rhythms, announces there’s no cure for what infects this band. It’s that contagious. And how.

His deliveries gushing with campy fun, playful irreverence, and sheer decadence, Johansen doubles as the equivalent of an open fire hydrant that spouts at will. He’s at once tender and vicious, serious and tongue-in-cheek. On arguably his finest hour on the album, Johansen’s phrasing, passion, and lyrical ambiguity alone turn “Trash” into an insistent glam-rock gem whose echoing harmonies and girl-group references stamp it a pop classic.

Too much, too soon? Only for those averse to some of the finest rock ‘n’ roll ever put on tape.

"Infamous 2" Post Punk C60 Cassette Mix - (Comes with a bonus download code )

A Second Edition of "Lost" tracks from The Seminal Jon Savage "Fame" 78-81 Post-Punk Compilation

This D60 cassette (CTRUE34) contains 18 tracks (including The Slits, The Modettes, Dislocation Dance, Anthony Moore, The Chrome Etc ) a second collection of tracks that were considered for inclusion on the celebrated Jon Savage Post-Punk collection on CTR "Fame" (78-81) at some point-but discounted due to licensing issues or similar reasons. Once more, this Ltd edition cassette provides a slightly different take / vision of the album that became "Fame"." A natural companion to the "Fame" 78-81 collection on vinyl & the 2021 Re-edition on vinyl, CD & Of Course "Infamous " the first C60 . Mixed by CTR with care & attention. Only available from the CTR webstore-nowhere else.

Madlib’s WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip Returns on Double Vinyl via BBE Music BBE Music is thrilled to announce the long-awaited rerelease of WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip, the final installment in the legendary Beat Generation series from none other than Madlib. Originally released in 2008, this masterful collage of dusty loops, raw beats, and left-field soundscapes remains a high-water mark in the Stones Throw producer’s sprawling discography.

Now, for the first time in years, fans can experience the album in all its analog glory with this deluxe double vinyl edition, carefully remastered to preserve Madlib’s signature warmth and grit. A tribute to pirate radio culture and late-night airwaves, WLIB AM weaves together a rich tapestry of hip-hop, jazz, and soul, featuring an all-star cas t of collaborators, including Talib Kweli, Guilty Simpson, MED, and Oh No. Each track showcases Madlib’s uncanny ability to blur the lines between genres, effortlessly flipping obscure samples into hypnotic, off-kilter rhythms. From the hypnotic bounce of “Blow the Horns on ‘Em” to the smoked-out groove of “The Plan Pt. 1,” this is Madlib at his most playful, unpredictable, and inspired.

This special double vinyl edition, released exclusively via BBE Music, brings one of the Beat Generation series’ most celebrated albums back into circulation for crate-diggers and collectors alike. With original artwork and a high-quality pressing, this rerelease is a must-have for Madlib aficionados and vinyl lovers who appreciate raw, unfiltered beat craftsmanship. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of hip-hop history—WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip is back and sounding better than ever.