Published on
March 21, 2023
Category
Features
Essential reissues, box sets, and represses this month.
Featuring De La Soul, Daniel Johnston, Sharon Van Etten and more.
De La Soul
3 Feet High And Rising
(Chrysalis)
De La Soul rewrote the hip-hop rulebook with their debut album 3 Feet High And Rising. Pulling samples from across pop, country, soul and disco, the trio’s playful and comedic approach proved it was ok to be different and, at times, a bit weird. 34 years on and the album is still as influential and groundbreaking–an essential for every record collector. This reissue is available on magenta, yellow and black vinyl.
Daniel Johnston
Songs Of Pain
(Eternal Yip Eye Music)
Celebrate the late Daniel Johnston with the first ever vinyl release of his debut album, Songs Of Pain. An introduction to Johnston’s lo-fi tales of love and despair, the 1981 album was originally recorded on tape in his parents’ basement and hand-delivered to his friends on cassette. This remastered double album comes on aqua vinyl and also features eight unreleased tracks and a 12-page art and lyric book.
The Cinematic Orchestra
Every Day
(Ninja Tune)
Ninja Tune are bringing The Cinematic Orchestra’s masterpiece, Every Day, to vinyl for its 20th birthday. Spread across three translucent red LPs, Jason Swinscoe and co cruise through a freeing mix of classic soul, broken beats, percussion hooks and cosmic elegance, defining nu-jazz as it came to be. Alongside guest spots from ’60s soul icon Fontella Bass and British rapper Roots Manuva, this reissue also features four bonus tracks from the around the time of the record’s original release.
Aretha Franklin
Lady Soul
(Rhino Atlantic)
Aretha Franklin’s 1968 chart-topping release, Lady Soul, captures the queen of soul in her prime. Featuring hits “Chain of Fools”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet, Sweet, Baby)”, revisit the classic with this clear vinyl reissue.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Belong
(Slumberland)
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s Belong followed up the ’80s-tinged jangles of their self-titled debut with a confident foray into alt-rock, delivering the sophomore album that every band dreams of. Now reissued on blue-on-blue splatter vinyl, Belong is one for the indie kids then and now.
Frightened Rabbit
Pedestrian Verse (10th Anniversary Edition)
(Sony)
Pedestrian Verse, though their fourth album, was Frightened Rabbit’s major label debut and also saw the late Scott Hutchinson welcome his bandmates into the writing process for the first time. Available on clear and black recycled vinyl to celebrate its 10th anniversary, this team effort builds upon the group’s folk-rock prowess, resulting in a euphoric release that pushed the Scottish group to new heights. Sony’s anniversary edition features 11 additional tracks, and can be bought as a bundle with an 84-page replica of Hutchinson’s original lyric book from the time of recording, detailing the band’s writing process and song evolution alongside illustrations and drawings.
Sharon Van Etten
Tramp (Anniversary Edition)
(Jagjaguwar)
Jagjaguwar releases a 11th anniversary crimson vinyl edition of Sharon Van Etten’s iconic album Tramp. Written over an 18-month period while Van Etten and producer, The National’s Aaron Dessner, were both off tour, Tramp overcomes post-breakup uncertainty with harmony-ridden indie-rock that exudes both confidence and vulnerability. As well as singles “Serpents” and “We Are Fine”, this Tramp reissue features a previously unreleased track titled “This Is Too Right” that features vocals from Wye Oak’s Jen Wasner.
The Velvet Underground
Loaded (Fully Re-Loaded Edition)
(Dig!)
Revisit Lou Reed’s final Velvet Underground album with this ultimate Loaded (Fully Re-Loaded Edition) boxset from Dig!. Loaded followed Atlantic Records’ request to produce a record “loaded with hits”, and in turn created The Velvet Underground’s most commercially successful album with singles “Sweet Jane” and “Rock & Roll” cementing the group within rock and roll royalty. If one album-length of Loaded wasn’t enough, this reissue comprises of nine LPs with stereo, mono and “full-Length” mixes of the original album, along with demos, studio outtakes and live recordings, and another four 7″ singles featuring “Head Held High”, “Rock & Roll”, “Sweet Jane” and “Who Loves The Sun”.
Moss Icon
Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly (Anniversary Edition)
(Temporary Residence)
Moss Icon’s time together was short but impactful. With their sole full-length album, Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly, only being released several years after their demise, the post-hardcore innovators thrashed their distortion-drenched guitars and Sprechgesang shouts into obscurity before scene enthusiasts made sense of the chaos. Now 30 years since its release, Temporary Residence are widening the group’s influence with a crystal clear vinyl reissue that’s ready to dominate the emo, hardcore and punk scenes all over again.
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