VIA PRESS RELEASE | On July 10, Matador will release a 20th anniversary edition of Cat Power’s soul-soaked classic, The Greatest. This reissue will feature a limited re-print of the album’s original pink foil cover art, as well as pink-colored vinyl. Pre-order HERE.

Cat Power (Chan Marshall) will tour the world this summer and fall performing the record in its entirety, including dates in North America, the EU, and UK. Earlier this year, Marshall and her band, Dirty Delta Blues, released a three-song EP, “Redux,” via Domino Records. “Redux” features new recordings of songs by Prince (“Nothing Compares 2 U”) and James Brown (“Try Me”) along with a new rerecording of The Greatest song, “Could We.”

On The Greatest, Marshall traveled to Memphis, pursuing the slinky Hi Records sound of the ’70s, famed for its sensuous feel and beguiling rhythms. She got Al Green’s guitarist and songwriting partner, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges, to play guitar on the whole album (Teenie co-wrote “Love and Happiness” and “Take Me to the River,” among other soul classics).

With Teenie came his Hi Rhythm bandmate (and brother) Leroy “Flick” Hodges, who plays on half of the album (Memphis A-team bassist Dave Smith supplements). Anchoring the band is Steve Potts, whose reputation on drums was solidified when the surviving members of Booker T. and the MG’s asked him to replace their late drummer, Al Jackson. Other top Memphis musicians guest on key-boards, horns, and strings.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Jazz Dispensary announces the latest addition to its acclaimed Top Shelf series: an unearthed gem from the golden age of jazz-funk fusion, Reachin’ by Roger Glenn. For nearly fifty years, Glenn’s debut has been a secret handshake among sophisticated crate-diggers and fusion connoisseurs—a treasure excavated from the fertile musical fault lines of the late-’70s Bay Area. Out of this eclectic, socially conscious epoch, Glenn created a masterpiece of Latin jazz, cosmic funk, and rare groove.

Now, Jazz Dispensary is bringing this timeless record back from Craft Recordings’ deepest vaults. As with every release in the label’s meticulously curated Top Shelf series, Reachin’ has been immaculately restored: all-analog (AAA) mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, cut straight from the original master tapes; 180-gram vinyl pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing; and a tip-on jacket that faithfully reproduces the original artwork. Reachin’ arrives July 10 and is available for pre-order now.

To understand Reachin’, you have to understand the versatility, roots, and imagination of Roger Glenn. The son of famed New York trombonist and vibraphonist Tyree Glenn, is a quintessential musician’s musician. As a child, he watched his father rehearse alongside Duke Ellington while absorbing a love of Cuban polyrhythms from his mother. After three years in the armed forces—where he played in an army band alongside Grover Washington, Jr. and Billy Cobham—Glenn quickly became a sought-after fixture of the East Coast jazz world.

A supremely gifted improviser, Glenn soon caught the attention of some major jazz figures: legendary vibraphonist Cal Tjader enlisted him to play flute in his band, revered flautist Herbie Mann recruited him on vibes, and Dizzy Gillespie—a friend of his father—invited Glenn to join his group for a tour of Brazil.

Read More »

Celebrating Greg Dulli, born on this day in 1965. —Ed.

From humble beginnings, Cincinnati’s Afghan Whigs grew into one of 1990s more appealing Alternative success stories. Featuring guitarist Rick McCollum, bassist John Curley, drummer Steve Earle, and vocalist-guitarist-songwriting powerhouse Greg Dulli, they came on strong with 1990’s Up in It and sharpened their sound with ‘92’s Congregation; covers EP “Uptown Avondale” signaled the departure of Sub Pop for the majors. 

Up in It emerged in 1990 and was an immediate breath of fresh air. A whole lot of loud and heavy stuff was steamrolling toward a point of detonation, but the Afghan Whigs essentially came out of nowhere and infused the template with better than average songwriting right out of the gate. The LP’s best song is its opener, “Retarded” an almost ridiculously catchy hard rocker reinforcing that Dulli and company weren’t just hitched to a trend on the upswing. It’s sort of cut that can get stuck in one’s head for days, as this writer can attest, and reinvestigation has proved this capability undiminished.

Had Up in It been the only record the Whigs released…but wait. They do in fact have a prior record under their belt, 1988’s Big Top Halloween, issued on their own Ultrasuede label in an edition of 1,000 copies, one of which landed in the hands of Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman. Except for three tracks tacked onto the end of the Up in It CD (“Big Top Halloween,” Sammy,” and “In My Town”), nothing from the record has been legitimately reissued. Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006 chronologically cuts it out of the band’s history.

This is understandable. Although not terrible, Big Top Halloween (notably engineered by Wayne Hartman, who did the same for another Ohioan debut, the “Forever Since Breakfast” EP from Guided by Voices) is somewhat schizophrenic. Initially tapping into a Replacements vibe, across the disc there’re numerous structural nods to hardcore, doses of college jangle, a rather bogue country-ish number (“Life in a Day”), and the earliest nod to R&B-soul in the group’s discography (“But Listen”).

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Acclaimed singer-songwriter Iris DeMent’s seminal third album, The Way I Should, returns in a newly remastered 30th anniversary edition, available June 5 on LP and CD from Yep Roc Records. The album is available for pre-order here.

Originally released in 1996, The Way I Should, DeMent’s third studio album, marked a bold artistic leap for DeMent, expanding her signature folk and country, blending sharp political commentary with deeply personal storytelling. Produced by Randy Scruggs, the album was recorded and mixed by Chuck Ainlay at Scruggs Sound Studio. The 30th anniversary reissue is remastered by Mike Westbrook of Material Mastering.

Anchored by DeMent’s unmistakable voice, who doesn’t shy away from weighty topics. Songs like “Wasteland of the Free” take direct aim at government corruption, while “Quality Time” gives voice to the disillusioned with searing honesty and soulful grit. The album’s further enriched by contributions from legendary collaborators including Delbert McClinton, Mark Knopfler, and Merle Haggard.

At the time of its release, All Music noted that the album “expands to tackle global topics…on the tough-talking The Way I Should,” while Entertainment Weekly described it as a “giant leap” highlighting its “broader musical framework also fleshes out her country-folk hybrid,” and the Chicago Tribune observed that “she still knows how to transform the everyday into a revelation of chilling beauty.”

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that I’m somebody else. Somebody who doesn’t think Frank Zappa was a smug, supercilious, smirking jerk, who sneered at his betters (The Monkees come to mind) and whose belief in his own musical and moral superiority wasn’t completely undercut by the fact that he catered to the kinds of giggling juveniles who think “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” is the Huskies’ urine.

And who will best be remembered by the general public for the trite novelty tunes “Dancin’ Fool” and “Valley Girl.”

Oh, forget it. I can’t be somebody else—I love myself too much. But it’s easier for me to keep an open mind when it comes to Zappa’s earlier work, when he had yet to tailor his music to the pre-pubes crowd.

I can actually listen to 1969’s Hot Rats, mainly because Zappa never opens his sarcastic trap, and there are numerous good things to be said about 1970’s Weasels Ripped My Flesh, a combination live/studio disc that Zappa assembled from material recorded before the Mothers of Invention sadly went tits up.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh is a mixed bag with some very good songs, and it might have been a triumph had Frank Zappa had a little less Frank Zappa in him. By which I mean Frank Zappa never met a rock song he couldn’t ruin by over-complicating it, basically because he believed that mere rock music was beneath his staggering genius.

As a result, Weasels Ripped My Flesh includes some coulda-been-very-good songs that are only very good in parts, and what good are songs that are only very good in parts? But it also includes a few of the best songs Zappa ever recorded.

Read More »

We’ve sent the TVD team home early this week so they can visit their own local record stores. Who does this? We do.

While we’re away, why not fire up our Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores? Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up, and we’ll see you back here on Monday, 5/11.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is proud to announce the first-ever audiophile vinyl edition of the 1990 club favorite and international crossover success, Deee-Lite’s World Clique.

Sourced from the original master tapes (1/2” / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe) and strictly limited to 2,000 numbered copies, this 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the club favorite in audiophile quality for the first time. Pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, the reissue allows for a boost in groove velocity and near eradication of inner-groove distortion by spreading the 48-minute album across four vinyl sides, enhancing high- and low-frequency reproduction.

Dig! A rare club album that crossed over into the mainstream and became an international success, World Clique seemingly came from out of the blue from a band whose whimsical, quasi-psychedelic name—Deee-Lite—hints at the sheer fun, quirky personality, and humorous flair within its diverse borders.

Renowned for the smash “Groove Is in the Heart,” ranked #233 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 2 on Billboard’s 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time, the 1990 record is a good-time dive into funk, house, disco, and pop waters that never fails to put a smile on listeners’ faces or a spring in their step.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | London Records has today announced the first major reissue program for Happy Mondays’ landmark album Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, the defining record of the club and indie crossover era of the late ’80s/early ’90s. With all original audio remastered from the Factory Records master tapes, the album will be available starting on August 21 on multiple formats, including:

5LP Super Deluxe Edition: Includes the original album plus the fabled “Hallelujah” and “Madchester Rave On” EPs, the Baby Big Head Bootleg Album recorded Live at Elland Road on June 1, 1991—with a fold-out A2 tour poster from the same legendary gig, classic and newly commissioned remixes, plus a “Madchester” slipmat.

Also included is a 60-page 12” x 12” hardback book containing liner notes written by author and journalist James Brown, who worked for the NME during the Pills ‘N’ Thrills era and went on to found Loaded magazine.

Original Central Station Design members: Pat Carroll and Karen Jackson, now known as Sublime Limbo, together with Samuel Carroll contribute the essay “Postcards from the Edge: The Art and Anarchy of Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches,” which outlines the philosophy behind the album’s iconic artwork, and reveals that Shaun Ryder’s working title for the record was Kinky Album. Among many previously unseen images, the book includes the album artwork that was scrapped just before it went to print, after Shaun had a new idea.

Read More »

The music world lost Robert Flack in February of 2025. Flack began her singular career in 1969 and released her 15th and final album in 2012. Her Atlantic Records albums make up the bulk of her recorded output and easily represent her best music. It’s no surprise that an iconic artist whose music was initially rooted in jazz and R&B, and later in pop and soul, would record for Atlantic Records. She is one of the key artists who made the label the undisputed supreme record company of the music business during its heyday of the 1960s and 1970s.

A new box set includes the first eight albums she recorded, all on Atlantic. Two more Atlantic albums are not included in this box. Flack’s beautiful, silky, smoky, and sultry style evolved slowly over these eight albums. This is the sound of a singer fully in command of her art and life, who sings with an understated yet powerful, mature grace unmatched.

Many may not know that her debut album, First Take, released in 1969, was the result of her being discovered by jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann. Joel Dorn, veteran producer of many legendary jazz recordings, produced the album. It begins with her singular interpretation of the jazz classic “Compared to What.”

Flack was also adept at interpreting folk-based material at this time, with a Leonard Cohen cover and the album’s big hit, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written by English folk artist Ewan MacColl. The song, in its earlier folk incarnation, was popularized by Peggy Seeger. Flack’s version was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me. It was her commercial breakthrough.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | In October 1974, the Grateful Dead walked off the stage at Winterland and into an indefinite touring hiatus, exhausted by the logistical and financial strains of touring with the groundbreaking Wall of Sound. A newly remastered version of Steal Your Face, the 1976 double-live album taken from that historic five-show “farewell” run, arrives on June 26, the album’s 50th anniversary.

Steal Your Face (50th Anniversary Remaster) will be released as a 2LP set highlighting the band’s official Pantone colors, Grateful Red and Stealie Blue. The exclusive “Off Your Head” custom variant from Dead.net splits the colors half-and-half with a touch of black splatter on both discs. The center labels include the iconic “Steal Your Face” logo’s facial features gradually fading away across all four sides. This version also includes an 11×11 sticker sheet loaded with SYF logos.

The album will also be available for streaming and digital download. This anniversary edition was newly mastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Glasser at Airshow Mastering, sourced from the Plangent Processes restored and speed-corrected tapes. Lacquers were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Pre-order here.

Following the 1974 Winterland run, Jerry Garcia spent the next three years immersed in editing The Grateful Dead Movie (1977), while Phil Lesh and Owsley “Bear” Stanley began mining the 16-track tapes for a live album. The songs they chose balanced road-tested rockers (“U.S. Blues” and “Promised Land”), with standout songs from band member solo albums (“Sugaree” and “Black-Throated Wind”) and choice covers (“Big River” and “El Paso”). In perfect Dead synchrony, their “farewell” live album arrived in June 1976, the same month the band officially returned to the road, ending the 20-month touring hiatus.

Read More »

Many ears were hipped to Indigenous folksinger, poet, filmmaker and activist Willie Dunn by the 3LP/2CD set Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985. Issued by Light in the Attic in 2014, that one’s received a recent repress, and in even better news, the next volume in the series is Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology, which gathers tracks from his four albums and more, with everything remastered by John Baldwin. The icing on the cake for vinyl buyers is the inclusion of Willie Dunn Notes, the 24-pg newsprint insert with exhaustively researched liners assembled by the set’s producer Kevin Howes. 

Willie Dunn’s best-known song is “I Pity the Country,” in large part because it was one of two recordings featured on Native North America (Vol. 1). That revelatory compilation, GRAMMY®-nominated and prominent in numerous year’s best lists including the top 10 reissues offered by this very website, smartly placed “I Pity the Country” as track one on side one.

When a musician attains a belated boost in profile, their best-known song often just happens to be their best song period, but that’s not the case with Willie Dunn, as Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies begins with the nearly 10-minute powerhouse “The Ballad of Crowfoot.” Now, that song is arguably the artist’s greatest composition (as it plays it sure feels that way); that the ensuing 21 songs here are unmarred by even a hint of anticlimax is testament to Dunn’s talent.

“The Ballad of Crowfoot” is included on both his debut and its follow-up (both eponymous, released in 1971 and ’72 with an overlap of six tracks), but neither of those shorter versions are the one that’s heard on Creation Never Sleeps. The recording collected here is sourced from the soundtrack of the short film of the same title that was made in 1968 by the National Film Board of Canada’s Indian Film Crew, of which Dunn was a member.

Read More »