Out This Week / on 29 May 2020

Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs / Occasional Rain
Delayed from April… Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs from Saint Etienne follow up their 2017 English Weather compilation with Occasional Rain. This is another various artists collection that according to the boys is supposed to evoke “the feel of a wet Saturday afternoon at the dawn of the 70s spent flicking through the racks, wondering whether to buy the new Tull album or maybe take a chance on that Christine Harwood album in the bargain bin.” Available on vinyl and CD.
Received the Iggy box-set over the weekend via Amazon. I believe the two main albums are remastered from the recent reissues (I got the The Idiot on vinyl recently and the mastering sounds identical) – no evidence that any remastering was done specifically for this release. The extra disc has a number of edits fairly indescernible from the originals but as a big fan of both albums worth a listen for the subtle differences. The box itself is nicely presented though the cheap-looking grainy cover isn’t to my taste. The booklet inside is OK – a Ladybird book-style with nothing a decent article in Uncut or Mojo couldn’t come up with. The live CDs are a mixed bag – the Cleveland set stands out and sounds excellent but Chicago doesn’t and the London gig verges on the unlistenable. Fairly underwhelmed overall and it’s probably £20 overpriced but a good entry point for anyone who hasn’t got any Iggy from this fantastic period.
Got an email from UDiscover stating that the Rolling Stones CD single Living in a Ghost Town is delayed until 26th June. Should have been out this week.
Also out this week
IRMIN SCHMIDT (of CAN) Nocturne: Live At The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2019
On limited ed white vinyl 2LP
The iggy box isn’t out this week, at least in North America. After I pre-ordered it I got an email saying it had been delayed til at least Jun 12.
Any chance of the Iggy Pops a&m Recordings Box getting a wider release? I think it was limited to 1000 copies and now goes for over $250! Only 3 discs with Blah album, instinct + 12” mixes…would be a great companion piece for the Bowie box
Buzzcocks “Sell You Everything” box set is out this Friday, providing that you order direct from Cherry Red (later release date for other retailers).
I have the 2 Prince titles on preorder, never had either album/box before, so I’m looking forward to hearing them…but one very important release not mentioned here is the 2nd release (and first full length album) by Americana/alt-country/country punk singer/songwriter Jaimie Wyatt called “Neon Cross”… produced by Shooter Jennings (he also co-produced the acclaimed recent Tanya Tucker record among others), features his band & his mum guests…Jessi Colter…if there is a better new song this year than the title track, I haven’t heard it yet…yes that includes anything on the amazing new Fiona Apple record…
I ordered the London/Vegas from Amazon France release prior the shutdown. You think it will be shipped to Canada? Any bets? What does the Vegas experts say? :-)
Paul Weller’s new album put back yet again to 3rd July. All of a sudden there is a store exclusive picture disc version available to pre order. According to the Paul Weller Store email I got last Thursday it will be exclusively available for Paul Weller mailing list for 48 hours only which expired on Saturday via a special link from the email. It’s still available to pre order and will no doubt appear on Recordstore shortly in another of those Universal Group’s take on exclusivity that is not quite as exclusive as they hint at.
Can see the picture disc already for sale for 41 euro from Bravado in Germany.