New vinyl reissues: April 3, 2026

What a week of new vinyl reissues we’ve got in store for you, including two new Rhino High Fidelity titles and so much more. Today we’re trying something new for our paid subscribers, who have access to a special playlist at the end of today’s post. (If you’re paid up, scroll down and start listening.) While we’re all about vinyl here, it seems silly not to use the advantages of streaming technology as a music-discovery tool.

The 20-song playlist is currently on Apple Music and Tidal services, and yes, we’ve included Spotify, too, although we really don’t like that platform and may elect to omit it in the future. (If you’re using Spotify, they don’t pay artists enough; you should switch to a different service.) As mentioned, the playlist is accessible only to our paid newsletter subscribers, so if you’re not one of those, upgrade now to get access to this and future Vinyl Cut playlists.

And now, let’s look at—and listen to—the week!

Uncle Tupelo: Anodyne & The J. Geils Band: “Live” Full House [Rhino High Fidelity]

The two latest Rhino High Fidelity releases just hit their web shop this morning. The more exciting of the pair is an analog reissue of Uncle Tupelo’s marvelous 1993 LP Anodyne, the last album the Illinois alt-country pioneers recorded before splintering into the groups Son Volt and Wilco. It was recorded without overdubs in Austin, and the new remaster, cut by Kevin Gray, should amply convey the band’s live interplay. The deluxe gatefold features an insert with an essay by Mark Deming. The other RHF is “Live” Full House, the 1972 live album from Boston rabble-rousers the J. Geils Band, a disc that gets much mileage out of singer Peter Wolf’s bluesy howl and harmonica player Magic Dick’s prodigious lung power. Recorded in Detroit, it’s a frisky and immediate-sounding record, although its version of white-guy blues is very much of the era. It, too, was cut from tape by Kevin Gray and includes liner notes by Peter Wolf himself. NL

Larrison: Connecters Vol. 1: Original Recordings, 1992–1999 [Freedom to Spend]

In 1993, visual artist and musician Larrison Seidle found among his belongings a Casio CZ-5000 synthesizer that his dad had given him as a gift as a teen. Seidle almost immediately set to work making music with it, using the instrument’s built-in phase distortion and sequencer to create short, electro-psych pieces that sound like lost Broadcast demos or the ’70s-era bumper music for a public television station. Seidle compiled a tape of his work for the publisher of ND, an influential magazine focused on experimental music, and many years later that cassette landed in the hands of Jed Bindeman, one of the folks behind Freedom to Spend, the fantastic label that re-released Sister Irene O’Connor’s Fire of God’s Love last year (read our review here). Blown away by what he heard, Bindeman and the FTS team spent three years collecting more of Seidle’s recordings and meticulously putting together Connecters Vol. 1, a compilation that hits record-store shelves this week. This first-time vinyl pressing was mastered and cut by Carl Saff of Chicago’s Saff Mastering and is available in a limited run of 500 copies. RH

Dick Gaughan: Handful of Earth [Topic]

Following a mental breakdown at the end of the ’70s, Scottish folksinger Dick Gaughan took some time away from music, but when he returned, the result was 1981’s careful, impassioned Handful of Earth, one of the most remarkable folk albums ever made. Playing mostly traditional tunes on open-tuned guitar, Gaughan drew from the frustration felt in Scotland during Margaret Thatcher’s first years as Prime Minister, using old tunes about workers’ struggles and bigotry toward the Irish and the Scottish to comment on current-day problems. It’s a bleakly gorgeous record, with Gaughan’s honest delivery cutting like a scythe. Since its original release, Handful of Earth has been reissued on vinyl a couple of times, but the appearance of a new edition is a cause for great rejoicing, as this music is equally harrowing and heartwarming, and capable of igniting a flame for social change even these many years on. NL

Freddie Gibbs & Statik Selektah: Lord Giveth, Lord Taketh Away [RRC Music]

Apparently recorded in a single 24-hour stretch. 2011’s Lord Giveth, Lord Taketh Away was a short, potent shot of gangsta rap brilliance from one of the best lyricists around and one of the best hip-hop producers working today. In less than 20 minutes, Freddie Gibbs and his various guests, including Daz Dillinger, Trae tha Truth, and Smoke DZA, spit their wickedly funny street poetics over beats that Statik Selektah constructed from a crate of ’70s soul records. The EP was expanded for a vinyl release in 2018, but this new pressing from Dutch label RRC Music arrives with another bonus track and updated artwork. The music for this latest edition has been mastered for vinyl by Davide Bassi. RH

Robin Trower: Live! 50th anniversary edition [Chrysalis]

The solo career of British guitarist Robin Trower seems to have veered wildly away from his work with the ponderous, organ-led psych-prog band Procol Harum, but the fact is that Trower’s roots in blues-rock go way back to when Procol Harum were called the Paramounts and there were no light fandangos anywhere in sight. His 1976 live album, titled Live!, is a thuddy, riffy, shreddy, bluesy wankfest of the best kind, with Trower’s Hendrix adulation on full display. Bassist James Dewar handles the vocals, and the show—recorded for Swedish radio—finds the power trio in soaring form. For its 50th anniversary, the album has been remixed by Richard Whittaker and expanded two 2 LPs so that the entire concert is now represented; purists should be aware that the album’s tracklist has been altered to replicate the show’s original setlist. The vinyl was mastered at AIR Studios in London, and the package includes an insert with liner notes, photos, and interviews with Trower and drummer Bill Lordan. NL

Die Kreuzen: October File [Touch & Go]

Touch & Go Records, the venerable Chicago indie label, doesn’t release new music these days, but they are doing a great job keeping crucial releases from their large back catalog in print. This month, they’re reissuing 1986’s October File, the second album by Milwaukee noise-rock band Die Kreuzen. At this point, the band was moving beyond the punk assault of their 1984 self-titled debut and playing more measured but still heavy post-hardcore that sounds like a key influence on the grunge bands that would follow in their wake. This limited-edition pressing of 500 copies comes on blue, black, and clear vinyl. RH

Tim Buckley: Tim Buckley [Real Gone Music]

The delicate 1966 debut of Tim Buckley was recorded when the California musician was just 19, and it found him in chamber-folk-pop mode, fitting in perfectly with the Elektra Records roster at the time. Both Elektra and Buckley were about to become infinitely more diverse and experimental as the decade ensued, but for the time being, the placid, tentative calm of Tim Buckley wove its own spell, featuring flecks of jazz and a strong undercurrent of the psychedelic movement to come. Buckley’s powerful voice—which he famously passed down to son Jeff—is enough to tie the disparate elements of the album together, and the contributions from Van Dyke Parks, Jack Nitzsche, and Mothers of Invention drummer Billy Mundi add color and momentum to these diaphanous tunes. Real Gone Music has remastered the album—not from tape, sadly, or at least that language doesn’t appear on their website—and pressed it to “coke clear” vinyl. NL

Venetian Snares: Traditional Synthesizer Music [Planet Mu]

Aaron Funk, the Canadian electronic artist who records under the name Venetian Snares, gave himself a challenge for his 2016 album Traditional Synthesizer Music: He would compose the pieces using only modular synths and record himself playing them live. And due to the way his patches and the structures of each work were designed, he would be unable to perform them the same way twice. So, over multiple takes of each of the 12 tracks on the album, the music would change every time. The finished version that Funk released a decade ago is a wonderfully glitchy affair featuring danceable electro beats, wobbly Aphex Twin–style fanfares, and drum-and-bass nightmares. When it was originally released, Funk issued a limited CD version with a second disc of alternate takes and bonus tracks. For the album’s 10th birthday, he and Planet Mu are offering up a new 3-LP pressing that includes that additional material. RH

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC Sessions & Winterland [Sony]

The 1998 double-CD of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s BBC sessions made for a fine alternate history of the trio’s breakthrough year of 1967, with radio performances for Top Gear, Saturday Club, and Top of the Pops. (The discs also included the infamous 1969 performance for Lulu’s TV show Happening for Lulu that caused Hendrix to be banned from the BBC for not sticking to his promised setlist.) BBC Sessions was released on a 3-LP set at the time, but now those nearly two hours of performances have been pared down to a single piece of vinyl, perhaps to cut out some of the chaff but surely losing the set’s historical value in the process. (Or maybe the BBC is just having its revenge on Jimi.) Similarly, this week Sony is also giving us a 1-LP abridgement of 2011’s 4-CD/8-LP Winterland box set, sourced from a three-night, six-show stand in October 1968 at Bill Graham’s legendary San Francisco ballroom. These single discs should be fine for the Crosley crowd, but the rest of us recognize them as the outrageous and unnecessary bowdlerizations that they are. NL

Nightmares on Wax: In a Space Outta Sound [Warp]

The fifth studio album by Nightmares on Wax, the groove-centric electronic project led by DJ E.A.Z.E., was an exploration of his deep love of reggae, dub, and soundsystem culture. Released in 2005, In a Space Outta Sound filtered the loping, bass-heavy rhythms of Jamaica though NoW’s well-honed hip-hop and soul-inflected productions, resulting in a heady soundtrack perfect for both nightclub parties and at-home smoke sessions. To celebrate the album’s 20th birthday, Warp Records let dub mastermind Adrian Sherwood have his way with a handful of tracks for a companion record called In a Space Outta Dub. That remix album will eventually get a stand-alone vinyl release, but for now the only way to get it is as part of the 3-LP box set dropping this week that includes a remastered version of In a Space Outta Sound and a host of accessories. Be warned: Warp’s US distributor already sold out of this special edition, so you’d do well to get to your local shop early in order to securing a copy. RH

Wagner: Das Rheingold [Deutsche Grammophon Original Source]

Herbert von Karajan’s Ring cycle, recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1966 to 1970, remains a very well-regarded version, worthy of comparison to Solti/Vienna’s historic recording for Decca if not quite its equal. The “prologue” opera, Das Rheingold, has been recut to vinyl as part of Deutsche Grammophon’s high-end Original Source series, and while it’s by far the shortest of the four Ring operas, at three LPs it will still cost a pretty penny. The vinyl was cut at Emil Berliner Studios from the original stereo master tape; the story tells a tale of thievery, corruption, and woe surrounding an all-powerful magic ring, except with giants and gods instead of hobbits and wizards. It will be interesting to see if DG sees fit to reissue the other three operas in Karajan’s Ring cycle, which would necessitate the building of one new bookshelf to rule, er, contain them all. NL

Prince Lawsha: Firebirds: Live at Berkeley Jazz Festival Vol I [Birdseye]

Woodwind player Prince Lasha came out of an incredibly fertile music scene in Texas that included Dewey Redman and Ornette Coleman. And like those players, he moved ably from sturdy post-bop into wild free-jazz playing as a bandleader and on albums by Eric Dolphy and Elvin Jones. This live recording from the 1972 Berkeley Jazz Festival, reissued this week in a gray-market pressing, looks to have a more straight-ahead sound as Lasha (credited on the LP as Prince Lawsha) leads an ensemble that includes vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Charles Moffett, and fellow flute/saxophone player Hadley Caliman. RH

America: America & George Benson: Breezin’ [Acoustic Sounds 40 Series]

Hot on the heels of January’s very good-sounding Rhino Reserve pressing (read our review here), Acoustic Sounds are now sticking their fingers into America’s pie. The 1972 self-titled debut by the American-born, British-residing folk-rock trio was cut from analog tape by Matthew Lutthans to 33 RPM on Rhino Reserve; he’s now repeated the trick at 45 RPM as part of Acoustic Sounds’ 40th anniversary series, in which they’re reissuing 40 albums from the Warner catalog on double-LP sets. This week’s other offering is George Benson’s 1976 smooth-jazz smash Snoozin’—I’m sorry, I mean Breezin’. Quite frankly, these have got to be among the two most boring albums in the entire WEA catalog. Nevertheless, they should sound silky and clean if not outright antiseptic. They were pressed at Acoustic Sounds’ sister company Quality Record Pressings and come in tip-on gatefold jackets, to maximize the delta between the cost of these new ones and a decent-condition original that you can find in literally any dollar bin in any record store. NL

Musica Transonic + Mainliner: Solid Static [Black Editions/La Musica]

The parade of reissues of music once released on cassette or, in this case, CD-R through Japanese label La Musica continues this week with the first-ever vinyl pressing of Solid Static, a collaboration between members of the heavy psych ensembles Mainliner and Musica Transonic. The latter group was led by Asahito Nanjo, the gent behind La Musica Records and the driving creative force for this wild musical journey. He’s joined by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and guitarist Makoto Kawabata, both members of Mainliner who would go on to form the still-active and wildly prolific Acid Mothers Temple. The album’s five songs are blown-out freakouts heavily indebted to the early work of Quicksilver Messenger Service and the explosive energy of the MC5. This new edition of Solid Static has been mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering and the lacquers were cut by Philip S. Rodriguez at Elysian Mastering. RH

Sagittarius: Present Tense [Music on Vinyl]

Sunshine-pop maestro Curt Boettcher was a hired hand for Gary Usher’s Sagittarius project, but he ended up dominating their majestic 1968 debut album, Present Tense. Later that year Boettcher would go on to be the puppet master behind the Millennium and their brilliant album Begin, but Present Tense is nearly its equal, featuring baroque-pop delicacies and wondrous psychedelic whimsy. Usher’s hands on the tiller can also be felt at times, especially on “My World Fell Down” (on which Boettcher was not involved), which features a lead vocal from Glen Campbell. Be aware that the album version does not include the musique concrète section from the single version—familiar to listeners from its inclusion on the original Nuggets album—because Columbia’s label honcho Clive Davis didn’t “get” it. Sony affiliate Music on Vinyl is reissuing Present Tense on orange vinyl this week in Europe (here’s the link, although it won’t work without a VPN) and it should be available in the States shortly. This is the first time the album has been on vinyl since Music on Vinyl reissued it back in 2012—an unjust fate for such a beloved work of American psychedelia. NL

Kut Klose: Surrender [Real Gone Music]

Though they were mentored by R&B superstar Keith Sweat and had a major label deal with Elektra, Atlanta trio Kut Klose was never able to catch fire like other ’90s female vocal groups like En Vogue and SWV. All the pieces were in place: killer harmonies, great songs, and press chatter in spots like Vibe and The Washington Post. Yet with all that, the group’s lone LP Surrender faltered commercially and, although they cut a new single as recently as 2010, a follow-up album never materialized. Real Gone Music is giving the world a chance to hear what they missed out with the first-ever US vinyl pressing of Kut Klose’s only full-length. The album has been remastered and is pressed on lovely light-blue wax. RH

Jazz Alley

It’s not as raucous this week down Jazz Alley as it can sometimes be, but there are nonetheless some choice cuts by top cats for all you cool cucumbers. Thelonious Monk’s 1959 album Alone in San Francisco finds Monk exactly that—performing solo on the piano at San Francisco’s Fugazi Hall without an audience. The set is both relaxing and stimulating, with Monk playfully teasing the conventions of rhythm and chord structure, all while holding true to the established blues and jazz vernacular. It comes as part of Craft’s Original Jazz Classics series, cut from tape by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI. Meanwhile, Blue Note drops two more in their Tone Poet reissue series. The first revisits organist Larry Young’s album Mother Ship, recorded in 1969 but not released until 1980. Young’s Hammond B-3 is joined by Lee Morgan’s trumpet, Herbert Morgan’s tenor sax, and Eddie Gladden’s drums, and the colorations and blends that the quartet comes up with are striking and unique. The other Tone Poet is Fred Jackson’s 1962 set Hootin’ ’n Tootin’, the only full-length the tenor saxophonist released as bandleader. It’s a wonderfully funky, driving set, featuring future Motown house organist Earl Van Dyke alongside guitarist Willie Jones and drummer Wilbert Hogan. These two Tone Poets were also cut from tape by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI. Lastly, for the truly devoted, the Verve Record Club subscription series is sending members a fresh, all-analog pressing of Yusef Lateef’s first album for Impulse! Records, 1964’s Jazz ’Round the World, in which the multi-instrumentalist interprets folk-music idioms from across the globe. NL

OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
Michael Abels: Get Out soundtrack [Waxwork]
Alkaline Trio: Good Mourning; Crimson [Vagrant]
The B-52s: Live at Rock ’n Rockets (liquid vinyl) [Culture Factory]
James Bernard: The Curse of Frankenstein soundtrack [Silva Screen]
Chicane: Far from the Maddening Crowds [Music on Vinyl]
Martin Cooper & David Hughes: C.H.U.D. soundtrack [Waxwork]
Chris Cornell: Carry On [Interscope Vinyl Collective subscriber exclusive]
Dark Tranquillity: Skydancer; Of Chaos & Eternal Night [Cosmic Key Creations]
The Devil Wears Prada: 8:18 [Real Gone Music]
Gord Downie, the Sadies, and the Conquering Sun: Live at 6 O’Clock [Arts & Crafts]
Edge of Sanity: Cryptic; Elegy: Chapter II Demos [Century Media]
Danny Elfman: Sleepy Hollow soundtrack [Waxwork]
The Expanders: The Expanders [Easy Star]
The Fabulous Thunderbirds: Tuff Enuff [Last Music]
Foesum: Perfection [P-Vine]
Grand Funk Railroad: We’re an American Band [Elemental]
John Holt: 1000 Volts of Holt [Culture Factory]
Humble Pie: Winterland 1973 [Cleopatra]
Derek Jarman: Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping [Cold Spring]
Kadaver: Live in Antwerp; Live in Copenhagen [Heavy Psych Sounds]
Julius Katchen: The Unreleased Studio Recordings [The Lost Recordings]
Masabumi Kikuchi: But Not for Me [Victor]
Kvist: For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike [Peaceville]
Harry Manfredini: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives soundtrack [Waxwork]
Bear McCreary: God of War soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
Red Mitchell, Isao Suzuki & Tsuyoshi Yamamoto: Bass Club [King]
Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper: Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper [Pravda]
O.A.R.: Risen [ATO]
Douglas Pipes: Trick ’r’ Treat soundtrack [Waxwork]
A Place to Bury Strangers: Rare and Deadly [Dedstrange]
Positive Force: Positive Force Featuring Denise Vallin [P-Vine]
The Riflebirds of Portland: April [Regional]
Charles Joseph Smith: Collected Works and War of the Martian Ghosts [Sooper]
Ringo Starr: Old Wave (liquid vinyl) [Culture Factory]
Masayoshi Takanaka: Ocean Breeze; Saudade; Can I Sing? [Universal Japan]
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Live: Revelator [Real Gone Music]
Dexter Wansel: Time Is Slipping Away [Music on Vinyl]
Randy Weston & African Rhythm Orchestra: Brooklyn Academy of Music 1985 [In and Out]
Randy Weston Big Band: Montreux Jazz Festival 1985 [In and Out]
Randy Weston & Monty Alexander: Montreux, Zaragoza & Ramatuelle Jazz Festivals 1988 [In and Out]
The Wild Swans: Bringing Home the Ashes [Music on Vinyl]
Witching Hour: Rise of the Desecrated [Dying Victims]
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio: Live at Body & Soul, Best Selection Vols. 1 & 2 [Somethin’ Cool]
Various Artists: Ayam El Disco: Egyptian Disco, Boogie & Jeel Cassettes 1978–92 [Wewantsounds]
Various Artists: Now Yearbook ’85–’89 [Universal UK]
Various Artists: The Wedding Singer soundtrack [Friday Music]

And now, as promised, here is the playlist for today’s new releases, available on the Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal streaming services. We’ll be experimenting with these playlists going forward, which are exclusively available only for our paid-tier subscribers. Let us know what you think, and enjoy!