New vinyl reissues: December 19, 2025
Our weekly rundown of new vinyl reissues is a little slimmer than usual this week, for an obvious reason: Record labels are gearing down for the holidays, letting shoppers catch up on all the bounty that’s been hitting stores the past couple of months. So while we don’t have a ton to talk about today, there are still a few interesting things to be found.
On that note, we will not have a “New vinyl reissues” newsletter for you next week. That’s December 26, the day after Christmas, and the pickings are even slimmer then.
So this will be our last “New vinyl reissues” post of 2025. We’re aiming to be back in the swing on January 1, 2026, telling you about all the cool new things coming out on January 2.
That’s not to say The Vinyl Cut is winding down for the year just yet. We’ll have a few more vinyl reviews coming your way before the calendar page turns. Your service will not be interrupted.
If you’re feeling generous, this is the time of year to remember the neediest in your community. We are absolutely not the neediest. But if you’re feeling extra, extra generous, or you want to give yourself a present for 2026, there’s always the option of upgrading to our paid tier and supporting our work.
All right, it’s now last call for 2026 reissues. Let’s take a look.
Monster Magnet: Powertrip; Superjudge; Dopes to Infinity; God Says No [PIAS]
Just in time for your holiday gift-giving, New Jersey-bred sleaze-psych band Monster Magnet are issuing a hefty 8-LP box set that collects four of their best albums: 1993’s Superjudge, 1995’s Dopes to Infinity, 1998’s Powertrip, and 2000’s God Says No. At the time, the band was signed to A&M Records, which brings to mind all kinds of wonderful visions of the greasy beasts that made this music shaking hands with Herb Alpert after inking their deal. The label support allowed Magnet leader Dave Wyndorf to make the space-rock records of his dreams, resulting in hot ’n’ heavy thrill rides like “3rd Eye Landslide” from Powertrip and the title track from Superjudge. All the LPs in this set are pressed on colored wax. If you’d prefer to have them on black vinyl, you’ll have to wait until April 10, when breakout versions of all four albums will be released to stores. RH
Johnny Flynn: A Larum [Proper]
British musician/actor Johnny Flynn might be best known for his screen work, including his recent turn as Dickie Greenleaf in the Netflix show Ripley and his memorable role in 2017’s Beast, the film debut of future Oscar winner Jessie Buckley. But Flynn’s parallel career as a musician is equally impressive, positioning him as heir to the ’60s and ’70s British folk-rock movement with capable songwriting that harkens back to the reels and ballads of yore. The two albums he made with nature writer Robert Macfarlane, 2021’s Lost in the Cedar Wood and 2023’s The Moon Also Rises, are particular standouts. Flynn’s rousing debut album, 2008’s A Larum, was recorded with his band the Sussex Wit, and it makes a welcome return to vinyl this week courtesy of Proper Records, who handled the lovely reissues of Bill Fay from earlier this year. NL
Fetty Wap: Fetty Wap 10th anniversary edition [300 Entertainment/RGF Productions]
New Jersey–born rapper Fetty Wap’s early success with diamond-certified single “Trap Queen” was a slow burn. It was issued first on a 2013 mixtape, which helped it become a regional hit. But when the tune was uploaded to SoundCloud the next year, it started to spread worldwide, ultimately landing the then-23-year-old a deal with Atlantic Records imprint 300 Entertainment. The first fruits of that relationship was Fetty Wap’s 2015 self-titled album, a 20-song beast of braggadocious rhymes, impressive melodic left-turns (the barely understandable blur of his hooks on “Time”), and a sweetly romantic streak. Fetty Wap was reissued in 2024 for Record Store Day, but the 10th anniversary edition is out this week with the addition of “Jimmy Choo,” a fan-favorite tune that dropped in 2016. RH
Lionel Richie: Can’t Slow Down [Definitive Sound Series/Capitol]
We just reviewed four recent records in Universal’s Definitive Sound Series, but Friday already marks the ship date for a new one: Lionel Richie’s 1983 blockbuster Can’t Slow Down. And golly, is this a time capsule like no other, a record that was absolutely inescapable in its day that—unlike Thriller or Purple Rain—simply did not manage to outlive the ’80s. We’re basically in love with these DSS one-step releases so far (check out our reviews), but this particular album wasn’t anywhere on our wish list. Still, it sold more than 20 million copies and won the Album of the Year Grammy, so what do we know? In fact, the only real problem with a high-end vinyl copy of this album (or any vinyl copy) is that you won’t get to see the clay bust of Richie that appears in the video for “Hello.” But hey, Richie’s goofy pose on a stripper pole in the inner gatefold should more than make up for it. Fiesta, forever. NL
Cephalic Carnage: Exploiting Dysfunction [Relapse]
As we get deeper into the grey skies and chilling temperatures of the winter months, you may be looking for some music to help shake you loose from any potential malaise or mental sluggishness. Might I suggest the unrelenting sonic hailstorm of Denver technical death metal band Cephalic Carnage? With its constantly shifting time signatures, spiky humor, and rough blend of growling and screaming vocals, the quintet’s music is a serious head trip. To get a pure hit of the good stuff, grab this 25th-anniversary reissue of Exploiting Dysfunction, the group’s 2000 album and first to be released on Relapse. You get a nicely remixed version of the original LP overseen by producer Dave Otero as well as a smattering of demos and rarities—all of it cut comfortably into two gold and white LPs. RH
Phil Seamen Meets Eddie Gomez [Morgan Blue Town]
British jazz drummer Phil Seamen linked up with Puerto Rican bassist Eddie Gomez when the latter came through London as part of the Bill Evans Trio in 1968. After meeting at Ronnie Scott’s—ground zero for the London jazz scene—Gomez and Seamen entered Saga Records’ studio with pianist Tony Lee and set down this playful session. Gomez sounds more than game for Seamen’s flamboyant style, which was a major influence on Ginger Baker; at times, it sounds like an album-length drum solo occasionally interrupted by some trio playing. This obscurity is being reissued on vinyl and should provide an overdue welcome for the curious about Seamen, whose hard living and heroin addiction would lead to his early death at age 46, four years after this recording. NL
Del the Funky Homosapien: Both Sides of the Brain [Hiero Imperium]
Released in April 2000, Both Sides of the Brain, the third full-length from Del the Funky Homosapien, was the start of a fertile creative period for the Bay Area rapper. A month later, the first album by Deltron 3030, his collaborative project with producer Dan the Automator, would drop, and early the next year, his laidback flow could be heard on “Clint Eastwood,” the debut single by Damon Albarn’s new project Gorillaz. Great as all of those records were, the best of the bunch is still Both Sides, as it more fully captures Del’s lightning-fast brain and delectable wordplay and includes contributions from producers like Prince Paul and El-P. Out of print on vinyl since its initial release, the album is finally back on wax this week—just in time to help it celebrate its 25th birthday. RH
The All Star Percussion Ensemble: self-titled & Smetacek/Czech Philharmonic: Carl Orff: Carmina Burana [AudioNautes Recordings]
Boutique Italian audiophile label AudioNautes has been putting out bespoke reissues for a decade and a half now, and two of their titles are either landing at retailers or will be hitting American shores in the weeks to come. First is a reissue of the demonstration-worthy 1982 recording from Harold Farberman’s All Star Percussion Ensemble, in which famous classical works like the second movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and selections from Bizet’s Carmen are rearranged solely for percussion instruments. In other words, all those malleted instruments and bells and tympanis mean transient paradise for audioholics, and AudioNautes’ one-step pressing should be a fine audition disc to show off high-end equipment. Interestingly, AudioNautes are also doing an all-analog repressing of the 1961 recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana by the Czech Philharmonic and conductor Václav Smetáček, originally issued by Supraphon in Czechoslovakia and on the budget label Parliament in the US. This is not an interpretation whose reputation is discussed very often—Jochum and Ormandy are generally regarded to have provided the definitive analog-era accounts—but my old Penguin Stereo Record Guide calls the Czechs’ version “superbly colorful and exciting,” so it should be exciting to hear this old recording dusted off and given perhaps the finest vinyl presentation it’s ever received. NL
Lip Cream: Big Foot Cassette; Kill Ugly Pop; 9 Shocks Terror; Close to the Edge; -Sin-; Thrash ’Til Death [Relapse]
The discography of Japanese hardcore band Lip Cream, on vinyl at least, has been long coveted among punk collectors and fans. The group’s 7-inch singles regularly sell for hundreds of dollars, and their full-lengths have never been officially reissued on wax. All of that changes this week thanks to the good people of Relapse who are flooding the market with new vinyl pressings of Lip Cream’s five albums—1985’s Kill the IBM aka Big Foot Cassette, 1986’s Kill Ugly Pop, 1987’s 9 Shocks Terror, 1988’s Close to the Edge, their final untitled LP from 1989 (also known as -Sin-), and 1995’s Thrash ’Til Death, a collection of tracks the group recorded for various comps in the mid-’80s. Every last one of those records is a blistering, bruising ride, full of amped-up tempos, throat-straining vocals, and a fearless attitude that most young punk bands today are struggling to manifest in their own work. RH
OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
A-ha: Minor Earth Major Sky 25th anniversary edition [Warner UK]
Paquito D’Rivera: Portraits of Cuba [Chesky]
Dropkick Murphys: The Warrior’s Code [Hellcat]
David Dundas & Rick Wentworth: Withnail and I soundtrack (4x7”) [Stylotone]
Mylène Farmer: Cendres de Lune; Ainsi Soit Je…; L’autre; Anamorphosée [Universal]
Ghost: Opus Eponymous [Rise Above]
Marta Gómez: Cantos de Agua Dulce [Chesky]
Cheb Nacer: Maroc Electronique Vol. 1 [Bongo Joe]
Passion Pit: Manners 15th anniversary edition [Frenchkiss]
Todd Rundgren: Solo in Clearwater [Cleopatra]
T. Rex: The Studio Albums 1970–1977 [Demon]
They Might Be Giants: self-titled; John Henry [Idlewild]
