New vinyl reissues: June 5, 2026

It’s another fine week in Vinyl-land, with more reissues that you can shake a stick at. (What are you doing shaking sticks, anyway? Put that stick away.) Seriously, there are a lot of vinyl reissues this week, more that I could capably cover in today’s newsletter, but fortunately I tucked away lots of extra goodies in this week’s playlist, with plenty of other albums to investigate—so you’ll want to join our paid tier to get access to these weekly playlists, plus lots of other hot benefits. And you can do that right here:

One note before we get into the week: I will be on Steve Westman’s Live Audiophile Roundtable this Sunday, June 7, at 10 am Pacific time—note that it's on Sunday morning as opposed to the usual Saturday. Tune in live, or if you are otherwise occupied, you can always catch up with the livestream anytime after. Go to Westman’s YouTube page to find all the episodes—and subscribe to his channel while you’re there—or you can just use this handy embed, which will start working on Sunday at 10 am Pacific.

We’ll be discussing albums that we keep buying multiple versions of. Come for the lively discussion of music and vinyl, stay for my shame in owning a truly unnecessary number of copies of Ziggy Stardust. See you there!

Now, let’s tiptoe through the week.

The Beau Brummels and Real Gone Music

San Francisco’s Beau Brummels were perhaps the great American also-ran band of the 1960s, a group that was at the forefront of the folk-rock and country-rock movements, wrote great songs, made fantastic records, and never quite landed with the impact of their peers. They broke up after two of their back-to-back masterpieces—1967’s Triangle and 1968’s Bradley’s Barn—were neglected by audiences, but the original members reformed in 1974 and released The Beau Brummels the following year. The self-titled album is, once again, a pace-setting ’70s California rock album, with acoustic strums, fine harmonies, and terrific songwriting. Real Gone Music has reissued it on orange vinyl with a second LP of bonus tracks; Alec Palao wrote the extensive liner notes. We’ll have a full-length review of this much-anticipated reissue in the coming days. In addition to the Brummels, Real Gone has a jam-packed slate of releases this week. They’re putting out a collection of 1964 demos from Jackie DeShannon, titled Girl of Yesterday: Acoustic Folk Demos, as well as Tiny Tim’s God Bless Tiny Tim from 1968. Also on the docket: Meat Puppets’ 1991 album Forbidden Places; Life of Agony’s 1993 debut River Runs Red; Dry Kill Logic’s 2001 debut The Darker Side of Nonsense; and of course the You’ve Got Mail soundtrack. Something for everyone! It looks like the Tiny Tim disc has already sold out, you absolute maniacs.

Pink Floyd: 8-Tracks [Sony]

Here’s another Pink Floyd compilation to sit quietly on your shelf beside your copies of Works, Echoes, and A Collection of Great Dance Songs. The gimmick behind this one is that remixer-to-the-stars Steven Wilson has blended together a few of the Floyd’s biggest hits—like “Money,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” and, uh (no pun intended), “Wot’s Uh the Deal”—for a continuous listening experience. The collector bait is a version of “Pigs on the Wing” that was only available on the Animals 8-track, which stitched the two halves together into a full-length song. That will be tough for Floyd fans to resist, but the cover art—usually a selling point for most thing Floyd-y—looks curiously generic, and need I remind you how often you actually listen to those forlorn copies of Works, Echoes, and A Collection of Great Dance Songs?

Recycled Vinyl Initiative [various labels]

A group of labels and distributors, in collaboration with Music Declares Emergency and the Music Climate Pact, are marking World Environment Day (June 5) by reissuing 10 albums on recycled vinyl, to draw attention to sustainability practices that are possible within the vinyl manufacturing industry. These types of initiatives are becoming more widespread, and for good reason, as vinyl is made from petroleum and traditionally uses fossil fuels in its manufacturing and distribution. Some may have already made up their mind about bio vinyl—I have had good experiences and bad—but it is also worth mentioning that in addition to recycling disused PVC scraps in order to make new records, there are alternative programs out there trying to cut down vinyl’s carbon footprint. (I recently had a fantastic pressing from Germany’s Sonopress that used a recyclable compound called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, and manufactured via injection moulding rather than steam-powered presses. The result was a record with black-silent backgrounds and no pressing flaws whatsoever, making me pretty excited about future possibilities.) Anyway, the special vinyl releases today are: Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago [Jagjaguwar]; Dinosaur Jr.: You’re Living All Over Me [Jagjaguwar]; Black Country, New Road: Forever Howlong [Ninja Tune]; Elliott Smith: Roman Candle [Kill Rock Stars]; Bonobo: Black Sands [Ninja Tune]; Hella: Hold Your Horse Is [Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine]; Jeff Austin: The Simple Truth [Yep Roc]; Chuck Prophet: Wake the Dead [Yep Roc]; Tubeway Army: Tubeway Army [Beggars Banquet]; and Various Artists: Artificial Intelligence [Warp]. If one of those strikes your fancy, give it a try—it’s likely that sustainable vinyl has improved since the last time you tested it out.

Black Music Month on Rhino Reserve

June is Black Music Month, also known as African American Music Heritage Month, and Rhino is releasing four Reserve titles to commemorate, although these albums are good enough to be reissued any time of year and be in contention for some of the most exciting Reserves yet. The big one for me is Allen Toussaint’s brilliant 1972 album Life, Love and Faith, a funky, soulful, jazzy collection from the New Orleans R&B maestro. With backing from the Meters, it’s even a better record than 1975’s Southern Nights, which is already one of the best entries in the Rhino Reserve series. Then there’s Little Beaver’s 1974 album Party Down, in which the session guitarist for Miami’s T.K. Records offers a celebration-ready platter of funky jams. Betty Wright’s I Love the Way You Love, her 1972 album for Alston Records (also in Miami), is a splendid collection of strutting soul and funk, highlighted by the big hit “Clean Up Woman.” And the Time’s 1984 album Ice Cream Castle likely needs no introduction; this is the alternate soundtrack to Purple Rain and features Prince himself behind the boards and playing throughout. These are all available on Rhino’s website, but I recommend going to your local record store to grab ’em, as the online chatter makes it sound like Rhino has had some problems fulfilling their webstore orders lately.

The Doobie Brothers: The Captain and Me [Mobile Fidelity]

I’ve always been unmoved by the music of the Brothers Doobie. I couldn’t really say why—their funkified, countrified classic rock falls well within my sights, and the older I get, the more I find myself drawn to all of the dad-rock tropes. But to this day, I have never really enjoyed a Doobie Brothers song, not even “Black Water” or “Listen to the Music” or anything from the Michael McDonald era. I’m clearly missing something, as their albums keep getting primo vinyl reissues—like this Mobile Fidelity pressing of 1973’s The Captain and Me, one of their better-regarded albums, with tunes like “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove.” (Nope, don’t love those either.) Speakers Corner reissued it in 2007, as did Friday Music in 2009; then in 2023, it was one of the first releases in the new Rhino High Fidelity line. Now here’s the MoFi 2-LP 45 RPM version, which seems almost obligatory at this point. There are some cool synths from the Tonto’s Exploding Head Band guys on some of the tracks, which should sound extra nifty on this pressing. But yeah, I’m probably going to pass, although I hope fans of the Doobage enjoy it in good health and high spirits.

Deutsche Grammophon Original Source Series

Three more albums from the Deutsche Grammophon catalog resurface as part of their all-analog Original Source Series. Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic’s rendition of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 was recorded on eight-track tape in 1978; interestingly, this disc is cut directly from that master, presumably while a live mix was occurring in the lacquer-cutting room. The Fourth is generally considered to be one of Mahler’s sweeter and shorter symphonies, although it’s nearly an hour long, and has been pressed, per the 1979 release, on one LP. That should be fine, as classical music is generally far more dynamic that rock and pop, and has several quiet passages as well as a bass profile that does not demand as much groove width. Abbado and Mahler generally make a great pair, although Abbado’s Fourth is not as well regarded as some of his other Mahler recordings. Meanwhile, Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Phil’s string section are also seeing their 1977/78 recording of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14—using Dimitri Mitropoulos’s orchestration of the seven-movement epic—also get the eight-track-to-lathe treatment. And lastly, Pinchas Zukerman’s recordings of the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Violin Romances—performed in 1974 and 1975 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim—are also being reissued, cut from the four-track master. This series’s price point has been notably challenging thus far, but it looks like these single LPs should be available to North American buyers for about the price of a Tone Poet or Rhino High Fidelity.

Wipers: Land of the Lost [Jackpot]

Portland punk band Wipers released their fourth album, Land of the Lost, in 1986. It found the band digging into a slightly harder, more aggressive sound than their first three albums, while ditching some of their artier, krautrock-ier elements. Some consider it their best, although I think it’s missing the special spark of the early work that set Greg Sage & Co. apart from their peers. Portland record store and label Jackpot Records has reissued Land of the Lost a few times over the years on different colored variants; this week it comes out on good old-fashioned plain black vinyl. Jackpot’s reissues of the first three Wipers albums—1980’s Is This Real?, 1981’s Youth of America, and 1983’s Over the Edge—are absolute essentials, so here’s a fine opportunity to extend your collection.

Van Morrison: His Band and the Street Choir; Seals & Crofts: Summer Breeze [Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions]

Acoustic Sounds’ 40th anniversary series, with 40 reissues of albums from the Warner/Rhino catalog, carries on with two new ones, by which I mean two old and very familiar albums. Van Morrison’s His Band and the Street Choir came out in 1970 just 10 months after Moondance, and it was originally intended to be entirely a capella. Fate intervened—or perhaps it was just plain common sense—and the album became a more conventional soul-pop affair, motored by the hit single “Domino.” It’s a great record, with Morrison well within his imperial period, although it naturally suffers in comparison to the two masterpieces that preceded it, Astral Weeks and Moondance. The other new pressing is Seals & Crofts’s 1972 album Summer Breeze, a super-soft and mellow folk-rock affair that includes the instant nostalgia machine of the title track (it came out years before I was born and it even makes me nostalgic) and nine other songs, I guess. Both of these were cut at 45 RPM and pressed on two LPs; His Band and the Street Choir was cut by Matthew Lutthans from “a one-off EQ tape copy,” while Summer Breeze was cut from the master, although it doesn’t say by whom. I would assume Lutthans?

Jazz Alley

It’s not too crowded this week down Jazz Alley, but as always there’s a few things worth talking about. BBE’s J Jazz series of compilations from Tony Higgins and Mike Peden has offered a phenomenal overview of Japan’s rich, deep jazz scene in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, and the fifth volume is here, covering the years 1970 to 1978, with fusion and crossover selections from Toshiyuki Honda, Crystal Zone, Masahiko Sato, Hideo Ichikawa, and more on three LPs. (Side note: Higgins and Peden’s gorgeous book on J Jazz is equally mind-blowing—well worth tracking down.) Sadly, it appears this fifth volume of J Jazz is to be the last. Meanwhile, Blue Note has two new Tone Poets line up: Bobby Hutcherson’s 1966 album Components is truly a collaborative effort with drummer Joe Chambers, as Hutcherson wrote all the songs on Side 1 and Chambers wrote everything on Side 2. Hutcherson follows the hard bop tradition while Chambers is more interested in the free jazz and avant-garde movements, but the two halves make for a striking portrait of ’60s jazz circa the decade’s midway point; Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, and James Spaulding round out the all-star ensemble. And Curtis Amy’s 1962 album Tippin’ on Through was originally released on the Pacific Jazz label, recorded live at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. With Roy Ayers on vibes, it’s a fine exemplar of West Coast jazz. Both Tone Poets were cut from tape by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI.

OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
(*star denotes inclusion in this week’s paid-subscriber playlist)

Abstract Tribe Unique: South Central Thynk Taynk [Rhymesayers]
AFI: Decemberunderground [Interscope]
Angel: Helluva Band [Deko Music]
The Animals: Greatest Hits Live! [Secret]
Apocalyptica: Cult [Black Sea Music]
Wally Badarou: Echoes [Proper]
Aziz Balouch: Sufi Hispano-Pakistani [Death Is Not the End]
*Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl [PIAS]
*Black Swan Network: The Early Music Vol. 1 [HHBTM]
Boston: Boston [Sony]
Burnt by the Sun: Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution; The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good; Heart of Darkness [Relapse]
Johnny Cash: Next in Line: The Early Country Hits 1955–59 [Acrobat]
*Billy Childish & Holly Golightly: In Blood [Damaged Goods]
Cinderella: Heartbreak Station [Music on Vinyl]
*Clock DVA: Thirst [The Grey Area]
Clutch: Earth Rocker [Weathermaker Music]
Conflict: Increase the Pressure; Standard Issue 82–87; Standard Issue II 88–94; There Must Be Another Way: The Singles [FOAD]
Cowboy Junkies: Open to Beauty: Best of the 21st Century [Cooking Vinyl]
The Cramps: Smell of Female; A Date with Elvis [Big Beat]
Cruzados: The Best of Cruzados [Rum Bar]
Dead Obies: Montréal $ud; Gesamtkunstwerk [Bonsound]
Iris DeMent: The Way I Should [Yep Roc] (wide release after RSD)
Thomas Dolby: The Flat Earth [Music on Vinyl]
*Donovan: Fairytale [Music on Vinyl]
Drowning Pool: Sinner [Craft]
Drug Church: Paul Walker; Hit Your Head; Swell [Pure Noise]
Earth, Wind & Fire: Greatest Hits [Sony]
Clint Eastwood: Love and Happiness [Burning Sounds]
E.J. & the Echoes: The Complete Diamond Jim Recordings [Tramp]
Ezra Collective: Chapter 7 [Partisan]
The Fall: Singles Live Vol. Two 1980–83 [Popstock]
Fat Freddy’s Drop: Based on a True Story [The Drop]
*The Flaming Sideburns: Hallelujah Rock’n’Rollah [Svart]
The Future Sound of London: A Gigantic Globular Burst of Anti-Static [FSOL Digital]
*GBH: Best of Live [Secret]
*Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F.: The Found ’77 Masters [Jungle]
Hellogoodbye: EP; Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! [Drive-Thru]
*Don Henley: The End of the Innocence [UMe]
Clarence “Frogman” Henry: Ain’t Got No Home: The Singles Collection 1956–62 [Acrobat]
Holy Soldier: Promise Man [Girder]
Lightnin’ Hopkins: Nothin’ But the Blues: The Decca & Herald Years 1953–58 [Acrobat]
Jet Circus: Step on It [Girder]
Kansas: Point of Know Return [Sony]
*Assa’d Khoury: Electronic Touches Belly Dance [Wewantsounds]
*King Harvest: Dancing in the Moonlight [Darbo Music]
Adam Lambert: The Original High [Warner]
Kenny Loggins: At the Movies [Sony]
London Cowboys: Animal Pleasure/Tall in the Saddle [Jungle] (wide release after RSD UK)
La Mafia: Un Millon de Rosas [Sony Latin]
Coque Malla: El Ultimo Hombre [WEA Spain]
The March Violets: Natural History [Jungle]
Harpo Marx: Harpo Speaks! The Riverside Symphony Concert Featuring Peter and the Wolf [Ramseur]
*Maxwell: Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite [Sony]
The Miracles: You Better Shop Around: The Early A-Sides 1958–62 [Acrobat]
*Os Mutantes: Everything Is Possible! The Best of Os Mutantes [Luaka Bop]
NSync: No Strings Attached [Sony]
The Pretty Reckless: Going to Hell [Craft]
Quadro Nuevo: Luna Rossa [Universal UK]
The Real People: The Real People [Music on Vinyl]
*Lou Reed: The RCA & Arista Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 [Sony]
The Rhythm Rockets: Boppin’, Strollin’ and Messin’ Around [Bear Family]
*Tony Rice: Tony Rice [Craft]
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2 [Seeker]
Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees [Music on Vinyl]
*Swallow: Blown [4AD]
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Down to Kill: The Complete Live at the Speakeasy [Jungle]
*Trad, Gras och Stenar: Rock for Kropp Och Sjal [Silence]
UK Subs: Demo Kicks [2.13.61]
*The Union of a Man and a Woman: The Sound of… [Jagjaguwar]
Van Halen: Live in New Haven, CT, 1986 [Rhino] (wide release after RSD)
The Wannadies: Be a Girl [Music on Vinyl]
Dinah Washington: This Bitter Earth: Her Greatest Hits 1948–60 [Acrobat]
Hank Williams Jr.: The Biggest Hits [Curb]
Jackie Wilson: Doggin’ Around: The Hits Collection 1957–62 [Acrobat]
Various Artists: Studio One Classics; Studio One Dub; Studio One Funk; Studio One Roots; Studio One Ska [Soul Jazz]
Various Artists: Timeless Jazz Classics Volume 2 [Music on Vinyl]
Various Artists: Tommy Boy: 45 Years of 45s (7-inch box set) [Tommy Boy]
Various Artists: Up in My Mind 4: 17 More Fuzzed Out Acid Tabs from the Lysergic ’60 and ’70s [Roadburn]