New vinyl reissues: November 21, 2025

Hello again, and welcome back to The Vinyl Cut. It’s our usual Thursday rundown of all the new reissues coming out this week, and since we’re more or less into the holiday shopping season, there’s a lot.

We’ll get to that in a second, but first, some programming notes: Next week, we’re sending out a massive review newsletter that contains quick but thorough reviews of every release for Record Store Day’s Black Friday that we could get our hands on. And not to toot any horns, but we got our hands on a lot. (Okay, tiny toot.) In the past weeks, we’ve been previewing all of the reissue titles that are hitting independent record store on November 28, but this time we have actual vinyl in hand and can tell you what things really sound (and look) like. So look forward to that.

Also: In December we’re launching perks for our paid subscribers with a very, very good vinyl giveaway. By that, I mean that the vinyl we’re giving away is very, very good. You will want to win it. So if you like what we’re doing and want to support it financially, please consider upgrading to the paid tier so you can take part in the contest. Best of all, we’re going to start doing vinyl giveaways every month here at The Vinyl Cut. Free vinyl! Not to tease anything, but the thing we’re giving away in December costs about three times of a paid yearly subscription, so it’s like you’re making money.

All right. That’s enough cap in hand for now. Let’s see what this week has in store.

The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology [Apple]

The Beatles Anthology documentary from the 1990s has been refurbished and augmented with Peter Jackson’s technology and new footage for re-release on Disney+. So of course the accompanying Anthology albums are making their way back to record stores as well. The big kahuna here is a 12-LP set of all three original Anthology volumes, plus a fourth volume with some previously unreleased stuff and highlights from the deluxe box sets of individual Beatles albums. There was a short outcry that the fourth volume wasn’t being released separately, but that was swiftly remedied, so you don’t need to shell out for the entire package just to get the few new things. We will have a full review of the gigantic 12-LP box for you right here tomorrow. NL

The Replacements: Let It Be [Rhino]

After releasing highly regarded multi-disc reissues of Don't Tell a Soul and Tim, Rhino has finally tackled Let It Be, the 1984 breakout album from the Replacements. On it, the Minneapolis quartet finally found the perfect balance of snotty, tossed-off punk anthems and measured heart-on-sleeve rockers. As ever, Rhino fills this 4-LP collection out extensively with a remastered version of the original album, an LP of rarities and demos from the era, and a typically sprawling live performance by the band at Chicago’s Cubby Bear. Also included is a 10-inch record featuring six more live tracks captured at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey. RH

Prince and the Revolution: Around the World in a Day [Legacy]

It’s kind of insane to think that Prince and the Revolution’s 1985 album Around the World in a Day was released a mere 10 months after Purple Rain. Perhaps that’s why it was seen as a letdown at the time, but the years have been kind to this weird but generously fun neo-psychedelic record, which finds Prince and his band moving toward a more spiritual kind of freakiness—tracks like “Paisley Park,” “Pop Life,” and the karaoke evergreen “Raspberry Beret” are among his best. This expanded 40th anniversary reissue is relatively modest by the standards of multidisc Prince reissues: a mere 3 LPs (or 2 CDs, if you’re that kind of freaky). And the contents are mostly single B-sides and remixes, but one of those is the 21-minute version of “America,” which you definitely need. (The 7-inch mixes of the single B-sides will be on the 2-CD but not on the 3-LP set; however, there’s a silly box of 7-inches coming out on Black Friday to fill in the gap.) A straight single-LP version of the album is also an option, and an Atmos remix is hitting the streamers that are capable of carrying it, like Apple and Tidal (not you, Spotify). NL

Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 30th anniversary edition [UMe]

With the blank check they earned following the multi-platinum success of Siamese Dream burning a hole in their collective pocket, Smashing Pumpkins immediately cashed it in with their follow-up: a long-form epic album boasting 28 tracks, a two-hour runtime, and a super-pretentious title. It was a gamble that paid off for the group with over 10 million copies being sold worldwide, while saddling the world with frontman Billy Corgan’s unstoppable ego forever. Though this album was given an extensive CD reissue in 2012 and repressings on wax, this new 30th anniversary vinyl re-release shoots for the stars. Packed in each velvet-covered box are four discs containing the album tracks, two discs of live material from the Mellon Collie tour, a hardcover book containing lyrics and descriptions of each song from Corgan, a set of lithographs, and a set of tarot cards. Oh, and the whole shebang is packed in a cloth carrying bag! We’ll have much more to say about this set in our full review later this week. RH

Grouper: Way Their Crept [Kranky]

Originally issued in 2005 as a CD-R by Liz Harris, aka Grouper, through her Yellow Electric label and then properly released on a pair of small imprints in the US and UK, Way Their Crept is one of this artist’s earliest recorded statements. And listening to it through the prism of the last two decades of her output, it is still startling to hear how clear Harris’s musical vision was. Each song is a psychedelic masterpiece, evoking the sensation of being ripped from Earth's gravity and floating free among a kaleidoscope of soft colors and warm air. Staying true to her lo-fi roots, Harris is keeping the original hissy, hazy sound intact for a reissue of the album out this week via her current label Kranky. RH

Nat King Cole: The Christmas Song (DSS One-Step) [Capitol]

Nat King Cole’s 1962 Christmas album has a bit of a tortured backstory. It started life as a 1960 album of Christmas carols called The Magic of Christmas, but then a 1961 re-recording of one of Cole’s biggest hits, “The Christmas Song,” was appended to the tracklist. That renamed version is the one that’s been handed down over the years as a perennial holiday classic, and the stereo version has now been given the one-step treatment as part of Universal’s Definitive Sound Series. Chris Bellman cut the lacquer from the original three-track analog tapes (instruments on the left and right tracks, Cole on the center track) with pretty spectacular-sounding results. It was pressed on Neotech vinyl at RTI and comes in a tip-on gatefold inside a slipcase. It’s a special item, but if this limited edition is too pricey, Universal has also reissued the album—sourced from a different tape—as part of their all-analog Vinylphyle series. NL

Tuxedomoon: Desire [Crammed Discs]

Bay Area post-punk outfit Tuxedomoon distinguished themselves from their peers by leaning into a sound inspired more by composers like Varèse and Stockhausen and industrial artists like Throbbing Gristle than anything happening in their neck of the woods in the late ’70s. But their theatrical performances and heavy use of saxophones and electric violin did capture the attention of their peers in the Residents, who released the group's work on their label Ralph Records. One of Tuxedomoon’s most complete statements as a band, 1981’s Desire, is seeing a welcome vinyl reissue this week through the great Belgium label Crammed Discs, who have added on a second disc of rarities and live tracks. RH

Donovan: Hurdy Gurdy Man mono [State51 Conspiracy]

I think this has been out for a couple of weeks, but it just turned up at certain distributors, so it seems as good a time as any to mention it. It’s the mono mix of Donovan’s 1968 album Hurdy Gurdy Man, released when mono was pretty much on its way out (it never even got a US mono release at the time), although good ol’ Mr. Leitch says this is his preferred version. It’s been available from Donovan’s site since October, but this and a batch of other reissues of Donovan’s prime stuff from his ’60s tenure on Epic Records seem to be hitting the wider market this week, courtesy of State51 Conspiracy. This is all worth mentioning because in 2023, State51 did a deluxe reissue of Donovan’s A Gift from a Flower to a Garden double album—in mono, of course—and pulled out all the stops, offering sublime pressings and reproducing the outer box, lyric sheets, and artwork on high-quality materials. If this Hurdy Gurdy Man is in the same ballpark, it should be pretty spectacular, although, like Garden, you’ll have to pay through the nose for it. Also, it should be mentioned that reissues of Donovan’s first two records, originally released on Hickory, are currently being sold on his website. NL

Karl Bartos: Communication [Bureau B]

Since leaving Kraftwerk in 1990, musician Karl Bartos has kept himself busy, starting the synthpop project Elektric Music and contributing to albums by OMD and Electronic. But it took until 2003 for the German artist to release a proper solo album, Communication. The sound of the record isn't terribly far removed from his Kraftwerk work, but it bears the influence of then-modern garage house and techno throughout. Communication has been available on wax off and on over the past two decades but is getting a fresh pressing this week thanks to the wonderful German label Bureau B. RH

Steve Hackett: A Midsummer Night’s Dream [Inside Out/Sony]

Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has dabbled in the world of classical guitar ever since his solo feature on the band’s 1972 album Foxtrot, but A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes things to the next level, with Hackett’s nylon strings accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, orchestrated and conducted by Matt Dunkley. Hackett’s instrumental compositions retell Shakespeare’s play, and it’s all very gracious and pleasant-sounding stuff, once again showing the uncanny similarities between Hackett and Anthony Phillips, the otherwise unique guitarist/composer he replaced in Genesis, who similarly straddles the lines between rock, classical, and folk. The 1997 album makes its debut on vinyl. NL

Ilhan Mimaroglu: Tract (A Composition of Agitprop Music for Electromagnetic Tape) [We Are Busy Bodies]

Dig deep into the discography of Folkways, the label started by Mo Asch as a repository for folk and world music, and you'll find some gloriously weird shit like their as-advertised 1958 release Sounds of North American Frogs and this album, a musique concrète trip created by Turkish-American composer Ilhan Mimaroglu. With the addition of vocalist Tuly Sand, the music zigs and zags through decades of political struggle via sound clips and snippets of music stitched together in a rough, powerful patchwork. It's a perfect soundtrack for our fractious times and is being reissued this week by Canadian label We Are Busy Bodies. RH

James: Nothing But Love: The Definitive Best Of [Mercury]

Manchester band James are no stranger to greatest-hits packages, but this one claims to be “Definitive,” so surely it is the end-all, be-all. Actually, a career retrospective is more than appropriate for James, a band that’s been consistent in the thoughtfulness and catchiness of their material for decades but hasn’t seemed to permeate the cultural consciousness—in America, at least—except for their pseudo-novelty hit “Laid” from 1993. Of course, this set is really just a victory lap in their native UK, as their 2024 album Yummy hit number one there. This new hits package comes in a hefty 5-LP set that seems more geared toward hardcore fans, as it’s littered with B-sides and tracks that haven’t appeared on vinyl before (it’s on 3 CDs as well). But the more casual fan might want to explore the abridged 2-LP version, which features brilliant tunes like “Sit Down,” “Tomorrow,” “Sound,” and of course “Laid”—not to mention several other tracks from the great Laid album, like “Say Something,” “Out to Get You,” and “Sometimes (Lester Piggott).” Admit it. After reading all those titles, you now want to hear all those songs again. NL

Goldfrapp: Supernature [BMG]

After a couple of comfortable years bubbling beneath the UK pop marketplace, Goldfrapp, the duo of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, finally seeped into the mainstream with 2005’s Supernature and that album’s hot-as-blazes single “Ooh La La,” which hit number four in the British charts. The rest of the album is equally heated and infectious synthpop, perfect as a soundtrack for nearly every nighttime activity. In honor of the album’s 20th birthday, BMG has a deluxe reissue out this week that includes a half-speed-mastered version of the original album and a bonus 12-inch single featuring new remixes of some of the LP’s best tunes. RH

Fela Kuti: The Best of the Black President [Knitting Factory]

Anthologizing the work of Fela Kuti seems like a pretty daunting task, but in 1999 the 2-CD set The Best of the Black President did a pretty decent job of it, covering several of his most indelible grooves and providing a thumbnail glimpse of why Kuti was such a titan. This vinyl version of that jam-packed comp—its two CDs now spread across four LPs—arrives with perfect timing, as the Fear No Man podcast is currently introducing a whole new crew to the life and work of Kuti, a complicated, thorny individual who nevertheless might have been the greatest musician of the 20th century. It was originally planned as a Vinyl Me, Please release, but that company was full of crooks and now appears to have been bought by either naïve bumpkins or similarly-minded opportunists. Thank goodness Knitting Factory and Partisan are releasing it under their own steam, because pound for pound, these four LPs might be the most concentrated package of excellent music you can pick up this week. NL

Eduardo Araújo e Silvinha: Sou Filho Dêsse Chão [Mr Bongo]

Already established within the Brazilian music community, married artists Eduardo Araùjo and Silvinha ventured to the state of Bahia in the mid-’70s, steeping themselves in that region’s unique take on traditional music. Their experiences fed into their next album, Sou Filho Dêsse Chão, a wild trip that fused folk melodies and rhythms to heavy psych-funk grooves and acid-rock freakouts. Not widely available outside of Brazil, the album is getting a much-anticipated repress thanks to the always-reliable Mr Bongo. RH

Zbigniew Namysłowski Modern Jazz Quartet: Lola [Decca]

It has been incredibly difficult to keep track of Decca’s British Jazz Explosion reissue series, but this release deserves to be well above the radar. Of course, the Zbigniew Namysłowski Modern Jazz Quartet were Polish, not British, but the outfit recorded this 1964 album when visiting London, with Mike Vernon behind the boards. These cats were fully absorbed in the developing jazz styles of the time, despite their geographic distance from the American hotbeds—with Coltrane, Brubeck, and Coleman being primary touchstones. The original liner notes also talk about their incorporation of Polish folk-music themes into their style, but that’s a bit of a reach, as this is simply a cooking set of cool jazz that sounds just right in Greenwich Village, London, or Warsaw. It’s proof positive that even the Iron Curtain couldn’t keep jazz from traveling around the world. This is one reissue well worth tracking down. NL

Various Artists: Wild Style soundtrack (deluxe reissue) [Mr Bongo]

Charlie Ahearn’s 1982 film Wild Style was one of the first chances folks outside of New York City had to see the rising cultural movement known as hip-hop. An instant cult classic, the movie planted the seeds for generations of future graffiti artists, DJs, and rappers. And its accompanying soundtrack remains canon among true heads and historians of the genre, with its recordings of formative artists like Grandmaster Caz, DJ Grand Wizard Theodore, and Rammellzee. It's a document worthy of a deluxe reissue, so a round of applause for Mr Bongo for doing just that this week. This new vinyl pressing fills out a second LP with instrumentals Fab 5 Freddy recorded for the film score and includes a poster, frameable photos, a sticker sheet, and a flexidisc of the oft-sampled live performance by the Fantastic Freaks at the Bronx club the Dixie. RH

Renaud: Amoureux de Paname; Ma Gonzesse; Marche à l’Ombre; Le Retour de Gérard Lambert [Universal France]

French chanteur Renaud Séchan is one of those musicians who’s an absolute icon in his home country but does not register once you step a millimeter outside of its borders. In all my years of vinyl hunting, I think the only record of his I’ve discovered in the US is a 12-inch charity single he organized in the wake of “We Are the World.” Nevertheless, several of Renaud’s early albums are being reissued on colored vinyl by Universal France to celebrate his 50 years in the biz, and curious Francophones can get a taste of his irreverently comic left-wing chanson-folk if they can track them down through importers. 1975’s Amoreux de Paname is a fine place to start, with the phenomenal “Hexagone,” and 1979’s Ma Gonzesse—featuring a hilarious album cover—reveals his career-long flirtation with American country music tropes. 1980’s Marche à l’Ombre and 1981’s Le Retour de Gérard Lambert find him moving toward mainstream rock. Curiously, 1977’s Laisse Béton, whose title track is one of Renaud’s best-loved songs, is not part of the batch of stuff that I’m seeing available in the US, but it is available through French sellers, as are several of Renaud’s later albums. NL

Madness: Hit Parade [West Village Music Mgmt] 

Though it isn’t being released in the US, if you’re fan of Madness, you may want to bug your local record shop about importing a copy of this collection. Available as either a condensed single LP available in the UK on RSD Black Friday, as two 2-LP sets, or a 4-LP box, Hit Parade is as close as we’re going to get to a comprehensive overview of this ska-pop band. Known primarily here in the States for their hit “Our House,” the group landed a whopping 18 consecutive singles in the UK pop charts during their late ’70s and early ’80s heyday and continue to sell thousands of copies of their LPs in their home country. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot for a compilation producer to choose from. The single-disc edition does a fair job of it, focusing on the band’s biggest hits, while the box set goes from their first recorded effort, 1979’s “The Prince,” all the way to last year’s “Round We Go.” RH

Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material [Rhino]

Belfast punk band Stiff Little Fingers are one of those bands that everybody’s heard of but not everybody’s heard. If that’s the case with you, that needs to be remedied tout de suite, as they’re one of the most scintillating and provocative bands to come out of that first great wave of punk. Their brilliant 1977 debut, Inflammable Material, is getting a 4-CD/1-DVD box set, and there’s a 2-LP configuration available as well, featuring the album and a previously unreleased 1979 live show from Troon, Scotland, on the extra disc. With songwriting smarts, brilliant melodies, energetic aggression in their playing, and plenty of political fire in their belly, Stiff Little Fingers sound as righteous and inspiring today as they ever did. NL

Oceansize: Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up [Kscope]

The final statement from UK band Oceansize was their grandest and strongest. On it, the quintet crystallized a melodic hardcore sound that let sweet vocalizing rub roughly up against heavy music that seeped and oozed like black tar with occasional side quests through psychedelic territory. The 2010 album also wound up being the group's last, as they would part ways early the next year. Not soon forgotten, the LP is getting a deluxe reissue this week that includes audio remastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road and six bonus tracks, half of which have been given new vocal tracks by band member Mike Vennart. RH

Jazz Corner

It wouldn’t be a week in the vinyl world without another ridiculously huge armful of high-quality jazz reissues, cut (mostly) from analog and pressed on good vinyl. This week we’ve got two in the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, including pianist Andrew Hill’s 1964 album Judgment!—one of four albums he’d record in a five-month period—featuring vibrophonist Bobby Hutcherson and drummer Elvin Jones. There’s also saxophonist Jackie McLean’s One Step Beyond, recorded in 1973, also featuring Hutcherson and drummer Tony Williams. The two Blue Note titles are all-analog, cut from tape by Kevin Gray and pressed at Optimal. Meanwhile, over at Verve, a pair of easygoing titles are coming from their Acoustic Sounds series: Illinois Jacquet’s 1956 album Swing’s the Thing, and Coleman Hawkins’ 1958 LP Coleman Hawkins and Confrères, featuring the Oscar Peterson Trio and other guests. Those were cut from analog tape by Matthew Lutthans at Acoustic Sounds’ sister facility the Mastering Lab and pressed at their Quality Record Pressings (QRP) plant, all in Salina, Kansas; they’ve got Stoughton tip-on gatefolds and all that. And over at Craft, Wes Montgomery’s joint Boss Guitar, originally released on Riverside in 1963, is one of two new entries in the Original Jazz Classics series; the other is Sonny Rollins Plus 4, a 1956 album that sees Sonny Rollins join forces with the Cliff Brown/Max Roach Quartet for a hard bop set. These cuts were made by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI; they come in Stoughton tip-on single-pocket sleeves with an obi. Lastly, also from Craft comes Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings, a 5-LP box that covers the Bill Evans Trio’s studio recordings for Riverside, including 1959’s Portrait in Jazz and 1961’s Explorations, plus a passel of alternate takes, 17 of them unreleased. And if you thought I was going to say this is an all-analog affair, you’d be… wrong! This one was restored using the Plangent Processes and remastered by Paul Blakemore; Kevin Gray cut the digital files to lacquer, and the pressing plant is not specified. NL

OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits [Friday Music]
Horace Andy: Get Wise [Music on Vinyl]
Apollo 440: Electro Glide in Blue; Gettin’ High on Your Own Supply [Music on Vinyl]
Dorothy Ashby: The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby [Life Goes On] (gray market)
Rick Astley: The Best of Me [BMG]
Backyard Babies: Live Live in Paris [Music on Vinyl]
Klaus Badelt: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack [Disney]
Bobby Bare: Great American Saturday Night [BFD]
Gary Bartz: Monsoon [Steeplechase]
Bell Witch: Demo 2011 [The Flenser]
Jacques Brel: A la Radio [Diggers Factory]
Cancer: Death Shall Rise [Peaceville]
Bobby Charles: Last Train to Memphis [Last Music]
Ray Charles: No One Does It Like… Ray Charles! [Tangerine]
Eric Clapton: Journeyman [Bushbranch]
Hollie Cook: In Dub; Twice [Mr Bongo]
Dandy: Rock Steady with Dandy [Music on Vinyl]
Descendents: I Don’t Wanna Grow Up [Org Music]
The Doors: Live at the Aquarius Theatre: First Performance [Analogue Productions]
Everclear: Sparkle and Fade 30th anniversary edition [Capitol]
Fight Paris: Paradise, Found [Smartpunk]
Béla Fleck & the Flecktones: Jingle All the Way [Béla Fleck Productions]
The Flower Kings: Desolation Rose [Construction]
Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick: “La-Di-Da-Di”/“The Show” 40th anniversary edition 12-inch [Def Entertainment]
The Gates of Slumber: Suffer No Guilt; Conqueror [Svart]
Gogol Bordello: East Infection; Voi-La Intruder; Multi Kontra Cult vs. Irony [Rude]
William Clark Green: Ringling Road 10th anniversary edition [William Clark Green]
Guns N’ Roses: Live Era ’87–’93 [Universal]
Steve Howe: Natural Timbre [Friday]
Humble Pie: Sunset Blvd 1969 [Cleopatra]
Jethro Tull: Aqualung Live [Inside Out/Sony]
Roland Keijser Kvartett: Oppet Tre [Caprice]
Kesha: Animal + Cannibal [RCA/Legacy]
Kiss: Alive! [UMe]
Korn: See You on the Other Side 20th anniversary edition [Tempo]
Alison Krauss & Union Station: Live [Craft]
Levellers: Zeitgeist 30th anniversary edition [Warner Bros UK]
Leona Lewis: Echo [Sony UK]
Johnny Marr: The Messenger [BMG]
Metric: Synthetica [Virgin]
Malcolm Middleton: Into the Woods 20th anniversary edition [Chemikal Underground]
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser [Music on Vinyl]
Ennio Morricone: Fatti di Gente Perbene soundtrack [AMS Italy]
Ennio Morricone: The Legend of 1900 soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
Yusuf Mumin: Journey to the Ancient [Wewantsounds]
Jeb Loy Nichols: The Music Maker [Be With]
Nico: BBC Recordings & Live 74/75 [Secret Exile] (gray market)
Odds: Nest [Record Record Co.]
The Offspring: Conspiracy of One [Round Hill]
Om: Solar Wind [Studio Mule]
Paris 1942: self-titled; Birds in Their Cages [Superior Viaduct]
Dolly Parton: A Holly Dolly Christmas [12 Tone Music Group]
Phish: Undermind [Jemp]
Elvis Presley: 2nd to None; Loving You; Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis [Music on Vinyl]
Andrew Previn & the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus: Carl Orff: Carmina Burana [Warner Classics]
Propaganda: Secret Wish [Universal]
Soar: self-titled [Efficient Space]
Soft Machine: Third [Sony UK]
Suicide Machines: War Profiteering Is Killing Us All 20th anniversary edition [Sideonedummy]
Sweet: Live at the Marquee 1986 [Metalville]
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down: Know Better Learn Faster [Kill Rock Stars]
Toyah: Ophelia’s Shadow; Take the Leap [Demon/Edsel]
Tina Turner: Good Hearted Woman [Explore Rights Management/Cherry Red]
Los Wembler’s de Iquitos: Selva [Vampisoul]
West, Bruce & Laing: Live at Circus Krone, April 13, 1973 [Renaissance]
Johnny Winter: Live at the Fillmore East 1970 [Retroworld]
Wolf: The Black Flame [Svart]
Sophie Zelman: 1995–2005: A Decade of Dreams [Music on Vinyl]
Los Z-66: self-titled [Munster]
Various Artists: Brown Acid: The Twenty-First Trip [RidingEasy]
Various Artists: Ghana Special: Highlife [Soundway]
Various Artists: The Emperor’s New Groove soundtrack [Disney]
Various Artists: The Roots of 21st Century Cumbia [Rey Record]
Various Artists: The Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack [Hollywood]