New vinyl reissues: September 11, 2026
The big news this week, of course, is the much-awaited Maggot Brain reissue from Org Music and Westbound Records—read my review for that Funkadelic classic here—but there are of course plenty of other vinyl reissues coming out as well. And some darn good ones. It’s one of those weeks where it initially looked pretty quiet, but the more I dug into the list, the more gems I found. I’m sure you’ll find a few things that intrigue you too.
Before we get to that, here’s the usual overview of the latest announcements of upcoming releases. It actually was pretty quiet on that front this week, although there are a few things worth mentioning. Mobile Fidelity announced an upcoming version of Devo’s second album, 1979’s Duty Now for the Future, on a 45 RPM 2-LP pressing—an interesting choice but not a wholly surprising one, following their announced reissue of Devo’s debut, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo. The release date for both MoFi Devos is TBD.
Meanwhile, Warner appears to have resurrected its temporarily dormant Because Sound Matters series for a 20th-anniversary one-step pressing of My Chemical Romance’s 2006 concept album The Black Parade. (Because Sound Matters is the Warner Music equivalent of Interscope-Capitol’s Definitive Sound Series [DSS]; in fact, it’s run by the same fellow, Tom “Grover” Biery, and pressed at the same plant, RTI.) The Black Parade is a 2-LP pressing cut by Chris Bellman from an analog tape print of the master in a limited edition of 7000, which I believe is the biggest pressing run yet for either BSM or DSS. It’s due October 23.
A strange reissue of Joni Mitchell’s 1991 album Night Ride Home popped up on Interscope’s page—an AAA cut also from Chris Bellman (not Bernie Grundman, Mitchell’s usual go-to) and pressed at RTI. This is odd because recent Mitchell reissues have generally been following a pattern of chronological deep dives into particular eras via her Archives series of boxed sets and stand-alones. The November 13 release of Night Ride Home skips over a big chunk of the 1980s, so we’ll see if they eventually circle back and get to those. At any rate, it sounds like this all-analog reissue is being done right.
Lastly, Fontana’s Thousand Club series has made the very bizarre choice of making Jeff Goldblum’s 2019 jazz album I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This its next entry, following their pretty wonderful choices of psych and prog obscurities from the late ’60s and early ’70s, all cut from tape thus far. I truly don’t know what a colored-vinyl, digitally sourced album of a movie star’s supper-club indulgences is doing at this party. At any rate, it’s slightly reassuring to know that Thousand Club won’t be a series that I need to worry about being a completist for, as I have no interest in Goldblum’s retro-jazz witterings, which come out October 30. Hey, Fontana, please knock it off with this Goldblum nonsense and reissue Kaleidoscope’s Tangerine Dream. Thank you.
Here is the new playlist, and if you’re not listening to these weekly playlists, you’re simply not getting the whole picture. There is more music included than merely the albums I’ve blurbed below; in fact, there’s enough music to soundtrack your entire weekend. If you’d like to grace your ears with all the wild, wonderful music coming back on vinyl this week, simply upgrade to our paid-tier membership. You’ll get the weekly playlists, plus full access to The Vinyl Cut’s archives, commenting privileges, and the warm inner glow that comes from the satisfaction of supporting a tiny little indie publication like this one. Perhaps you’ve noticed that there are no ads or affiliate links here—and if that’s something you appreciate and enjoy, I hope you’ll strongly consider supporting The Vinyl Cut. Thanks!
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain [Org Music]
In one of the most hotly anticipated vinyl reissues of the year, Org Music has released a new all-analog version of Maggot Brain, the 1971 classic LP from Funkadelic. Highlighted by the title track that features a 10-minute guitar solo from the immortal Eddie Hazel, the album is a darkly psychedelic trip of funk and acid rock. The album has been thoughtlessly reissued countless times in subpar sound quality, but Org’s campaign of overhauling the Westbound Records catalog has seen the team of Dave Gardner and Catherine Vericolli take special care in restoring and remastering these classic funk and R&B recordings, and their treatment of Maggot Brain is no exception. The album is available as a 33 RPM in a wide array of colors and as a 45 RPM on two LPs, all of which were cut from tape by Gardner and Vericolli and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. Plus, Vericolli tells me its the first vinyl mastering that doesn’t elliptically collapse the stereo field, which was done on earlier pressings to center the bass and make it easier for older turntables to track—making this new Org edition the first technically “true stereo” pressing, well, ever. It’s an essential pickup, I’m afraid. Read my full-length review of this excellent new pressing here.
Quiet Sun: Mainstream 2026 mix [BFD/The Orchard]
Phil Manzanera’s pre-Roxy Music band Quiet Sun never released any material during their initial run in the late 1960s, but in 1975 while Roxy Music was taking a breather, Manzanera reunited with his old pals, which included Charles Hayward of This Heat, Bill MacCormick of Matching Mole, and Dave Jarrett, who became a maths teacher (they call it “maths” over in the UK). The reformed group recorded Mainstream, a fairly ambitious prog platter that combines the starry-eyed ambition of the early days of the prog movement with a more seasoned, mid-’70s art-rock perspective. Much of this material was revisited on the 1976 live album by 801—another “supergroup” featuring Manzanera and MacCormick alongside Brian Eno (who plays on Mainstream), Simon Phillips, and others. For its 51st anniversary, Mainstream has been totally remixed; the promotional page touts that they used “the original 24-track analogue tapes,” but the mixdown to stereo for vinyl was most assuredly digital. A Blu-ray/CD combo is also available, with the Dolby Atmos and whatnot.
Ann Peebles: Tellin’ It [Fat Possum]
Ann Peebles’s 1975 album Tellin’ It was the follow-up album to I Can’t Stand the Rain, whose title track was a moderate but massively influential hit, distinguished by its groundbreaking incorporation of synthetic sounds into R&B (the futuristic “raindrop” sound was actually generated by electronic timbales). Tellin’ It builds on those breakthroughs, particularly on the opening track “Come to Mama,” but more importantly, it’s just a terrific mid-’70s soul record, featuring that irresistible, deep-in-the-pocket Hi Records groove. Fat Possum Records is reissuing Tellin’ It for the first time in half a century, with tape transfers done at Nashville Tape Transfer, remastering by Clay Jones, lacquers cut by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl, and pressing done at Memphis Record Pressing. While it sounds like a digital step is involved, having this gem back on vinyl is fantastic news.
The Millennium: Begin [Music on Vinyl]
California seven-piece the Millennium are typically housed in the “sunshine pop” category, but their lone album, 1968’s magnificent Begin, is a much more wide-ranging and enjoyably off-kilter record than the appellation suggests. The “band” was a one-off songwriting conglomerate headed by producer/sonic architect Curt Boettcher, with once-or-future members of Eternity’s Children, Sagittarius, the Ballroom, Crabby Appleton, and the Music Machine making up the cast. They all contributed terrific folk-pop songs, elevated by Boettcher’s astonishing production, which apparently ballooned to a budget of $100,000 and became Columbia Records’ most expensive LP at the time. Originals cost a pretty penny nowadays, of course, but the album was reissued by Sundazed via a Kevin Gray cut, first in 2008 on black vinyl with a notoriously off-center pressing and again—more successfully—on white vinyl in 2019. Now Music on Vinyl is offering a version, on black vinyl with a replica of the original album insert; it will be digitally sourced like all MOV product but, barring a reasonably priced version of the Gray cut on white vinyl, is now your best option for this brilliant LP, a true psychedelic masterpiece. It’s initially available only to European customers, but import copies should be making their way to the US before too long.
Marcos Valle: Vento Sul [Vampisoul]
The best-known music from Marcos Valle is rooted in bossa nova and samba, but the Brazilian genre-hopper habitually explored new frontiers in his music, and on his 1972 album Vento Sul (“Southern Wind”) he worked with prog-rockers O Terço, exploring new tributaries in Brazilian pop while incorporating atypical elements. In sum, it’s a lovely pop record with a warm, beachy sound but enough left turns to sustain a level of delicious intrigue. The album has been reissued a few times over the years—its iconic cover should be familiar to crate diggers—but now Vampisoul is offering their rendition, and the Spanish label’s track record of resurrecting excellent Brazilian music is nonpareil.
Edu Lôbo: Cantiga de Longe [Week-End]
As the Tropicália movement expired under the fist of the Brazilian military dictatorship at the end of the 1960s, Brazilian musicians forged new artistic paths forward under the umbrella of MPB, the catch-all genre that incorporated samba, bossa nova, and other music with more recognizably Brazilian roots. Within those boundaries, musicians found new means of expression, often concealing their criticisms of the dictatorship inside metaphor or irony. Edu Lôbo’s 1970 album Cantiga de Longe was one of these Trojan horses musically and thematically, offering up an exterior of gently wistful MPB and thoughtful romanticism while also offering musical and lyrical exploration. With contributions from Hermeto Pascoal and Airto Moreira, it’s a smart, sophisticated Brazilian pop record with a lot going on underneath the hood; Cologne, Germany, label Week-End Records has this crucial reissue.
Jazz Alley
Verve Vault’s two offerings this month don’t quite fit neatly into the jazz category: Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s Gospel Train, first released in 1956, is indeed a gospel record fused with stinging R&B, hinting at rock ’n’ roll even as the backing came from seasoned New York jazz cats. And Mel Tormé’s 1960 album Swings Shubert Alley is a collection of showtunes (Shubert Alley is right in the heart of New York’s theater district) from the likes of Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, and others; the succulent arrangements by Marty Paich help to offset the fuddy-duddiness of the material. (Both Verve Vaults are cut from tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and are pressed at Optimal.)
Meanwhile, two rare ones originally released on the Catalyst label are now back on colored wax: Gary Bartz’s Ju Ju Man from 1976 and Hadley Caliman’s Celebration from 1977. I can’t find any information about where these were sourced or who is administering the Catalyst catalog these days, so proceed with cautious curiosity. As far as known quantities go, France’s terrific Wewantsounds label is reissuing the 1974 Japan-release album The Third World-Underground, a fearlessly adventurous collaboration between Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand), Don Cherry, and Carlos Ward. And lastly, Impulse is issuing Essential John Coltrane, a 2-LP set that might be a good John Coltrane primer for someone just starting out on jazz but will likely just barely scratch the surface.
OTHER REISSUES OF NOTE:
(*star denotes inclusion in this week’s paid-subscriber playlist)
The Arch: Noisetalgia 1986–2026 [Antler]
George Benson: Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole [Candid]
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Oh-By the Way [Music on Vinyl]
*Charli XCX: True Romance; Sucker; Vroom Vroom EP; Number 1 Angel; Pop 2 [Atlantic]
*Graham Coxon: Crow Sit on Blood Tree; The Kiss of Morning; Happiness in Magazines [Transgressive]
Dispatch: Bang Bang; Live from the Boston Woods [Bomber Music]
Chip E: The Architect of House - Chicago 1984–88 Volume 1: Classics [Still Music]
Elonkorjuu: Harvest Time [Svart]
Paul Elstak: May the Forze Be with You; May the Forze Be with You: Hardcore Edition [Music on Vinyl]
*Enlightment: Faith Is the Key [Nature Sounds]
The Fall: The Peel Sessions 1978 [Cherry Red]
Geoff Farina: FFF [Numero Group]
*Flying Lotus: 1983 [Brainfeeder]
Focus: Moving Waves [Music on Vinyl]
Force M.D.’s: Let Me Love You: The Greatest Hits [Tommy Boy]
The Frights: You Are Going to Hate This [Dangerbird]
Juan Gabriel: En el Palacio de Bellas Artes [Sony US Latin]
Vince Guaraldi: It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown [Lee Mendelson]
*Herbie Hancock: Death Wish soundtrack [Music on Vinyl]
Heatmiser: Dead Air [Frontier]
H.E.R.: H.E.R. [Sony]
Jay-Jay Johanson: Poison [Music on Vinyl]
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Collected [Music on Vinyl]
*Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: The Roaring Silence [Creature]
Jack McDuff: Sophisticated Funk [Good Times]
Mercyful Fate: Don’t Break the Oath [Metal Blade]
Motörhead: Bad Magic; Undercover [BMG]
Organized Konfusion: Stress: The Extinction Agenda [Fat Beats]
*Osibasa: African Flight; Black Magic Night: Live at the Royal Festival Hall [Prestige Elite]
Paradis: Recto Verso [Barclay]
*Jeff Parker: The New Breed [International Anthem]
*Pixies: Bossanova; Trompe le Monde [4AD]
Eliane Radigue: Triptych [Important]
*Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra [Analogue Productions RCA Living Stereo Series]
The Revivalists: Men Amongst Mountains [Wind-Up]
SAS Group: Bad Shock [Ancient Grease]
*Societa Corelli: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons [Analogue Productions RCA Living Stereo Series]
*Solex: Low Kick and Hard Bop [Matador]
UFO: A Conspiracy of Stars [Cleopatra]
Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons: Anthology: Greatest Hits [Friday]
*Voxtrot: Early Music [Cult Hero]
Dexter Wansel: Life on Mars [Music on Vinyl]
Bobby Wayne: Prison Songs [Sundazed]
Wigwam: Being [Svart]
*Bobby Williams: Funky Super Fly [Mr Bongo]
Zebra: Zebra [Friday]
*Various Artists: Nigeria 80 [Strut]
