The Egregiously Insensitive Pursuit of Vinyl Records: It’s hard for observers of American culture not to be disturbed by some of the societal trends that have picked up steam in recent years. Tolerance for free speech is in decline while tolerance for dishonesty and hypocrisy (even from our elected leaders) is on the rise. An expanding sense of entitlement and an increased dependence on government have blunted our ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. Our attention-spans are on life-support, and though technology has broadened our capacity to communicate, our willingness to actually listen to each other is diminishing every day. If you thought those things were bad, a writer named Tanya Dracolakis recently drew attention to another troublesome trend: the resurgence of vinyl record collecting.
Remastered vinyl versions of three Peter Gabriel soundtrack albums due out in July: The third installment of Peter Gabriel’s vinyl reissue campaign featuring multiple-LP, half-speed-remastered versions of albums from his back catalog will arrive on July 28. The records being released as part of the campaign are three soundtrack albums: 1985’s Birdy, 1989’s Passion and 2002’s Long Walk Home. Birdy, the soundtrack to the 1984 Alan Parker-directed film of the same name, includes several tracks that were based on pre-existing songs from Gabriel’s third and fourth studio albums. Peter co-produced the record with frequent U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois.
David Lynch’s Eraserhead soundtrack reissued on silver vinyl: Sacred Bones Records is putting another round of its reissue of the soundtrack to David Lynch’s surrealist body horror flick, Eraserhead. According to the Amazon listing, this repress is on silver wax and includes the bonus 7″ and the 16-page booklet and prints that were released in previous runs. The release is expected on June 16. Originally released in 1972 and shot in black-and-white, Eraserhead was Lynch’s first feature-length film, following a number of short works.
Prince’s Purple Rain reissue to include six previously unheard tracks: Prince’s massive Purple Rain vinyl reissue release is set to include a number of previously unheard tracks form the fabled Paisley Park vaults. Released as both a Deluxe and Deluxe Expanded edition, Rolling Stone reports that the unheard material will include a 1983 solo version of ‘Possessed’, a studio version of ‘Electric Intercourse,’ a longer version of ‘Father’s Song,’ which only appeared in snippet-form in the album’s film, a full 10-minute version of ‘We Can Fuck,’ and a finished version of ‘Katrina’s Paper Dolls,’ previously only available in demo form.
