BLONDIE – NO EXIT (REISSUE)
With news of Blondie being back in the studio, it’s worth reflecting on their big comeback album, No Exit. After a 17 year hiatus, the band re-emerged, gaining new fans and reinvigorating old ones with a bold and experimental return. The vinyl reissue is a wonderful celebration of the band’s second act with remixes, B-sides, and some live versions to prove the band isn’t just adding gloss in the studio.
THE CHARLATANS – WE ARE LOVE
It’s been nearly a decade since The Charlatans UK put out a new album, the last few years filled with nostalgia tours, reissues, and 30th anniversary celebrations. We Are Love, highlights the now with help from producers Dev Hynes and Stephen Street building lush arrangements with modern texture. But Britpop fans will appreciate the band still leaning into the bread and butter sounds of their past especially on songs like “Now Everything,” and “Deeper and Deeper.”
Stream • BMG • Connect: @thecharlatans
BOB DYLAN – VOLUME 18: THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW 1956-1963
Do you always remind people that Bob Dylan is from Minnesota? Sure, he made a name (literally and figuratively) for himself once he moved to New York, but Dylan’s new Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window 1956-1963 goes back to his native roots. This peek behind the curtain covers those early busking days in Greenwich Village, but also his teenage years in Minnesota (most of which have never been released in any form). It’s a bit emotional to hear a young, raw, and restless musician in his home recordings, club gigs, and radio appearances. The 8 disc box set lays out the blueprint for a folk icon from his early years to his 1963 Carnegie Hall concert, with plenty of hometown pride.
RADIOHEAD – HAIL TO THE THIEF (LIVE RECORDINGS 2003-2009)
I spent some very formative years with headphones on deep listening to Radiohead‘s Hail to the Thief. The moody, glitchy, and angry album was a division one for fans, and this compilation of live versions probably won’t change any opinions. Pulled from shows in Dublin, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and London, this feels like how the songs should have been released the first go-round. It’s urgent, cathartic, and Thom Yorke‘s vocals swing between punk fury and hauntingly ethereal.
Stream • XL Recordings • Connect: @radiohead
