More Kate Bush Reissue Details Emerge

For fans of great classic pop-rock, there are two great pieces of news today: Capitol’s confirmation of releasing The Beach Boys’ SMiLE this year (!!!) and the promise of a new Kate Bush album in May, her first since 2005.

There are some details on that release, Director’s Cut, which will be of some interest to our readers: not only is it an album of sort-of-re-recorded songs (it will feature partially but not entirely new versions of songs from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993)), but a deluxe package will feature the new record alongside remastered editions of those original albums.

This set is coming out May 16 through Bush’s own Fish People record (and distributed through EMI). We’ve not yet heard about any potential extra content, but of course we’ll make sure you know if we do!

Friday Feature: “The Graduate”

“Just one word…plastics.”

With that one word, spoken to the disaffected Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) by an associate of his father’s, the audience viewing 1967’s film The Graduate, could both laugh and sneer along with Benjamin. After all, “plastics” stood for all that was superficial and fake in society. Mike Nichols, directing only his second feature film after a successful Broadway career, was anything but subtle as he masterfully threaded the film’s themes throughout every aspect of the production. To represent Benjamin’s most inner thoughts on the film soundtrack, Nichols called on Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. To represent, well, “plastics,” the composer Dave Grusin was enlisted, and turned in a number of faux lounge compositions. There’s much for which The Graduate is remembered today. There are the cherished lines like “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me…aren’t you?” or screenwriter Buck Henry’s droll cameo as a hotel clerk: “Are you here for an affair, sir?” There are, of course, Anne Bancroft’s stunning legs that go on forever. You could recall the hypnotic swimming pool sequences or the climactic, comedically unexpected use of a cross to jam a church door. But more than any other one facet, The Graduate may be best remembered today for its music.

To cap off a week on which Simon and Garfunkel are being celebrated for the 40th anniversary of their epochal Bridge Over Troubled Water album (Sirius/XM is even offering 24/7 Simon and Garfunkel Radio for a limited time!), today’s Friday Feature celebrates a cinematic landmark, and a film that still vividly conjures the generation gap that existed in 1967: The Graduate. Hit the jump to join Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Dave Grusin, Benjamin Braddock and Mrs. Robinson!

More Queen Details Emerge, Copy Editor Badly Needed for Band Website

Two quick notes from the official Queen website on the upcoming reissues:

• The reissues, already confirmed for release in America (woo hoo!), now have a firm release date! (Double woo hoo!!) The deluxe editions of Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races will come out on Hollywood Records May 17.
• For the U.K. (who will be receiving the reissues in a week and a half), all the reissues are going to be available together as a box set. The set will be available (according to the website) on April 4 “expect North America.” Now, I imagine that’s supposed to read “except North America,” but come on! There are probably some fans who would like that box without having to import it.

“SMiLE”! It’s Actually Happening!

Wow! From Billboard:

It’s an event that pop music fans have been waiting for since the Summer of Love: Capitol Records is planning to release the Beach Boys’ great lost album, “Smile,” later this year.

Two longtime Beach Boys associates — engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd — are co-producing the release, which Capitol has titled “The Smile Sessions.”

The project will be released in three versions: a two-CD set, an iTunes LP digital album and a limited-edition boxed set containing four CDs, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book written by Beach Boys historian Dominic Priore.

There’s no release date yet, but it’s coming, with the support of the whole band (including Brian Wilson). Click the link above to read more.

Is this the big one for 2011, friends?