UMe’s Record Store Day Slate Features Nirvana, Frank Zappa, Classic Blue Note, Motown Funk and More

With Public Enemy’s Chuck D engaged as the Record Store Day Ambassador for 2014, it’s only appropriate that one of his own records is arriving this Saturday as a special limited edition vinyl platter. The new reissue of Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back will be joined on RSD by a host of other vinyl goodies from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe).   Previously unreleased music from Frank Zappa (previewing the upcoming 40th anniversary reissue of Apostrophe) and the seventies Motown pair of Rick James and Teena Marie will arrive from Universal, along with replicas of the first two releases ever from the venerable Blue Note Records, currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Nirvana make their mark on RSD with the first-ever seven-inch release of “Pennyroyal Tea” b/w “I Hate Myself and Want to Die,” originally scheduled for release in 1994 but pulled off the schedule in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Universal also has a special vinyl box, Superunknown: The Singles, commemorating the 20th anniversary of Soundgarden’s Superunknown.

Hit the jump for the full specs on each title courtesy of Universal’s original press release!

Kritzerland Premieres Rare Scores From Paul Glass and Robert Farnon on New 2-CD Set

The composers represented on Kritzerland’s most recent release might not be the most widely recognized, but the label’s deluxe 2-CD set from Paul Glass and Robert Farnon should surely earn them quite a few more fans. Overlord / Disappearance / Hustle brings together two scores from Glass (b. 1934) and one from Farnon (1917-2005) on two CDs – for the price of one. Glass, also a prolific composer of “serious” music including pieces for orchestras and chamber groups, was versatile enough to tailor his style to the film he was scoring. If it called for an avant-garde approach, he could provide it. If it called for an accessible approach, he could provide that, too. Farnon is perhaps best known as a composer of “light music,” but it’s a measure of the esteem with which he was held that he was selected to arrange and conduct Frank Sinatra’s sole album recorded outside of the United States, 1962’s Sinatra Sings Songs from Great Britain. The Grammy- and Novello Award-winning composer even inspired such eminences as Andre Previn and Quincy Jones.

Overlord / The Disappearance / Hustle is limited to 1,000 units, and is scheduled to ship from Kritzerland by the first week of June. However, pre-orders placed directly with the label usually arrive an average of three to five weeks early. After the jump: Kritzerland’s original press release explains why you need to hear these scores! Plus: the full track listing and pre-order links!

It’s 5:15 Again: The Who Revisit “Quadrophenia” In New Live Box, Release 5.1 Surround of Original Album

For fans of The Who, Christmas is coming early this year. The band has taken, in recent years, to marking the holidays with super-sized box sets dedicated to such classic albums as Live at Leeds, Tommy and Quadrophenia. The latter, Pete Townshend’s 1973 mod rock opera, was celebrated in 2011 via a multitude of releases including a 4-CD/1-DVD box set with the original album, two discs of demos, and a DVD of selected songs in surround sound. This June, Townshend and Roger Daltrey will follow up that box with the multi-format (that’s seven different formats, for those keeping count!) release of Quadrophenia: Live in London. And what’s most exciting is that this campaign, centered on The Who’s Quadrophenia 40th Anniversary tour, will premiere the full, original 1973 album in 5.1 on Blu-ray.  In the past, only selections from the album have been made available in surround.

After Tommy, there was Jimmy. He’s the protagonist of Quadrophenia, first a 2-LP studio album by The Who, then a 1979 film and most recently a 2009 musical. Never one for small ideas, Townshend intended Quadrophenia as his way to explore the relationship between the band and its fans by telling the story of a prototypical Mod Who fan. The album yielded some of the most beloved songs ever recorded by Townshend, Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon: “The Real Me,” “Love Reign O’er Me,” “5:15.”

In 2012 and 2013, Townshend and Daltrey revisited the material in an acclaimed international series of concerts featuring the original Quadrophenia album sequence and a tight encore set of six Who favorites. That tour wrapped up at London’s Wembley Arena on July 8, 2013, where it was preserved for this audiovisual presentation. Following in the footsteps of other artists including The Beach Boys, The Who used the concerts as an opportunity to reunite with their late bandmates, too. Keith Moon was heard on “Bell Boy” and John Entwistle on “5:15.” Conceived in large part by Daltrey, the concerts (and the film) featured archival footage of The Who as well as images of the historical events that informed the original album and beyond. Appropriately enough for Quadrophenia, the concerts merged rock and theatre into a singular experience.

After the jump, we’ll explore all of the various Live in London releases! Plus: full track listings and pre-order links!