Release Round-Up: Week of November 13

The Beatles, Stereo Vinyl Box Set (Capitol/EMI)

The Fab Four’s 2009 stereo remasters have been painstakingly pressed on vinyl. The whole box set will set you back considerably, but you can get the ones you want on their own (and, if you’re in New York City or Los Angeles, can do so through the roving pop-up shop/double-decker buses that’ll be cruising each city). (Vinyl box: Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.)

The Rolling Stones, GRRR! (Rolling Stones/UMe)

The Stones’ 50th anniversary is commemorated with this multi-format compilation, featuring all their hits, two new tracks and, in some cases, some tunes from the vault:

• 3CD compilation: Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.
• 3CD compilation – deluxe packaging: Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.
• 5CD box set with unreleased demos disc and unreleased BBC session 7″: Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.

Elvis Presley, Prince from Another Planet / Elvis: As Recorded At Madison Square Garden – Legacy Edition (RCA/Legacy)

Elvis’ two triumphant MSG shows in the summer of 1972 (the latter released as Elvis: As Recorded At Madison Square Garden a week after the shows and the former released as An Afternoon in the Garden in 1997) have been remixed and paired up as a Legacy Edition (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.), or as a deluxe 2CD/1DVD box set (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.) featuring rare footage of the afternoon show as well as the King’s press conference in the Big Apple. (Elvis: As Recorded At Madison Square Garden is also getting a double-vinyl reissue, available at Amazon U.S. and Amazon U.K.)

Marvin Gaye, Trouble Man: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Hip-O Select/Motown)

Marvin’s underrated film soundtrack album – the last of his ’70s albums to get the deluxe treatment – is expanded with session outtakes, and for the first time, the original film score as heard in the Trouble Man film, meticulously recreated from the original tapes. (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.)

Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You: The Very Best of Whitney Houston (Arista/RCA)

The dearly departed diva is paid tribute through this new single-disc overview of her career, featuring two unreleased tracks. The U.K. edition is two discs, just with more hits and album cuts. (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.)

Mel Brooks, The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy (Shout! Factory)

A five-DVD/one-CD box set treasury from one of the undisputed kings of comedy. (Amazon U.S.)

Sonic Youth, Smart Bar Chicago 1985 (Goofin’)

An unreleased live show from the Sonic Youth archives, on CD (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.) or vinyl (Amazon U.S./Amazon U.K.).

Various Artists, A MusiCares Tribute to Barbra Streisand (Amazon U.S. Blu-Ray / Amazon U.S. DVD)

The legendary chanteuse is celebrated by the likes of Tony Bennett, Barry Manilow, Jeff Beck and Leona Lewis on this new DVD/BD release.

Original London Cast Recording, Cabaret (Sony Masterworks) (Amazon U.S. MP3)

Judi Dench, currently on the big screen as M in James Bond blockbuster Skyfall, made a splash in the West End as London’s original Sally Bowles in Cabaret!  The long-OOP cast recording returns digitally and as a disc-on-demand from Masterworks Broadway.

Percy Faith, The Complete Music of Christmas (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Real Gone revisits the lush orchestral stylings of Percy Faith with this 2-CD set dedicated to some of the bandleader’s greatest holiday music.

Shoes, One in Versailles (U.S./U.K.) / Bazooka (U.S./U.K.) / Black Vinyl Shoes (U.S./U.K.) / Present Tense Demos (U.S./U.K.) (Numero)

Power-pop group Shoes see vinyl reissues of four of their albums.

The B-52’s, Cosmic Thing / Bob Dylan and The Band, The Basement Tapes (Mobile Fidelity)

The B-52’s pop crossover album (on vinyl – Amazon U.S./U.K.) and The Bard’s highly sought-after collaboration with The Band (on hybrid SACD – Amazon U.S./U.K.) are the latest hi-def offerings from Mobile Fidelity.

Rebbie Jackson, Reaction: Expanded Edition (U.S./U.K.) / Champaign, Modern Heart/Woman in Flames (U.S./U.K.) / Black Ivory, Black Ivory/Hangin’ Heavy (U.S./U.K.) / Kashif, Condition of the Heart: Expanded Edition (U.S./U.K.) / Love Changes: Expanded Edition (U.S./U.K.) (Funkytowngrooves)

Lana Del Rey, Born to Die: The Paradise Edition (Interscope)

Yes, her. LDR’s major-label debut with a disc of new material (Amazon U.S./U.K.), also available separately (U.S.).

Lana Del Rey Goes to “Paradise” on New Expansion

Hey, remember Lana Del Rey? The pouty-lipped, perpetually dazed young lady responsible for some vaguely ineffectual chamber pop and the most histrionic vortex of critical backlash of the year – possibly of the nascent century? Back when we weighed in on her, we did so because there was talk of reissuing some of her early independent works through her contract with Interscope.

Well, it looks like we are indeed getting a reissue from the erstwhile Lizzy Grant, and holy cow, you guys. Her debut LP Born to Die, which features the U.K. hit “Video Games” and other assorted hazy songs about being a devil-may-care youth in a large metropolitan area, is getting grotesquely expanded for the holiday season, with a new almost-album of extra material and, in some cases, a CD/DVD/vinyl box set! What?!

Hit the jump to read on and determine whether or not you should buy the box set to impress someone you know who works at H&M.*

*This is speculative.

Finally, The Second Disc Has an Excuse to Address This Whole Lana Del Rey Thing

Although we make our claim as tireless reporters on all things in the catalogue music world, we at Second Disc HQ are music lovers first and foremost, regardless of the era. So it gives me a bit of weird pleasure to speak a little bit out of the usual comfort zone for a second and talk about one of pop music’s weirdest current trend stories, which actually, tenuously, has some ties to our usual reportage.

If you’re a voracious consumer of all topics musical, you’ve probably read anywhere from one to a thousand words on Lana Del Rey, whose major label debut Born to Die was released this week. If you haven’t, here’s her story in a nutshell: her brooding, densely arranged pop and Nancy Sinatra by way of Nico vocals made her a darling of tastemaking blog Pitchfork last summer, when hypnotic single “Video Games” was released. In due time, a massive amount of backlash ensued: Del Ray was previously known as a more sensitive singer-songwriter type named Lizzy Grant, the daughter of a magnate in the Web domain name business (seriously, you can’t make this stuff up) before she changed her name (and, some would argue, her appearance, with a fuller set of pouty lips springing seemingly out of nowhere) and signed a deal with major label Interscope Records.

Over time, the backlash spun into a demented maelstrom of hype and antihype, the likes of which pop culture has arguably never seen. The U.K. embraced her almost immediately – “Video Games” peaked at No. 9 – while the music press continued shredding her for her appearance, her bizarre live stage presence (exemplified in a not-that-great performance on Saturday Night Live) and just about anything under the sun. The blog Hipster Runoff turned into a one-stop shop for all nutty analysis of Del Rey.

What made the whole ordeal maddening was twofold. First of all, the controversies were dissected far away from the eyes of mainstream music listeners. (Very few personal friends were fully aware of her existence until weeks after the discussion reached fever pitch.) Second, the discussion almost completely ignored the music, most of which was only partially heard through videos Del Rey uploaded to YouTube. Taking the music into consideration, it’s rough around the edges but not worth all the excoriation. In some places, it’s actually rather good – Del Rey’s shapeshifting voice and strangely evocative lyrics need some work, but the busy, hip-hop-lite arrangements and dreamy chord changes are signs of promise.

So what, then, does this have a damn thing to do with The Second Disc? It turns out the “first” Lana Del Rey – released in 2010 on the 5 Points label under “Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Lizzy Grant” – might be reissued some time this summer. (Del Rey bought back the album from the label, theoretically for the very purpose of giving Interscope something else to sell.) So hopefully everyone will have their opinions together on the new album by the time the old one comes back out.

Have you heard Del Rey’s new album? Does the amount of hoopla over the whole thing bother you? What do you think? The Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Lizzy Grant track list, with links to hear the songs, is after the jump.