Vinyl Pre-Order Roundup: David Bowie, Real Estate, Neko Case, and more
David Bowie, No Plan EP
David Bowie's Blackstar was one of our favorite albums of 2016, and its vinyl packaging was a source of frequent fascination. Looks like the Thin White Duke isn't done with fresh vinyl, as you can now pre-order the four-track EP, No Plan, that was digitally released in January. Three of the four songs on this EP— "No Plan,” “Killing A Little Time,” and “When I Met You”— aren't included on Blackstar (the fourth being "Lazarus") but were cut during the same sessions, and are said to be Bowie's very final recordings.
The No Plan vinyl options include a standard edition, which is really anything but as it's a heavyweight 180g black vinyl that includes a star-based etching on side B. The limited edition offering looks gorgeous, and comes in white vinyl with the same kind of etching treatment on the B-side, but also includes a lithograph designed by longtime collaborator Jonathan Barnbrook. It's a pricey gambit for four songs, but I'd probably go with the limited edition version if given the choice. Get the standard edition (releasing April 21) here and the limited one (releasing May 26) here.
Real Estate, In Mind
New Jersey's Real Estate has been steadily producing some of the most breezy, sunny, catchy indie rock of the last decade. Their upcoming fourth album, In Mind, sounds like it'll continue down that path when it drops on March 17. The deluxe edition comes in limited, 180g purple vinyl with a nice felt slipmat. It really looks like a plush package altogether and you can grab it here.
Various, Live From Austin, Texas
Even though it's spawned an annual music festival of the same name, Austin City Limits is best known as a long-running TV series on PBS, dating all the way back to 1974. As you might expect, in each episode, one or two artists perform live from Austin, Texas, and it's hosted everyone from Johnny Cash to Kendrick Lamar.
New West Records has been putting out some of these incredible performances, but it's just announced a new round of albums that'll be available for the first time on vinyl (and 180g, at that): Guy Clark (green vinyl), Merle Haggard (red vinyl), Neko Case (black vinyl), and Steve Earle (black vinyl). The Clark and Haggard releases appear to be available now, while Case and Earle will arrive in March. You probably can't go wrong with any of these, but I'm most familiar with Case's 2003 performance, and it's real good. Grab it here.
Counting Crows, August And Everything After
Look, we all know Counting Crows by now, and I won't spend energy defending anything they've released after this album. Especially not that music video with the animated dreadlocked-rabbit. What the hell was that. Anyways, August And Everything After remains an early '90s classic. It's getting a double LP, 45 rpm release (which should really sound fantastic) on March 17. Pick that one up here.
