New Release Tuesday

This week, it's a bunch of classics getting the reissue treatment that I suggest you should be picking up.

Nearly a decade ago after getting a copy of Washing Machine, the next logical step for my obsession with Sonic Youth was the epic and important Daydream Nation (I got that one next cause it was the only one at the used CD store downtown I didn't have yet thus far.) The 12 (or, really, 14) songs that span all but the entire length of the disc were a perfect collection of songs by the New York quartet. After experimenting with noise and dabbling in the lo-fi schematics for several years before 1988, Daydream was something like its title: the first pristine Sonic Youth album. The band finally found their groove, and made a rather accessible record that would help them get signed to Geffen in 1990.

This deluxe edition of Daydream Nation is the final in a series of three, that began with Dirty and continued with Goo. Unlike the demos, b-sides and outtakes that filled the latters, the former doesn't have much in the way of previously unissued tracks. Apart from a home demo of "Eric's Trip" closing out disc one, the second disc features the entire album in a live setting, and is rounded out with four covers which appeared on compilations and split singles back in the day. Oh well; I still suggest catching them this summer if you can as they play Daydream Nation in its entirety. I'm dying to here "Eliminator Jr." live.

Stream: Daydream Nation [Here] /// [Buy Here]

I might've once referred to The Good, The Bad & The Queen as a supergroup, and some people think Audioslave were as well, but the term only exists because of one band of brothers from other mothers that came to fruition in the late 1980s: The Traveling Wilburys. What started as a session to record a b-side for a George Harrison single with friends Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, became a full fledged project. The song that came from the session, "Handle With Care," was a smash hit and made the Wilburys a household name. After the release of Volume 1, Orbison passed away and the rest of the members lended a hand in Petty's Full Moon Fever, before releasing their second and final album, Volume 3. Long out of print, Rhino has taken both and packaged them together with bonus tracks, b-sides, and a DVD featuring studio footage, documentaries and music videos. Did you know John Candy was in the video for "Wilbury Twist"? Surprise, he was.



Buy: Traveling Wilburys [Here]

Long before they were "Popular," Nada Surf were another trio from Brooklyn striving to break in big. In 1995, they released the Karmic, an EP that featured a raw version of High/Low single "Treehouse" and the gritty "Nothing." It's also the only release (save for a few songs on the North 6th Street set) to feature original Nada Surf drummer Aaron Conte. Another gem that's been long out of print, LA imprint Hi-Speed Soul (also the name of only the greatest Nada Surf song, from 2003's Let Go,) reissues Karmic this week with a bonus track, the High/Low b-side "Pressure Free." Originally on the "Deeper Well" 7", the wistful tune now is more readily available to Nada Surf fans everywhere. This "Treehouse" video was obviously post-"Popular." Is that Heather Matarazzo?



Buy: Karmic [Here]