Craft Recordings do it again

This label is pushing them out quickly at the moment. I know,  what jazz fan does not have Rollins' Way Out West but how about a new vinyl edition, with a second disk of bonus material from a late-night session in the studio? I know, it's the 60th anniversary, how many editions can you have of the same recording (don't answer that Kind of Blue collectors!) but this looks gorgeous. Sadly it's a less than gorgeous price (north of $70 on Amazon as I write) but I am sure some will grab it gladly. I'm having to limit my purchases at the moment but it does not stop me wanting....

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Best Buy giving up on CDs

Well, I suppose it had to happen at some point but chain store Best Buy announced it would no longer stock CDs from June 1st. With sales of CDs now about 10% of what they sold 15 years ago, the company considers them unworthy of floor space in their stores.  More here at Consequence of Sound

Ironically, Best Buy will continue to stock vinyl where they sell turntables, at least for the next two years. Bet you would never have predicted this when Queen took out ads in the UK music press back in the 1980s to explain why they would release albums only on CD from then on as vinyl was no longer relevant. 

Craft Recordings releasing new vinyl sets

New one to me but worthy of a mention for those who love their vinyl. Craft Recordings have been sending out announcements of new releases, and here's the latest one: Country Joe and the Fish. $80 on Amazon, delivered free for Prime members.

Paying tribute to the band’s prolific output, Craft Recordings is issuing a limited-edition, deluxe vinyl box set, The Wave of Electrical Sound, as well as standalone, 180-gram LP reissues - all hitting store shelves today! A remastered digital collection, offering both stereo and mono formats of each album, as well as two exclusive bonus tracks, is also available on digital retailers and streaming services.

Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide, the deluxe 4-LP box set offers both mono and stereo versions of Electric Music for the Mind and Body and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die. All four remastered LPs are pressed on audiophile quality, 180-gram vinyl, and housed in old-school-style, tip-on jackets. The Wave of Electrical Sound also contains a bounty of band ephemera from 1967, including replicas of The Fish Game, a Fish Fan Club book and a Fish calendar designed by Tom Weller. Also in the box is a DVD of How We Stopped the War, a 30-minute documentary, filming the band on their way to an anti-Vietnam War rally, directed by David Peoples (writer of Blade Runner, Twelve Monkeys, Unforgiven), as well as a 24-page book, which features rare photos, artwork and new liner notes.