UMe's Vinylphyle series presses on with a series of releases, one surprising, the others in the "audiophile pocket". All follow the gatefold, paper on cardboard jacket, tape box picture, annotated booklet, OBI strip, cut from tape by a single mastering engineer format and sold direct on the company store website, pioneered by Rhino—and no reason to criticize that. It's a winning formula, with the talented Joe Nino-Hernes doing the cutting at... Read More

In 1982, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi—taking a break from Yellow Magic Orchestra at the group’s artistic peak, which closely followed their initial height of mass popularity—established the Alfa Records sublabel Yen Records. Yen lasted for precisely three years and released a series of fascinatingly odd albums, some of which have been out of print for decades until these recent Sony Japan reissues.

Review Explosion, our guide to notable recent(-ish) releases and reissues, is finally back, with a burst of shorter reviews of a few records. In this edition: a UMe Vinylphyle reissue of Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, a half-speed reissue of George Michael’s Faith, Geese’s universally lauded Getting Killed, a reissue of Arthur Russell’s sole 12” as Dinosaur, and an injection-molded Coldplay pressing. More Review Explosions to follow after this one, stay tuned and keep reading.