December 13, 2018
Real Gone Music Newsletter

Greetings!

You didn’t think we were going to let 2018 go without a few more releases, did you?! Not only do we are ending the year with a cinematic flourish, we’re following it with a power pop encore! All at special low prices…so buckle up!
As a former music journalist (for  Creem and Rolling Stone among other periodicals), director Cameron Crowe has always put his heart and soul into the soundtracks of his films. So, it’s no wonder that the most ambitious of all his films, 2001’s Vanilla Sky , sported the most far-ranging and masterful of all of his scores. The film itself was a waking dream, subject to various interpretations; the soundtrack, too, explored shifting moods and shades, but always maintaining the surreal tone and aesthetic of the film, with a glittering line-up (R.E.M., Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan) of artists. The result was breathless praise for the soundtrack (the  New York Times  called it “a music masterpiece”) and an Academy Award nomination. It is, quite simply, one of the greatest “mix-tapes” a film director has ever created (with some help from soundtrack Co-Producer Danny Bramson and Crowe’s then-wife, Nancy Wilson of Heart); and, for the first vinyl reissue of the  Vanilla Sky soundtrack since its initial release, we have created a custom gatefold cover for the 2-LP release and pressed up 1000 copies in “blue cloud” vinyl. A sublime listening and visual experience awaits.

Orange County was another one of those films from the early 2000s that had a great soundtrack except, unlike  Vanilla Sky , it never came out on vinyl at all, not even in its original release! This 2002 tale of an Orange County kid (Colin Hanks) who wangles admission to Stanford despite the best efforts of his stoner brother (Jack Black) and then turns his back on academia to be with his girlfriend and buds down by the beach won hearts both with its amiable humor (the great Mike White penned the screenplay) and with its Top Ten soundtrack, which featured new releases by Foo Fighters (“The One”) and Orange County legends The Offspring (“Defy You”) among other great tunes. For the first-ever LP release of the soundtrack to  Orange County , we’ve created a custom gatefold sleeve for the 2-LP set adorned with production stills, and pressed up (only) 700 copies in (what else?) orange vinyl! Get ‘em while they last!


Close watchers of Real Gone Music probably noticed that we never sent out an email touting our new, deluxe  Badfinger releases. That’s because demand was so hot and heavy that we were sold out of them before we could even hit “send!” But we finally have some (not many, but some!) back in stock now, so we figured we’d let you all know before they fly out the door again. In case you missed our previous announcements regarding these, we have taken a fresh look at the band’s brilliant but ill-fated releases for Warner Bros.,  Badfinger and  Wish You Were Here . Compiled, remastered, and annotated by  Badfinger biographer Dan Matovina, each of these deluxe, expanded reissues sports nearly an album’s worth of bonus material featuring in-progress alternate mixes/outtakes highlighted by an unreleased song. Matovina’s liner notes include fresh quotes from producer Chris Thomas, along with rare photos. Due to management malfeasance, label ineptitude, and band turmoil, neither of these albums has ever received its due…these releases set the record straight. Pure power pop genius!
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