We should all be lucky enough to have aged as gracefully at 50 as the Velvet Underground‘s music has. To celebrate this slightly influential band’s half-century birthday, Verve/UMe is releasing a limited-to-1,000 career-spanning boxed set, titled simply The Velvet Underground, on February 23. The six-LP collection—VU’s four studio records, a reconstructed version of 1969’s “lost” album and Nico’s Chelsea Girl debut—is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and features stereo mixes, as well as a 48-page booklet with a foreword by Moe Tucker. Kids, this is what goes on … On February 2, Zappa/UMe is issuing The Roxy Performances, a seven-CD boxed set collecting four 1973 Frank Zappa shows at Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre, plus a film shoot/soundcheck, rehearsal rarities, unreleased tracks and highlights from a recording session at Ike Turner’s Bolic Studios … Also on February 2, Eagle Rock is issuing Bee Gees‘ One For All Tour Live In Australia 1989 on DVD and SD Blu-ray, in glorious newly mixed and mastered surround sound … Steve Reich‘s new LP, Pulse/Quartet, is out February 2 on Nonesuch … Last year marked the 60th anniversary of Sonny Rollins‘ landmark Way Out West, and on February 16, Craft is releasing a deluxe edition of the album as a two-LP, 180-gram-vinyl set with rare and unreleased tracks … On February 9, Melody Gardot will issue Live In Europe, her first concert album, via Decca; it’s culled from 2012-2016 shows … Monks Of Doom—Victor Krummenacher, Greg Lisher and Chris Pedersen (all members of Camper Van Beethoven) and David Immerglück (Counting Crows)—will release The Brontë Pin, their first new-material album in more than 25 years, on March 23 via Pitch-A-Tent … Fans of 6 String Drag have two reasons to celebrate this new year: Hit Hat is getting a 20th-anniversary reissue on January 12, and new album Top Of The World is out March 9, both via the Schoolkids label … Yanomamos—a band featuring late Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart and guitarist/vocalist Timothy G. Piotrowski and bassist Miss Jane Mansfield (both ex-Duck Kicking Vulture)—has issued the vinyl-only Comes Alive! (Con D’or), the trio’s first release in almost three decades … Verve/UMe has released a 10th-anniversary edition of Herbie Hancock’s Grammy-winning River: The Joni Letters, only the second jazz LP to ever win album-of-the-year honors; the expanded edition of this musical tribute to Joni Mitchell features four bonus tracks … On February 23, Roadrunner will issue Turnstile‘s Time & Space … You might not know Luther Russell but name, but you’ve probably heard music he’s made with the likes of Jakob Dylan (Wallflowers), Jody Stephens (Big Star), Brian Bell (Weezer), Ethan Johns (Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams) and countless others; Selective Memories: An Anthology (Hanky Panky; February 23) is a two-CD compilation of Russell’s material that’s a stellar introduction for newcomers to this musician’s musician … On March 23, Thrill Jockey will release Tornado Juice by MAGNET fave Brother JT (a.k.a. Original Sins frontman John Terlesky).
