Holed up in a mobile recording trailer in EMI’s London parking lot, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke of Erasure this week began offering fans short glimpses into the recording of their 14th studio album, posting a pair of videos in which they discuss their writing sessions — and Clarke’s plans to only use analog synths on the record.

[tweetmeme]For music fans of a certain stripe, Christmas — and its Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping splurges — is a great time of year: It’s when you get the people you love to buy you those pricey multi-disc box sets you couldn’t quite cough up for yourself during the year. Here at Slicing Up [...]

Record Rack: A weekly round-up of new albums, reissues and/or box sets due out Tuesday.
ARTIST: U2
RELEASE: The Unforgettable Fire
BACKSTORY: This 25th anniversary reissue comes in four versions, and the expanded sets feature previously unheard songs “Disappearing Act” and “Yoshino Blossom,” which the band recorded in 1983 with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
BUY IT: [...]

Record Rack: A weekly round-up of new albums, reissues and/or box sets due out Tuesday.
ARTIST: Echo & The Bunnymen
RELEASE: The Fountain
BACKSTORY: The long-running and beloved Bunnymen — original members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant, plus assorted sidemen — this week release their 10th studio album, preceded by first single “Think I Need It Too.” [...]

Synthpop duo Erasure has released the tracklist for the forthcoming “21st anniversary” reissue of its breakthrough 1988 album The Innocents, which will include a second CD of b-sides, remixes and live cuts, as well as a DVD featuring a vintage concert and music videos.
Due out Oct. 26 in a standard and deluxe edition, the latter [...]

Record Rack: A weekly round-up of the pertinent new albums due out Tuesday.
ARTIST: The Stone Roses
RELEASE: The Stone Roses
BACKSTORY: The U.S. editions of the 20th anniversary reissue of the Roses’ debut have been pushed to Sept. 8, but the album is out this week in the U.K. in four formats: a single-disc “Special [...]

Erasure is hopping aboard the reissue train this summer and fall, delivering a “21st anniversary” remaster of The Innocents, a CD of rare 1990 club mixes and a digital re-release of its Abba-esque remix EP.
Originally released in 1988, The Innocents — Erasure’s breakthrough third album, and first UK No. 1 — will be reissued on [...]

Record Rack: A weekly round-up of the pertinent new releases hitting stores this Tuesday:
ARTIST: Bob Mould
ALBUM: Life and Times
BACKSTORY: Thirty years after the formation of Husker Du and and 20 years after his classic solo debut, Workbook, Bob Mould releases a 10-song collection that, according to one reviewer, explores “the sourness of love gone wrong.”
ARTIST: [...]

Record Rack: A weekly round-up of the pertinent new releases hitting stores this Tuesday:
ARTIST: U2
ALBUM: No Line on the Horizon
FORMAT: CD, LP, download
BACKSTORY: Bono and Co.’s 12th album leaked nearly two weeks ago, prompting the band to stream it on MySpace well before its official release date. The disc finds U2 working with longtime associates [...]