The best part of Record Store Day is getting access to music that's totally unavailable otherwise. Not just limited edition vinyl releases, but music that's literally never been released. One such release this year will be Gil Scott-Heron's final studio album, Nothing New. There will be 3,000 copies available on vinyl for this year's April 19 event.
According to the statement released on Wednesday, Nothing New features a series of recordings made at the same time as Scott-Heron's 2008 album I'm New Here, featuring the performer contributing vocals and piano. The album will feature new songs and represent a dramatic change of approach from New Here. The former featured modest electronic overdubs along with Scott-Heron's performance, but the new album will be truly "spartan," in the words of producer Richard Russell, who handled both albums. The shortage of musical tracks is bolstered by a series of interludes, consisting of conversations with the performer.
The announcement was made on April 2, which would have been Scott-Heron's 65th birthday. The performer died in 2011 of undisclosed causes. Scott-Heron's "jazz poetry" approach to vocals has led many to refer to him as the "godfather of hip-hop," and his collaboration with Brian Jackson, Winter in America is hailed as one of the most influential albums in neo-soul and jazz fusion.
The full tracklist for Nothing New is below.
1) Did You Hear What They Said
2) Better Days Ahead
3) Household Name (Interlude)
4) Your Daddy Loves You
5) Changing Yourself (Interlude)
6) Pieces of a Man
7) Enjoying Yourself (Outro)
8) Alien (Hold on to Your Dreams)
9) Before I Hit the Bottom (Interlude)
10) 95 South (All the Places We've Been)
11) The Other Side
12) The On/Off Switch (Interlude)
13) Blue Collar
14) On Bobby Blue Bland (Outro)
