Pitchfork

The Beastie Boys' classic second LP Paul's Boutique is set to get the 20th Anniversary treatment, although details about what exactly that entails are still largely unavailable. A new Paul's set had been rumored for months, and the trio have now confirmed the news on their website, announcing a forthcoming remastered version. Amazon.com has had the album listed as a Janaury 27 release for some time now, promising that it will feature "EXTRA TRACKS"-- and you know they mean it, since it's in all-caps. Alas, our repeated attempts to get information from the Beasties' publicists have come up dry.

UPDATE: Reader Tom Graham helpfully points out that the Insound listing for this release claims it will have track-by-track commentary, á la a DVD. He also says it's a "pretty cool idea if true" and we agree.

That makes sense now, since the group is collecting email addresses and looks set to first announce details to its fans. They're also cleverly drawing people in with a loop of Paul's samples "And What You Give Is What You Get" that frankly makes me a bit depressed about having to listen to a bunch of promos today that will inevitably not be as good as a few chopped-up minutes of decades-old music.

Expect more of these sorts of things-- deluxe anniversary editions, bonus track-loaded reissues like the past, present, or future catalog releases from the Cure, Pavement, Saint Etienne, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, New Order, and many more-- in the next year or so: A lot of artists are wisely realizing they're staring down their last chance to release their catalogs on CD, and so they're going all out to create definitive versions of their work, and get fans to buy their products one last time. (NB: In the cases of the Cure, Pavement, Saint Etienne, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, New Order, and Beastie Boys, we'll happily play/pay along.)