That Eric Alper

UMe, the global catalog division of Universal Music Group, is proud to announce the launch of Vinylphyle, a new audiophile vinyl reissue series dedicated to presenting essential albums across multiple genres with uncompromising sound quality and packaging. Billed as “A premium vinyl experience for people who love vinyl,” the series will debut on November 14 with four landmark titles: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus (1977), The Band’s Northern Lights–Southern Cross (1975), celebrating its 50^th anniversary, and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (1962). All albums will be available exclusively at uDiscover Music and via the artist’s official online stores where applicable. Following the launch, Vinylphyle will continue with two releases per month, spanning genres and eras to build a library of must-own records.

Pre-order Vinylphyle titles now HERE.

Each Vinylphyle release will feature all analog mastering from original sources by an elite group of today’s top vinyl cutting engineers. The LPs will be pressed at the world-class Southern California-based audiophile vinyl record pressing plant Record Technology, Inc. better known amongst vinyl lovers as RTI, on 180-gram black vinyl. Similar in presentation and execution to Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet series, the production and packaging seek to honor the stature of these recordings and will include tip-on wrapped gatefold jackets in satin matte finish, printed on clay-coated board, with archival poly sleeves and a four-panel insert featuring new liner notes by notable music journalists, personalities and fans. Backed by RTI’s craftsmanship, these releases are produced at the highest levels and include extensive quality controls at every step of the process, from mastering to plating to pressing and printing, ensuring a superb final product.

Joe Nino-Hernes of Sterling Sound has mastered the first four titles from the original analog master tapes and each album boasts new liner notes by an assortment of contributors: “the internet’s biggest music nerd” Anthony Fantano of “The Needle Drop” for The Velvet Underground & Nico, filmmaker, DJ, musician and cultural commentator Don Letts aka The Rebel Dread for Exodus, author and veteran music scribe Rick Florino for Northern Lights – Southern Cross and actor and award-winning writer James Ritz for The Christmas Song.

“We are excited to launch our Vinylphyle series to provide best-in-class, audiophile quality pressings of some of the most legendary and timeless records,” said Bruce Resnikoff, President & CEO of UMe. “This series is built on uncompromising quality and all albums have all been meticulously mastered by renowned mastering engineers from analog and packaged with the utmost care and attention to detail. This new series allows both longtime record enthusiasts to hear some of their favorite albums sounding better than ever and for those just discovering vinyl to experience the warmth and richness that only vinyl can deliver and to become Vinylphyles.”

Together, these inaugural selections span the underground, the political, the pastoral, and the timeless. The Velvet Underground & Nico captures New York art rock at its most provocative, a record that reshaped the boundaries of popular music. Bob Marley’s Exodus stands as reggae’s global breakthrough, marrying militant resistance with songs of joy and uplift. Northern Lights – Southern Cross reflects the maturity of roots rock in the mid-1970s, blending mythic storytelling with lived experience. The Christmas Song presents Nat King Cole’s definitive voice in holiday music, a recording that continues to return each season as if untouched by time.

The Velvet Underground & Nico was originally released in 1967 on Verve Records and has since become one of the most influential debut albums in the history of rock. Conceived in collaboration with Andy Warhol — who served as nominal producer and designed its now-iconic peelable banana cover, which has been replicated in this new edition (“peel slowly and see”) — the album introduced Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker, and the enigmatic German singer Nico. Recorded at Scepter Studios in New York and T.T.G. in Hollywood with producer Tom Wilson, the record fused Reed’s street-level storytelling with Cale’s avant-garde sensibility, Morrison’s wiry yet grounded guitar lines, and Tucker’s minimalist drumming that often resembled the pulse of a heartbeat. Nico’s aura of cold elegance gave the album its spectral presence, while Reed’s lyrics on addiction, desire, and disaffection pushed rock songwriting into dangerous new territory.

At its core, the album is both abrasive and tender — balancing noise and melody in ways that felt radical for its time. Songs like “I’m Waiting For The Man,” “Heroin,” “Run Run Run” and “Venus in Furs” rejected commercial polish for raw intensity, while opener “Sunday Morning,” and the Nico-sung “Femme Fatale, “I’ll Be Your Mirror” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” revealed Reed’s gift for fragile balladry. The tension between these extremes defined the record’s character, offering a sonic and thematic map of New York in the 1960s — a city of glamour and decay, artifice and honesty, beauty and brutality.

Though largely overlooked upon release, The Velvet Underground & Nico grew in stature as the years passed, becoming a blueprint for entire movements from experimental, avant-garde rock to punk to post-punk to indie rock. Later albums — White Light/White Heat (1968), The Velvet Underground (1969), and Loaded (1970) — each carried the group in new directions, but the debut remains their defining work. Reed would revisit its imagery and subject matter throughout his solo career, while Cale pursued experimental and classical collaborations. Morrison stepped away from music into academia, Tucker kept drumming in solo and reunion contexts, and Nico built a stark, influential solo body of work. Seen through the lens of its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico is not only the band’s opening statement but a map of paths each member would follow — a document of artistic risk, of noise and beauty held in precarious balance, and one where every member proved indispensable. The album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time in 2006, by Pitchfork in 2017 as the best album of the 1960s and by Apple Music in 2024 as one of the 100 Best Albums ever made. The seminal album was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008.

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico

Side 1
1. Sunday Morning
2. I’m Waiting For The Man
3. Femme Fatale
4. Venus In Furs
5. Run Run Run
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties

Side 2
7. Heroin
8. There She Goes Again
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror
10. The Black Angel’s Death Song
11. European Son (to Delmore Schwartz)

Originally released in 1977 on Island Records, Exodus stands as Bob Marley & The Wailers’ most internationally celebrated statement — an album forged in exile, recorded in London after an assassination attempt in Jamaica forced Marley from his home. Across ten tracks, it bridged two halves of his vision: the militant and the spiritual, the revolutionary and the devotional. The first side is marked by songs of resilience and struggle — “Natural Mystic,” “So Much Things to Say,” “Guiltiness,” “The Heathen,” and the title track, with its mantra-like chorus of movement and deliverance. Side two shifts into a luminous register with some of Marley’s most enduring love songs and anthems — “Jamming,” “Waiting in Vain,” “Turn Your Lights Down Low,” “Three Little Birds,” and “One Love / People Get Ready.” The balance between fire and warmth gave Exodus a scope that resonated far beyond reggae’s core audience, cementing Marley as a global voice of conscience and celebration.

The album was recorded primarily at Island’s Basing Street Studios with the classic Wailers lineup: Aston “Family Man” Barrett anchoring on bass, his brother Carlton Barrett on drums, Tyrone Downie on keyboards, Junior Marvin on guitar, Alvin “Seeco” Patterson on percussion, and backing vocals from the I Threes — Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffiths. Marley himself played rhythm guitar and provided the voice at the center of it all: urgent, tender, prophetic. The sessions marked the arrival of Marvin as lead guitarist, his fluid lines adding dimension to the Wailers’ already formidable sound. Chris Blackwell once again produced, giving the record a clarity and sweep that brought Marley’s themes of exile, faith, and survival into sharp focus for international listeners.

Upon release, Exodus was embraced as both artistic triumph and cultural event. Time magazine named it the “Album of the Century” two decades later, and its songs quickly became fixtures of Marley’s concerts and reggae repertoire worldwide. “Jamming” and “One Love” found life as universal anthems of joy and unity, while “Waiting in Vain” and “Turn Your Lights Down Low” expanded his reputation as a songwriter of intimate depth. In the U.K., the record spent 56 consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 8, while in America it reached No. 20 on the Billboard Top 200.

Its success helped propel Marley from cult figure to international icon, setting the stage for the massive tours and live recordings that followed, including Babylon By Bus (1978) and the global reception of Kaya (1978) and Survival (1979).

In retrospect, Exodus can be heard as both culmination and turning point. It captured Marley at the height of his powers, weaving together spiritual yearning, political urgency, and melodic grace in a way that spoke across boundaries. At the same time, it opened the final act of his career, which ended with his death in 1981 at the age of 36. The songs from Exodus have endured as the backbone of his legacy, continually reinterpreted in tributes, compilations, and concerts worldwide. More than four decades later, it remains a record of vision and resilience — the sound of an artist translating exile into testimony, and personal struggle into global song. In 2024, the album’s recording became a central plot point in the celebrated biopic of Marley’s life, “One Love” and Apple Music featured it on their list of the 100 Best Albums ever made.

Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus
Side 1
1. Natural Mystic
2. So Much Things To Say
3. Guiltiness
4. The Heathen
5. Exodus

Side 2
6. Jamming
7. Waiting In Vain
8. Turn Your Lights Down Low
9. Three Little Birds
10. One Love / People Get Ready

Originally released in 1975 on Capitol, Northern Lights – Southern Cross was the first album recorded at Canadian-American icons The Band’s own Shangri-La studio in Malibu, Calif., and their first to feature all-new material since 1971’s Cahoots. It marked a return to form after years of touring, live recordings, and interim projects — a moment when the group recommitted to the craft of songwriting and ensemble interplay that had made them singular in rock. The record balances nostalgia and restlessness, weaving American history and personal memory into music that reflected both their internal fractures and their enduring collective identity.

The album was anchored by the songwriting of Robbie Robertson, who composed all eight tracks, but its force came from the interpretive power of his bandmates: Levon Helm on drums and vocals, Rick Danko on bass and vocals, Richard Manuel on piano and vocals, and Garth Hudson on organ, accordion, and synthesizers. The opening track, “Forbidden Fruit,” sets the tone with sly commentary on temptation and consequence. “Ophelia,” animated by Helm’s drawl and Hudson’s jubilant horn charts, became a live staple. Danko’s reading of “It Makes No Difference” stands as one of the most moving performances of his career, while the closing “Rag and Bones” layers Robertson’s imagery with Hudson’s haunting tonal colors.

Self-produced by The Band, the sessions made distinctive use of then-new technology — particularly Hudson’s ARP synthesizer — without sacrificing the group’s organic interplay. Songs like “Acadian Driftwood,” with its poignant retelling of the Acadian expulsion, expanded their narrative scope into overlooked corners of North American history, while “Ring Your Bell” and “Jupiter Hollow” explored fresh rhythmic and textural terrain. This blend of modern sonics and deep-rooted storytelling gave Northern Lights – Southern Cross a singular place in their catalog, distinct from the sepia-toned Americana of Music from Big Pink (1968) and The Band (1969).

Northern Lights – Southern Cross carries the sound of a group pouring everything they had left into the studio. Each voice is still unmistakable, every contribution indispensable, and together they crafted a record that stands as both a summation and a farewell — a bittersweet reminder of a transnational partnership that changed the shape of popular music. Northern Lights – Southern Cross peaked in the Top 30 of the Billboard 200, and “Ophelia” charted on the Hot 100 at No. 62. The album was represented during “The Last Waltz,” The Band’s farewell concert shot and directed by Academy® Award-winning director Martin Scorsese for the classic 1978 documentary of the same name with three sensational performances. The Band joined forces with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young on an emotional rendition of “Acadian Driftwood,” played a rousing version of “Ophelia” with a horn section and delivered a powerhouse performance of “It Makes No Difference.”

The Band – Northern Cross-Southern Lights
Side 1
1. Forbidden Fruit
2. Hobo Jungle
3. Opelia
4. Acadian Driftwood

Side 2
5. Ring Your Bell
6. It Makes No Difference
7. Jupiter Hollow
8. Rag and Bones

The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, with its ubiquitous namesake song, has become one of the most popular holiday albums in the Christmas canon — a collection that permanently linked Cole’s velvet baritone to the season itself. Originally released in 1960 on Capitol as The Magic of Christmas, the album was reissued in 1962 as The Christmas Song, replacing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” with the title track. Though Cole had been recording since the 1930s, and had long since crossed from jazz pianist to mainstream balladeer, it was his association with Christmas music that secured his voice an enduring place in households worldwide. The album’s title track, written by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, had been cut by Cole multiple times before 1960 — first in 1946 with the original King Cole Trio, then in fuller orchestrations across the next decade — but it was the 1961 stereo re-recording with Ralph Carmichael’s orchestra that became the standard, endlessly replayed on radio and reissued across formats.

The record gathers not just “The Christmas Song” but an array of traditional carols and secular standards, all rendered with Cole’s characteristic poise. Backed by arrangements from Carmichael and lush orchestral settings that frame his voice in strings and choir, Cole moves through “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” “Deck the Hall,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful,” alongside lighter favorites like “I Saw Three Ships” and “Caroling, Caroling.” What set his interpretations apart was a union of warmth and refinement — a sound that evoked both intimacy and grandeur, equally suited to hearthside listening and mass broadcast. By the early 1960s, Cole was one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world, with crossover hits, a pioneering television program, and international tours. This album distilled that stature into seasonal permanence.

In the decades since, The Christmas Song has come to define not only Cole’s career but also the very soundscape of the holiday season. The title track became the first holiday recording inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame, and its ubiquity on seasonal charts has ensured Cole’s posthumous presence every December. The album has been repackaged and expanded many times, but the 1960 configuration remains its essence — a concise, elegant program that binds together sacred and secular with an effortless grace.

Viewed within Cole’s larger body of work, The Christmas Song came late in a career that had already spanned jazz innovation, pop chart dominance, and the breaking of racial barriers in American entertainment. His recordings with the King Cole Trio in the 1940s had helped shape modern jazz piano trio form; his 1950s ballad hits like “Unforgettable” and “Mona Lisa” established him as a mainstream star; and his television show, though short-lived due to sponsorship resistance, was a milestone for Black representation on network TV. The Christmas Song distilled these achievements into a single, enduring artifact. It became a posthumous gift as well: Cole died in 1965 at age 45, but each holiday season his voice returns as if undiminished by time. The record, the best-selling Christmas album of the ’60s and subsequently certified 6x platinum, stands not just as a seasonal classic but as a summation of his artistry — a blend of elegance, accessibility, and humanity that remains unmatched.

Iconic Artists Group oversees Nat King Cole’s legacy.

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song
Side 1
1. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
2. Deck The Hall
3. Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)
4. O Tannenbaum
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. O Holy Night

Side 2
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. A Cradle in Bethlehem
10. Away in a Manger
11. Joy to the World
12. The First Noel
13. Caroling, Caroling
14. Silent Night