Take 5: 2 Pac, Blondie and more

Written on July 6, 2011 – 1:01 pm | by Jaxon Hallahan

USA TODAY’s music staff offers a weekend tip sheet of sound recommendations spanning the media landscape:

REISSUES

Five digital albums strictly 4 2Pac fans

Tupac Amaru Shakur, whose murder remains unsolved 15 years after he was shot in Las Vegas, would have turned 40 on June 16. Universal has reissued five 2Pac albums in digital form this week to mark the iconic rapper’s birthday. In the mix are his first three solo releases: 1991′s 2Pacalypse Now, 1993′s Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and 1995′s multiplatinum Me Against the World, his first chart-topper. Also available are 1994′s Thug Life: Volume 1, the debut by the gangsta rap group 2Pac founded, and 1997′s R U Still Down? , the second in a long string of posthumous albums. It was the first to bear no artistic input from 2Pac and the first released on his mother’s label, Amaru Entertainment. Edna Gundersen

ON SALE

Tickets on sale for new Blondie tour

The beat goes on for Blondie, as Debbie Harry and bandmates prepare to hit the road this fall. Harry, fellow original members Chris Stein and Clem Burke and a few newer colleagues will tour behind a ninth studio album, Panic of Girls, out Sept. 13 on the group’s own imprint. Tickets go on sale Friday for a series of shows kicking off Sept. 4 in Prior Lake, Minn. The trek will touch down in Chicago, New York, Boston, New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and other cities before wrapping Oct. 8 in Las Vegas. Fans can refer to blondie.net for more details. Elysa Gardner

CONCERT STREAM AND SIMULCAST

Avett Brothers’ virtual hometown show

What’s the next best thing to playing a hometown show? Simulcasting a sold-out show at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater back home on an 80-by-200-foot HDTV screen, which is what the Avett Brothers will do Saturday night . The Charlotte Motor Speedway will host the simulcast of the North Carolina folk-rock group’s concert with Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, which will also stream on iclips.net. Brian Mansfield

BOOK

New disco tome dances down memory lane

Music journalist Johnny Morgan’s new book, Disco: The Music, The Times, The Era , traces disco from its beginnings in Paris to its explosion as a worldwide phenomenon in the late 1970s. It not only sparked dance fever, but a lifestyle that influenced all aspects of pop culture. The book, which features a foreword by disco queen Gloria Gaynor , captures the era through detailed storytelling and lavish vintage photos. Steve Jones

ON SALE

Tickets: Hanson takes a Musical Ride

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ronnie Van Zant once famously asked, “What song is it you want to hear?” On their upcoming Musical Ride Tour, the three Hanson brothers want their fans to answer the same question about an entire album. Starting Monday, Hanson fans will be able to vote for which of the group’s five albums, including latest release Shout It Out, the band will perform in its entirety at a given tour stop. Tickets go on sale Friday for the tour, which kicks off Sept. 4 in Seattle. Mansfield

Music For Teenagers