New Mos Def LP Out, But Not Out

In a move usually reserved for faulty car parts and inadvertently-ingestible children’s toys, all copies of Mos Def’s recent release have been recalled by Geffen Records.

According to a Pitchfork news item posted January 9th and MTV and VH1 bits posted January 8th, Geffen made the decision to pull True Magic from the shelves of retailers across the country after the album was lost in the post-holiday shopping shuffle in the wake of its release on December 29th, 2006.

True Magic’s hasty drop-- and unorthodox Friday release date-- apparently resulted from the album being leaked in early December. But, reports indicate, Geffen now seems to have reconsidered its options, and is planning to re-release the album in spring 2007 with a revamped track list and (one would hope) new artwork.

And what of the 11,000 fans who already shelled out for the album, and the others likely to pick it up in the meantime, since the recall is optional for retailers and the album is still available through online outlets? Geffen is calling the December 29th version of True Magic a “limited edition pre-release,” though neither Geffen’s nor Mos Def’s official sites mention this and both have the LP’s release mysteriously pegged as January 9th, 2007.