Best Of 2016: Reissues

While 2016 had few precious moments of downtime between great new records, there were still a few reissues and other sounds of the past that forced their way into my listening. The jury is still out on Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings, however. Thirty-six discs of concerts from that earth-shattering year might just be overkill even for a massive Dylan fan like me. Granted, it's a bargain at less than $3/disc, but what I'v heard so far was not as strong as Bob Dylan Live 1966, which was released nearly 20 years ago. Let me know if you plow through all of it and feel differently. There's also the matter of The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl - while I'm still desperate to see the movie, I'll stick with Atlanta 1965 when I want a blast of the Fabs at their best. From performance, to sequencing, to over-done remixing, Hollywood Bowl is a highly compromised document.

The Big Boxes

Erik Satie & Friends - Original Albums Collection Like the Dylan live box, this is also a bargain, 13 discs for about $30, and it's filled with wonderful music. First of all, you get several different recordings of Satie's best-known piano pieces by under-recognized artists like William Masselos and Daniel Varsano. Second, you get many rarities, like Croquis et agaceries d'un gros bonhome en bois (Sketches and Enticements of a Fat Wooden Man), a three-movement suite for piano. You also get valuable context, with compositions by mentors, colleagues, and proteges like Debussy, Milahud, Ravel, and Poulenc. With recordings spanning 1930 - 1979 you can compare and contrast performance styles over the decades. The packaging is also great, made up delightful miniatures of the original albums. Squint your eyes and read some of the liner notes to marvel at the fact that once a case had to made for Satie's value as a composer. That he was far ahead of his time is not in doubt. As Jean Cocteau said "Satie teaches the greatest audacity of our epoch - that of being simple," which is one reason he resonates so much with the great popular music of our epoch.

Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1965-1972 Nothing simple about this massive undertaking, which includes 11 CDs, 8 Blu-ray Discs, 9 DVDs, 5 seven-inch vinyl singles, and over 40 items of memorabilia. All of this material gives ample opportunity to focus on both the achievement of Syd Barrett but also Pink Floyd's least understood period, the time between their debut album and Dark Side of the Moon. The new remastering I've heard is fantastic, sharpening up the sound, but also making it somehow more accessible. The live and alternate takes seem to have been chosen with care, and even with all the bootlegs I have, there is plenty that I've never heard before. The set also contains the first ever official audio only release of Live At Pompeii, which is a beautifully recorded snapshot of their performance style on the eve of DSOTM. Here's hoping the next set is as generous with the amazing concerts where they road-tested that album months before it came out.

Cluster - 1971-1981 Although they never crossed over into popular success like Kraftwerk, Cluster was certainly one of the most important German bands of the "Krautrock" movement. This crucial nine disc set puts all of their marvels in one place and allows one to trace their evolution from Art Gallery experimentalists to creators of music of great beauty and wit. One can even hear echoes of Satie in the limpid piano playing of Hans-Joachim Roedelius. The glossy surface of Cluster & Eno, the first of two albums they made with that avatar of ambient, is still stunning after all these years, and the second, After The Heat, contains Eno songs as good as on Before And After Science. The final disc of the set contains two previously unreleased live recordings, from 1972 and 1977, which proves how closely they clung to first principles throughout their career, even as the albums embraced more rock elements. The liner notes by Asmus Tietchens are also a treat. For example, discussing 1979's Grosses Wasser,  he writes: "Whilst nothing is left to chance, each of the six Cluster pieces effervesces with a certain joie de vivre, providing ample scope for artistic spontaneity. Above all, one can hear that, as the saying goes, less is more." When you consider that Roedelius and his partner Dieter Moebius were also mainly responsible for the output of Harmonia, which had an enormous influence on David Bowie, it becomes ever more obvious how important they were. Kudos to bureau b for this landmark collection.

Rock & Pop

Led Zeppelin - Complete BBC Sessions It's hard to imagine anything improving this set, which lived on my iPod for years in its original two-disc incarnation. But if you haven't heard it yet this new three-disc version is a perfect opportunity to get acquainted with some of the most seismic music ever. OK, Jimmy, how about some 1975 concerts now? Or new music??

Big Star - Complete Third Take the full ride to the creation of one of the great almost-was albums of the 70's. I've heard the packaging is less than stellar but the liner notes are well worth your time.

Arthur Lee & Love - Coming Through To You: The Live Recordings 1970-2004 I always say if you're a fan, you can add one star. I'm a huge fan of Love so I would give this uneven set four stars if I used them - but I would hardly recommend a new listener start here. Lee is one of the most contradictory figures in rock, mainly because he seemed to turn his back on the delicate chamber psych of Forever Changes to embrace a harder-edged sound heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. The fact is that if you look at his career as a whole, it's Forever Changes that is the anomaly, but one he returned to in the 2000's, performing it with expert replicators Baby Lemonade and a chamber orchestra. That's on disc three and some of it is quite good. Vocal inconsistencies mar some of the songs but he seems to be enjoying the adulation for his lost masterpiece, without any of the contempt I've noticed on other concerts from this period. Disc one is my favorite, though, focusing on the vital period following the release of Four Sail, which I hold in as high a regard as Forever Changes. If you're a lover of Love this is essential, just be prepared for some patchy sound quality and shaky performances throughout. 

Elliott Smith - Heaven Adores You (Soundtrack) It's hard to listen to any Elliott Smith without retroactive foreshadowing of his tragic early death, but that's even more true of this sensitively compiled album of fragments, demos, and live recordings. I still need to see the movie but this collection serves as a good reminder that there was always more to him than the mopey troubadour. Like Kurt Cobain, the angst wouldn't have meant much without an astonishing gift for melody. 

Gary Wright's Wonderwheel - Ring Of Changes Don't laugh - I still rock Love Is Alive on a party mix and Dreamweaver is deathless AM radio psychedelia and proto synth-pop. This previously unreleased album is from a few years before those 70's juggernauts and finds Wright and future-Foreigner Mick Jones pursuing an almost cookie-cutter classic rock sound, only the format hadn't been invented yet. This is in no way unfinished, but is rather a fully polished production with layers of keyboards, guitars, and backing vocals. Based on the sound alone, I would say it's nearly as much Jones's album as Wright's. If I were going to put on my A&R hat I might say I don't hear the killer single, but Goodbye Sunday is filled with yearning and has some tasty George Harrison slide guitar, almost sounding like a more polished Big Star, and Creation is a mini-epic with some great harmonies, a soaring chorus, and guitar riffs galore. Take a great trip to a past that never quite existed. 

The Clientele - A Sense Of Falling: Strange Geometry Outtakes When one of your favorite bands goes quiet, you depend on little bonuses like this. Featuring five unreleased songs and an instrumental version of Losing Haringey, this is about as exquisite a 22 minutes of music as you will find. Standouts are When We Last Spoke, which has that wonderful conversational style Alasdair MacLean perfected, and Spanish Night, an intensely delicate skein of acoustic guitars. Come back, Alasdair!

Various Artists - New York Noise: Dance Music From The New York Underground 1977-1982 Sometime in the early 80's, Mike Diamond and I worked our connections to gain entrance to the apartment of rock critic Chip Stern. We heard he was selling promo copies for cheap - and it was true. I remember scoring a white-label advance copy of Remain In Light and Soapsuds, Soapsuds by Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden (you gotta hear their take on the Mary Hartman theme!) but Mike was quick on the draw and grabbed up No New York, a landmark collection of punk funk produced by Brian Eno. I was jealous at the time but this is even better - one song each from DNA, Material, The Bush Tetras, The Contortions, Mars, and more - practically everyone who made the Mudd Club great. This is also James Murphy's Rosetta Stone and, because it's on Soul Jazz, I'm sure the book is filled with great pictures and liner notes that make all the right connections. 

Soul, Funk, Gospel

Betty Harris - The Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul Think Lee Dorsey's sister and you'll get some idea of the quality of this welcome collection, especially the first half. Dorsey might have gotten the more indelible material but that just means Harris has to work harder and she sings the hell out of the first six tracks. Also, she still has producer-songwriter Allen Toussaint on her side, which is almost always a can't-lose proposition - ditto for house band The Meters. The killer opening cut, There's A Break In The Road, is a case in point. It features some ill feedback and is practically a concerto for drummer Zigaboo Modaliste - it must be heard to be believed. Harris also goes head to head with Dorsey on Ride Your Pony and it's a photo finish. She gets softer - even maternal - on the latter half of the compilation but does nothing to belie its title. Another Soul Jazz special.

Betty Davis - The Columbia Years While this unfinished material doesn't come up to the quality of Betty Davis or They Say I'm Different, it's a fascinating, fun, and funky window into her development as an artist. We also get a taste of her then-husband Miles Davis's style as a producer: "Sing it just like that, with the gum in your mouth and all," he rasps before Politician Man kicks off. This may be for fans only, but if you've heard those other records, there's a good chance you are a fan. 

Johnnie Frierson - Have You Been Good To Yourself Frierson was a minor player at Stax Records who was taken out of the game by military service. In the 90's he recorded these songs in his living room and distributed them himself on cassette. Now, these rough-hewn and committed performances are getting a well-deserved shot at a wider audience. The propulsive title track is the star, an empathetic self-help treatise in song ("Have you been getting eight hours?"), but there are no false notes on this brief collection of spirited gospel. Be good to your ears and give this a listen. 

Reggae & International Sounds

Various Artists - Tape Rolling! Featuring productions by Bunny Lee from 1971-74 this is a typically great Pressure Sounds collection of roots reggae. There are a couple of familiar tunes (Man Next Door, Cherry Oh Baby) but most of it is off the beaten path - and just as good as those classics. They even managed to find three Cornell Campbell songs that aren't on the spectacular two-disc Natty Dread anthology, which is now sadly out of print. Prepare to be transported. 

The Wailers - The Wailing Wailers These early cuts by Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley have been reissued many, many times in various forms and varying sound quality. So it's nice to have their first album in the original sequence with the original cover and in smashing sound. Simmer Down never sounded spicier. 

Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Legend Live Flash forward to 1979 and you have Marley in his world-beating years, recorded at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. This is a valuable release as it contains more material from Survival, a slightly overlooked album, than any other official live album. However, I'm not sure it's as sharp as performances from Minneapolis, Wisconsin, or Boston from the same tour - do a little digging a see what you think. The show was professionally filmed - and quite well, too - and a DVD is included. Caveat Emptor: The set list on the CD is missing two songs - but you can hear it all on Spotify. 

Various Artists - Power To The People! A Survey of Zimbabwe's 70's Revolutionary Rock Scene It's become clearer over their years that rock & roll was international from its very beginning. This intriguing collection from Now-Again Records also further proves that where stakes are high the music thrives. All the bands here are tight, anthemic and just slightly off-kilter. Like reggae, which had some of its roots in sounds that blew in on the trade winds from New Orleans, much of the interest lies in how they get it "wrong," sometimes by being unable to avoid the influence of their own traditions. So let Wells Fargo, Stars Of Liberty, et al, school you with unique take on 70's sounds on this brief sampler, which is fortunately a harbinger of more extensive work by Now-Again Records to come in this area. If you're impatient for more, check out the first-ever release of the debut from Wells Fargo, available at Rappcats or by joining Vinyl Me Please. 

Odion Iruoje - Down To Earth This one and only album by the self-proclaimed Sound President is getting a much-deserved re-airing by Soundway Records after an extremely limited release in 1983. An accomplished Nigerian producer who had worked with Fela in the early 70's, among many others, Iruoje tackles everything from updated Afrobeat to Juju to disco on the six tracks. The first track also features a rapper (perhaps Tunji Oyelana?) who is surprisingly facile by the standards of the day. Too bad Sylvia Robinson didn't get the message (pun intended) at Sugar Hill Records! It's also too bad that Iruoje didn't make more albums. 

José Mauro - Obnoxius Brazil is almost as bottomless a source of great musical discoveries as Africa and Jamaica. This full-fledged Tropicalia masterpiece from 1970, features production that is sometimes lush and sometimes wacky - often at the same time. There's nothing obnoxious about Mauro's suave tenor, though, even when he seems terminally amused by whatever he's singing about. The songs are often like little suites, moving from section to section in a series of left turns that always come full-circle. My Portuguese is non-existent but in titles like Talisma, Apocalipse, and Exaltação e Lamento do Ultimo Rei, I detect religious themes. No girls from Ipanema in sight, but don't shy away as this lost classic occupies a nice middle ground between Jobim and Os Mutantes. 

Soundtracks & Soundscapes

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Unlike that other David Bowie movie whose soundtrack went unreleased until 2016, this one was obviously an instant classic from first hearing. For years we had to be satisfied with the beautiful suite Sakamoto arranged for his Playing The Orchestra album. Now we have every theme from Nagisa Oshima's brilliant film, each little minimalist piece incrementally drawing you into the psychological warfare at the heart of the film. Some of the synth tones are a bit of their time (1983) but it's a worthwhile journey nonetheless. A nice bonus is Forbidden Colors, the vocal version of the theme featuring the dulcet tones of David Sylvian.

Tod Dockstader - From The Archives This is truly a labor of love for Thomas Steenland, who founded Starkland Records in the 90's to give proper release to the music of electronic pioneer Dockstader. This album consists of 15 never-before-heard tracks, the cream of thousands of pieces left behind when Dockstader died in 2015. He was a master of texture, combining bell-like sounds with serrated patterns, for example, and creating as distinctive a sound as greats like Brian Eno and Laurie Spiegel. Each short piece asks you to confront the emotional complexities of sheer sound: this piece is unsettling, you might note - but why? Where does abstraction connect with cultural mores and biographical experience to create moods and initiate narratives? In this way, Dockstader's elemental work is much like abstract paintings, for example by Rothko or Rinehart. This fascinating album is a tribute to Dockstader's memory and a great opportunity to reengage with an artist who was uncompromising toward the end. We owe Steenland and Starkland a true debt of gratitude - start paying it back by making a little room in your life for this music.

Listen to a track from each album below or in this playlist. There are also more things to discover in the complete Of Note In 2016 (Reissues) playlist. What music shouldered its way out of the past and into your life this year?


You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2016: The Top 20
Best Of 2016: Hip Hop & R&B
Best Of 2016: Electronic
Best Of 2016: Classical
Best Of 2016: Rock, Folk, Etc.

This post is my last retrospective look at 2016. Coming soon: a rundown of some upcoming releases and a guide to getting AnEarful of the music you need in 2017.

Best Of 15: Out Of The Past

With year's end visible on the horizon, it's time to take stock of what the last (nearly) 12 months have delivered musically. As always, new music had to contend with a fusillade of sounds from the past: reissues, compilations, live albums, and the like. One trend that shows no signs of stopping is the juggernaut of super-deluxe packages, which perhaps reached it's apotheosis in the limited-edition 18 disc version of Bob Dylan's The Cutting Edge, which contains every note the Bard of Hibbing played in the studio during 1965 and 1966. 

Dylan's Bootleg Series has established itself as quality endeavor befitting a singular talent so hopefully this is not a bloated equivalent to Having Fun With Elvis On Stage. I'll probably never know, however, as there are likely 5,000 other people that will be able to afford the $600 before I can. There's also a two disc version and a six disc version that are worth investigating depending on your level of engagement. I will say that based on what I've heard, I'm not sure The Cutting Edge is as essential as Live 1975 and Tell Tale Signs, two Bootleg Series entries that I've played to death. 

More information on the Dylan release and other classic rock super-deluxe stuff from the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and those four lads from Liverpool can be found at The Second Disc, the definitive blog about reissues. Tell them AnEarful sent you.

Moving on...

Dreams of England As I drifted home from an extraordinary night of hearing The Clientele in a special appearance at the Bell House last year, it occurred to me that the band's remarkable career called out for a compilation album of some sort. So, prayers answered, as this year saw the release of Alone And Unreal: The Best of the Clientele, which contains a concise chronological overview of their career, right up to On A Summer Trail, the one-off single they released last year. It's a nearly perfect introduction, showing much of their range. But the fact is they never released a bad song so if you like what you hear follow through on their albums. A nice bonus is the download of The Sound Of Young Basingstoke, a series of proto-Clientele songs by an earlier version of the group. It's a wonderfully hazy set, the germ of the idea put forth on their mature records. 

The Clientele may be unsung but Michael Head & The Strands were very nearly unheard. I was vaguely aware of them in 1998 when their one and only album came out. But how to hear it? It was gone before I had a chance. Now, The Magical World Of The Strands has been reissued and is magically available on all services, leaving me envious of all who have been enjoying it all these years. The Magical World... Is a semi-pastoral Brit-folk song cycle with a touch of Forever Changes psychedelia and Nick Drake melancholia. In short, a classic - welcome back for the very first time. 

California X-Ray Speaking of Forever Changes, there's another Love reissue from High Moon Records, the same people who lovingly resurrected Black Beauty. Unlike that previously unreleased album, however, Reel To Real, was put out by RSO and was meant to be a bid for pop success in 1974. It's Arthur Lee and Love's funkiest album, with horns, clavinet, backup singers, the whole bit. But Lee was always on the real (not the reel) so it can't help but be an x-ray of all of his frustrations and disappointments. For example, there's an almost verbatim cover of William DeVaughn's Be Thankful (For What You've Got) that was apparently a spontaneous moment in the studio. It's convincing enough and shows off Lee's versatility, but also seems somewhat pointless. There's no way his soundalike was going to muscle DeVaughn off the charts. There's also a re-recording of Singing Cowboy that's pretty good but lacks the fire of the original on Four Sail. He insisted on including an irritating gunshot sound effect on You Said You Would that Makes me never want to hear it again. 

But those are just the few low points and oddities. The first half of the record is very strong. Time Is Like A River opens the album in an expansive and soulful way with distinctive horns arranged by Lee, a bit like an uptempo Hi Records number by O.V. Wright. The groove continues from there, with a touch of gospel on Stop The Music and hard funk on Who Are You? And keep listening - while the path to the bonus cuts may be rocky, there are four outtakes that are stronger than You Said You Would and the DeVaughn cover. In the end, it seems that Lee could still put it down but could have used a bit more self-belief. 

Live Legends It's a crazy world where a burning live album by Bob Marley comes out and barely anyone notices. The title, Easy Skanking In Boston 78, probably didn't help. It's actually not a relaxed album at all, with The Wailers tighter than a bank vault and Bob leaning in with revolutionary fervor. You feel satisfied with Live! and Babylon By Bus? Guess again. 

At least Live At The Fillmore East, featuring two ridiculously energetic Sly & The Family Stone concerts from 1968, got more notice. It's a more than fitting way to celebrate Sly winning back $5 million in royalties earlier this year or to mourn the recent passing of Cynthia Robinson, the exuberant trumpet-blowing heart of the band. It will also get the party started - and finish it, too.

As I tried to process the seismic ripples of the death of Dieter Moebius earlier this year I was pleasantly surprised to come across the reissue of Cluster's USA Live. Recorded on tour in 1996 (how did I miss that?), this is a series of involving and atmospheric improvisations each named for where it was recorded. While I wouldn't mind some of the playfulness of landmark works like Rastakraut Pasta and Grosses Wasser, there is an enjoyable dissonance to hearing sleek electronic music named after Eugene, Oregon. If you're unfamiliar with these Krautrock avatars you may want to start with those earlier albums or the absolutely brilliant Cluster & Eno.

Folk-ish Any new entry in Light In The Attic's Michael Chapman series is to be celebrated. Window, his third album, may be the slightest of his first four with one too many throw-away sing-alongs and wayward jams. But his wry voice, bruised-but-unbowed attitude, and sweet picking more than carry the day. The story goes that he meant to re-record the guitar parts after some time on the road, but it's hard to imagine them getting better. I'm not a Richard Thompson fan (sorry) but anybody who is, or who loves other British folk, should catch up with Chapman.

While Sam Beam has moved far beyond the hushed bedroom recordings of early Iron & Wine, it's still a template that hasn't been exhausted. Archives Volume 1 features more home-recordings from the same time that he made The Creek Drank The Cradle, his debut. These songs are even more hushed than those, creating a singular mood. Perhaps a bit too singular, as that mood doesn't vary much over 16 songs, but it's still a must for anyone who has taken comfort from Beam's musical journey.

Electric Eclectic Eccentrics John Foxx was quick to jump on the electronic rock possibilities posited by David Bowie's Berlin albums, releasing the near-classic Metamatic in 1980. 20th Century:The Noise covers his career from 1980-1998, mainly through the prism of rare and unreleased tracks. He's still going, so this is good way to get up to speed.

Adrian Sherwood is one of the great English producers, especially known for his devastating way with dub. Sherwood At The Controls: 1979-1984 compiles his era-defining post punk tracks like Hungry So Angry by Medium Medium or Man Next Door by The Slits, which means it's essential.

The Whole World Dances Some of the funkiest reissues in 2015 had a touch of what used to be called the "exotic." Take Rim Arrives/International Funk by Rim Kwaku Obeng, for example. Obeng was a successful Ghanian percussionist when he was invited to the U.S. by Quincy Jones. A series of reversals led to him being stranded in California, which eventually turned into an opportunity to record his debut, and most of it is Afro-disco gold. If you think Soul Makossa has been a bit overplayed, this is still guaranteed fresh. Then there's 1973-1980 by Amara Touré, a senegalese keyboard player who recorded very infrequently during those years. Analog Africa has done us all a favor by compiling these compelling tracks, especially the first seven, which were recorded with Ensemble Black & White. The songs from 1980, backed by L'Orchestre Massako, are a bit slick for my taste but decide for yourself. 

Like many African musicians, Touré took inspiration from the sounds of Cuba, sounds which became a global sensation with the release of Buena Vista Social Club in 1997. After a live album and many solo albums by Buena Vista stars, we may have finally reached the end of the line with Lost & Found, a collection of live takes and unreleased studio recordings that has more than enough charm to justify its existence. 

For a more indigenous American invitation to the dance, look no further than Disco 2: A Further Fine Selection of Independent Disco, Modern Soul and Boogie 1976-80, another essential compilation from Soul Jazz. Trust me, you will get on the floor if this is spinning. 

A Last Love Supreme When I bought John Coltrane's A Love Supreme for $3.99 on CD years ago, at first I felt triumphant. Then I felt like the cheap nice-price packaging somehow did not do justice to a work that was so much a part of the sax giant's spiritual journey. Now we have A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters, a three CD set with extensive notes, alternate takes, and a live performance originally released in 2002. While a few of the extras are somewhat negligible this nicely done set will give A Love Supreme pride of place in your collection, which is exactly how it should be.

Have a listen to the playlist and keep me in the loop on any music from the past that gave you a blast!



There were also several killer reggae reissues this year, but I'll cover those in an upcoming Reggae & Hip Hop edition of the Best Of 15. 

Coming next: Best Of 15: The Top 20.