Best Of 2022: Out Of The Past

Have No Fear, AnEarful is now HERE

I feel like I’m highlighting a slimmer batch of reissues than usual this year. It could be because I reviewed over 175 albums and listened to hundreds more, which may or may not be above or below my annual average but still feels like a lot. Another factor is that Richard Shaw’s ongoing #5albums polls on Twitter may be adding to my retrospective load in such a way that I have less bandwidth for other sounds of the past. All that said, there were some significant reissues that demand to be discussed, even if only briefly, from overstuffed commemorative boxes to obscurities seeing the light of day for the first time. As noted, a few of these are vinyl only but a  track from the rest can be found in this playlist or below.

THE BIG BOXES

The Beatles - Revolver (Super Deluxe) It’s easy to be jaded by the yearly drumbeat of rejigged and expanded versions of these bedrock albums, especially when you already have multiple copies, as I do (three on vinyl, two on CD). As with other entries in this latest go round, one of the selling points with this one is a version of the original stereo LP remixed by Giles Martin, the son of original producer Sir George. These have been of intermittent necessity, with the Sgt. Pepper’s “mono in stereo” mix likely being the most essential one. There’s nothing wrong with this new Revolver, with its slightly more prominent rhythm section, but there’s nothing necessary about it either. Then we get two discs of outtakes, which are actually among the most fascinating and satisfying of their kind. Even with all the bootlegs I have, I was unaware of the “actual speed” version of Rain, a single recorded during the Revolver sessions. To manipulate the sound to their liking, they recorded the backing track what sounds like 50 percent faster than the released version, then slowed it down for that uniquely draggy sound. What a rush. 

Then you get working tapes of gleaming icons of perfection like And Your Bird Can Sing, Dr. Robert, and others, some of which give a hint of what a live jam in this sound world might sound like. This batch of outtakes is one I’ve been coming back to, unlike some of the “one and done” flotsam and jetsam on other sets. If you don’t need the book, which is by all accounts handsomely designed, you might very well be satisfied with streaming the set, which costs a hefty $165 on vinyl. But - and this is a very big but - the collection also includes a mono master edition of the album, which is the best way to hear it as The Beatles intended. If you have a turntable and you missed out on the Mono Masters series from 2014, this set is actually a bargain, as those are now going for at least $125 on the resale market. That means for $165 you can get the album on mono vinyl PLUS all those other goodies, including a 7” of the Paperback Writer/Rain single. If you already have a mono copy, it’s a tougher sell, but by all means listen to the extras wherever you stream music.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Super Deluxe Edition) Like The Beatles, Wilco - especially in their Jay Bennett phase - liked to put songs through various wringers to get to the essence of how they should be recorded. Unlike The Beatles, however, Wilco specializes in a kind of gut-wrenching emotionalism and some of the drafts, demos, and alternate takes seem to be doing their hardest to avoid those white-hot feelings. But even if there is little that would cause you to question their judgement about what ended up on the final album, the X-Ray of their process is deeply engaging, especially if you're involved in creative endeavors of your own. Embrace their process and then return to your own, renewed. There's also a generous helping of killer live performances and a book, written by Bob Mehr, which goes deep into the motivations and machinations that led to the end result, one of the true masterpieces of our young century. 

David Bowie - Divine Symmetry As you might have guessed, this latest box from the Bowie estate is concerned with peeling back the layers that led to Hunky Dory. Starting with the startling Tired Of My Life, which evolved into It's No Game nearly a decade later, this is more of a step-by-step experience than the Revolver or YHF boxes. Raw demos are taken on stage, sometimes solo and sometimes with early versions of what would become the Spiders From Mars, and then into the studio to become all-time classic tracks. While Bowie's process can seem slightly random he always manages to stick the landing on the final album, especially when it's an all-time classic like this one.

MODERN CLASSICS REVISITED

Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroon - Dear God Originally released solely on vinyl in 2015, this is "a bravely bare setting for Leithauser to display his vocal talents and he is more than up to the task," as I wrote in my review. Glad to see its varied charms getting wider release and don't be jealous if you can't get your copy hand-delivered like I did!

Bon Iver - Bon Iver (10th Anniversary Edition) Beautifully packaged and with an essay by super-fan Phoebe Bridgers, this commemorative edition also includes five glorious live-in-the-studio performances featuring Justin Vernon's voice, his grand piano, and some minimal accompaniment from Sean Carey. Stripping everything away to the bare essence removes some of the "willful obscurity" that had me keeping the album at arm's length at times. A cover of Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me is worth the price of admission, giving a precious opportunity to concentrate on Vernon's incandescent brilliance as a singer.

AFRICAN ECHOES

Alhaji Waziri Oshomah - World Spiritual Classics Vol. 3: The Muslim Highlife Of... After earlier volumes featuring Alice Coltrane and the "funkiest, most soulful gospel you didn't know you needed," Luaka Bop strikes again with this collection of seven tracks from the man known as the "greatest entertainer in all of Edo State." Recorded in southern Nigeria in the 70s and 80s, the songs are blissful enough that their formulaic nature is easily forgiven. Usually consisting of two mournful chords, a danceable beat, Oshomah pontificating cheerfully, and one unique sound or another (a wah wah trumpet, here, a burbling synth there), the songs run together and transport you to a place where the complexities of life are met with joy and forbearance. 

Sun Ra Arkestra and Salah Ragab plus the Cairo Jazz Band - Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab In Egypt If Sun Ra WAS originally from Saturn, one can imagine a stop in Ancient Egypt before his 1914 appearance in Alabama as Herman Blount. Either way, it makes perfect sense for him to have brought the Arkestra to Egypt to collaborate with Ragab, a percussionist and bandleader. Based on the first two tracks here, recorded in 1983, they got on like a house on fire. Sun Ra sparkles on the electric piano, the grooves are expansive, and the arrangements and solos fall just this side of a beautiful chaos. More of that would have certainly been welcome, but the rest of the compilation is taken up with tracks by Ragab from the early 70s. Fortunately, he was enough of a kindred spirit to Sun Ra that the album is a consistent delight. As someone new to Ragab's work, I'm grateful to Strut Records for making the introduction!

NORTH COAST HIP HOP

Thrust - The Chosen Are Few Montreal reissue label Return To Analog uncovers a lost near-classic of Canadian hip hop with Thrust the cheerfully bombastic ringleader joined by guests like Scam, K-Cut, and Kardinall Offishall, the only name familiar to me. Speaking of unfamiliar names, some younger listeners may need to Google the hilarious Lorena Bobbit reference in The Music but it will be worth the effort! Even if from the frozen north, there's plenty of Caribbean warmth among these loose tracks, the sound of friends at ease in the studio. But what impresses the most on this heavyweight, dead-silent pressing is the rich bass - it just sounds so good. This first reissue since 2001 comes in an edition of 1,000 copies on vinyl only so don't miss out. Vinyl Only

Shades Of Culture - Mindstate First time on vinyl for this 1998 album, and Return To Analog pulled out the stops once again, with a beautiful pressing and a gatefold jacket. While this trio's debt to neighbors to the south, including the Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde, is more pronounced than Thrust's, there's still a lot to love here, especially if you've worn out all your favorites from hip hop's 90s golden age. Vinyl Only

PSYCH OUT

Seompi - We Have Waited: Singles and Unreleased Texas psych-metal as you might have heard it at friend's house party. Chaotic and grungy, with series of riffs that don't always add up to songs but the conviction of the players always gets the tracks to the finish line. This cross-border collaboration finds Return To Analog working with Illinois psych specialists Lion Productions to gather this material and present it in a nice edition of 500. The package includes a 12-page booklet with an extensive interview with bassist-vocalist Dave Williams, who has some real tales to tell about being a "longhair" in Dallas, circa 1970.Vinyl Only

Badge - Collected Singles This tunefully lysergic band was mainly the project of Val Rogolino, Jr., an emigre from France to Maryland who developed a versatile drumming style somewhere between Nick Mason and Keith Moon, and Cheese Sollers, a rhythm guitarist with some songwriting skills. Spanning recordings from 1971 to 1976, these tracks find the band sticking to their guns in the face of nearly zero traction (including a rejection letter from Apple signed by May Pang!), turning out songs ranging from brisk pop-psych to completely spaced-out jams. A lost corner of the 70s, now given the spotlight in an edition of 500 from Return To Analog and Lion Productions. The booklet tells the tale of their origins and their only album, as Kath, also available on a deluxe CD. The 1976 recordings are surprisingly accomplished and comparing the two versions of As I Look/As I Looked shows how far they came. But times changed, the gigs dried up, and Badge limped its way to dissolution in the early 80s. Bring them back to life in your living room today. Vinyl Only

POST-PUNK POSTSCRIPT

Asexuals - Be What You Want This 1984 debut album from a Montreal band often lumped in with hardcore punk - but far more melodic than most in that genre - gets a well-deserved reissue on bright red vinyl and in perfect sound. Guitars soar in searing solos and riffs, the rhythm section is tight and unstoppable, the songs are well-written, and John Kastner's (later of the Doughboys) vocals are aggressive but not too harsh. There's also a booklet filled with great pictures (including one of Kastner in a PIL t-shirt that I especially appreciated) and contemporary interviews. I wish I had heard them in the 80s but it's never too late to discover a great band. Vinyl Only

Malka Spigel & Colin Newman - Gliding & Hiding As a big fan of Newman's main project, Wire, I have been remiss in diving into the extended universe of the band, which includes Immersion, a duo between Spigel and Newman, and Githead, a quartet in which both play. But I think my greatest sin of omission may have been ignoring Spigel's considerable talents as a bass player, songwriter, and vocalist, which were first put to use in the Israeli post-punk band, Minimal Compact. This collection, which pulls together the 2014 Gliding EP, reworked tracks from 1994's Hide LP, and some recent recordings, offers a kaleidoscopic array of sounds and songs. Often featuring her throbbing, dubbed-out bass and gleaming, hypnotic guitars (including Newman and Wire's youngest member, Matthew Simms), and winding melodies that seem to draw on her Israeli heritage. Not only is this stunning collection a must for Wire-heads, but for anyone interested in art rock of the highest quality. Ignoring Malka Spigel is not a mistake I will repeat.

IN THE ZONE

Suzi Analogue - Infinite Zonez Crucial collection of all of the fizzy electronic grooves Analogue put out on the Zonez EPs from 2016 to 2019. Find plenty of the "ultra-rhythmic and sweetly melodic personality" I've praised in the past, with the songs "like mini-trips through her imagination via the most scenic route possible." As Michael Millions repeats on my favorite cut NNO APOLOGY, "Control with knowing/Who I gotta be/Living with no apology." Amen to that!

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live At The Rainbow, 1st June 1977 Two days before the release of Exodus, BMW took the stage and laid its first four songs on an unsuspecting audience. Perhaps because they were still working out where the new material would fit in their setlist going forward, it was also the only night of the four-night stand that they played Natural Mystic, So Much Things To Say and Guiltiness. Those songs were infrequently performed in the future, if at all, only increasing the interest of this first-ever release of the complete show. The new material also finds the band somewhat slow to warm up, but when they get to Jamming and Exodus near the end - after traversing many classics, including a mesmeric War/No More Trouble - you can hear the unstoppable, world-beating force they would become on the 1978 tour, so beautifully preserved on Babylon By Bus. When it comes to Marley in his prime, there is no such thing as overkill, so dig into the complete shows from June 2nd and 3rd while you're at it, both also released for the first time in a celebration of the 45th anniversary of Exodus. Only time will tell if they have anything left in the vaults for the 50th anniversary!

Dig in to more older sounds in this archive playlist and keep up with what 2023 unearths here.

You may also enjoy: 
Best Of 2021: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2020: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2019: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2018: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2017: Out Of The Past
Best Of 2016: Reissues

Best Of The Rest Of 12: Out Of The Past

Paul Maroon Resurfaces

After The Walkmen went on “extreme hiatus” I realized that, next to Hamilton Leithausers’s otherworldly crooning, Paul Maroon’s incandescent guitar was my favorite part of the band. So it definitely softened the blow of their dissolution when Maroon’s playing was a defining feature of Black Hours, Leithauser’s first solo album from 2014. I thought these two men were like brothers and even without a band they would continue to work together forever, or at least close to it. 

This was reinforced when Dear God, a vinyl-only release credited to both to them, came out about a year later. It was typically brilliant, even when Maroon dedicated himself to keyboards instead of guitars on a few songs. They were all good songs and all was right in my little corner of indie world. 

But then Leithauser’s next album came out and it was a collaboration with Rostam Batmanglij, late of Vampire Weekend, and Maroon was out of the picture. I never liked Vampire Weekend but thought the two songs Rostam contributed to Black Hours were pretty good and so listened to I Had a Dream That You Were Mine with an open mind. It didn’t work for me. I wanted Maroon back. Where was Maroon? I googled Maroon and found only old posts about Dear God. I even asked Twitter where he was and was told to seek out this great album called Dear God. I replied that not only did I have the album, but it had been delivered to me personally by Leithauser. That was old news. 

Maroon then became one of my little projects, like that wonderful band Hospitality, someone I would Google now and again to see if they had resurfaced. The trail was cold and I began to worry about his health. As it happened, I should have been worrying about Stewart Lupton, his former colleague from Jonathan Fire*Eater, the band that preceded The Walkmen. When Lupton died last month - far too young at 43 - I decided to check into Maroon again. My dedication paid off! There were new hits! Maroon was back!

The first thing that came up was a new column he’s writing for the AV Club, Ask An Indie Rock Veteran, where he dispenses erudite answers to questions like Do indie-rockers ever get indie-stalkers? or Is recording with a metronome or click track a must? His 30-year career has given him in-depth knowledge about music, production, touring and every other aspect of being a professional musician and he is generous with his wisdom and a damned good writer. I was enjoying reading the column but it was when I got to the end that I got really excited, for there at the bottom of a request for more questions was this line: In the meantime, come listen to my scoring work at Henderson-Maroon.com.

I clicked and found an elegant website representing Maroon’s collaboration with Morgan Henderson, the multi-instrumentalist from Fleet Foxes, whose bass playing was also all over Black Hours. Apparently they struck up a friendship during a legendary (to me) tour that had The Walkmen co-headlining with Fleet Foxes. I saw one of the shows, on the Williamsburg Waterfront with the sunset at our back, and it’s all too easy to imagine collaborations and friendships arising out of the camaraderie we witnessed on stage. 

The website features some beautiful samples of their work, showing off their versatility for potential clients. I especially love the one called Field Recordings, which is a dramatic and highly distinctive vignette that seems to tell its own story even without any visuals. There’s also the happy news that Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, which was scored by Maroon, won the 2018 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. That should lead to more of those potential clients! 

Does this recent activity mean that I won’t jump for joy if Maroon and Leithauser work together again? Certainly not, but it does my heart good to see a great musician I admire finding fulfillment and showing the world a new aspect of his talent. Long may Maroon’s flag wave! Now, if I could just find out what Amber Papini and Nathan Michel of Hospitality are up to. I hope they’re OK...

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New Americana Pt. 2: Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroon
Best Of 14 (Part 2)
Make Time For Black Hours
A Chilly Welcome From Hospitality

New Americana Pt. 2: Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroon

Hamilton and I In "Deluxe Shipping" Moment

Robert Johnson, they say, met the devil at a crossroads and bargained his soul for a dramatic improvement in his guitar playing. While I doubt souls were exchanged, something certainly happened when Hamilton Leithauser spent time with Robin Pecknold during a joint tour by The Walkmen and Fleet Foxes. Since then, Leithauser has sung like a goddamned angel, with an ease and confidence that I would not have predicted while playing the early Walkmen records again and again. And on last year's debut solo album, Black Hours, he wrote a set of songs that fit his new Great American Songbook vocal swagger to a T. 

As I noted in my review of Black Hours, even though The Walkmen were on hiatus, their guitarist, Paul Maroon, had not left Leithauser's side, appearing on nearly every song on the album. So I was unsurprised when I got word that Hamilton's latest record, Dear God, would be co-credited to Maroon. I was surprised, however, at the opportunity to meet Hamilton as part of a very limited "deluxe shipping" offer through his Etsy store. 

It took a little time but it eventually happened, which is how I ended up talking to Hamilton on the sidewalk while his two kids waited patiently in their carseats. I didn't bring up Pecknold or demonic bargains, but I did note that he and Maroon seemed to have a fruitful musical bromance ("Like Bowie & Ronson," I said - he got a kick out of that!). I wondered why only the new album had both their names, even though Maroon was such an elemental part of Black Hours. It seemed to have a lot to do with the origin of the songs on that album, and also the fact that two of them were collaborations with Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij.

Dear God, Leithauser told me, came out of the idea that it would just be him singing and Maroon on one instrument for each song. "Paul cheated a little and used a sampler on a couple of songs, but that was the basic idea." He also confirmed that this was a vinyl only release and that they would be playing these songs in concert - check your local listings. 

Naturally, due to the original conceit, Dear God is a much more intimate album than the big and bold Black Hours, a Cassavetes character study instead of a big Hollywood production. But it is an equally masterful example of singing and songwriting in the American vein. It is also partly Leithauser's meditation on where sees his place in that tradition, sprinkling four covers among its 13 tracks. Tom Paxton's Annie's Going To Sing Her Song is a hushed waltz in the original but Leithauser takes off on the version Bob Dylan recorded during the Self Portrait sessions, which was released on Another Self Portrait last year. Dylan put some new angles into the chorus, making it more of a hook. It's even more angular in Leithauser's version, which I believe to be definitive. 

While I'm not a fan of Will Oldham (or Palace Music, or Bonnie Prince Billy, or whatever he's calling himself these days), Leithauser pulls something out of his Trudy Dies that makes it more memorable than the original, playing his vocal dynamics off of Maroon's steady acoustic picking to give the song more shape. 

The Everly Brothers are one of those weird bands that are indubitably part of the bedrock of modern music but that I don't always like. Some of their songs are devastatingly good while others are grating and formulaic. The song Hamilton chose, Just One Time, is one of the latter but he and Maroon take all the obnoxious right out of it, playing it like a distant memory, with double-tracked vocals, harmonica, and a hypnotic, droning acoustic strum. It's still a slight song, without the simple profundity of, say, Buddy Holly, but it works well in Dear God's context - more on that later.

The album takes its name not from the XTC song - THAT would have been interesting - but rather from an early Patsy Cline song written by V.F. Stewart, known for the oft-covered Just Out Of Reach. Leithauser gives Cline's country waltz a bit of a barroom flavor, with Maroon's upright piano soldiering on bravely. It's a Sunday morning song transformed into a drinking song and it ends the album on a witty and rueful note.

The four songs covered could be seen as a short survey of some of what Leithauser and Maroon are attracted to in American song - waltz rhythms, melancholy lyrics, sing-along choruses - and their own tunes follow these threads to some interesting places. Proud Irene opens side one with piano filigrees setting the stage for a classic-sounding chord sequence. Hamilton enters with a hushed tone, singing close to the mike. The chorus is just the one word: "Irene," but you still want to join in. It's a clever bit of misdirection and a sign of their deep understanding of song form. 

Utica Avenue features Maroon on organ and a chorus of Leithausers singing funereally. In fact, my wife just requested it for her services when the unimaginable comes to pass - that's a tough playlist to write for, but these guys nailed it. Trudy Dies is next, followed by Light Sleeper, a melodic piano study by Maroon, and then Dad Is Drunk, with Maroon picking a circular riff on electric guitar. "There's wine on my breath, and wine in my pocket, and wine waiting for me, where I dropped it," Hamilton sings without a note of regret. Later, the singer claims to be "hopelessly optimistic," wishing to turn "black eyes white." There's a story here, but it's given to us in fragments. Paxton's song closes out the side, the perfect follow up to Dad Is Drunk: "Annie's gonna sing her song called take me back again." Maybe mom is drunk, too. 

Side two fades in on Two Dark Summers On Long Island, which would almost fit on The Velvet Underground's third album. Maroon's folky picking has a bleak tinge and he uses those cheating samplers to create a spooky atmosphere. Hamilton sings along with himself, some half-remembered tale hinted at by the title. Just One Time becomes just another memory, now, with How And Why? completing the thought: "You were always on my side," Hamilton sings over and over again, hinting at betrayal and loss. 

Your Swingin' Doors is even more mournful at first, but Hamilton raises the temperature to rage against the dying of the light. I Never Should Have Left Washington, DC is a reworking of Utrecht, a bonus track from Black Hours. It's just as brilliant a song in this stripped down version and sets the stage for Loyalty Road, a haunting guitar instrumental with a strong narrative drive. Then comes the redemptive request of Dear God to send us home. 

Dear God is a bravely bare setting for Leithauser to display his vocal talents and he is more than up to the task. With The Walkmen, and now beyond, he is carving a unique place in the American musical firmament and observing the process has been an involving and emotional experience. And like the best stories, I can't wait to see what happens next. 

In fact, he and Maroon have hinted at the next chapter with I Could Have Sworn, a five-song EP that includes Utica Avenue and four new songs, the latter with drummer Hugh McIntosh. Opener My Reward is an uptempo number with slashing chords and Leithauser pushing his voice ragged. New England Crows has Maroon giving us a hint of Johnny Marr but Leithauser is at his most intense, especially in a thrilling wordless section. Cry Out For Me is a pop explosion with a Chuck Berry song buried deep within. Immediately Alone is all shimmer and sigh with a gorgeous piano backdrop from Maroon bringing us full circle to where Dear God started.
                                          
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