Best Of The Rest Of 14: Out Of The Past

As much great new music as there was last year, there was nearly as much reissued and rediscovered material. Some releases were attended with great fanfare, others arrived with not nearly enough notice. In the end, the cream from both categories rose to the top. 

AMERICAN MASTERS 

Wilco - Alpha Mike Foxtrot While there is little on these four superb discs that wasn't issued in one way or another prior to this box set, it all adds up to a magnificent alternate history of one of the greatest American bands of all time. In a year that saw all the members of Wilco pursuing their own projects, AMF is a rousing reminder of why we were interested. 

Their beginnings, scrappy and with only minimal promise in the wake of Uncle Tupelo's split (Doug Sahm bet on the other guys), are covered quickly. By the end of the first disc, they're in their full glory with songs like Sunken Treasure and Monday, included here as a live take and a demo respectively. 

The three remaining discs each hold a well-sequenced mix of stage versions of familiar songs along with hidden gems and cover songs Hoovered up from singles, soundtracks and compilations. After a few listens, including a couple of sessions where I let all 77 tracks run, the only question I was left with was whether Wilco is in the top ten of American bands or the top five. Essential. 

Hank Williams - The Garden Spot Programs The "old lovesick wandering cowboy" himself was a busy man during his short life, spending much time on the road and in radio stations in addition to the dozens of studio sessions for Sterling and MGM that make up most of his legacy as one of the bedrocks of Americans music. 

In the wake of the monolithic compilation of his Mother's Best radio shows from 2011 comes this remarkable find: 24 songs (including jingles) recorded for the Garden Spot show that were all thought lost. Williams is in spectacular voice throughout and sounds relaxed and jovial, even on mega-weepies like I've Just Told Mama Goodbye and At The First Fall Of Snow. The sound is crystal clear, the band is swinging, the songs are unimpeachable. Another special item from Omnivore Recordings. 

Hi Sheriffs Of Blue - NYC 1980 This rough and ready collection is 100% of a time and place yet so full of possibility that it still sounds like the future. Full review to come, but suffice it to say that Byron Coley has performed a public service by getting this material out. 

Love - Black Beauty Speaking of public services, fans of the brilliant Arthur Lee should high five High Moon Records for adding this great collection to the Love catalogue. Although a little uneven, it is a beauty indeed. 

Mutual Benefit - The Cowboy's Prayer Loves Crushing Diamond was one of the best and most distinctive albums of recent years. Yet there was much music by Jordan Lee that came before it, often released in extremely limited quantities during the course of his travels. Thanks to Other Music Recording Co. this gem is now widely available. Like an eggshell, there is both delicacy and strength to these sounds, a combination that keeps it from being too precious. But if you love it as I do, you'll hold it very dear indeed. 

Bayete Todd Cochran - Worlds Around The Sun Welcome return to the catalog for this jazz funk near-classic. Hopefully Omnivore Recordings will turn their loving attention to Cochran's even tougher follow up, Seeking Other Beauty. 

Various Artists - I'm Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969-70 In 2013 we got Higher,  which was quite wonderful and very nearly the career overview that Sly & The Family Stone deserved. Now thanks to Light In The Attic's brilliant work we get an incisive look at how the funk genius went from being "Woodstock Sly" on Stand! to being "weirdo Sly" on There's A Riot Going On. 

Pulling together the official releases of Sly's Stone Flower label along with demos and alternate takes, we hear him searching out that murky and divisive sound while also trying to make hits for Little Sister, Joe Hicks, and 6ix. Fascinating stuff. 

THE UK IS MORE THAN OK

The Clientele - Suburban Light Even if the reissue of this magnificent sigh of an album hadn't led to me having not one but TWO chances to see them live, it would still be a signature moment of the year. The extra disc of rare gems only doubles the pleasure - Driving South, for example, is one of their finest songs ever. Watching Alasdair MacLean, Mark Keen and James Hornsey commune with these songs - and with each other - made me think their hiatus may not be indefinite. 

The Led Zeppelin Reissues While I'm slightly underwhelmed by most of the bonus material, Jimmy Page's ability to keep drawing new sonic detail out of these monolithic albums is nothing short of astonishing. The first album comes with a punishing live set, which is a must to own, as for the rest - at least so far - getting the single disc versions may be enough of a feast. 

Michael Chapman - Playing The Guitar The Easy Way Light In The Attic continues their excellent series of Michael Chapman albums with this delight from 1978. Sort of an instructional album for experienced guitarists who have gotten "bogged down," Chapman's intricate playing may do a better job at inducing despair in players. The rest of us can just listen and enjoy the sounds of a master at work. 

New Age Steppers/Creation Rebel - Threat To Creation In which post-punk royalty (The Slits' Ari Up and PIL's Keith Levene, for two) meet Prince Far-I's backing band under the heavy manners of British dub maven Adrian Sherwood. The results, as the title suggests, are explosive. For someone like me, who still remembers laying hands on a copy of New Age Steppers's Massive Hits Vol. 1 in a dusty Boston record store, the fact that this is easily accessible on Spotify and elsewhere is a cause for celebration. All praise to the fine folks at Mexican Summer for unleashing this Threat. 

Wire - Document & Eyewitness 1979-1980 The words "post-punk royalty" above should have caused immediate thoughts of this band. After moving forward like a freight train with a remarkable string of albums over the last few years, Colin Newman and friends took a look back by revisiting this formerly hens-tooth rare collection of sounds made by a band imploding. 

On 154, the album just before these performances, producer Mike Thorne had managed to add a bit of pop sheen to Wire's spiky sound. As brilliant as it was, the record caused a crisis of conscience in the arty quartet, leading to the staged confrontations heard here. But there is a lot of music among the madness, as the band made clear by basing several songs on their recent album, Change Becomes Us, on fragments and ideas that first appeared here. The enjoyment and fascination of both albums is enhanced by tracking the connections between the two. Dive in. 

Gazelle Twin - The Entire City In my little corner of the world, the reappearance of Elizabeth Bernholz's striking debut from 2011 completely overshadowed her second album, Unflesh. I highly recommend catching up with both - strong, artful, and dark. 

Life Without Buildings - Any Other City Perhaps if they had lasted longer than this one album, Glasgow would be as identified with this band as much as it is with Belle & Sebastian. With chiming guitars and charming songs, they sound like they could pal around with The Vaselines and The Smiths. They keep things fairly simple in order to showcase the idiosyncratic vocals of Sue Tompkins, who comes off a little like a happier Poly Styrene. 

Tompkins is now an accomplished artist and perhaps her unique vocal style wasn't really meant to last beyond these few songs. But Any Other City is a one-off that should always be in print, awaiting discovery by successive generations, so thanks to What's Your Rupture for making it widely available again. 

COLLECTED CHARACTERS

Max Richter - Retrospective The young composer and "re-composer" (of Vivaldi, among others) gets the deluxe treatment from Deutsche Grammophon with this nice cube containing The Blue Notebooks, Songs From Before, 24 Postcards in Full Colour and Infra, along with bonus tracks. From cloudy to crystalline and from ambient to industrial, Richter has covered a lot of ground. 

Placido Domingo - The Verdi Opera Collection Unlike the Richter set, which is priced quite steeply, this collection of six operas over 15 discs may be the bargain of the decade. The rapturous recording of Luisa Miller alone would be worth $40. Naturally, you don't get librettos at that price, but just listen - you'll get the whole story of these magnificent works of musical theater. 

LIVE IS LIFE

Jonathan Wilson - Spotify Sessions: Live At Bonnaroo I've seen Wilson twice, both times in the cramped confines of the Mercury Lounge and you can actually hear him revel in the big outdoor stage where this recorded. And rightly so: he has a big sound, an ambitious talent, and endless virtuosity in all forms of rock music. He starts this set with a languid take on Angel, the early Fleetwood Mac slow jam, and just ramps it up from there. By the end, he's unleashing fire and has the audience firmly in hand. I wish I was there and I think you'll agree.

John Coltrane - Offering: Live At Temple University The auditorium at Temple University became the Temple of Coltrane one night in 1966. Apparently the Student Union lost money on the gig (they hoped Dionne Warwick's sellout show would make up the difference, apparently), so we owe them a debt of thanks for presenting it and preserving the music for eternity. 

Coltrane's playing ranges from lyrical to anguished, occasionally producing sounds that are still discomfiting today, like some of Hendrix's performances of Machine Gun. Pharaoh Sanders is also incredible, especially on Leo, finding a middle ground between jump blues and the avant garde. The expanded rhythm section of five percussionists led by Rashied Ali provides mainly a bed of constant rhythm, creating a swirl that nears chaos on occasion. Sonny Johnson, when you can hear him, is extraordinary on bass. His solo to introduce My Favorite Things is one for the ages. Alice Coltrane's piano sparkles on nearly every song, as if she were commanding 88 stars instead of keys. And yes, Coltrane sings, or chants, which is fascinating but still very musical and only increases the sense of occasion.

Coltrane only had months to live when he took the stage at Mitten Hall that night. Whether he knew that or not, he plays like a man with much at stake. Even though he included one audience favorite in the set, there is never a sense that he is aiming to please anyone than himself and the dedicated players that surrounded him that night. on Offering, you meet Coltrane on his own terms or you don't meet him at all.

Miles Davis - Miles At The Fillmore 1970 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 3) You could get caught up in the weeds of how this release interacts with earlier releases of those nights at the Fillmore (both East and West) when Miles and his cohort strafed the audience with phantasmagoric sounds. Maybe you have an unofficial bootleg (guilty), or some edited version of some of these sounds. Forget all that and just revel in this beautifully presented release. It was a time that Miles could do no wrong and it's about time it was put into the official canon. 

The Allman Brothers - Play All Night: Live At The Beacon Theater 1992 We mourned a lot of deaths in 2014, but this was the death of a legendary American band. Perhaps their time had come, but what I heard of their last shows displayed plenty of fire. I'm sure some of that material will be released eventually. For now we have this, an excellent set from their early 90's resurgence. They had some good new material, a couple of new members (especially the great Warren Haynes on guitar) - and Dickey Betts was still in the band. My wife and I saw one of these concerts and we were enraptured by the interplay, the soulfulness, and the sheer power they had to go anywhere they wanted. Nice to know it really did sound that good. Now, my hope is that Gregg will go on tour like he did in 1974 - I'll be there.

Bonus Track: Michael Jackson's Love Never Felt So Good, the original take featured on the deluxe edition of odds & sods collection Xcape is pure magic. It has everything that got us interested in the first place.

This concludes my round-up of the great sounds of 2014. In case you missed them, the other posts were:
Best Of 14 (Part 1)
Best Of 14 (Part 2)
Best Of The Rest Of 14: Old Favorites, New Sounds
Best Of The Rest Of 14: Hip Hop & Jazz
Best Of The Rest Of 14: Synths & Who's New (To Me)

Don't get left behind on the greatness of 2015 - the Of Note playlist is already filling up!

Multiplicities Of Genius, Part 2: Sly Stone

Am I the only one who felt a slight sinking sensation upon realizing that Scorcese's brilliant film about Dylan, No Direction Home, was not going to go past 1966? One would think that by 2007, it was time to see Dylan's sixties work in context with the rest of his legendary career, which includes over 25 albums since 1970. I'm as capable of fetishizing the sixties as anyone else, but in the case of some of the music legends that came out of that time, it actually diminishes them to confine them to one era.

Sly Stone is another such genius. While his post-Woodstock career is nothing like Dylan's, his later work still deserves to be assessed and not dismissed, as it often has been. In the early 90's a friend sent me an import CD of Fresh, Sly & The Family Stone's album from 1973. Sony/Columbia/Epic had not deigned to include the gold-selling record that contained If You Want Me To Stay and In Time in their first round of CD issues. Why? "Too funky," my friend opined. "Too personal," I thought. Small Talk (also a gold record) and High On You, from 1974 and 1975, were also left out in the cold, along with the three albums that followed. Whatever the reason for the revisionism there has been a gradual correction, if an incomplete one, to the official canon. A huge step in the right direction was made in 2007 when Epic/Legacy put out a box set of the first seven albums, newly mastered and featuring bonus tracks.

It was a delight to hear beautifully prepared releases of Fresh and Small Talk, and to have a real opportunity to consider them in relation to Sly's more lauded work. Even considering the travails caused by his personal problems and addictions, he managed to keep the quality up. While the later albums didn't always innovate on a sonic level, they certainly held their own against the likes of Kool & The Gang and the Ohio Players, to mention just two of Sly's progeny. For the deep fan, however, there was still that twinge: What about High On You (represented only by a demo of Crossword Puzzle tacked on to the end of Small Talk) and the other albums? Shouldn't we have the opportunity, with an artist of Sly's stature (and one who has sold millions of records) to grasp the whole achievement?

Well, now another step has been taken, with the release of Higher, the lavishly packaged four CD set, which includes some pre-Family Stone work and goes right up through Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back, the last Sly album on Epic before he decamped to Warner Bros. There's also 17 unreleased tracks, including a few spectacular live performances, and many of the most famous songs are issued in their mono single masters for the first time on CD. There are some real gems among the rare material, like Remember, a swaggering blues that came out of a collaboration with Billy Preston (Free Funk from his Wildest Organ In Town is his version), and You're The One, a hit for Little Sister and performed furiously by the Family Stone on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1973.

The live material from The Isle Of Wight festival is also stellar, but some of the newly unearthed material is strictly for bragging rights, such as a number of so-so instrumentals. There's a telling remark by drummer Greg Errico appended to one of them in the book included in the set: "These aren't instrumentals per se; they are tracks before the vocals were added," and that weren't completed for one reason or another. While the instrumentals aren't that memorable in their current form, they do serve to throw into relief the brilliance of Sly's lyrics, vocal melodies and arrangements. As for the classic material, much of it is well-chosen, although I would argue against including the nearly 14 minute Sex Machine (from the Stand! album), which I've always found leaden. The valuable real estate it occupies could have made room for two or three more songs from the final three albums, represented here by six songs in total, or accommodated one or two cuts from Back On The Right Track, Sly's first album for Warner Bros., such as the wry groove of The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry) or It Takes All Kinds.

On the whole, while the true fan will want all the complete albums as well, Higher comes closer than anything else to displaying the breadth of Sly's achievement. The book includes a decent essay, song by song descriptions with many quotes from band members (including Sly), and a timeline, along with great photos of the group and associated memorabilia. If you can find it, the "Amazon exclusive" version of the set is highly recommended as it comes with a bonus disc including six more tracks, including Sittin' On My Fanny from 1975.

While the essay does mention the "excess, strain, and recklessness which sometimes follow fame," there is no visual representation of the darker side of Sly's life. I have often wondered what it looked like as he made There's A Riot Going On, a dark murky album that still managed to produce three or four hit singles. I'll have to keep looking because all the pictures in the book show Sly smiling and seemingly in full command of the situation. This makes it easy to avoid thinking deeply about why Sly fell victim to drugs - was it just brain chemistry and opportunity, or could he feel the walls closing in as the culture's definition of him as a cartoonish avatar of sixties optimism grew more and more sealed? I believe that until we address questions like that head on, we will not be taking Sly's full measure with all the love and compassion deserved by someone who has brought the world so much joy and insight.

Multiplicities Of Genius, Part One

I try not to toss around the word "genius" too casually, but there are those individuals who clear a large amount of artistic space and define it in such a way and with such an expansive impact that the term must be used. Another defining characteristic of genius is that some of their output is often misunderstood. Sometimes it is their early works that are dismissed, as in the case of Pierre Boulez, and sometimes it is the late works, as in the case of Sly Stone. Fortunately, we have occasional attempts by the record business to address the works of musicians as a whole, creating opportunities to reassess and understand the big picture. These usually take the form of door-stopping, wallet-straining box sets that are driven as much by commercial considerations as musicological concerns.

In the case of Oeuvres Complètes, the stunning 13 CD set of the music of Pierre Boulez, it's difficult to imagine the intrusion of commerce into its creation. While it does consist of mostly previously released works, it is also extremely affordable at about $56, less than $5 per disc. I suppose if Deutsche Grammophon were to sell 5,000 copies they would consider it a success. Oeuvres Completes is more of a labor of love by composer and label, and a wonderful gift for those of us who have been trying to grasp the mercury of Boulez's music since the first time we heard his now-classic work, Le Marteau sans maître.

This handsome black box is also somewhat of a practical joke. As long as Boulez is alive, his work is never complete. Not only does he continue to compose (although at 88, he's slowed down a little), but he's also known for continually revising his pieces, sometimes over the course of decades. As the first sentence of the massive booklet states: "More than anyone else's, Pierre Boulez's oeuvre has not known completion and never will." Flip the box over and it even says "Pierre Boulez: Work In Progress." So, a snapshot, then - a time-lapse photograph of nearly 60 years of compositional innovation.

Of the newly released music, the most substantial is the 43 minute Dérive II, which expands on Dérive I in both length (the original is just under six minutes) and in number of players, with an ensemble of 11 as opposed to six. Suffice it to say, it's nearly worth the price of admission - a shimmering series of rhythmic dialogues and melodic explorations. The title means "drift" and it fits, but it feels like a drift with a purpose. For the music of Boulez, Dérive II is a fairly placid listening experience, albeit with an undertow of unease. As one would expect from a modern composer, there is plenty of angular sturm und drang in other works. While he is often depicted as cooly rational, there is often the sense of an emotional maelstrom to his sound world. Speaking of the sound of Boulez, I got into an hilarious debate on Amazon when I gave a quick review of this set and mentioned that that his music often features "fantastic melodies." Someone else took issue with that and quoted Boulez as saying he had "no need" for Rachmaninoff, as if that rendered him incapable of producing notes in a sequence that could be defined as melodic. I also have no need for Rachmaninoff and other composers who dull the ear with their heavy handed application of swelling "tunes." There is melody in Boulez and active listening will reveal it. (In any case, six out of seven people found my review helpful, so take that!)

The range represented by the included works is remarkable. There are pieces for solo instruments, imaginatively assembled chamber groups, and full orchestras, occasionally featuring solo voices and choirs, and often limned with advanced electronics. Discs 1-11 feature the Oeuvre in chronological order, from 1946's Douze Notations for piano, to Une page d'ephemeride, also for piano, from 2005. The 12th disc contains historical recordings from 1950, 1956 and 1964 of works that are repeated elsewhere, giving us a chance to get a sense of Boulez's process.

The early recording of Le Marteau sans maître, while slightly brittle in sound, has a jazzy briskness that is replaced by a more contemplative quality in the version from 2005. Le Soleil des eaux in the 1950 recording of the second version is theatrical, with a tinge of hysteria and mostly lacking in the emotional impact of the fourth version from 1965. Crucially, Boulez added a mixed chorus to support and interact with the soprano, as opposed to the tenor and baritone in the earlier take. One of Boulez's earliest works, the Sonantine for flute and piano, written when he was just 20, is represented on the bonus disc by a stunning performance by Severino Gazzelloni (flute) and David Tudor (piano). This is a fully mature work that is essentially Boulez's shot heard round the world, heard here in its first definitive performance. In a word: electrifying.

Disc 13 is an hour long interview in French from 2011, which is fortunately transcribed in the extensive booklet. Boulez describes his process in general, recounts his life-changing encounter with Olivier Messiaen, and gives a brief autobiography of booing. He also delineates the precise difference between his form of improvisatory writing and that of someone like John Cage. Ever brash, he states, "...the responsibility of a composer is a responsibility that exists. If you simply spend your time playing 'heads or tails' to write a note, I say no. Because there, there's no grammar, there's no style, there's no form, there's nothing!" Grammar, style, form - three words that can be taken as a manifesto fulfilled time and time again by Boulez's remarkable music.

If you have any interest in modern classical music from the time immediately following WWII to the present, if you listen to bands that name-check Messiaen and Stockhausen, if you want to travel the edge of the cutting edge, this set is essential. Two more caveats about this "complete" business. In the case of Dérive II, there is an earlier 25 minute recording that is now "composition non grata," although it is still in print. There may be other such instances and in the interview we learn of published works that have been subsequently excised from the canon. For example, in the case of Poesie pour pouvoir for tape and orchestra from 1958, Boulez says the electronic part is "thoroughly insufficient" and "not worth the trouble" to revise. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to listen for myself and while it is a fascinating work of its time, he is exactly right. Pardon moi for ever doubting you, Maître Boulez.

Next time: The genius of Sly Stone as encapsulated in the new box set, Higher.

Sly Stone: Funky 7-0

To my mind, there are three overwhelming geniuses of funk in the history of music: James Brown, Sly Stone and George Clinton. All of them are among my favorite artists but I would hazard that Sly is the most misunderstood. The 60's Sly - he of Woodstock and taking you higher - and the 70's Sly - he of blown concerts and "running away to get away" - are almost two different people. The culture embraced the former and, over time, rejected the latter. Perhaps that, more than the tragedy of his addictions, is what drove him into exile.

By the late 70's and early 80's, his later records were out of print and either maligned or forgotten. It was ironic because as his star waned, bands like the Ohio Players and Kool and the Gang had major success serving up an uncomplicated (if wonderful) version of what Sly had pioneered. In the early 90's, a friend sent me a copy of Fresh. I called him in California while it was still playing and asked why no one was talking about this record, why it was out of print (except on pricy and quasi-legal imports) and, most all why wasn't it in the canon? "I don't know, Jeremy, sometimes I think it's because it's just TOO funky." It is hellaciously funky, but after listening a few more times, I decided it was really because it was too personal.

Unlike a lot of funk and soul artists, starting with the masterpiece of There's A Riot Going On, Sly seemed to singing about specific people and situations instead of abstractions. Family Affair used to scare me slightly as a child - it was so real, so human. But as I got deeper into his catalog I just found more to love - and more to be sad about, since (aside from the odd appearance - sometimes very odd)  he seems to still be mostly in exile - from us, from his talent and from himself. Whatever his demons, from 1967 to 1980 he produced a remarkable catalog of work.

Fortunately, by now his catalog is in pretty good shape, with expanded versions of almost all of his albums easily available and a new box set on the way. Get it all.

James Brown is the giant, and George Clinton came from the Mothership on high, but Sly was the man who walked among us, dealing with his family, his past, and his worries. He gave of himself in a unique way over some of the most amazing grooves of all time. Here's a few of them to celebrate Sly's 70th birthday.














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Multiplicities Of Genius, Part 2: Sly Stone