** Mods please make sticky **
After complaints last year of only 3 entries being allowed I am extending this year to 5. You will be awarded 5 points for 1st choice down to 1 for 5th.If you only submit 3 then points are 5,4,3 etc If no order is specified each one gets 3 pts
I think this can include archive materials never previously released along with general box sets, remixes etc so there may be some overlap with main poll.
Deadline is midnight UK time on Dec 24th, results will appear soon after that I hope.
Name of artist first followed by album name please.
Only 3 from me. My no. 1 is very predictable, but really one of the greatest archive box sets ever in my opinion. I think the Fabs one is relatively disappointing (and I haven’t bought it yet), but there is still some good stuff on there and I guess I didn’t buy too many box sets this year compared to previous ones. Manics effectively made 2 “new” albums from one old one. Possibly a bit contrived but it sort of works.
1. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot SDE
2. Manic Street Preachers – Know Your Enemy Deluxe
3. The Beatles – Revolver SDE
And (quoting @DrJ )
4. Various Artists: Now That’s What I Call 12” 70s. A 4 CD £15 compilation of original 70s extended mixes. Cliff and PiL on the same CD at last. A great mix.
(think I paid a tenner for it though 😉 )
So where would say the Zappa/Erie box set go? It’s live performances from 1974. Old songs obviously but a new release
I would put it here @Mousey , but according to @Gary or @henpetsgi it can go in their thread. I am feeling generous, do it here and there if you like!
Sow confusion.
Put it in both lists.
** Mods please make sticky **
For avoidance of doubt: (1) what did you want made sticky; and (2) did they come through for you?
Only one from me:
1. Pink Floyd – Animals
1. John Martyn/The Apprentice expanded
2. Keef Hartley/Sinnin’ For You: the albums 1969-73
3. Plainsong/Following Amelia, the 1972 recordings and more.
Not generally bothered by boxset factory floor scrapings, but these 3 came my way and had some pleasant moments
@retropath2 – I seem to remember The Apprentice being a bit too smooth to be wholesome (although OOAA, as always) – is the gig on the extra discs worth the price of entry?
It is entirely the live show that nails it (bits of which have been out before). The Apprentice studio requires much love for 80s production tropes and is, thus, a little jarring. Echoes of Chris Rea, who Island wanted him to be more like, ahead of rejecting the version for them, and dumping him, and BitHL era Steve Winwood in the style. I like the 80s but it isn’t anything like Solid Air, at one extreme, or Glasgow Walker, at the other.
I’m more of an “Inside Out/One World” kinda guy myself.
I saw this show in Glasgow, later on the same tour – I remember it being a lot better live than in the studio. Having said that, even live it was a very smooooth band, Miami Vice suits (both literal and metaphorical) etc.
I’d give my eye teeth for Radio Clyde to officially licence the release of the Henry Afrika gig from 1983, with Jeff Allen and Alan Thompson – now that was a powerful gig. Audio available on YouTube, of course…
1: Various Artists/ Jon Savage’s 1977-1979: Symbols Clashing Everywhere
2: Broadcast/ Maida Vale sessions
3: Stereolab/ Pulse of the Early Brain
4: Wilco/ Yankee Hotel Foxtrot SDE
5: Various Artists/ Fell From the Sun: Downtempo and After hours 1990-91
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco
Following Amelia – Plainsong
Too Rye Ay – Dexys
50 – Neu
The psychedic side of Komiusche music- Silberland
In order or 3 points each?
Sorry, in order
Only 1 from me
Joni Mitchell – The Asylum Albums (1972-1975)
I haven’t heard it – I don’t need to. I’m voting for this because I’ve realised that very gradually over a period of 47 years ‘The Hissing of Summer Lawns’ has become my favourite album of all time.
This was a question I’ve been asking myself: Should I in theory have actually heard the “2022 reissue” in order to vote for it? Or should I just feel free to vote for the albums I already know I love that were reissued in 2022, even if I haven’t actually heard the reissue?
Cos if the former, I’ve heard no reissues.
Whereas if the latter:
1. David Sylvian – Blemish
2. Pink Floyd – Animals
3. David Sylvian – Manafon
4. Pink Floyd – Pulse
5. The Pretenders – The Pretenders
Incidentally, David Sylvian actually released a new song (a “remodel” of a Ryuichi Sakamoto tune) recently, despite having announced a while back that he no longer wished to be involved in making music. Called ‘Grains – Sweet Paulownia Wood” it’s a track on a tribute album to Ryuichi Sakamoto called ‘To the Moon and Back’. It’s a nice, typically minimalist song. He also posted a photo of himself on Facebook, the first photo I’ve seen of him for years. He’s looking well:
Cousin It’s had a trim!
I think you should have heard them. Reissues can also be about books, packaging etc, but if you haven’t heard them you don’t know that the Joni albums were destroyed by ear bleeding lack of dynamic range when remastered. They weren’t but they could have been….
How can you limit yourself to just five? Loads of my favourite albums/bootlegs have never sounded better! Plus, The Beach Boys land next week.
Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas (Super Deluxe Edition)
The Beatles – Revolver (Super Deluxe Edition)
Various Artists – Gotta Get A Good Thing Goin’: The Music Of Black Britain In The Sixties
Little Feat – Electrif Lycanthrope: Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974
The Rolling Stones – Live At El Mocambo 1977
Dennis Bovell – The Dubmaster
Cecil Taylor – The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert At The Town Hall, NYC, November 4, 1973
Mavis Staples & Levon Helm – Carry Me Home
Rudolf Serkin and The Bavarion Orchestra & Choir – Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Piano Concertos & Choral Fantasy, Opus 80
Joni Mitchell – The Asylum Albums (1972-1975)
Various Artists – United Dreadlocks Volumes 1 & 2 (Joe Gibbs Roots Reggae 1976/1977 Edition)
Robert Fripp – Exposure 4th Edition (Stephen Wilson Mix)
Little Feat – Waiting For Columbus (Super Deluxe Edition)
David Bowie – Moonage Daydream – Music From The Film
Various Artists – Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Soundtrack
Son House – Forever On My Mind
Stereolab – Pulse Of The Early Brain (Switched On Volume 5)
David Bowie – A Divine Symmetry: The Journey To Hunky Dory
Prince And The Revolution – Live
Lou Reed – Words And Music, May 1965
5 please
I would have thought The Rolling Stones should in your top five
What came out in 2022?
Live At El Mocambo
Oh yes, forgot about that one. To be brutally honest I have listened to it once. Didn’t love it as much as many others appeared to
They two a couple of songs to get going and the last ones tacked on from the second night are pointless. Edit them out and you have mainly covers and lesser known numbers. It’s a pity they have gone all PC with these dirty, sexist Stones but they really sparkle in such an outrageously flirtatious venue.
I remember last year you were awkward too, but you need to choose 5 if you want your vote to count! I know it’s like choosing your favourite child, difficult but not impossible 😉
To make it easier for you, they are in a sort of order. I’m turning into an old softie which why Vince Guaraldi just about beats The Beatles, who lost points for corporate greed (anything under a hundred quid and they would have untouchable).
Number three is probably my most played album all year. It is magnificent and makes me feel young again.
Four and five are albums I’ve longed to hear properly. The Little Feat finally has a sound quality that its impeachable playing deserves. Despite the caveats above and the perfection of the six collections immediately beneath it, The Stones cling grimly to my top five.
You could give all twenty a quarter point!!
Bam! That number 3 goes straight into my “to listen to” list. Except – what’s this? “Theme from Coronation Street” at the end…?!!!!
😉
D’oh, forgot….
4. Mavis Staples & Levon Helm/Carry Me Home
5. The Dubmaster/Dennis Bovell.
(Thanks, Tiggs!)
Can’t figure out the love here for the Mavis/Levon album.
I thought it was pretty poor and got a refund
Went there a few times in the 70s.
Still there but refurbished and not the terrific little
Venue it used to be
Eh? El Mocambo? Walked past it last week, never been inside though
Only one from me.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Live at the Fillmore 1997.
Here’s my five, in no particular order, as they say on the best programme on televison (thank you BBC, for this sparkling little autumn and early winter joy):
Electrif Lycanthrope: ver Feat – Yes, I know everyone already had it in one form or another, but this one has had the full modern tech magic brought to bear, and is even better than before. More importantly, now that it’s had an official release, it can take its long deserved place as the greatest live album ever made, without fear of challenge.
Labi Siffre: My Song – A 9 CD sea of extraordinarily good songwriting and singing from one of the finest yet relatively uncelebrated artists of the ’70s and ’80s. Just lovely, warm and wonderful. No pretensions, no grandstanding, just choice quality stuff.
Miles Davis: Big Fun (Remastered) – The Miles LP, largely ignored at the time, that you can put on to transport yourself and your surroundings to some sort of early-late ’70s cooliverse. In the presence of Hancock, Zawinul, Corea, Shorter, McLaughlin, Maupin, Holland, De Johnette, Cobham (triangle), Grossman, Moreira, and Carter, Miles has a relatively relaxing time just blowin’ some great tunes.
Nancy & Lee: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – California in the sixties in 13 tracks, including the elusively weird Some Velvet Morning, notably covered in grand style by Vanilla Fudge, but equally wacky here with just the two of them, plus strings, plus the kitchen sink in production terms. If you can’t take your Camaro for a blast up the canyon, your Bowmore stock is scarily low, or your poncho is in the wash, a spin of this’ll do fine instead.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live at the Fillmore 1997 – just a masterclass in great American rock music; brilliant songs, brilliantly played, and by one of the best combos ever to grace a stage.
Bubbling under –
Duffy Power: Live At The BBC Plus Other Innovations (Brits could do it too)
Little Feat: Waiting for Columbus (SDE) (Bands never got any better than this)
Plainsong: Following Amelia – The 1972 Recordings & More (Originals par excellence)
Various Artists: Live at WOMAD 1982 (come on, I was there!)
Foxy, that Labi Siffre box came out in 2020. I know, it only feels like last week, etc…
Yebbut, I bought it this year. Ergo, it is one of the top re-issues I bought in 2022.
Whaddya want, attention to detail? Ye Gods.
Just one fro me
Blondie – Against The Odds 1974-1982
Rather embarrassingly I’ve neglected to vote for Billy MacKenzie’s Satellite Life. Such a great selection of his mid 90s work. A mix of Scott Walker style ballads, crazy techno dance and band standards. All with that voice. Thanks to Bargepole I had the opportunity to review it and in a mind blowing turn of events speak to Billy’s friend, collaborator and song writing partner Steve Aungle. Highlight of my year
I take it Fatal Mistakes is in second place, then.
I’m very confused to be honest. Billy’s collection is almost exclusively previously released tracks but with some previously unreleased tracks. So I’ve added it here. Fatal Mistakes Outtakes and B Sides is all previously unreleased tracks but a follow on to a 2021 album. So it’s on Gary’s thread in 2nd place to Tears For Fears.
How you lot manage with umpteen albums to choose from I’ll never know.
As long as it’s in second place. That’s the main thing.
Fatal Mistakes Outtakes and B Sides would have been on my list, but I thought it came out in 2021, and I didn’t want to upset the chronological pedants amongst us.
😉
I am confused. I don’t see any other votes from you @Dave-Amitri what is your top 5 for 2022?
Five from me……
1. Pink Floyd / Animals – great sounding remaster (and surround mix) of one of my favourite Floyd albums and all on one BluRay at a reasonable price
2. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers / Live Fillmore – it’s Tom Petty, it’s the Heartbreakers, playing live. What’s not to love ?
3. Little Feat / Electric Lycanthrope – great sounding official release of one of the all time great live albums
4. Beatles / Revolver SDE – my favourite Beatles album, great new mix. Minus points though for no surround BluRay and being too expensive (I went with the download which was much cheaper)
5. Now Yearbook 198* / Yearbook Extra 198* – there were a couple of these this year and they were great reminders of the music of my teenage years (I was 16 in 1983). Some guilty pleasures on there, but overall great fun.
1: Count Ossie & The Mystic Revelations of Rastafari – Grounation. Deep, deep, spiritual reggae, nicely remastered to replace my CD which sounded like it was mastered off a wobbly cassette.
2: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. So many amazing nuggets of sound, and the tunes!!
3: Dexys Midnight Runners – Too Rye Ay As It Should Have Been. The bonkers genius of Kevin Rowland.
4: The Movers – Vol 1 : 1970-1976. Grooves from South Africa
5: Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou – Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou. Beautiful piano from Ethiopia, with hints of Debussy and Satie, but still a singular voice.
Re: Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guébrou
Yeah – that’s one of the most beautiful solo piano records ever made.
She recorded it in Germany in 1967.
It’s the only album she ever made.
She’s now 99 years old!
If anyone hasn’t heard this BBC 4 documentary from 2017 on Ms Guébrou, it’s well worthwhile…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08mb1ft
I would have included this myself, as I bought it this year, but the CD came out in 2006, so I thought I’d better avoid inflaming the year police.
😉
They prefer to be called Timelords – makes them sound more important..
*CHRONOLOGICATE!!!*
Ah. Didn’t know about Count Ossie. Thank you
I thought Analog Africa had dropped their standards with recent releases. Glad to see a return to form with The Movers album.
My 5 are all compilations by various artists. You might notice a theme….
1. Various Artists – Music For The Stars (Celestial Music 1960-1979): a brilliant collection of gentle, late night listening.
2. Various Artists – End Of The Road Presents Between The Music: purportedly a collection of songs played between acts at the UK’s best festival. I have been every year for the last decade and don’t remember hearing any of them. The compilation is great though.
3. Various Artists – We Are The Children Of The Sun: Paul Hillery, former tour DJ for the Polyphonic Spree, selects a collection of lesser-heard funky folk and AOR.
4 Various Artists – Paul Hillery Presents Folk Funk And Trippy Troubadours: Another collection of similar stuff.
5. Various Artists – Deep In The Woods – Pastoral Psychedelia And Funky folk 1968-1975: Richard Norris, of The Grid and Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Fame, has his stab at collecting old freaky folk material. 3 cds of it.
I can’t really separate these 5 – all fantastic and the best things I have heard all year, better than any of my 20 on the other thread.
I reckon…
1. Toyah – Anthem
2. Pink Floyd – Animals
3. Beatles – Revolver
4. Kraftwerk – Remixes
5. Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a man
Pieces Of A Man, great choice. It’s a classic.
Not cheap, though, at £35 for a 2x 45rpm vinyl pressing. Handily, I’ve just been gifted a £50 record token…
It’s quite long for an LP so I guess it would be difficult to justify a standard LP reissue if the sound isn’t that great. Still too expensive.
1 Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2 House of Love – Burn Down the World
3 Manic street preachers – know your enemy
4 Dexys – Too-rye -ay
5 Bernard Butler – People Move on
1) David Hepworth’s Deep 70s – Underrated Cuts From A Misunderstood Decade
2) Neil Young – Time Fades Away (now I know this was available on CD as part of Archives, but 2022 was the first year it was available to buy as a standalone CD)
3) The Beatles – Revolver
1) Soft Machine ~ Bundles
2) Little Feat ~ Electrif Lycanthrope
3) Jethro Tull ~ Thick As A Brick
4) Tom Waits ~ Alice
5) The Beatles ~ Revolver
1. Bert Jansch – live at the BBC
2. VdGG – Interference Patterns
3. Pink Floyd – Animals
4. Little Feat – Electrif Lycanthrope: Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974
5. Karl Jenkins – Penumbra II
Arrived and watched/listened to – so, bubbling under:
6. King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King: King Crimson At 50
Also bubbling under:
7. Pentangle – Through The Ages: 1984-1995
I have that, it’s good.
I say, chaps – can I add a genuine no. 16?
After discussion with @Dai – a replacement number 5…
1. Bert Jansch – live at the BBC
2. VdGG – Interference Patterns
3. Pink Floyd – Animals
4. Little Feat – Electrif Lycanthrope: Live At Ultra-Sonic Studios, 1974
5. Pentangle – Through The Ages: 1984-1995
1. VA – Fell From The Sun: Downtempo And After Hours 1990-91
Another Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs out of Saint Etienne selection, this time compiling dubby, woozy, uplifting Balearica, all around 98bpm. Goes well with early mornings, sunsets and late late nights.
2. VA – Crossroads Kenya: East African Benga & Rumba 1980-1985
Brings together various 45s out of Nairobi in this period, and is fantastic.
3. Dennis Bovell – The Dubmaster
Oooh, haven’t seen or heard anything of Sheer for ages!
1. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Live At The Filmore 1997
2. Pearls Before Swine – The Wizard Of Is
3. LoVe – Expressions Tell Everything: Singles Box Set
4. Plainsong – Following Amelia
5. King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson At 50
What`s with ONLY 5 selections? This Poll originally had 10 selections and there are now more reissues than ever.
No it had 3
Sorry it had 10, I was the one who ran it, 2016.
It had 3 last few years when I ran it. Feel free to do it again if you are unhappy.
Baron and Dai scrapping – well, I never!
I say, Lodey – is anyone running a book?
There’s a guy standing outside the chip shop, some call him Gary. Some avert their eyes and suddenly remember a dentist’s appointment
At half past eight on a Friday night?
Fight? Teeth? Gary? It’s all there . ..
Just saying @Dai, why takeover and reduce the vote?
I wouldn’t take that lying down if I was Welsh. Go on, dai, leek ‘im!!
In fact Dai is too upset to write right now . I had to hold the telephone well away from his ranting but in between sobs and broken crockery I think I made out “Just because some so-called jumped-up Baron ran a similar poll back in the Dark Ages gives him no right, nothing, zilch, bastard ( a few more unintelligible obscenities here) to interfere with MY POLL!
I run it with the precision of a Poll God not like the shambles below where Gary combs his hair and three “ladies” are “helping” with the spreadsheet. I don’t even need a spreadsheet, I do it all in my head. Piss off, Baron, get back to cheating at Wordle: (I may have made the last sentence up)
I think one of the nicest aspects of this gentlemanly tiff twixt Baron and Dai is how good my hair has looked throughout.
I’ll tell you a funny story to distract you from the pain where your knee once was:
“Dai” in Italian translates literally as “give”, but has a wider variety of contextually dependent meanings. (That’s not the funny bit.) It can mean similar to “come on” in a sort of “come on, you can do it!” kind of way. (We still haven’t got to the funny bit yet.) I know an English woman who recounts how she gave birth in an Italian hospital, with the nurses standing around her enthusiastically shouting what she understood to be “Die! Die!” as the baby began to emerge, like something out of a horror film. (That was the funny bit and the end of my anecdote.)
Hey Lodey you daft old buffoon, we are both Welsh, felly fuck chi, yr hen gizzard!
I understand your love for me, B, but I am already taken (many, many times)
Deep down I suspect you’re a good man Lodey, very, very deep down.
Shyte at Wordle though 🤣🥸🥸🥸😂
Here’s my list – which might be a relief for those unable to handle more than five entries 😉
All five will most likely end up in the »one vote only« section as usual.
1) Robert Flip: Exposures
(25 CDs, 3 DVDs, 4 BRs)
///////// Yes, I listened to it all, several times.
2) Lovey’s Band: Encore Lovey! • The Historic Trinidad String Band Recordings 1912 & 1914
(10″ Hardcover book with 3 CDs)
///////// Wonderful collection of ancient calypso tunes, with a book filled with historical documents and the story of Lovey’s Band recording in New York City.
3) The Virginia Box • 1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels from Virginia & West Virginia
(Box Set with LP-sized hardcover book & 4 CDs)
///////// The good folk at BE! Records put out one of these sets every year, and this is the usual mix of crazy rockabilly, out-of-their-minds psycho-hillbilly and silly garage bands, most of it released on local labels with catalog numbers like 1001 (there would never be a 1002…). Comes with the standard 120-page coffee-table book full of 7″ labels, old pictures, and crazy newspaper stories like the one about the twin hillbilly hitmakers who were jailed for car theft (a witness recognised them on local TV the next day as they were playing their hit single…)
4) Horslips: More Than You Can Chew
(33 CDs, 2 DVDs, 2 books and lots more in a big box)
///////// Everyone here should know all about this wonderful box. Only thing missing though is a replica of the first album cover & book…
5) Ost-Kraut Vol. 1 & 2 • Weird Prog From East Germany 1970-1982
(4 CDs with two 70-page books)
///////// Bear Family collects totally bonkers radio sessions and tracks from »Beat« compilations on the Politbüro-approved record label. Imagine Comus or Nucleus playing Procol Harum pop hits, with a singer reciting Grimm fairy tales.
Hey Fatima, how come you have that Horslips box. It’s supposedly only due out in February `23, delayed once again.
Meanwhile that Virginia Box has intrigued me, sounds right up my street and I’m sure I’ve heard that twin hillbilly story before 😎
I don’t have the Horslips box – JPC have sent me several bits of promo material and pre-release teasers. Last shipping announcement was December 16 (which has been pushed back once again…). Maybe they’re working on that concertina sleeve repro… 😉
Blimey, ‘Horslips box pre-release teasers’ is pretty steamy stuff for this time of the morning.
That Virginia box is too expensive for just 4 CDs, so now I’m gonna investigate the Richard Gibbs album from your list below @fatima-Xberg
Ordered!
@fatima-Xberg – Exposures is recommended, then? I was going to buy it – but I already had the two CD version, so I bought Washington Square Church instead. Am I missing out on something here? I’ll sell my marzipan futures if I have to…
»…something« ? It’s the difference between 2 CDs and 25 CDs, as you’ll probably have already worked out yourself.
I sense that I’ve wasted your time. Apologies.
Revised listing then, as there’s no chance that I’ll be listening to Horslips under the Christmas tree:
1) Robert Flip: Exposures Box
2) Lovey’s Band: Encore Lovey! • The Historic Trinidad String Band Recordings 1912 & 1914
3) The Virginia Box • 1950s & 1960s Oddball Labels from Virginia & West Virginia
4) Ost-Kraut Vol. 1 & 2 • Weird Prog From East Germany 1970-1982
5) Richard Gibbs: No Use To Grieve
///////// Reissue of a 1970 Louisiana hardcore honky-tonk album, red vinyl in a glorious gatefold sleeve, brought to you by Swedish label Sweet Mental Revenge. »This tribute to grief and sorrow is quite a monument to misery«.
Well, this is easy because I only bought three reissues/compilations this year…
1. David Sylvian – Sleepwalkers (comp of collaborations, lovely)
2. Marc Almond/Chris Braide – Things We Lost (comp + live show recording)
3. Iris DeMent – Infamous Angel (no frills reissue of the very good -92 album, which I didn’t own before)
No, I didn’t buy the Wilco reissue! I rarely buy new versions of albums I own, I’d rather use the money to buy something completely new to me. And how many versions of the same songs can I realistically find that interesting? So unless there’s a lot of previously unreleased material, or live versions, or some other irresistible extras, I tend to resist (unless it appears later on sale…)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot went through so many radical reinterpretations that even though most (not all) of the songs are the same they sound like completely different ones. And there’s great live stuff too!
Well, then I’m hoping for a sale soon… 🙂
What heresy is this?
“And how many versions of the same songs can I realistically find that interesting?”
I suspect that you are not such a great fan of the late, great Mr Garcia and his combo,@Locust
That’s a correct suspicion – not so much for the endless versions of the same songs, but for the fact that the songs aren’t very good to begin with! 😉
Ouch!!
I think people on here are keeping the record industry afloat single-handedly.
Unbelievably I can manage three (and only three) …
1. “Summer of Soul” soundtrack
2. “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” – Curtis Lee (that rarity in the world of the much-used phrase “rock ‘n’ roll,” actual Rock ‘n’ Roll!)
3. “The Meaning of Within” (Mojo magazine)
Two of the above mentioned interest me.
The Virginia Box Set (sounds good but £130 = no sale) and “The Music of Black Britain in the 60s” (£35… hmm, planning a visit to the nearest record shop – 2 hours away – and so I might actually get that).
I got that Summer Of Soul ST after all the gushing about it on here and I was disappointed.
I was also disturbed by the views of Nina Simone.
How does everyone have the time..?
1. Robert Fripp – Exposures. Immersive, bounteous, will take forever to get through the two blurays of “The Entire Frippertronics Archive”
2. Manic Street Preachers – Know Your Enemy. The re-imagined Door To The River album is quite excellent.
3. Various Artists: Now That’s What I Call 12” 70s. A 4 CD £15 compilation of original 70s extended mixes. Cliff and PiL on the same CD at last. A great mix.
4. Beatles – Revolver. The first of the Beatle boxes I haven’t bought physically. The Sessions stuff is arguably over-curated with just 80 minutes of material, but there’s gold there and it’s a relistenable collection. Worth it for the Yellow Submarine sequence. Not a huge fan of the remix, tbh.
5. The Monkees – Headquarters SDE. A full album stereo remix as part of four CDs which unlike Revolver, are filled to capacity with tracks. To be honest, I haven’t listened yet, but it arrived at the weekend and got put under the tree.
I am going to add no . 3 to my faves. Forgot about it. It’s brilliant.
1. Sun Ra and his Arkestra – The Futuristic Sounds Of Sun Ra. 1961 album reissued again this year, this time in stereo and on CD and vinyl. If you like Sun Ra you will love this.
2.The Yabby You Sound – Dubs and versions. Another top notch Pressure Sounds release.
3.Los Kenya – Siempre Afro-Latino. Venezuelan band who had clearly been listening to NYC salsa.
4.Wganda Kenya – Wganda Kenya. Colombians with an African name, in fact pretending to be African, giving us their version of African music which was popular in Colombia in the 1970s.
Orchestre Les Volcans Du Benin – Vol.1. Acid Jazz have issued a number of albums from 1970s Benin. Les Volcans like many African bands of the era were very influenced by Latin music.
Another Sun Ra fan, yay!
1. Little Feat – Electrif Lycanthrope
What else is there to say about this? I still have a copy of the vinyl bootleg (subtitled be-bop deluxe), loaned to me by a friend of a friend in around 1980 along with Rampant Synchopatio (The 1976 American Tour – Saint Valentine En Gumbo). They were never reclaimed, although I did make efforts to track down the owner. If you feel that you have a credible claim I’d be delighted to hear from you.
2. The Sunshine World Of Louis Philippe
I’m a big fan of Philippe Auclair, I think that as a football journalist his eloquently expressed and insightful views on the modern game put him amongst the very best observers of the beauty and madness of football in the 21st century.
His parallel career as a songwriter & performer by the name of Louise Philippe is summarised here through this well chosen compilation put together by Sean O’Hagan of the High Llamas – two songs each from seven of Philippe’s records spanning 1993 to 2007. It’s lovely stuff, elegant classic pop music, a tad fey at times but none the worse for that.
A absolutely fantastic year for archive releases
1. Various Artists – We Are Children Of The Sun
2. Danny Zeitlin – The Name Of The Terrain
3. Various Artists – Fell From The Sun
4. Frank Sinatra – Watertown (Deluxe Edition 2022 Mix)
5. Various Artists – Deep In The Woods (Pastoral Psychedelia and Funky Folk 1968-1975)
BUBBLING UNDER
Blossom Toes – We Are Ever So Clean
Various Artists – Jon Savage’s 1977-1979 – Symbols Clashing Everywhere
Various Artists – The Studio Wizardry of Todd Rundgren
Mary Lattimore – Collected Pieces 2015-2020
Various Artists – I’d Love To Turn You On (Volume 1)
Various Artists – Notes From The Underground
Broadcast – BBC Madia Vale Sessions
Various Artists – Unscene-Birminham Post Punk 1978-1982
Various Artists – David Hepworth Deep 70s
Various Artists – Heroes And Villains (The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965-1968)
Various Artists – Can The Glam
Various Artists – Boom! Italian Jazz Soundtracks At Their Finest (1959-1969)
Various Artists – The Wonderful World Of Depressing Country Music
Lee Hazelwood – The Sweet Ride (Lost Recordings 1965-1968)
Stomu Yamashta – Seasons
Various Artists – Miles Out To Sea (The Roots Of British Power Pop)
Various Artists – Blowing Free (Underground & Progressive Sounds Of 1972)
Wire – Not About To Die
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood – Nancy & Lee
Count Ossie And The Mystic Revelation Of Rastifari – Grounation
Various Artists – Garage Psychedelique
Stereolab – Pulse Of The Early Brain (Switched On 5)
Bill Nelson – Art Empire Industry – Bill Nelson’s Red Noise
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces From The Upsetter Ark-ive)
Various Artists – Clowns Exit Laughing (The Jimmy Webb Songbook)
Neu! – Neu! 50
Various Artists – Revenge Of The She-Punks
Various Artists – High In The Morning (The Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1973)
Various Artists – Folk Funk Hippy Troubadours Volume One
Marianne Faithfull – Songs Of Innocence
Can – Live In Cuxhaven
Various Artists – I’m A Mess (D-I-Y or Die! Art,Trash & Neon) (Punk 45s In The UK 1977-1979)
Various Artists – Eins Und Zwei Und Drei Volume 2 (Deutsche Experimentelle Pop-Music)
Various Artists – Climb About My Roundabout – The British Toytown Pop Sound 1967-1974
The Beatles – Revolver
Lou Reed – Words And Music
Various Artists – Do It Again – The Songs Of Brian Wilson
Bloody hell @ip33
I’m exhausted just reading that. How do you find the time or inclination?
5 hours a day out and about slaving for Royal Mail (#Standbyyourpost), hour a day in the car and we aren’t great TV watchers, so I manage to fit it all in. Discipline is what you need.
There are some quite wonderful titles, @ip33.
The Wonderful World Of Depressing Country Music.
Folk Funk Hippy Troubadours Volume One
Boom! Italian Jazz Soundtracks At Their Finest (1959-1969)
Some of these LPs seem to exist in an alternative pop universe. which has been created by a playful, pernicious alien entity.
Artists with names like Cindy Titzer.
Songs like With his siller in his hands.
What is a siller??
Would it be inappropriate for me to get my “siller” out in polite company?
@Kaisfatdad Quite a lot of my life is lived in an alternative pop universe. It seems better than the real world!
You are a very wise man, Ip33! It IS far better!
With all the strikes and other tribulations you are suffering in the UK right now, the Magic World of Pop must offer a blessed relief.
And you have such a magnificently eclectic taste there’s no risk of you getting stuck in a rut. You must make amazing discoveries all the time.
You are very kind @Kaisfatdad Follow the right people on Twitter (it’s not that bad) read the right mags, listen to the right radio progs and dive deep into Bandcamp.
That’s my secret.
Cheers for the Denny Zeitlin tip, ip33.
That looks very nice indeed.
Will investigate.
I’ve got a fair chunk of those on your list @ip33 plus a whole lot more not on the list. As you say ‘A fantastic year for archive releases’
Now that’s what I call a reissues list! Will be digging in to several of them.
May I suggest “Various Artists – Music For The Stars (Celestial Music 1960-1979)” and
“Various Artists – End Of The Road Presents Between The Music”? They are the two that appear on my list that are not on yours and, judging by what you’ve chosen, I think you’ll like them.
I’ve got Music For The Stars, inexplicably left off my list.
Do compilations (both single artist and various) count?
They do now …
Divine Comedy – Charmed Life: The Best of the Divine Comedy
Jim Bob – The Essential Jim Bob
And Cherry Red have nicked more of my cash with these box sets:
1979 – Revolt Into Style
1980 – Brand New Rage
Riding The Rock Machine – British Seventies Classic Rock
Kids On The Street – UK Power Pop and New Wave 1977-1981
(and there is a 1981 set coming in January)
1 The Beatles – Revolver
2 Frank Zappa – Waka/Wazoo
3 Frank Zappa – The Mothers 1971 (Super Deluxe)
4 Frank Zappa – Zappa ’75 : Zagreb/Ljubjana
5 Frank Zappa – Zappa/Erie (live)
I have a friend who I last saw over 20 years ago, he was and probably still is a huge Zappa fan. At that time he had over 120 Zappa related releases, given the amount of reissues/special editions in the intervening years I wonder how many he now has.
The reissues/live recordings this year have come at a rate of about one every few months. They’re all great, by which I mean the musicians and the way the band plays together are just superb.
The most recent one, Waka/Wazoo, came out a couple of days ago and it’s just a treasure trove of stuff from one of FZ’s most productive years, 1972. This was after some idiot had pushed him off the stage in London in Dec ‘71, and he was in a wheelchair.
Reminder that this poll closes at midnight Christmas Eve UK time (Dec 24 23.59 to avoid confusion) 4 days to go. Currently looks like a 3 horse race for the coveted title, but that can change quickly
2 days and a bit to go!
1. Live at the El Mocambo – The Rolling Stones. Playing like their lives depended on it, you feel the sweat in the room and convinces you once again that the place to see them is a small venue and not in an enormadome.
2. Revolver SDE – The Beatles. Overpriced and the lack of a bluray was galling, but the new mix and mono master are really good. Did I say it was overpriced?
3. Beach Boys – Sail on Sailor SDE. Wonderfully compiled set from my favourite period. Oddly ignored in the Mojo best of list.
4. Divine Symmetry – David Bowie. His pivotal year in all its glory.
5. Animals – Pink Floyd. Great surround sound mix of an album I’ve never owned until now.
The Beach Boys set came out after Mojo printed their list.
Why do music mags keep listing their best of lists 6/8 weeks before the years end?
They should take a leaf out of the AW`s book and publish in the New Year.
Sales.
A lot of Music Mag punters like lists before Xmas so they can see what’s available for present-giving (including to themselves). Record labels like pre-Xmas listings for the same reason.
OK, but they reviewed it in the same issue and I can’t think it would count as a reissue of 2023.
Perhaps the deadline for reviews is later than the deadline for features.
Based on this list, you are just missing Wilco to be my favourite guy here to have a beer with
My round @Dai
Such a shame the “Nucleus Live At The BBC” box missed 2022 by being released in December 2021.
Probable best of the decade contender.
Agreed.
Guitar/Vocal – Richard Thompson
Toast – Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Best of – Roxy Music (Half-speed remastering of an album that has been OOP since the early noughties
In my book Toast is a new album, every track never before released.
I get your point, but recorded 20 years ago so not new.
Wouldn’t the same point re unreleased tracks also
Scupper Tom Petty at the Fillmore 1997?
As I`ve pointed out elsewhere, how do we know how long any `new` track has been recorded. I bet less than 5% of `new` albums released in 2022 were recorded in 2022 or 2021. So yes Shakey`s `Toast` and Tom Petty`s `Filmore` releases are NEW and should be allowed in the Best New Album Poll of 2022.
That`s my opinion @Jayjee and I`ve yet to see a decent point made against.
You and i should really sit down and have a drink sometime, Baron, a splendid evening would surely ensue
I’ve no doubt about it🍺🍷🥃🍻 @Jaygee 😎
I think Duco puts it best: Historical, Archival and Rereleases.
I accept that a ‘new’ album could be years in the making but Shakey’s and Petty’s are both dug out of the archives and are historical.
Historical Tiggs? I bought `World Record` and listened to it for the first time in 2022, all those years ago.
It`s a NEW release. I said so and of course I`m correct.
World Record is new music, Toast is old music. I think there’s a clear distinction most would accept.
@Jaygee as far as I am concerned Neil fits the bill perfectly. Are these in order?
They are indeed, D. Thanks for all your hard work in taking this on and a very merry (if brass monkey cold according to my relatives there) Xmas in Tronno
Beatles- Revolver
Orbital- 30 Something Years Later
Not a cover of the Carter USM album but a sort of re-recorded greatest hits, a few new remixes and a couple of new tracks. Somewhat whets the appetite for new material in 2023.
Senseless Things- First of too many
Entirely remixed album and a live show from 1991. A good little package, hope they bring out more live stuff going forward (they were always a great live band).
Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Are those in order? @pawsforthought
Sorry @dai they are in order
Ta
Thanks for that tip on the Orbital release @pawsforthought. Didn’t know of its existence and now partying like it’s 1993 over here 🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃
Too many great reissues to choose from this year, I could easily have done a top 20.
1. Blondie – Against The Odds
2. Dexys Midnight Runners – Too-Rye-Ay
3. That Petrol Emotion – Every Beginning Has a Future
4. Dennis Bovell – The DuBMASTER: The Essential Anthology
5. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces from the Upsetter Ark-ive)
In order 1-5:
Sammi Smith – Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-75
Melancholic downbeat soulful country from the 70s.
Bill Evans – You Must Believe in Spring
Sparkling re-master of classic late period ballad set.
Dusty Springfield – Dusty Sings Soul
Joyous recreations of minor soul classics culled from her 60s/70s albums.
Blue Notes – Blue Notes for Mongezi
Exiled South African jazzers – Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani, Louis Moholo and Chris McGregor – pay tribute to the departed Mongezi Feza in free-blowing mid-70s skronk classic.
V/A – Clowns Exit Laughing: The Jimmy Webb Songbook
Wonderful compilation of the great man’s tunes by lesser-known artists.
Others worth a listen:
V/A – These Memories: Rare Soul Gems
V/A – It Hurts So Good
V/A – Disco Reggae Rockers
V/A – John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop
Johnny “Hammond” Smith – Gears
That Blue Notes album is one I haven’t played for quite a while.
Thanks for the reminder.
*** VOTING HAS CLOSED ***
Thanks for all contributions
Merry Christmas!
And a Merry Christmas to you, @dai – and many thanks for organising the poll!
Cheers! Have a great time
I know there are plenty of Michael Chapman fans on this board.
Has any Afterworder heard/bought the Michael Chapman archival recording that came out this year, namely the “Live At The New Vic Bristol” CD/DVD set, a recording from 2000? If so, what do you think of it?