Greetings once again, Afterworders.
Thanks for your comments on my Favourite New Albums list of 2016 a few days ago.
And now, logically, it’s time for my Favourite 35 Reissues and Historical recordings of 2016.
I found these much harder to put in a strict ranking (pun probably intended) order.
So let’s start off with Nos 16 to 35 in Alphabetical order…
Nos 16 to 35 in Alphabetical order
Albert Ayler Quartet – European Radio Studio Recordings 1964
A welcome HatHut reissue of the classic Hilversum and Copenhagen radio sessions.
Glen Brown – Check the Winner
One of three compilations of music from Glen Brown’s Pantomime studio during the 1970-74 period. This one is instrumentals.
The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
Reissue of James Kirby’s ambient classic from 2011. Sounds like low-key 1930s jazz played on an old phonogram in a locked room, somewhere at the end of a long corridor. With lots of hisses and noise added on top.
Richard Crandell – In the Flower of Our Youth
Charming 1981 solo acoustic guitar outing from Oregon.
Fleetwood Mac – In Concert
21 live tracks from the 1979-80 tour
Jerry Garcia – GarciaLive Volume Seven: November 8th 1976 Sophie’s, Palo Alto
Hometown gig at a tiny club. Includes a gigantic 22-minute version of “Don’t Let Go”
Grateful Dead – Red Rocks, 7/8/78
One of the most famous Betty Boards finally made it out as an official release. Jerry nails the first set ballads admirably, and the band are really flying in the Estimated > Other One > Eyes in the second set. Also notable for the Dead’s best attempt at Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”
Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Volume 19: Honolulu Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, HI, January 23, 1970
Two nights in Hawaii. The surviving tracks from 24 Jan, which are put on Disc 3 as bonus material, are the best stuff. Includes the best “Mason’s Children” ever.
Junjo Presents: Big Showdown
All of the classic Scientist dub sets on Greensleeves have been reissued, credited – for some legal reasons – to “Junjo” or “Linval” instead. All the images of Scientist on the cover have been blocked out. The music is still mighty.
Dadisi Komolafe – Hassan’s Walk
Early 80s long-form spiritual jazz from Los Angeles.
Bruce Langhorne – Hired Hand (OST)
Scissor Tail Records are to be congratulated on reissuing the sparse, desolate soundtrack to the cult 1971 Western.
Mabrak – Drum Talk
10 of Leroy Mattis’s talking drum rhythms mixed by King Tubby.
Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band – Wede Harer Guzo
The Awesome Tapes from Africa label are certainly living up to their name. This is their third release of ultra-obscure vintage material by the 1970s/80s ethio jazz keyboard man, and the third winner.
Page One & the Observers – Observation Of Life Dub
First ever CD release for Niney the Observer dub set from 1976
Revolutionaries – Burning Dub
Dub cuts of ten 1979 Channel One productions featuring a crème-de-la- crème studio band.
Revolutionaries – Revolutionaries Sounds Vol. 2
Dub cuts of ten 1976 Channel One productions featuring a crème-de-la- crème studio band.
Skin Flesh & Bones – Dub in Blood
Reissue of an extremely rare dub set originally on the Sunshot label. Eleven Phil Pratt cuts recorded for Ossie Hibbert at Channel One, plus one Lee Perry dub from the Black Ark thrown in for good measure.
Sons of Negus – A Psalm of Praises to the Most High 1967-1972
Ras Michael’s early recordings of Rastafarian hymns and chants
Various Artists – Well Charged, Vol. 1
Vinyl reissue of early Pressure Sounds compilation
Bunny Wailer – Solomonic Singles, Pt. 2: Rise & Shine (1977-1986)
Not quite as impeccable as Volume 1, but still very fine.
Nos 6 to 15 coming up in due course …
I have absolutely no idea how amongst all this magnificence you find room for the dreadful, simply dreadful, Fleetwood Mac. Everything Wrong about the late 70s, early 80’s. The Dead’s Red Rocks may possibly be the best ever live concert ever recorded (possibly)
You know, Lodestone, I’ve never really considered myself a ‘Fleetwood Mac fan’, as such.
I love “Tusk,” and like a few tracks on “Then Play On” and “Rumours”. But that’s about it, really.
I have a CD of that Observation Of Life Dub already. I think I got it in a box set, an Evolution Of Dub one.
Re Dub In Blood. The blurb claims it is the best dub album ever made. It’s a great record but I can think of a few that are better.
Yes, I agree. There’s no need to go over the top about “Dub in Blood”.
I HAVE FOUR OF THEM!!
and now I need to go and check out the rest – gracias, amigo
What is the issue with Scientist/Junjo?
No idea if she’s in your list to come, but thanks for posting that Connie Converse YouTube thing the other day – it’s topsa!
Good to hear that, Sniffity. I love those Connie Converse songs. She appears to have been a remarkable woman. I wish she’d been able to have a real ‘career’ in music – i.e. to make properly recorded albums over many years. But it was not to be; she was a decade or two ahead of her time.
Her album isn’t in my chart, as it was reissued (on the marvellously named Squirrel Thing Records) in 2015, and not 2016.
Okey-dokey. Now we come to nos 6 to 15, in a rough order of preference. What an extraordinary year it’s been for reissues and historical recordings…
6. Various Artists – Money Maker
Reissue of a short but extremely high quality set of Studio One tracks – mostly instrumentals. Features a brief, rare cameo appearance by label boss Sir Coxsone Dodd on vocals. Nice packaging. Exemplary sound quality.
7. Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now, Vols II, III and IV
You know this one.
8. Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Vol. 18: Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, 16 & 17 July 1976
Even obsessive Deadheads have to admit that archivist Dave Lemieux selected a winner with his eighteenth Pick. 16 and 17 July 1976 were the fourth and fifth nights of a 6-night hometown run in San Francisco for the band. The second-set jams from 17 July are as good as you’ll ever hear from 1976 Dead. Contains a 16-minute Comes A Time which is simply … immense.
9. Bill Evans – Some Other Time: the Lost Session From The Black Forest
In June 1968, the Bill Evans Trio (Evans, Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette) were passing through the Black Forest after performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival. They stopped for a day to record more than an hour’s worth of new material at the MPS studios in Villingen. For one reason or another, the album was never released and the tapes remained unheard. Until now.
10. The Aggrovators – Dubbing At King Tubby’s
A nice way to gather all 44 of the Bunny Lee productions dubbed by King Tubby that were once re-released by Blood and Fire in three separate volumes. This new 2CD or 2 x 2LP package makes up one of the set texts of dub music.
11. Scientist – Dub Landing (Vol. 1)
A vinyl reissue on the Russian label Mir. There are many who consider the two volumes of Dub Landing to be Scientist’s very best work.
12. Deaf Center – Pale Ravine
Seminal Norwegian ambient/modern classical work from 2005 gets a deluxe double vinyl reissue. If you’re keen on artists like Harold Budd and William Basinski, this’ll be right up your street.
13. King Tubby’s – Two Big Bull in a One Pen Dubwise
The 1986 original vocal version of this album was by Anthony Red Rose and King Kong. Dub Store Records of Tokyo, in its greatest ever year of releases, has reissued Tubby’s dub version of the album. Classic late-period Tubbs.
14. Jack Rose – Jack Rose
H.P. Saucecraft didn’t rate Jack Rose, but don’t let that put you off. Rose was a first rate American Primitive guitar fingerpicker who died seven years ago at the age of 38. Six of his records were reissued by Three Lobed recordings and VHF this year. This eponymous album is as good a showcase as any.
15. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – Trance Frendz
This was originally released in 2015 as disc 2 of the “Collaborative Works” CD set. Now it has a standalone vinyl release. The Icelandic and German ambient masters produce a really beautiful wash of sound that belongs with the very best of both men’s work. They could’ve thought of a better title, though.
The Titanic Top Five will be along tomorrow!
Oooh. Have a number of those but not Two Big Bull. I’ll get that now. Thanks.
Okey-dokey Afterworders, here we go with numbers 2 to 5. I’ll keep you waiting for No. 1 just a little while longer…
2. Bunny Wailer – Solomonic Singles, Pt. 1: Tread Along (1969-1976)
Immaculate collection of Jamaican-release singles from the first 7 years of Bunny Wailer’s career, including alternative versions of the three greatest tracks on “Blackheart Man – two of them dubbed as well. I’ve you’ve forgotten what a sweet reggae voice Bunny Wailer has, listen again.
3. Yishak Banjaw – Love Songs vol. 2
There’s a remarkable story behind this record. Yishak Banjaw in an Ethiopian keyboard player. In 1986, he was playing with a Police band in Eritrea. He thought it might be nice to record an album, so he scraped together 100 Ethiopian bir to rent a small Casio PT children’s keyboard from an acquaintance. He recorded 8 instrumental tunes in his front room, and sold the cassette through a local music shop. Thirty years later, Teranga Beat have released the album internationally. If you like the classic Ethio Jazz sound of the 70s and 80s, such as Mulatu Astatke, Hailu Mergia, etc., then I reckon you’ll go for this. Yishak Banjaw is still alive, and comments: “I am very glad to see my music being spread around the world.” We’re very glad, too, Yishak.
4. Bohren & Der Club of Gore – Sunset Mission
Most of the Bohren & Der Club of Gore back catalogue has just been reissued, and this is the absolute jewel. Christoph Clöser’s tenor sax hovers and meanders its way for an hour over a slow, blissed-out ambient backing. Like the mellow jazz soundtrack to an impossibly pleasnt dream in which you’re floating down a river in a punt, and all’s right with the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECyfX1OR_nk
5. Errol Brown – Orthodox Dub
Dub Store does it again. This is an impossibly rare collection of dubs from Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle studio – at the time, only a handful of copies appeared of the LP. The original vocal tracks were by B.B. Seaton, before they were dubbed by Reid’s nephew Errol Brown. An outstanding set from a lesser-known name.
I’ve put Errol in my basket.
Fingers crossed for Thad Jones or Bob Marley for the top spot but I’ve put a cheeky bet on Breadwoman And Other Tales.
I’d never heard of Bohren and the Club of Gore before but that is late-night-lovely.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore are a quality outfit, Lando. Well worth investigating.
Their 2014 outing, “Piano Nights”, also gets an emphatic thumbs-up from me.
Very nice. Could be a Love Over Gold outtake…
Right, here we go, then, Afterworders: time for the No.1 in my Reissues and Historical Recordings List. It’s not the Bob Marley Live 3LP release, Tigger, as sadly I don’t own a copy of that. You did, however, guess the right genre…
1. Yabby You and the Prophets – Beware Dub
Jamaica is a small country, and the seventies were only one decade. And so logically, the number of extraordinary 1970s reggae albums that can be re-released must be finite. And yet, every year, a seemingly inexhaustible stream of wonderful roots reggae and dub reissues make their way onto the market. I cross my fingers and hope it never runs dry.
Even by the standards of 2016, which has been a vintage year for reggae reissues, “Beware Dub” is outstanding. There’s something magical about the combination of Vivian Jackson’s productions and King Tubby’s reworking, and that’s never more evident than on this album. Pressure Sounds do their usual admirable job, adding six bonus tracks to the original 1978 album on Grove Music, including two previously unreleased dub plate remixes. If you only acquire one Yabby You album in your life, get Blood & Fire’s epoch-making “Jesus Dread” collection from 1997. If you’ve already got that, then get this
Bugger! That’s another hole in my wallet.
1970’s Jamaica just seems to have been one of those amazing places/times in history when a huge amount of magic was made in an astonishingly short period of time. Must have been something in the air (and can guess what that something was).
I’m all listed out but was very pleased to get this reissue
do I repeat myself?
very well
Impressive how many of these albums are on Spotify: about 75%.
Connie Converse! Wow! Even if she isn’t on this year’s list.
It looks like I’ve succeeded in making a few Connie Converse converts among the Afterworders. That can only be a good thing.