I didn’t get to hear every great reissue of 2012, and I didn’t even hear all of these in the finest of all audio formats, but what’s here is what stoked my ears the best.
10. Ghetto Brothers, Power Fuerza | On one hand this record, rescued from the clutches of extreme rarity for the enjoyment of anyone with the interest and a little bit of extra spending cash, presents the results of an endeavor that can sorta pale when placed beside some of the more ambitious musical activities that saw reissue over the last year. On the other hand, it’s just another grand example of the non-grandiose 20th century musical tradition, possessing the stuff of thrillingly obscure R&B singles, delirious doo-wop one-offs, classic garage rock sessions, stunningly perfect punk rock 45s, and legendary rap 12-inches.
That Ghetto Brothers managed to record an accomplished full length album is proof of Power Fuerza’s delicious pudding. Plus, it’s the product of kids choosing to make music in the face of tough circumstances and less angelic options. Is it ultimately small of scale? Yes, but endearingly so. Is it life-affirming and constantly listenable? Most definitely.
9. Sonic Youth, Smart Bar – Chicago 1985 | No, technically not a reissue, but it seems sensible to place it here. This puppy pairs up pretty nicely with Dinosaur Jr.’s Chocomel Daze to illuminate the formative live sound of two of the most important bands to emerge from the 1980’s underground. Of the two, this is by far the better, though that shouldn’t be construed as a diss toward ol’ Dino; Mascis, Barlow, and Murph were certainly capable of live greatness even at this early stage, but Chocomel Daze doesn’t really bear that out. Much of their rep as a touring band was based on being just ridiculously loud, and a recording can’t really adequately express what that experience is like.
By contrast, this Sonic Youth gig does a fantastic job of capturing an amazing group transitioning from their early period into the era that brought us one of the great three album runs in rock’s history. Chocomel Daze is cool, but it’s basically one for the hardcore fans. Smart Bar – Chicago 1985 is much more than that.
8. Van Dyke Parks, Discover America | Song Cycle is the record for which Parks will likely always be best known, but if asked by a stranger for advice on where to begin investigating the work of this American original, I’d probably select Discover America. Actually, I’d definitely select this one.
Song Cycle is Mr. Parks’ greatest work, but it’s also a record that not everyone loves, and even many who do love it took a while to warm to its greatness. No, not everyone will love Discover America either, but if a grand concept, it’s also quite handy as a party record, particularly for sweaty summertime socials. If Song Cycle immediately announces (without arrogance) that it’s a product of a great young intelligence (not to mention an old soul), Discover America is less assertive in this regard. But it may actually be Van Dyke Parks’ most intellectually accomplished work.
7. Laurie Spiegel, The Expanding Universe | My introduction to Laurie Spiegel came through the justly lauded 3CD set OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music that the Ellipsis Arts label put out back in 2000. The piece was “Appalachian Grove I,” and it was just another intriguing entry amongst many in a highly educational and wondrously enjoyable musical survey. Spiegel may not be as well known as some of her contemporaries included on that set, but she was truly an electronic artist of distinction; her piece “Kepler’s Harmony of the Worlds” was the first work included on the Golden Record launched on board the spacecraft Voyager in 1977.
The Expanding Universe was her debut album, appearing in 1980 on the Philo label, but good luck finding an original. Earlier this year Unseen Worlds saw fit to reissue it in a greatly expanded 2CD set and 500 copy clear vinyl run. That pressing is sold out, but another batch is in the works due to one of the sweetest of circumstances, “overwhelming demand.” And the LP even comes with a digital download of all the tracks from the 2CD. Around these parts, that’s what’s called a win-win.
The Expanding Universe is, as befits its title, a very spacey record. Thankfully, it lacks the New Ageist vibe that many likeminded records explored during this same timeframe; if the sidelong title cut is an exquisite excursion of electronic drift, it’s also assertive enough that it never falls into the background. That obscure but vibrant releases like this one are getting renewed attention is a true testimonial to the general health of the current music community, both labels and listeners.
6. The Books, A Dot in Time | Multi-disc career-spanning collections are a music lover’s standby, but all too frequently they continue to appear in CD and/or digital configurations only, unfortunately sidestepping vinyl as a consumer option. And while format should never trump the simple availability of quality music in the grand scheme of things, it’s a sweet turn of events that the Temporary Residence label saw fit to collect the complete works of The Books into a 7LP set.
Across the span of their existence this duo was an audiophile’s delight, and having it all served up in one place (with a DVD and 56-page book to boot) is a true banquet for the ears, much of the music as warmly befuddling as it was on initial issue. Indeed, it’s no stretch to describe the contents of A Dot in Time as some of the most interesting music of this still young century. And this wasn’t Temporary Residence’s only stellar single-artist retrospective of 2012, for Complete Discography from Moss Icon, Annapolis, MD’s post-HC/emo-core legends, just missed the cut of this Top Ten by the slimmest of margins.
5. feedtime, The Aberrant Years | What goes for The Books goes for this collection as well, and it goes a little extra because Sydney, Australia’s feedtime, one of the greatest ‘80s bands that almost nobody ever heard of, were in considerably higher danger of slipping through the cracks of history. Sludgey, bluesy, dense, and everything that was ever great about punk rock, feedtime’s impact on other more famous bands is surely a big part of why they matter, but the music collected on The Aberrant Years is the largest reason of all.
While truly heavy, they were also really smart and indeed groundbreaking; their cross-pollination of blues motifs and punk clamor was one of the first examples of, and after some consideration really the benchmark for, the whole punk-blues impulse. Chalk a big one up for the Land Down Under.
4. Bikini Kill, (s/t) | And speaking of punk rock, this very welcome reissue does an outstanding job of reintroducing the early explosiveness of arguably the ‘90s greatest punk band. And if there’s going to be an argument about it, the only other contender would be The Mummies. What makes it so tempting to crown Bikini Kill with this distinction is the sheer level of impact they had on music and culture (did somebody say Pussy Riot?).
It can’t really be stressed enough that once upon a time, in fact right up to the point where Bikini Kill and a handful of other likeminded groups erupted, the level of involvement of women in the scene was nothing like it is today. But this band was concerned with much more than just the unequal gender ratio of rock bands however, having a whole culture of injustice and maybe most importantly an agenda of self-empowerment for young women on their minds.
In my estimation this is the greatest Bikini Kill record. Where so much punk rock, even some of the truly great stuff, is actually an approximation of anger, this record seethes and spits with legitimate articulated rage like few others in the genre. I’m through being tempted; Bikini Kill is the ‘90s greatest punk band, and these six songs are what anybody new to the group should hear first.
3. Can, The Lost Tapes | Finds like this one usually occur in the world of film, where someone decides to clean out an old storage building and then presto, a lost movie from Hitchcock or John Ford or Fritz Lang suddenly appears. If an archival find of this import is rare in the musical realm, the sheer amount of quality material added to Can’s discography is a fortunate circumstance that also lacks much precedent, at least outside the world of jazz reissue-dom.
This set effectively adds five freaking albums of very good to downright exceptional material to this band’s already weighty reputation. Some highly regarded groups don’t have five albums in their entire body of work, much less five that are as good as The Lost Tapes. If already one of the great bands in rock’s history, in 2012 Can got a hell of a lot better.
2. The Velvet Underground, Scepter Studios Sessions | The punk in me can’t help but resist Universal’s rather grandiose 6CD celebration of The Velvet Underground and Nico, a set that marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the band’s debut record. What exactly the conglomerate has planned for its fiftieth birthday remains to be seen. Something tells me this collection is going to help a retiring Universal record exec make a down payment on his/her personal island.
But enough griping.
It’s much harder to be cynical about the Black Friday vinyl issue of this storied acetate. The tale of its discovery, found in a NYC sidewalk sale and purchased with two other records for 75 cents, is almost tantamount to someone stumbling onto the Hope Diamond in a box of junk jewelry while browsing in a consignment shop and taking it home for a fiver. Unless I missed something, this is its first issue in a format other than file-shared digital rips and the abovementioned rather pricey and somewhat redundant 6CD set, and for this decades-long Velvet’s booster that’s a fantastic development.
Its charms are so much more than just minutiae for those obsessed with this eternally beautiful band. Instead, its substantial differences provide an informative and highly delightful glimpse into the making of one of rock’s greatest albums. How wonderful it is that these sounds are finally attached to a tangible release, even if it is a limited edition.
1. Various Artists, The African Guitar Box | A limited edition labor of love from the folks at Portland, OR’s Mississippi Records, this 5LP set housed in a pine box collects a slew of previously released but extremely hard to find guitar music from the continent of Africa, recorded between 1951 and 1970. The selections feature both acoustic and electric performances, range from the achingly beautiful to the fascinatingly complex, and provide a wealth of enjoyment that will simply never lose its appeal.
Across the ten sides there’s a heavy emphasis on works from the countries of Kenya, Zaire, Uganda, and Congo, but the albums aren’t grouped geographically, instead being compiled by qualities of aural texture, the better for maximum enjoyment. Vocals are very prevalent, as is rhythmic accompaniment. Some of the tracks come from unknown artists, and most of the credited names are quite obscure, though the fairly well-known figure of Francis Bebey does appear for two cuts.
Much of what’s here was first issued on LP by the Original Music label of the great John Storm Roberts, but those records have been scarce for decades. Presented in an edition of 200 copies this past June, The African Guitar Box has been scarce since this past July. Releases this limited and this substantial will obviously inspire frustration from those who missed out, and placing it in the number one spot here might seem like grandstanding. But that’s not the intention. I’m not one of the lucky 200 with a hard copy of this release. I have heard the music though, many times now, and it’s brought me great pleasure.
That Mississippi Records would bother to assemble a collection of this magnitude brings me just as much joy. No one person can own a copy of every worthwhile release. However, knowing that 200 people do own it is a huge part of what makes this discourse on the enduring phenomenon of recorded music so fulfilling.
