Best Reissues of 2010, Part 1: Various Artist Collections

Over the last couple of weeks just about every man, woman, child and dog with a blog has been publishing their lists of the best and worst music of 2010. Yet despite the alarming growth of self-styled music critics and the incredible wealth of amazing music of the past being excavated and re-released over the past year, relatively few of this year's truly awesome archival releases have been properly acknowledged.
To help redress the problem, I've put together a list of my own favourite reissues split into two parts – the first dealing with thematic compilations involving various artists (below) and the second covering album reissues and single artist retrospectives will follow in the coming days.

Top 100 Various Artist Collections of 2010

1. Next Stop... Soweto, Volumes 1 to 3 Box (Strut)
2. Afro-Beat Airways - West African Shockwaves: Ghana & Togo 1972-1979 (Analog Africa)
3. To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings From Istanbul (Honest Jon's Records)
4. The World Is A Monster: Columbia Hillbilly 1948-58 (Omni)
5. Lagos Disco Inferno (Academy)
6. Luk Thung! The Roots Of Thai Funk Vol. 3 (ZudRangMa)
7. Blue Flamingo: Congo Jazz (Excelsior)
8. Black Man's Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti (Now Again)
9. Cumbia Beat Vol. 1: Experimental Guitar-Driven Tropical Sounds from Perú 1966-76 (Vampi Soul)
10. Angola Soundtrack (Analog Africa)
11. Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974 (Sublime Frequencies)
12. Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas (World Psychedelic)
13. Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero Group)
14. Peoples Potential Family Album (Peoples Potential Unlimited)
15. Waking Up Scheherzade Vol. 2 (Ali Baba & His 40... Records)
16. Quantic Presents Tropical Funk Experience – Cumbia, Salsa, Palenque & Other Funky Tropical Sounds From 1970's Colombia & Panama (Nascente)
17. Deutsche Elektronische Musik - Experimental German Rock And Electronic Music 1972-83 (Soul Jazz)
18. Ivory Coast Soul – Afrofunk In Abidjan From 1972 to 1982 (Hot Casa)
19. Si Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba, Vol. 2 (Waxing Deep)
20. California Funk - Rare Funk 45s From The Golden State (Now Again)
21. Said I Had A Vision: The Songs & Labels Of David Lee (Paradise of Bachelors)
22. The Afro Sound of Colombia, Vol. 1 (Vampi Soul)
23. Cool-Aid Benefit Album: 40th Anniversary Edition (Regenerator)
24. A Real Cool Time Revisited: Swedish Punk, Pop and Garage Rock 1982-89 (Amigo)
25. Excavated Shellac: Strings (Parlortone)
26. Chocolate Soup For Diabetics Vol. 1 to Vol. 5 (Past & Present)
27. The Loud Minority: Deep & Spiritual Jazz From Mainstream Records 1970-73 (BGP)
28. Wasa Wasa – Fabulous Rhythm N Blues Shakers On The Dancefloor 1952 to 1968 (Sub Rosa)
29. Noah Found Grace (Social Music Records Club) 
30. Minimal Wave Tapes, Volume One (Stones Throw)
31. Zulu Stomp!! South Africa Garage Beats!! (No Smoke)
32. Horo: A Jazz Portrait (DejaVu Records)
33. The Gospel Truth: The Gospel Soul of Stax Records (BGP)
34. Pop A La Catalana: Jazzy, Bossa & Groovy Sounds From Catalunya [1963-1971] (Vadim)
35. Jazz – A Collection Of Progressive & Independent Spiritual Jazz 45s 1968 to 1975 (Jazzman)
36. Atenshion! Refleshion! Spanish Psychedelic Grooves 1967-1976 (Hundergrum) 
37. Nigerian Afrobeat Special – The New Explosive Sound In 1970s Nigeria (Soundway)
38. Groove Club 2: Cambodia Rock Spectacular (Lion)
39. The Message Soul, Funk and Jazzy Grooves From Mainstream Records (BGP)
40. Baby, How Can It Be? Songs of Love, Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s (Dust-To-Digital)
41. Black Hole: Jon Savage Presents California Punk 1977-1980 (Domino)
42. The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970's Nigeria (Soundway)
43. Groovy Indeed! Trio Records 1971-1981 (Art Union/Trio)
44. R&B Hipshakers Vol. 1: Teach Me To Monkey (Vampi Soul)
45. Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music In India 1970-1983 (World Psychedelic Funk Classics)
46. Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics Vol. 1 (Angular)
47. Kid Loco Presents: French Funk Experience (Nascente)
48. The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam from Thailand 1964 -1975 (Soundway)
49. Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966-70 (Big Beat)
50. Cloud Cuckcooland (Finders Keepers)
51. Something Is Wrong: Songs From East Africa 1952-7 (Honest Jon's)
52. Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia 1975-91 (Soundway)
53. Tropical Funk Experience: Island Jump Up – Caribbean Funk, Soul, Reggae, Calypso & Afro Grooves 1968 to 1975 (Nascente)
54. T.O. Hardcore '83 (NRK)
55. Groove Merchant Turns 20 - 14 Selections From Behind The Counter (Ubiquity)
56. Vanity Records: Finest Selection 1978-81 (Save Music Before Lose It)
57. Pomegranates: Persian Pop, Funk, Folk and Psych of the 60's and 70s (Finders Keepers)
58. Ghana Funk From The 70s (Hippo Records)
59. Music For Jazz Dancers (Freestyle)
60. King Tubby's Dub Box: 14 Killer Dubs From The Dubmaster (Jamaican Recordings)
61. Gospel Truth: The Gospel Soul & Funk Of Stax Records (BGP)
62. Rap Nuggets – Documenting The Golden Era of 1990-1994 (Rap Nuggets)
63. Dub Treasures From The Black Ark – Rare Dubs 1976 - 1978 (Jamaican Recordings)
64. Calfia: The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood (ACE)
65. You Tore My Brain: Unissued Sixties Garage Acetates Vol. 5 (Norton)
66. Nigeria Special: Volume 2 – Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 (Soundway)
67. Walter Gibbons - Jungle Music: Essential & Unreleased Remixes 1976-1986 (Strut)
68. Denge Fever Presents Electric Cambodia (Minky)
69. Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands (Numero Group)
70. Java Java: Indonesia Screaming Fuzz, Garage Stomp, Indo Rock & Beat Surf Vol. 1 (No Smoke)
71. South African Funk Experience: Zulu, Funky Disco, Shebeen Jive, Jo 'Burg Funk, Spiritual Jazz Dance , Shangaan & More (Nascente)
72. Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna (Sublime Frequencies)
73. More Andergraun Vibrations: Spanish Psychotronic Brain Damage 1967-1975 (Hundergrum)
74. The Rain Don't Fall On Me: Country Blues 1927-1952 (Mississippi Records)
75. Le Beat Bespoké 4 (Circle)
76. Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies: A Treasury Of Caucasian-American Gospel (Social Music Records)
77. Strange Games & Funky Things 5 compiled by DJ Spinna & BBE Soundsystem (BBE)
78. Turkish Freakout: Psych-Folk 1969-1980 (Bouzouki Joe)
79. Diggin' Down Argentina: Nuggets From The Rioplatense Scene 1969-1975 (Crazy Apple Boutique)
80. Kon & Amir Present Off Track Volume III: Brooklyn – Rare Ghetto Disco, Funk and African Boogie (Strut)
81. Colors Of Funk 2 - More From The German Sound Library Of Golden Ring & Happy Records 1975-82 (Sonorama)
82. Mag All Stars Vol 3 – The Best Peruvian Orchestras Of The 50s & 60s (Repsychled)
83. Psychedelic Disaster Whirl: 16 Rare & Wyld 45's (Past & Present)
84. Turk Jerk (Fat City)
85. Glimpses Vol. 1 and 2 (Past & Present)
86. Compendium Records: Norway's First Progressive Record Store & Label 1974 to 1977 (Plastic Strip)
87. Groove Club 3: Cambodia Rock Intensified (Lion)
88. Flipper Psychout - Original Italian Library Music From The Vaults of Flipper (Vampi Soul)
89. Traveling With My Portable Electric Phonograph, Volume 1 (Monk)
90. Rick Wilhite - Vibes: New & Rare Music (Rush Hour)
91. Steppin' Stone: The Sounds Of Memphis / XL Records Story Vol. 3 (Kent)
92. Radiogram: 24 Songs That Inspired The Teenage Gram Parsons (Righteous)
93. Street and Gangland Rhythms, Beats and Improvisations by Six Boys in Trouble (Smithsonian Folkways)
94. Persian Underground – Garage Rock, Beat, & Psychedelic Sounds From The Iranian 60s & 70s Scene (Persianna)
95. Wolf's At The Door (Sutro Park)
96. The Pitch/Gusman Records Story (Fat Possum)
97. Mixed-Up-Minds Part One [Obscure Rock And Pop From The British Isles 1970-1973] (Past & Present)
98. Gospel Funk (Secret Stash)
99. Been Here All My Days: Selections From the George Mitchell Archive (Mississippi Records)
100. Boddie Acetate Box (Numero Group)

Next Stop... Soweto Vol. 1 



Next Stop... Soweto Vol. 2 

Next Stop... Soweto Vol. 3 

Remembering Captain Beefheart

Sadly, innovative musician, prolific painter and artful prankster Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart passed away in Arcata, California on Friday (December 17) after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. He was 69.
If you haven't already succumbed to the spell of Captain Beefheart's incredible music, I suggest you investigate the the essential albums Safe As Milk (1967), Trout Mask  Replica (1969), Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970), Clear Spot (1972), Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974), Shiny Beast (1978) and Ice Cream For Crow (1982) and Grow Fins: Rarities [1965-1982] (1999) – right after watching the 1997 BBC documentary The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart narrated by John Peel (below).

The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart, Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5



Part 6

One For The Weekend: Charles Bradley

Here's the new video clip for Charles Bradley's stellar single The World (Is Going Up In Flames) backed by the Menahan Street Band. As previously noted, Bradley's ridiculously overdue debut album No Time For Dreaming is slated for release January 25 on Daptone's Dunham imprint.

The Perlich Post's top albums of 2010...

 

1. AfroCubism - AfroCubism (World CIrcuit)
2. Lloyd Miller / The Heliocentrics - OST (Strut)
3. Mochilla Presents Timeless: Mulatu Astatke (Mochilla)
4. Lobi Traore - Rainy Season Blues (Glitterhouse)
5. The Black Keys - Brothers (Warner)
6. Nat Birchall - Guiding Spirit (Gondwana)
7. Lisa O Piu - Behind The Bend (Subliminal Sounds)
8. Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green - Apex (Pi Recordings)
9. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (Warp)
10. David Murray - Plays Nat King Cole en Español (Universal Jazz)
11. Chucho Valdes & The Afro-Cuban Messengers - Chucho's Steps (Four Quarters)
12. Fern Knight - Castings (vhf)
13. MIA - /\/\/\Y/\ (N.E.E.T./XL)
14. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabate - Ali and Toumani (World Circuit)
15. Phosphorescent - Here's To Taking It Easy (Dead Oceans)
16. Franck Biyong & Massak - Voodoolectric Ground (Colored-Inc)
17. Jussi Lampela Nonet featuring Jukka Eskola - Lampela x Eskola (Ricky-Tick)
18. Rusty Willoughby - Cobirds Unite (Local 638 Records)
19. Limiñanas — Limiñanas (Trouble In Mind)
20. Elizabeth Shepherd - Heavy Falls The Night (Do Right!)
21. Neil Young - Le Noise (Reprise) 
22. Seu Jorge and Almaz (Stones Throw)
23. Endless Boogie - Full House Head (No Quarter)
24. Kelly Haigh - Country Western Star (Darling Music)
25. Smoke Fairies - Through Low Light And Trees (V2)
26. Khaira Arby - Timbuktu Tarab (Clermont Music)
27. Peter Case - Wig! (Yep Roc)
28. Skeletons - Smile (Impossible Ark)
29. Voice Of The Seven Thunders - Voice Of The Seven Thunders (Tchantinler)
30. Dean & Britta - 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (Double Feature)
31. Howe Gelb & A Band Of Gypsies - Alegrias (Eureka)
32. Myelin Sheaths - Get On Your Nerves (Southpaw)
33. Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut)
34. Pantha du Prince - Black Noise (Rough Trade)
35. Roky Erickson & Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti)
36. Tindersticks - Falling Down A Mountain (4AD)
37. Mostly Other People Do The Killing - Forty Fort (Hot Cup)
38. Dungen - Skit I Allt (Subliminal Sounds)
39. Christian Prommer's Drumlesson — Drumlesson Zwei (!K7)
40. Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 2 (Pi Recordings)
41. We Are All One, In The Sun: A Tribute To Robbie Basho (Important)
42. Michael Weston King - I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier (Valve)
43. Black Milk - Album of The Year (Decon/Fat Beats)
44. Dylan LeBlanc - Paupers Field (Rough Trade)
45. First Aid Kit - The Big Black and The Blue (Wichita)
46. Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - Propeller Time (Yep Roc)
47. The Souljazz Orchestra - Rising Sun (Strut)
48. Norma Winstone - Stories Yet To Tell (ECM)
49. The Rizdales - How The Marriage Ended (TNT)
50. Pop. 1280 - The Grid (Sacred Bones)
51. The Ex - Catch My Shoe (Ex Records)
52. The Budos Band - III (Daptone)
53. Wounded Lion - Wounded Lion (In The Red)
54. Beach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
55. Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do (ATO)
56. Woima Collective - Tezeta (Kindred Spirits)
57. Marcos Valle - Estática (Far Out)
58. Laura Veirs - July Flame (Raven Marching Band)
59. Johnny Dowd - Wake Up The Snakes (Munich)
60. Dusko Goykovich - 5ive Horns & Rhythm (Enja)
61. C'mon - Beyond The Pale Horse (Blown Speaker/Yeah Right!)
62. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (DFA/Virgin)
63. Black Twig Pickers - Ironto Special (Thrill Jockey)
64. Wendy Bird - Natural Wonder (Beaumont Classic)
65. Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz Ensemble — Miles Away (Stones Throw)
66. Ebo Taylor - Love and Death (Strut)
67. The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)
68. Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement (Gnomonsong)
69. William Parker - I Plan To Stay A Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (AUM Fidelity)
70. Charlie Parr - When The Devil Goes Blind (Nero's Neptune)
71. Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Rivers (Leaf)
72. Secret Sisters - Secret Sisters (Universal Republic)
73. The Parting Gifts - Strychnine Dandelion (In The Red)
74. Huron - Huron (Latent)
75. Earl Sweatshirt - Earl (OFWGKTA)
76. Doug Paisley - Constant Companion (No Quarter)
77. Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 - Northern Aggression (Yep Roc)
78. Caribou - Caribou Vibration Ensemble featuring Marshall Allen
79. Ty Segall - Melted (Goner)
80. John Zorn - Interzone (Tzadik)
81. Kyra & Tully - Wildlife [In and Out of The City] (Buster)
82. OFF! - The First Four EPs (Vice)
83. Pernice Brothers - Goodbye, Killer (Ashmount)
84. Indigo Jam Unit - Roots (basis)
85. Orgone - Killion Vaults (Ubiquity)
86. The Sadies - Darker Circles (Outside)
87. Azar Lawrence — Mystic Journey (Furthermore)
88. Junip - Fields (Mute)
89. Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now (Rough Trade)
90. Jane Weaver - The Fallen By Watch Bird (Bird/B-Music)
91. Asmara All Stars - Eritrea's Got Soul (Out Here)
92. Greenhornes - **** (Third Man)
93. Nottz - You Need This Music (Traffic)
94. Holy Fuck - Latin (Young Turks)
95. Hacienda - Big Red & Barbacoa (Alive)
96. Vowls - In Consonance, Pt. 1 (Polyphasic)
97. Lazer Sword - Lazer Sword (Innovative Leisure)
98. Calibro 35 - Ritornano Quelli Di... (Ghost)
99. Clutchy Hopkins - Storyteller (Ubiquity)
100. Bill Elm & Woody Jackson - Red Dead Redemption (Wax Poetics)

Backstabbers reunite for Canadian Corps Hall closing hoedown Saturday night

John Grant @ The Music Gallery Monday!

Chicken Bones by John Grant

One For The Weekend: Plush

A sharply attired Liam Hayes and his fellow Plush-mates got into the songs from last year's unjustly overlooked Bright Penny (Broken Horse) album during a three-night stand in Chicago at my favourite North Side nightspot, The Hideout back in June. Yes, Tim Tuten rules.
As you can see from their fantastic version of Bright Penny's awesome closer O Street in the clip below, legendary Chess session drummer Morris Jennings (see Curtis Mayfield's Superfly) and Pieces Of Peace bassist Bernard Reed provide just as soulfully swank support on stage as they do in the studio.   

O Street by Plush live at the Hideout

Blue Flamingo turns back the clock

One of the more entertaining mixes I've come across this year is the Congo Jazz (Excelsior) CD assembled by Rotterdam-based record collector Ziya Ertekin aka DJ Blue Flamingo from his own sizable stash of rare 78s. The title of his second release, the follow-up to Blue Flamingo - 78 rpm, is a bit misleading as the disc is similarly split into three separate thematic sets only one of which deals with vintage jazz recorded in Central Africa during the 1950s.
Not that I'm complaining, however, since the 17 minutes of swinging Congolese rumba tracks by Tino Baroza, Ochestre African Jazz and Marola & Oliveira Tchade comes bookended with a well-chosen set of hot jazz (including contributions from bands led by Red Nichols, Clarence Williams and Winnipeg's own Hartzell "Tiny" Parham) and a lengthy dip into jubilee and hard gospel which boasts a super rare Thomas A. Dorsey demo recording of Hide Me In Thy Bosom from the early 30s that predates Sister Rosetta Tharpe's popular version of 1937. Clearly it's not the sorta stuff you encounter every day so the Congo Jazz selection is well-worth tracking down. And vinyl fiends should grab the double LP version of Congo Jazz which includes a bonus mix of West African highlife and calypso recorded for the Senafone label on the fourth side.

Congo Jazz (Excelsior)

Jungle Crawl [Hot Jazz and Exotica from the 20s and 30s]
1     Jungle Expedition        
2     Leon Rene's Orchestra  -  I'm Mister African
3     Tiny Parham & His Musicians  -  Jungle Crawl
4     Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra  -  Borneo
5     Red Nichols & His World Famous Pennies  -  Jungle Fever
6     Clarence Williams & His Orchestra  -  Jungle Crawl
7     Phillips' Louisville Jug Band  -  Tiger Rag
 
Congo Jazz [Congolese Rumba from the 50s]
8     Congo Dances Are Very Gay Affairs
9     Tino Baroza  -  La Fiesta Cubana        
10     Orchestre African Jazz  -  Bolingo E Gagne
11     Kaba Joseph & Le Groupe Rhythmique Ngoma  -  Bana T'atomic Jazz
12     Mariola & Oliveira Tchade -  Canta Del Negro
13     Orchestre African Jazz  -  Elie Violette   
14     Orchestre Rock A Mambo  -  El Rico Cuban Mambo
     
That Old Time Religion [Jubilee, Gospel & Hard Gospel from the 30s - 50s] 

15     Daniel In The Lion's Den    
16     Professor Johnson & His Gospel Singers  -  That Old Time Religion
17     Happyland Singers  -  I'll Fly Away
18     Mahalia Jackson  -  I'm On My Way To Canaan
19     Mary Deloach  -  Our Father Loves His Son
20     Alex Bradford & The Bradford Specials  - Lord, Lord, Lord
21     Rev. Crum & The Mighty Golden Keys  -  Don't You Know Me Thomas
22     Thomas A. Dorsey  -  Hide Me In Thy Bosom     




Links
Blue Flamingo http://www.ziya.nl/
Congo Jazz CD
Congo Jazz 2 LP