A few of the selections below aren’t much slimmer than what was on offer in yesterday’s list of expanded releases and box sets, but please understand this sort of undertaking isn’t an exact science. Here’s part one of our picks for the best reissues and archival releases of 2023. Part two, with entries 10-1, will arrive tomorrow.
20. Come – Near Life Experience (Fire) On paper, the merger of ’90s indie rock and punky bluesy thump might not seem like that big a deal, but if it’s being dealt by Thalia Zedek and Chris Brokaw, then expectations do rise considerably. And on this reissue of their third album, initially released in ’96, they exceed expectations, which is particularly impressive, as the band was whittled down to Zedek and Brokaw plus a bunch of guest contributors. But with Tara Jane O’Neil, Bundy K. Brown, and John McEntire amongst the helping hands, Near Life Experience is right up there with Come’s very best stuff.
19. Moonshake – Eva Luna (Deluxe) (Beggars Arkive) Sole constant Moonshake member David Callahan was in the swell C86-affiliated outfit Wolfhounds. The main trait carried over to this band/project is Callahan’s vocals, or more specifically the sound of his voice; here, he lands securely in the agitated UK frontman zone as the music expands to the borders of post-rock (the choice of moniker was swiped from a Can song). Later, Moonshake eschewed guitar entirely, but Margaret Fielder’s presence on the instrument and vocals (and her songs) boost Eva Luna’s value considerably, plus an added Peel Session.
18. John Hartford – Aereo-Plain (Real Gone) Famous for writing “Gentle On My Mind” (a hit for Glen Campbell), multi-instrumentalist (a triple threat on guitar, banjo, and fiddle), singer and songwriter Hartford indulged his amiable eccentric side with Aereo-Plain, though the record, masterful though it was (featuring Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Tut Taylor, and Randy Scruggs), didn’t exactly spark a retail firestorm. It did help set the stage for newgrass (Sam Bush advocates for its influence), and that’s fine as it lands in the zone between the Holy Modal Rounders and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
17. Shizuka – Heavenly Persona (Black Editions) Here’s the only studio album from this Japanese cult group affiliated with the legendary P.S.F. label featuring Shizuka Miura (vocals, guitar, bells, songs), Maki Miura (guitar, “music helper”), and Jun Kosugi (drums). While noise is an element in Heavenly Persona’s thrust (unsurprising as Maki and Kosugi were in Fushitsusha), Shizuka’s songs exude elements of psychedelic rock, ethereality, and acid-folk. There is a handful of live releases in the Shizuka discography, but this record is essential, and kudos to Black Editions for making it (briefly) available on wax.
16. The Chi-Lites – A Lonely Man (ORG Music) This ever reliable label’s reissues of select LPs from the Brunswick label, including Willie Henderson & the Soul Explosions, Jackie Wilson, and The Lost Generation, has been a treat for 2023, but the best of the bunch so far has been this gem by The Chi-Lites of Chicago. “Oh Girl” is the album’s hit that any fan of ’70s soul is likely to know, a very solid single, but jeepers creepers, the six-minute title track that closes side one is such a delight that I remain confused over why this album isn’t spoken of with greater reverence. Here’s a chance to get with it.
15. Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane S/T + Thelonious Monk Brilliant Corners (Craft Recordings) These two classics seeing reissue in the same calendar year spurs complementary qualitative momentum. First released by Riverside in 1961, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane came out as part of Craft Recordings’ vinyl reissue initiative into the Original Jazz Classics series. Essentially a compilation assembled by Orrin Keepnews intended to capitalize on the increased profile of the two principals, the set manages to transcend these modest origins to become an essential jazz acquisition.
The same goes for Brilliant Corners, which in contrast to the no-frills treatment given Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, is part of Craft’s Small Batch reissue series. That means this equally important recording in the Monk discography comes in a deluxe, beautifully assembled, and limited edition package, but with no extra tracks (that in this instance would be superfluous). Curious newbies to Monk would probably do best starting with Monk with Coltrane, but Brilliant Corners is a smart investment (still available as of this writing), a simply beautiful thing to behold that’s easily matched by the listening.
14. Chet Baker – Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland (Jazz Detective) Zev Feldman has done many great things while sleuthing out unheard jazz recordings and then assembling them for public consumption, but one of his sweetest achievements is in helping to clean up the late-career reputation of trumpeter Chet Baker. To be sure, there are more than a couple subpar live and studio dates from Baker the journeyman as he roamed around Europe in the late ’70s-early ’80s, but nary a disappointing track is heard across Blue Room’s two CDs or four sides of vinyl. It’s quite the welcome development.
13. Art Ensemble of Chicago – The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art) When a rock act trudges around the globe playing in halls half empty or more with one or two original members, it’s totally appropriate to view the situation with disdain. But in the case of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and specifically due to the group’s outgrowth from the AACM, the continued activity with sole remaining members Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye is not just wholly understandable, as evidenced by this set, it’s consistently inspiring. The group flaunts a bunch of young heavyweights, and that’s sweet.
12. The Chills – Kaleidoscope World + Brave Words (Fire) The scene has changed so much since the compilation of early Chills material, Kaleidoscope World was released in 1986 and debut album Brave Words followed early the next year, with The Chills’ sound having grown into an integral thread in the enduring indie pop weave, that I suppose some will be a little unsure, if not outright flummoxed, by the enthusiasm for these two records, and by the esteem for The Chills in general. Both records have been reissued in 2LP editions, and Brave Words has been remastered.
But please understand that when these two records were new, The Chills were hardly known outside of New Zealand. Getting hip to Kaleidoscope World was to experience one the greatest guitar pop bands of all time, and that Brave Words sustained this greatness rather than squandering it made it quite clear that The Chills, and by extension the early Flying Nun experience as a whole, was something truly special. And the reality is that subsequently, very few have gotten close to the quality of this early material, much less equaled or bettered it. Martin Phillipps is simply one of the greatest to ever do it.
11. V/A – Yo! Boombox Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-83 + Dub Specialist – Studio One Space-Age Dub Special (Soul Jazz) It was impossible to pick one of these over the other, so here they both are in tribute to the relentlessness of the Soul Jazz reissue program. Collecting exactly what its full title states, Yo! Boombox is an utter delight, including a few high-profile names, foremost Funky Four Plus One More and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. But good news is abundant, as the more obscure names hang right in there and the contents will rock any party that gets to hear it.
Studio One Space-Age Dub Special collects dubs originally from a series of albums, mostly released only in Jamaica by Studio One in small pressings between 1974 and 1980, though a few cuts are from even rarer 7-inch singles. Everything is credited to the Dub Specialist, which was Sir Coxsone Dodd supervising one of his engineers (e.g. Sylvan Morris, Syd Bucknor, or Overton “Scientist” Brown), and the 18 selections are nearly all instrumental with occasional interjections (a big exception is “A Lie Gal a Tell,” which features all of the Lone Ranger’s vocals from the source track). A beautifully bent serious value.
