All this week we’re focusing on the best music we heard in 2014. Today’s post looks at the top reissues from the past year. While admittedly much of my attention was elsewhere throughout the year, I’m still surprised at the depth and breadth of reissued music from year to year. Aside from the now trendy vinyl reissues of well-known records, there were a number of releases that continued to surprise and astound (more than a few being “Vol. 2” in a series). The ones on my list featured sounds I’d never heard before or sounds I never thought I’d hear. Here are my picks for the top reissues of 2014, let me know your favorites in the comments.
***Honorable Mentions: Unwound – Rat Conspiracy & No Energy (Numero), Country Funk Vol. 2: 1967-1974 (Light In The Attic), Spiritual Jazz 5: The World (Jazzman), Local Customs: Cavern Sound (Numero), The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 2 (Vampi Soul)
5. Sly Stone – I’m Just Like You: Sly’s Stone Flower 1969-1970 – Light In The Attic
Just last year we had a gang of unreleased tracks released on the Sly & the Family Stone retrospective “Higher!” and this year we got this collection, shining a necessary light on the furtive period of time between two landmark LPs, 1969’s Stand and 1971’s There’s A Riot Going On. In that in-between time Sly started the Stone Flower label, released a few 45s from 6ix, Little Sister and Joe Hicks and started to explore new technology and new sounds. This collection includes all of the released music from the label (bringing together songs, like Joe Hick’s “Life & Death in the G&A” that were split in two) but also includes a number of unreleased tracks, demos and early versions of Stone Flower recordings, but the real gold is in the tracks from Sly that show the early stages, such as this track “Africa,” of what would become one of the greatest albums of all-time.
4. Lewis – L’Amour – Light In The Attic
Light In The Attic had a banner year, in addition to the Sly Stone collection, they also released this private press obscurity. The sound of Lewis is so delicate and so quiet that at times, if you’re not listening through headphones, you’d almost miss that it’s even there. But when you do listen and you do hear it, it’s impossible to deny the beauty of this music.
3. Michael Bloomfield – From His Head, To His Heart, To His Hands: An Audio/Visual Scrapbook – Legacy
Bob Dylan feat. Michael Bloomfield – Like A Rolling Stone (Instrumental)
Michael Bloomfield is the greatest American guitarist not named Jimi Hendrix. For those that know, it’s really not an overstatement to say that Bloomfield’s influence is nearly equal to Hendrix. Because of his nature, his personality and his troubles, he never got the kind of broad acclaim that others got, but Bloomers was an exceptional player and all of his many talents are on display on this lovingly put together (by longtime friend Al Kooper) collection that features not only some of his best music, with Paul Butterfield, Bob Dylan and many others, but also the voice of Michael Bloomfield. No one sounded quite like Bloomers, and hearing him speak in his unique way is almost as engrossing as the music on this collection. But it’s the music that we’ll remember most, and FINALLY getting an instrumental version of “Like A Rolling Stone,” with those gorgeous iconic guitar lines, is something to be cherished deeply.
2. Underground Vegetables – Melting Pot / Grace Jackson – Gonna Get U – Ximeno
Underground Vegetables – Melting Pot
It’s always nice, after 20+ years as a collector to hear new old things that you had no idea were around. With a show and blog called “Melting Pot” you’d think I was aware of all of the versions of that classic song, but the legendary Danny Holloway proved me wrong when he released this 7″ on his Ximeno imprint in the Summer. This version is the shortest, but it packs in a heavy punch in that 2 minutes and change. The flip-side, a reggae funk crowd pleaser makes this one a double-sider worthy of every collectors attention. Looking forward to bigger and better things from Ximeno in the future, but for this one I’ll be eternally grateful.
1. The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2: Molam & Luk Thung Isan From North-East Thailand 1970-1982 – Soundway
Rome Sithammarat – Sao New Look
Back in 2010, I raved and raved about the first volume of this collection. I’d never heard the kind of sounds that were compiled on that set and the effect was somewhat like having a new window of my mind opened up. In 2014 the second volume came out and I felt a somewhat similar sense of bewilderment. Volume 2 surpassed Volume 1 in quality and for that, it more than deserves the top spot here on this list.