Sunday, December 25, 2022

2022 in Music Part 1: Reissues, Compilations, Box Sets etc

A small confession first - I'm not actually that good at tracking reissues and compilations throughout the year, so this end of year ritual has become as important to me as curating all the new music I've managed to enjoy. There is just so much material being brought to a wider audience - and streaming now means that sets that could be very expensive are often available to sample. These are not intended as lists, but rather overviews that can remain on record (so it's particularly useful for me to include listening links wherever possible, for however long online music services stay in existence).  I've made no attempt to rank these releases - but for what it's worth, I've particularly engaged with the Charles Stepney compilation on International Anthem, Neil Young's Toast and the Dennis Bovell and Branko Mataja compilations. Please feel free to suggest anything I've missed - @DanPatonMusic on Twitter (for now, at least, I'm wavering on whether to stay or go). 

 Akira Ishikawa and Count Buffaloes - Uganda (Dawn Of Rock) (Mr Bongo) 

Physical only reissue of this extraordinary 1972 work from the Japanese jazz drummer - a celebratory, imaginative mix of musical approaches. 

Alan Braufman - Live In New York City, February 8th 1975 (Valley Of Search) 

The rediscovery of Braufman's fiery, thrilling jazz continues apace with a vital and urgent live set. 

Albert Ayler - Revelations: The Complete ORTF 1970 Maeght Recordings (Elemental) 

4CD or 5LP boxset, also fortunately available as a digital download collating Ayler's Fondation Maeght recordings in their entirety. 

Alhaji Kwabena Frimpong - Abrabo (Hot Casa) 

Brief but essential Hi Life set. 

Alhaji Waziri Oshomah - World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah (Luaka Bop) 

An absolute gem in the outstanding World Spirituality Classics series - more Highlife but from a distinctive perspective. 

Amelia Cuni - Mumbai 04.02.1996 (Black Truffle) 

I know very little about North Indian classical music, but Cuni is regarded as a great exponent, and this live recording is beautifully captured and wholly absorbing. 

Anthony Moore - Flying Doesn't Help (Drag City) 

Magnificent, wiry post punk with a strong melodic pop sensibility from 1979. A great discovery. 

Asha Puthli - The Essential Asha Puthli (Mr Bongo) 

Superb new compilation of the genre spanning Indian singer. Includes collaborations with Ornette Coleman, Charlie Mariano and The Surfers. 

Atencao - Novos Sons de Brasil (Org Music) 

Concise and informative compilation produced in collaboration with the great Aquarium Drunkard. 

Aunt Sally - Aunt Sally (Mesh Key) 

Long out of print post punk from Japan.

Beach Boys - Sail On Sailor 1972 (Capitol) 

Arguably the most underrated phase of The Beach Boys' career (Holland/Carl and the Passions) getting the deluxe box set treatment. 

The Beatles - Revolver Super Deluxe (Universal) 

Enough already said, no doubt. 

Bert Jansch - Bert at the BBC (Earth Recordings) 

Gargantuan collection of BBC recordings from the great guitarist and songwriter. Not just a superb document of a master musician, but also a window into a very different broadcasting culture from that which exists now. 

Bill Evans - Morning Glory: The 1973 Concert at the Teatro Gran Rex, Buenos Aires (Resonance) 

Bill Evans - Inner Spirit: The 1979 Concert at the Teatro General San Martin, Buenos Aires (Resonance) 

Two later performances from two different Bill Evans trios, superbly remastered for these very welcome releases. 

Billy Mackenzie - Satellite Life: Recordings 1994-1996 (Cherry Red) 

3CD set of one of the greatest and most missed voices in British pop history, focusing on his collaborations with Steve Aungle. 

Biluka Y Los Canibales - Leaf Playing In Quito 1960-1965 (Honest Jon's) 

Yes, genuinely a compilation of what sounds like early dance band jazz (it actually sounds like it predates the 1960s) with melodies played on a leaf. 

Blondie - Against All Odds 1974-1982 (Numero) 

8 disc version now seemingly sold out, but perhaps the three disc edition that is available to stream is comprehensive enough for all but the most ardent completist. 

Blue Notes - Blue Notes For Mongezi (Ogun) 

1975 recorded musical memorial for Mongezi Feza. The gradual re-emergence of the Ogun catalogue is a joy to behold. 

Branko Mataja - Over Fields and Mountains (Numero)

Some of the most beautiful and haunting music I've heard this year, played on homemade guitars and drawn from the then-Yugoslavia via a German work camp in WW2 and eventually to North Hollywood. 

Bridget St John - from There/to Here: UK/US Recordings 1974-1982 (Cherry Red) 

Folk singer Bridget St John made three albums for John Peel's Dandelion label before writing songs for her fourth album Jumblequeen (the focal point of this excellent three disc set) in the Derbyshire village of Sparrowpit. Song for the Waterden Widow is particularly glorious. 

Broadcast - Mother Is The Milky Way (Warp) 

Broadcast - Microtonics Volumes 1 and 2 (Warp)

Broadcast - Maida Vale Sessions (Warp)

This most welcome set of reissues essentially completes the catalogue of this most special and distinctive of bands, save for what might one day appear from the group's incomplete final sessions. 

Broken Social Scene - Old Dead Young: B Sides and Rarities (Arts and Crafts) 

It's impossible to be completely sure with what is now essentially an on-off supergroup, but at the moment it feels like this collection of deep cuts from Toronto's finest might be their last release as a group. 

Butcher Boy - You Had a Kind Face (Needle Anthology) 

Pete Paphides' new label struck gold with this outstanding compilation of an under-appreciated band. 

Can - Live In Cuxhaven 1976 (Spoon/Mute Artists)

Third release in Can's vital live series - which gives an impression of the full power of this band's hypnotic groove. 

Cecil Taylor - The Complete Legendary Live Return Concert At The Town Hall, NYC, November 4th 1973 (Oblivion) 

Epic, wide ranging performance combining a solo side with ensemble improvisations. 

Celestine Ukwu - No Condition Is Permanent (Mississippi)

A crucial example of Nigerian highlife. 

Charles Mingus - The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott's (Resonance)

Previously unreleased 1972 live performance.

Charles Stepney - Step On Step (International Anthem) 

One of the most important reissues of the year - a superb compilation charting the great musician, producer and arranger Charles Stepney's (Rotary Connection) home recordings and working methods, complete with spoken interpolations from his family. These skeletal, minimalist constructions are worlds away from the more ornate works Stepney is primarily known for, but they work brilliantly in and of themselves. 

Cheri Knight - American Rituals (Freedom To Spend) 

Great minimal recordings from 1980s Olympia, Washington based around lattice like rhythm tracks and multi-part vocal arrangements. 

Chillin' Villain Empire - Chillin' Villains: We Represent Billions (1993-2003) (Nyege Nyege Tapes) 

Essential compilation from pioneering minimalist Los Angeles rap collective. 

Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari - Grounation (Soul Jazz)

50th anniversary reissue of this essential triple album fusing reggae, jazz and Rastafarian culture. 

The Cure - Wish: 30th Anniversary Edition (Fiction) 

Welcome expansion of one of The Cure's most successful but somehow under-appreciated albums. 

Dadawah - Peace and Love (Antarctica Starts Here) 

One of my favourite albums of all time - this seems to have been reissued multiple times in the past few years, but any way you can acquire this sonically compelling classic of Nyabinghi music is good. 

David Bowie - Divine Symmetry (Parlophone) 

Comprehensive overview of the Hunky Dory period. 

Dennis Bovell - The Dubmaster: The Essential Anthology (BMG) 

An important and influential figure in UK reggae - now recognised with this excellent set compiled and annotated by Bovell himself. 

Derek Bailey - Domestic Jungle (Scatter Archive) 

Private recordings made to tape by Bailey at home, experimenting against the clutter and tumble of music radio during the 90s jungle boom. The sound quality is not always good, but this often seems to enhance the jagged, propulsive impact of the music. 

Devon Russell - Darker Than Blue (Death Is Not The End)

Reggae interpretations of Curtis Mayfield. 

Dexys Midnight Runners - Too Ry Aye As It Should Have Sounded (Mercury)

Cleaner, resplendent mix of the Dexys 'Celtic Soul' classic. There is of course much more to this album than Come On Eileen and the Jackie Wilson Said cover, and here it is is boxed with extra material not included on the original album and an excellent 1982 live recording. 

Dickie Landry - Solos (Unseen Worlds) 

Dickie Landry - Four Cuts Placed In "A First Quarter" (Unseen Worlds) 

Dickie Landry - Having Been Built On Sand (Unseen Worlds) 

The Unseen Worlds label unearths three superb recordings from the saxophonist and keyboard player. Solos is an entirely improvised live performance from 1972. Four Cuts emerged as a result of a collaboration with artist Lawrence Weiner and Having Been Built On Sand, complete with accompanying text readings, was recorded in Robert Rauschenberg's studio. Kinetic, freewheeling and thrilling music.

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond - 15th Anniversary (Baked Goods) 

That Dinosaur Jr.'s reunion album is now itself 15 years old is somewhat terrifying - it remains a sturdy, compelling restatement of their inimitable sound - somehow at once both scuzzy and incandescent. 

Edan - Beauty and the Beat (Lewis Recordings) 

Wildly entertaining hip hop cut and paste extravaganza. 

Elmer Gentry's Velvet Opera - Long Nights Of Summer - The Anthology (Cherry Red) 

The first ever retrospective for this UK 60s psych band. 

Elton John - Madman Across The Water Deluxe Edition (Mercury)

Always good to remember that, before he started cruising on easy commercial wins, Elton was once an oustanding, naturally expressive songwriter. 

Elvin Jones - Revival: Live At Pookie's Pub (Blue Note) 

Characteristically driving 1967 live set from the master drummer. 

Enno Velthuys - Different Places (Dead Mind)

1987 work from synthesiser pioneer. 

Ernest Hood - Back To The Woodlands (Freedom To Spend) 

A second fascinating, richly rewarding rediscovered work from the Oregon musician, artist and documentarian, recorded between 1972 and 1982. 

Finn Brothers - Finn (Needle Anthology) 

Somewhat overlooked album from Neil and Tim Finn, very much overshadowed by the albums credited to Crowded House, but nonetheless one of the most intriguing and unusual examples of their songwriting imagination. Another release from Pete Paphides' new label. 

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots 20th Anniversary (Warner) 

Again, very hard to believe it is around 20 years since I interviewed Wayne Coyne backstage at the Cambridge Junction, with him gifting me with easily an hour of more or less unbroken verbiage, and me failing to hit record on the Mini Disc Recorder. Gems among the absurdly bountiful extras include covers of Can't Get You Out Of My Head and Suspicious Minds, and the masterful B Side If I Go Mad/Funeral In My Head, easily one of their best songs. 

Frank Sinatra - Watertown (Capitol/Universal) 

Deluxe edition of one of the more idiosyncratic and murky Sinatra albums. 'Everyone knows the perfect crime....killin' time'. 

Galcher Lustwerk - 100% Galcher (Ghostly International) 

2013 pillar of deep house. 

Gavin Bryars - The Sinking Of The Titanic (Superior Viaduct) 

First vinyl reissue for this essential work and Bryars' first substantial composition. 

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - All Lights Fucked On The Hairy Amp Drooling (Bandcamp)

From back when the exclamation mark came at the end and Godspeed was Efrim's solo project. It hints tantalisingly at the more fully realised end times vision that was to come. 

Harold Budd - Pavilion of Dreams (Superior Viaduct) 

Another pivotal piece of contemporary composition getting the vinyl reissue treatment from Superior Viaduct. 

Hermeto Pascoal - Planetario Da Gavea (Far Out)

1981 performance at Rio's Planitarium from the innovative and brilliantly eccentric musician. 

Horace Tapscott - The Quintet (Mr Bongo) 

It's so great that more and more of Tapscott's superb forward thinking jazz is becoming available again - this is a 1969 recording but previously unreleased (originally planned as a follow up to The Giant Is Awakened).

James Blood Ulmer - Odyssey (Org Music)

Vinyl reissue of intensely grooving 1983 album. 

Jigen - Blood's Finality (Double Circumflex) 

Radical 1998 album fusing jungle breakbeats with guitar interjections - coincidentally not wildly unlike Derek Bailey's newly unearthed home recordings. 

John M Bennett - A Flattened Face Fogs Through (Editions Basilic) 

Neat conversations (and sometimes confrontations) between poetry and improvisation. 

Joni Mitchell - The Asylum Albums 1972-1975 (Rhino) 

Joni Mitchell's ongoing archive series continues with this boxing together of her major transitional period, moving from folk-ish singer to purveyor of elaborate song constructions informed by jazz and soul too. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns of course remains one of her great masterpieces - Court and Spark is also a relatively undersung major work. 

Karate - The Bed Is In The Ocean (Numero) 

Karate - Time Expired (Numero) 

1998 third album from the undersung guitar band, entirely new to me this year. Plus a superb box set collecting the Unsolved, Some Boots and Pockets albums, alongside the Cancel/Sing EP. Karate make full use of the rock guitar trio format, with some intricate and compelling arrangements and a wide range of dynamics and colours. 

Karen Dalton - Shuckin' Sugar (Delmore Recording Society) 

Live recordings from 1963 and 1964 initially unearthed for Record Store Day. 

Kristen Oppenheim - Voices Fill My Head: Collected Sound Works 1993-1995 (INFO) 

Eight stark and beautiful vocal only pieces designed for gallery sound installations. 

Lennie Tristano - Personal Recordings 1946-1970 (Dot Time/Mosaic) 

Impressive six CD box set from the Tristano archives featuring solo, trio and sextet recordings. Sadly not streaming anywhere but there are a few useful clips at the Mosaic website. 

Les Rallizes Denudes - MIZUTANI/Les Rallizes Denudes (Temporal Drift) 

Les Rallizes Denudes - 67-69 Studio et Live (Temporal Drift) 

Les Rallizes Denudes - 77 Live (Temporal Drift) 

Les Rallizes Denudes - The OZ Tapes (Temporal Drift) 

Temporal Drift has helpfully documented almost the entire life span of this sometimes noisy, but occasionally melodic psychedelic rock band from Japan. 

Lining Time - Strike (Shadow World) 

Recorded at Darlington College of Arts in 1982 by a group of dance theatre students, this celebrates the incantatory potential of the human voice. The title track feels potent and relevant for this very moment at the end of 2022 too, at least here in the UK. 

Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus Super Deluxe (Rhino) 

Legendary live album exhaustively expanded and boxed with previously unreleased tracks. An outrageously great band at their prime. 

Los Kenya - Siempre Afro Latino (Musica Infinita) 

Venezuelan Salsa from the late 60s. 

Lou Reed - Words and Music 1965 (Light In The Attic) 

The auspicious start of what will be an ongoing Lou Reed archive series worked on in collaboration with Laurie Anderson. 

Mal Waldron - Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert (Tompkins Square) 

An inspired release from Tompkins Square - and the first time this performance has been officially available. 

Marc Emory - Listening Music/Anfang (Scissor Tail) 

Rare private press folk record now widely available. 

Marvin Tate's D-Settlement - Marvin Tate's D-Settlement (American Dreams) 

Incredible complete retrospective from 'Chicago's best kept secret' - a band covering wide terrain of funk and hip hop groove. This brings their three albums together, with lyrics both of their time (1990s-early 2000s) and often also prophetic. 

Masayaki Takayanagi and New Direction Unit - Eclipse (Blank Editions) 

Rare 1975 album from the Japanese guitar master and explorer of the avant garde. 

Masura Imada Trio + 1 - Planets (BBE Music)

More rare modern jazz from Japan. 

Max Tundra - Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be (Domino) 

Max Tundra - Mastered By Guy At The Exchange (Domino) 

Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You (Domino) 

The restless (and peerless) first three albums from Ben Jacobs' maverick creation and sonic manipulator. A real burst of joy (and perhaps some madness too). 

Meredith Monk - The Recordings (ECM)

One of the most important and most comprehensive box set releases of the year - a 13CD box compiling all the Monk ECM New Series recordings from the uncompromising composer and performer to date. Not streaming in its entirety - but many of the individual albums are.  

Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (Columbia) 

The Miles Bootleg Series hits one of the more polarising phases of his career - but keep an open mind and you'll find characteristic magic here. 

The Movers - The Movers Vol. 1 1970-1976 (Analog Africa) 

Analog Africa compiles some of the key works from the successful South African group and exponents of 'Township Jive'. 

µ-Ziq - Lunatic Harness 25th Anniversary Edition (Planet Mu) 


This probably remains Mike Paradinas' most essential album and a major work in the development of electronic music. 


A key album of the 1960s and an all time to boot. 


Originally released on a limited edition cassette in 2017, this new version has been freshly remastered by Lawrence English. This is an extraordinary work, combining found spoken answerphone messages from a single voice with Scheible's poignant and sometimes overwhelming musical textures. This is certainly vulnerable to accusations of voyeurism, and Scheible seems aware of that himself, but the end result is so haunting, open and empathetic. 


1971 recording from exiled South African bandleader producing spiritual jazz in San Francisco. 

Neil Young - Citizen Kane Jr Blues (Shakey Picture) 

2022 was a wildly bounteous year for Neil Young fans - so much so that it was pretty much impossible to keep up with his ceaseless release schedule. The most exciting release for the cognoscenti was surely Toast. This 'lost album' mostly comprised the supposedly improvisatory and radical Crazy Horse recordings Young grumpily jettisoned in favour of re-recording with The MGs for the decidedly mixed Are You Passionate, along with the long sought after Gateway Of Love. In the end, Toast didn't quite live up to Young's own description of it - but it's a hugely satisfying record for what it is, mostly capturing a more soulful and ruminative Crazy Horse, but with occasional flashes of brightness. It sits comfortably alongside Sleeps With Angels for demonstrating that this band, often purposefully lumbering, can actually be versatile too. 

Little needs to be said at this point about the mostly exquisite Harvest (whether you see it as a masterpiece or not will still very much depend on your view of A Man Needs A Maid). Any expanded reissue is welcome, not least one that contains great recordings of Journey Through The Past. 

Young also released multiple 'official bootlegs' this year. The value of these is more dubious, given that the audio quality is poor and Young has opted to package them cheaply as if they really were market editions. But Citizen Kane Jr Blues is the pick of the set for the rawness of the performance. 


Judiciously assembled compilation - a superb summary of Case's artistry as a singer and songwriter. 

Neu! - Neu! 50 (Grönland)

Well designed box set marking the 50th anniversary of the first Neu! album, assembling their three studio albums alongside a tribute album featuring reworking of their material from musicians including Alexis Taylor, Stephen Morris of New Order, and Mogwai. 


Incredible slice of Afro Cuban-funk fusion from Belgium. 


If Tanega's hit 'Walking My Cat Named Dog' risked condemning her to a quasi-novelty singer, this excellent set provides depth and breadth and a real corrective to that mistaken notion. Be aware that there are different versions of this collection - the digital download on Bandcamp doesn't even include half of the tracks on the physical edition, and the streaming version on Spotify is also a few tracks short of the complete selection. 


1965 debut from this ensemble, arranged by Jose Roberto Bertrami, keyboardist with Azymuth. 


1997 sampling and orchestration experiment from the improvising pianist - to be filed alongside Derek Bailey's radio interplay and the Jigen reissue. 

Patrice Rushen - Feels So Real: The Complete Elektra Recordings 1978-1984 (Strut) 

If the excellent recent short compilation of Rushen's Elektra material was not sufficient - here is the completist's bonanza. Includes all the albums in their expanded editions with bonus 12" mixes. 


Pavement's underrated last stand may have sounded slightly tired on first airing, but it crackles with wit and insight in this reconfigured, more effectively paced version with abundant bonus material. 


Rarities drawn from Tom Rapp's private collection. 

Peggy Lee - Norma Deloris Eggstrom From Jamestown, North Dakota (UMG)

Richly rewarding later Peggy Lee work. 

Picture Music - Picture Music  (Left Ear)

Australian hazy ambience intended for film soundtracks etc. Technically a 2021 reissue, but emerging on Bandcamp in the summer. 

Prince and the Revolution - Live (NPG/Legacy) 

Maybe not the Prince archive release dedicated fans were particularly looking for - but it's good to have this 1985 live show from Syracuse available in one package. 

The Pyramids - Aomawa: The 1970s Recordings (Strut) 

Superb and surprisingly affordable four disc box set compiling the 1970s work of Idris Ackamoor's visionary group. 

Richard Thompson - Music From Grizzly Man (No Quarter) 

Evocative, atmospheric and affecting instrumental music from legendary songwriter and guitarist. A satisfying outlier in Thompson's catalogue. 

Ride - 4 EPs (Wichita)

Neat single disc collating the Oxford band's four stand alone EPs from the early 90s. 

Sammi Smith - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 (Ace) 

Brilliant introductory compilation to Smith's storytelling country music compiled by Bob Stanley. Not available to stream in full but there are samples on the Ace website. 

Sandy Denny - Early Home Recordings (Earth Recordings) 

Lovely bare bones set of Denny's pre-Fairport work. One of the greatest voices in all of British music. 

Scritti Politti - Cupid and Psyche 85 (Rough Trade) 

The Scritti reissue campaign does seem oddly haphazard, this new issue appearing some time after the band toured to celebrate it. And there appear to be later plans to produce box sets too. This music is still a wondrous construction though. 

Shira Small - The Line Of Time and The Plane of Now (Numero) 

1974 recordings made at a Quaker boarding school. Small clearly had considerable potential as a singer songwriter, but did not pursue performance. 

Sonic Youth - In/Out/In (Three Lobed) 

Excellent unheard recordings from Sonic Youth's last decade. 

The Sonora Pine - II (Quarterstick) 

Remastered work from another undervalued avant rock band, featuring the great Tara Jane O'Neil. 

Staples Jr. Singers - When Do We Get Paid? (Luaka Bop) 

A family group, but not actually related to the legendary Staples, but rather named in honour of them. This is a fine compilation demonstrating that this group more than stand on their own merits. 

Stereolab - Pulse Of The Early Brain: Switched On Vol. 5 (Duophonic) 

Another essential compilation, including collaborations with Nurse with Wound and some remixes. Again note that the physical editions contain five more tracks than the digital edition. 

Suicide - Surrender (Mute) 

Excellent primer compilation spanning the band's career. 

Sun Ra Arkestra - Nothing Is... - Completed and Revisited (Ezz Thetics) 

1966 concert recording, in newly improved audio quality. 

Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Headdress (20th Anniversary Remaster) (Three Lobed) 

Anniversary reissue of the heady, prolific group's first proper release. 

Tall Dwarfs - Unravelled: 1981-2002 (Merge) 

Epic retrospective of the New Zealand lo-fi duo's work. 

Terry Allen and The Panhandle Mystery Band - Smoking' The Dummy (Paradise of Bachelors) 

Terry Allen and The Panhandle Mystery Band - Bloodlines (Paradise of Bachelors) 

The outstanding Terry Allen reissue campaign continues apace, bringing more work from this idiosyncratic, gritty voiced songwriter and bandleader into wider appreciation. Recommended for fans of Little Feat or Hiss Golden Messenger. 

Terry Jennings - Piece for Cello and Saxophone (Saltern)

First ever release for Jennings' 1960 composition arranged in just intonation by La Monte Young for cellist  Charles Curtis. Just to confuse you, there is actually no saxophone on the recording. 

Theo Parrish - DJ Kicks (!K7) 

Outstanding DJ mix celebrating the forward thinking music of Detroit. 

Tia Blake and Her Folk Group - Folksongs and Ballads (Ici Bientot) 

Lovely lost album recorded by 19 year old singer in 1971, and originally released only in France. 

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Live At The Fillmore 1997 (Warner) 

Fantastic box set assembling material from Petty's 1997 stand at The Fillmore. A prime example of the greatness of The Heartbreakers as a live act. 

Tony Allen - Secret Agent (World Circuit) 

New remaster of legendary Afrobeat drummer Allen's excellent 2009 World Circuit debut. 

Valentina Goncharova - Ocean: Symphony For Electric Violin and Other Instruments in 10+ Parts (Hidden Harmony) 

Incredible improvisational composition recorded in 1988. 

Various Artists - All Bad Boy and All Good Girl: Manchester Street Soul Soundtapes 1988-1996 (Death Is Not The End) 

Two continuous mix sets drawn from cassette recordings of DJs playing at Manchester dance parties. 

Various Artists - Artificial Intelligence 30th Anniversary (Warp) 

Welcome vinyl reissue of the pivotal 1992 compilation. 

Various Artists - Burkina Faso Vol. 2 (Sublime Frequencies) 

Concise set of music from Burkina Faso, spotlighting Mossa, Bissa, Bwabi, Fulani and Samo music. 

Various Artists - Come, Let Us Sing (Death Is Not The End) 

Third in Death Is Not The End's Bare Family Trilogy of folk tunes.

Various Artists - Crossroads Kenya: East African Benga and Rhumba 1980-1985 (No Wahala Sounds) 

Compilation gathering 7" singles made at Audio Productions Ltd. in Nairobi. 

Various Artists - Down and Out (NTS) 

Excellent compilation of melancholy folk music. 

Various Artists - End Of The Road Presents: Between The Music Volume One (End Of The Road) 

A superb idea that cannot have been easy to assemble - a compilation by End Of The Road festival founder Simon Taffe of material played between the bands. Helpfully, someone has made a Spotify playlist. 

Various Artists - Exploring Gong Culture of Southeast Asia: Massif and Archipelago - A Project by Yasuhira Morinaga (Sub Rosa) 

Incredible field recording project collecting percussion music that is entirely new to me, often providing the setting for rituals and ceremonies. 

Various Artists - For Dancers Forty (Kent) 

Great compilation to mark the 40th anniversary of Kent's original For Dancers Only compilation. Some tracks are available in a Spotify playlist. 

Various Artists - Get It Right: Afro, Dub, Funk and Punk of Recreational Records 1981-1982 (Emotional Rescue) 

Little known and immersive recordings from the British post punk scene. 

Various Artists - Ghost Riders (Efficient Space) 

Obscure coming of age songs 

Various Artists - Happy In Hollywood: The Productions of Gary Usher (Ace)

Ornate pop constructions from the relatively well known (The Byrds' Lady Friend) to obscurities. 

Various Artists - Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968 (Cherry Red)

Outstanding 3 disc overview of the music of Los Angeles in the mid-late 60s. 

Various Artists - Imaginational Anthem Vol. XI: Luke Schneider Presents Chrome Universal - A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel (Tompkins Square) 

Includes some of the finest purveyors of this wonderful instrument - BJ Cole, Susan Alcorn, Spencer Cullum among them. 

Various Artists - John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop (Strut) 

This is gold - recordings gathered from John Sinclair's archive of performances from the Detroit Artists Workshop live events between the 60s and 80s. 

Various Artists - John Savage's 1977-1979: Symbols Clashing Everywhere (Ace) 

Typically wide ranging and well informed compilation capturing a particular moment. Punk, post-punk, porto-electronica, dub, reggae all interacting with each other. 

Various Artists - Ladies Sing The Boss (Ace)

Judicious selection of female interpretations of Springsteen songs. Highlights include the tender Cowboy Junkies version of Thunder Road and Bettye Lavette's remarkable transformation of Streets Of Philadelphia. I would personally have liked this to have included the magnificent Camera Obscura version of Tougher Than The Rest, but you can't have everything. 

Various Artists - Life Between Islands - Soundsystem Culture: Black Musical Expression In The UK 1973-2006 (Soul Jazz) 

The cumbersome title essentially summarises this perfectly. Another magnificent Soul Jazz compilation. 

Various Artists - Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtape (Edsel) 

A one stop shop for all the John Hughes soundtracks

Various Artists - Pure Wicked Tune: Rare Groove, Blues, Dance and House Parties 1983-1992 (Death Is Not The End)

London sound system parties captured on DIY cassette recordings.

Various Artists - Sahel Sounds - Music From Saharan WhatsApp (Sahel Sounds)

A selection of standouts from the series of now deleted EPs featuring performances captured on mobile phones. An inspired idea, and one which demonstrates that smartphone technology can be a force for good.

Various Artists - Saturno 2000: La Rebejada De Los Sonideros (Analog Africa)

Compilation of sound system slowed down Latin dance music.

Various Artists - Sintesis Moderna: An Alternative Vision of Argentinian Music 1980-1990 (Soundway)

An impressive range of synth fuelled pop from Argentina.

Various Artists - Disco Reggae Rockers (Soul Jazz)

Another brilliant compilation from Soul Jazz, finding where the different tributaries of black music history connect with each other.

Various Artists - Spirit of Clive: A Tribute To The Music of Clive Palmer and COB (Bandcamp)

Superbly curated tribute to the founding member of the Incredible String Band and a hugely influential figure in British folk music. Some wonderful artists featured here - Alex Rex, Sally Ann Morgan, Joan Shelley, Bill Mackay etc. 

Various Artists - Summer Of Soul (Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Soundtrack (Sony)

Audio accompaniment to the excellent live music film, long delayed due to licensing issues.

Various Artists - The Skippy White Story: Boston Soul 1961-1967 (Yep Roc)

Not usually a city readily associated with soul music, Boston has its own impressive lineage celebrated here.

Various Artists - Touching Bass Presents: Soon Come (Touching Bass)

Compilation celebrating the sound, vision and sense of community from the Touching Bass label.

Various Artists - V4 Visions: Of Love and Androids (Numero)

Collating some of the best of the V4 Visions imprint in the early 90s - deep house, electro, soul etc.

Various Artists - With Love: Vol. 1 - Compiled by Miche (Mr Bongo)

Start of a new compilation series from Mr Bongo, with this volume celebrating Brazilian rarities.

The Watersons - Frost and Fire: A Calendar of Ritual and Magic Songs (Topic)

Vinyl reissue of 1965 folk classic.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Super Deluxe (Nonesuch)

Inevitable expansion of Wilco’s most acclaimed album, this presents alternative histories of the record that maybe explain its gestation as much as the supposed label wrangling. Another set that comes in different versions - sadly most of the unearthed non-album tracks seem to be tied up with the most expensive edition. 

William Bell - Never Like This Before: The Complete ‘Blue’ Stax Singles 1961-1968 (Kent)

First of two compilations collecting all the A and B sides from William Bell’s Stax singles. I’m always baffled that Bell, as a singer-songwriter, is not seen as more influential in the world of soul music.

William Doyle - Slowly Arranged 2016-2019 (Tough Love)

Box set of the four ambient albums Doyle self released between his albums as East India Youth and his official return under his own name.

William Parker - Universal Tonality (Centering)

Typically extraordinary large ensemble recording from 2002, with many of the musicians not having played together before. 

Willie Hutch - Season For Love (Be With)

Vinyl reissue of a soul gem.

Yara Asmar - Home Recordings 2018-2021 (Hive Mind)

Beautiful home recordings from Beirut-based artist.

Yasuake Shimizu - Kiren (Plato Flats)

Previously unreleased Japanese electronic work from 1984.

Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Matador)

One of the top tier Yo La Tengo albums gets its anniversary round. What a band. 

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Friday, December 31, 2021

2021 In New Music Part 5: 50-and-a-bit Best

50) Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade 

49) Andrew Cyrille Quartet - The News

48) Vijay Iyer - Uneasy

47) Hiss Golden Messenger - Quietly Blowing It

46) Matt Ridley - The Antidote

45) Macie Stewart - Mouth Full Of Glass

44) Ruth Goller - Skylla 

43) Diego Pinero - Odd Wisdom

42) Low - Hey What 

41) Ryley Walker - Course In Fable 

40) Caetano Veloso - Meu Coco

39) Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince 

38) Dave Harrington, Chris Forsyth, Ryan Jewell and Spencer Zahn - First Flight Redux 

37) Patricia Brennan - Maquishti 

36) Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime 

35) Allison Russell - Outside Child 

34) Patrick Shiroishi - Hidemi 

33) Claire Rousay - A Softer Focus 

32) L'Rain - Fatigue 

31) Michael Wollny, Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre, Christian Lilinger - XXX 

30) James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon

29) Pino Palladino and Blake Mills - Notes With Attachments 

28) Ches Smith and We All Break - Path of Seven Colours 

27) Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music 

26) Rachika Nayar - Fragments 

25) Eli Keszler - Icons 

24) Alexis Taylor - Silence 

23) Jeff Parker - Forfolks 

22) Fergus McCreadie - Cairn 

21) Pink Siifu - GUMBO'

20) Daniel Blumberg - The World To Come OST 

19) Henry Threadgill - Poof 

18) Rosali - No Medium/Chokeweed 

17) Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolves

16) Moor Mother - Black Encyclopaedia Of The Air 

15) Ben LaMar Gay - Open Arms To Open Us 

14) Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra - Tales From The Jacquard 

13) The Weather Station - Ignorance

12) Daniel Bachman - Axacan

11) Sons Of Kemet - Black To The Future

10) Skee Mask - Pool

9) Rob Frye - Exoplanet

8) Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates 

7) Nathan Salsburg - Psalms 

6) Gerald Cleaver - Griots

5) Fuubutsushi - Shiki

4) William Parker - Migration Of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World/Mayan Space Station

3) Sarah Louise - Earth Bow 

2) Wadada Leo Smith - Sacred Ceremonies etc...

1) Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood 


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2021 In Music Part 5: New Music Longlist 4

 Rodrigo Amarante - Drama (Polyvinyl Record Co.) 

The Brazilian singer-songwriter has produced a vibrant, joyful work. 

Rodrigo Brandao - Outros Espaço  (Groovie Records) 

Absorbing and expansive collaboration with Sun Ra Arkestra. 

Rosali - No Medium (Spinster Sounds) 

Rosali - Chokeweed (Unifactor) 

Two very different albums - the first focusing on strong songwriting and soulfully accompanied by members of the David Nance Group, the second focusing on improvisation and freedom. 

Rose City Band - Earth Trip (Thrill Jockey) 

Languid psychedelic country  

Roy Montgomery - 40th Anniversary 2021 LP Series (Grapefruit)

Marking 40 years of exploratory musical work, Roy Montgomery released four excellent albums over the course of 2021, some exploring voices (Emma Johnston again guests on Rhymes Of Chance), others exploring the wider possibilities of the guitar. For some reason the last album, Audiotherapy, is still not available yet (perhaps production delays?). 

Ruth Goller - Skylla (Vula Viel) 

A magical, glimmering, textural solo work (with contributions from vocalists Alice Grant and Lauren Kinsella) from the bassist, improviser and composer. 

Ryley Walker - Course In Fable (Husky Pants) 

Ryley Walker & Kikagaku Moyo - Deep Fried Grandeur (Husky Pants) 

A thrilling but also more concise collection from Ryley Walker, who now seems to be developing his melodic qualities to match his gift for arrangement and free wheeling musicianship. Deep Fried Grandeur finds him collaborating with the psychedelic band at Le Guess Who in Utrecht, with predictably explosive results. 

Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You (PIAS) 

Gently infectious songs capturing the 'optimism' of 1997-2001, including samples from pop songs of the period (Honeyz, Natalie Imbruglia, Samantha Mumba etc). 

Sally Ann Morgan - Cups (Thrill Jockey) 

Another album of contemporary Appalachian folk excellence from the increasingly prolific House and Land member.

Sam Gendel - Fresh Bread (Leaving Records)

Sam Gendel - Valley Fever (Leaving Records)

Sam Gendel - AE-30 (Leaving Records) 

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes - Music For Saxofone and Bass Guitar: More Songs (Leaving Records) 

A pretty extraordinary body of work involving a follow-up collaboration, an assembly of cumulative home recordings and soundtrack material. Futuristic electronic jazz. 

Samba Toure - Binga (Glitterbeat) 

Another excellent album from the Malian singer and guitarist. 

Santomimagae - Hanazono (RVNG Intl.) 

Beautiful, drifting, curious ambient folk music. 

Sara Schoenbeck - Sara Schoenbeck (Pyroclastic) 

The bassoon works very effectively as a jazz instrument - both for its melodic and textural qualities. Here it is set in a series of duos. A highlight is the take on Low's Lullaby with Nels Cline. 

Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals (Late Music) 

Sarah Davachi & Sean McCann - Mother Of Pearl (Recital) 

Sarah Davachi continues to make a major contribution to contemporary instrumental music. On Antiphonals, Davachi uses mellotron, electric organ and harpsichord to conjure a fairytale dreamscape. With Sean McCann on Mother of Pearl, she records at home to create shimmering music with no specific brief. 

Sarah Louise - Earth Bow (Bandcamp) 

While Sarah Louise has been veering further from traditional folk templates in her solo work, this progressive, expansive masterpiece still comes as a thrilling surprise. 

Sarah Wilson - Kaleidoscope (Brass Tonic) 

Elevating, melodic contemporary jazz from the trumpeter and composer. 

Scott Hirsch - Windless Day (Echo Magic/Soundly) 

The occasional Hiss Golden Messenger contributor returns with his most assured and enjoyable solo album to date. 

Sean Gibbs - When Can I See You Again? (Ubuntu) 

A great set of compositions with interactive performances from the young trumpeter. Very promising. 

Shackleton - Departing Like Rivers (Woe To The Septic Heart) 

No collaborations this time, just Sam Shackleton at his most immersive, atmospheric and reflective. 

Shai Maestro - Human (ECM) 

Shai Maestro's subtleties of tone and colour fit well with the ECM aesthetic. 

Six Organs Of Admittance - The Veiled Sea (Three Lobed) 

One of Ben Chasny's darker, more imposing works. 

Skee Mask - Pool (Ilian Tape) 

Epic electronica set that gathers four to five years worth of material and traverses wide musical territory. Yet Bryan Muller conceives of Pool as 'a fully conceived project' rather than a compilation of unreleased tracks. It is a compelling listen with a sense of movement and development throughout. 

Sons Of Kemet - Black To The Future (Impulse!)

Comfortably the best Sons Of Kemet album, and perhaps Shabaka Hutchings' overall masterpiece, this is a defiant work drawing from so much musical and cultural experience. 

Space Afrika - Honest Labour (Dais) 

Space Afrika effectively broaden their sound spectrum and scope on this magnificent suite of music. 

Spellling - The Turning Wheel (Sacred Bones)

A lavish, elaborately orchestrated work. 

Springtime - Springtime (Joyful Noise Recordings) 

Raw and insistent collaborative supergroup featuring Gareth Liddiard, the exceptional drummer Jim White and Chris Abrahams from The Necks. 

Squid - Bright Green Field (Warp) 

Agitated, state of the nation urgency. 

St Vincent - Daddy's Home (Loma Vista) 

Annie Clark continues to make elegantly constructed, idiosyncratic, superbly produced pop music that combines an imaginative synthesis of influences with her own personality and concerns. 

Steve Gunn - Other You (Matador) 

Steve Gunn's most languid and contemplative album so far - breezy and hypnotic. 

Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner's Mind (Asthmatic Kitty) 

A collaboration resulting in a literate, sensitive and vivid set of songs inspired by films. Strong Simon & Garfunkel vibes on this one.  

Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Pick A Day To Die (Three Lobed) 

Covers the range of Sunburned's musical strengths, from spacious sonic landscapes to motorik grooves. 

Ted Byrnes - Moving My Body Through Space (Arkeen)

Brilliantly frenzied and combative solo percussion. 

Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade (PeMa)

Even without bassist and key songwriter Gerry Love, Teenage Fanclub remain one of the UK's great songwriting teams. Here, Norman Blake and Raymond McKinley continue to assume an equal division of labour, and Endless Arcade effectively develops the striking contrasts between their two songwriting approaches, while achieving a unity through sound and musicianship. It's clear now that this band still has a lot of mileage. 

Thalia Zedek Band - Perfect Vision (Thrill Jockey) 

Another excellent, gritty, raw rock album in a very consistent run. 

The Bug - Fire (Ninja Tune) 

Kevin Martin at his exuberant but dystopian best. 

The Notwist - Vertigo Days (Morr Music) 

Excellent first album in six years from the important group, with pieces built from group improvisations that ebb and flow, and with special guests including Ben LaMar Gay. 

The Weather Station - Ignorance (Fat Possum) 

Tamara Lindeman continues to make her arrangements more expansive and arranged, but without losing the sense of space and stillness that characterises her delivery. These songs, inspired by the context of the climate crisis, are lush, sensuous and gently cascading. The deluxe edition adds some meticulous live takes and the extraordinary ballad Better Now, one of the year's very best songs. 

Thumbscrew - Never Is Enough (Cuneiform) 

One of the most inventive and exciting bands in contemporary jazz. 

Tim Berne, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson and Dave King - Broken Shadows (Intakt) 

A dream line-up of hugely experienced and consistently potent improvisers. Pretty fiery. 

Tirzah - Colourgrade (Domino) 

A life viewed through a murky translucence, full of purposeful wanderings. 

Tonstartssbandht - Petunia (Mexican Summer) 

Bright, gently fizzing pieces with 12 String guitar, drums and exquisite vocal harmonies. 

Tony Joe White - Smoke From The Chimney (Easy Eye Sound/Swamp Records) 

A fine posthumous album assembled and completed with care by Dan Auerbach. 

Toumani Diabate & London Symphony Orchestra - Korolen (World Circuit) 

Beautiful orchestral settings of Diabate's remarkable kora playing poised with longing. 

Tune-Yards - sketchy. (4AD)

Something of a return to Merrill Garbus' core musical values. 

Tyshawn Sorey & King Britt - Tyshawn & King (The Buddy System) 

Lucid and commanding combination of percussion and electronics. 

Ubaldo - Casa (Urpa i mussell)

A beautiful, mesmerising celebration of stillness. 

Umlaut Big Band - Mary's Ideas (Umlaut Big Band Plays Mary Lou Williams) (Umlaut)

Substantial, very enjoyable big band reworkings of the great Mary Lou Williams. 

United Bible Studies - Divining Moments (Bandcamp)

Celebrating their 20th anniversary year with music characterised both by its freedom and by its connections to landscape and custom. 

Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou (Fire) 

Further adventures in a cinematic sound world - for fans of Stereolab and Broadcast. 

Various Artists - Indaba Is (Brownswood) 

The album that got 2021 off to a great start - a collection of specially commissioned contemporary South African jazz. 

Vijay Iyer - Uneasy (ECM)

The most restlessly interesting album of Vijay Iyer's ECM run so far. 

Wadada Leo Smith with Milfred Graves and Bill Laswell - Sacred Ceremonies (TUM)

Wadada Leo Smith - Trumpet (TUM) 

Wadada Leo Smith Great Lakes Quartet - The Chicago Symphonies (TUM)

Wadada Leo Smith, Jack DeJohnette, Vijay Iyer - A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday (TUM)

Wadada Leo Smith, Douglas Ewart & Mike Reed - Sun Beans Of Shimmering Light (Bandcamp)

Three box sets and two albums: an extraordinary body of work to have produced at any time, never mind all in one year, a year that also happens to have been Smith's 80th birthday year. Age and experience only seem to sharpen his purpose and presence, and his acknowledgement of the impact of space and silence remains crucial too. 

Walt McClements - A Hole In The Fence (American Dreams) 

An accordion work as you've never heard the instrument before. 

Wau Wau Collectif - Yaral Sa Doom (Sahel Sounds) 

A collaboration between Swedish musician Karl Jonas Winqvist and Senegalese engineer Arouna Kane, with the performing skills and expressive qualities of many local musicians, combining influences from a range of regions and traditions. 

Wendy Eisenberg - Bent Ring (Dear Life) 

Banjo and voice, percussive textures, nuance and articulate communication. 

Wild Up - Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine (New Amsterdam) 

This new performance of Femenine is the first in a proposed seven volume anthology of new settings of Julius Eastman's work from this outstanding musical collective. 

Will Guthrie - People Pleaser Vol. 2 (Kythibong) 

Second, tremendously fun instalment of the Australian percussionist's inventive opus. 

William Parker - Migration Of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (AUM Fidelity) 

William Parker - Mayan Space Station (AUM Fidelity) 

William Parker - Painter's Winter (AUM Fidelity) 

Another absurdly productive and consistently individual body of work that demands to be celebrated far into the future. The Migration Of Silence... box set is a colossal celebration of Parker's work as a composer, the other two albums celebrate his work as an improvising performer. Mayan Space Station is a dazzling guitar trio album with the excoriating Ava Mendoza in outrageous form. 

Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood (Spinster)

An acutely felt, beautiful album of solo guitar, often played in radically idiosyncratic ways and yielding moving results. 

Yola - Stand For Myself (Easy Eye Sound)

Another rich and informed Dan Auerbach production on these stellar soul songs. 

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Thursday, December 30, 2021

2021 In Music Part 4: New Music Longlist 3

 M Sage - The Wind Of Things (Geographic North) 

A fully acoustic paen to windswept landscape and waters of Nebraska and Lake Michigan, realised beautifully by an articulate and dynamically aware ensemble. 

Macie Stewart - Mouth Full Of Glass (Orindal) 

Ornate, intricate and sophisticated guitar based songwriting, with rich arrangements. 

Madlib - Sound Ancestors (Madlib Invazion) 

A flowing, coherent arrangement of Madlib productions by Kieren Hebden. 

Maggie Nicols - Creative Contradiction (Takuroku) 

Astonishingly, the illustrious improvising vocalist's first solo album has turned out to be a lockdown work, recorded on a computer at home using Garageband. It's a wide ranging, surprising, quirky and emotional delight. 

Makaya McCraven - Deciphering The Message (Blue Note) 

A sincere and honest deconstruction and reassembly of moments from the Blue Note archives, in which drummer, composer and producer McCraven combines samples with newly recorded material, often in ways where it is hard to be sure which is which. 

Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O - Umdali (Mushroom Hour Half Hour) 

Created in the midst of grief, Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O's debut work as a bandleader is still life affirming and fully present. 

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - Hope (Yellowbird)

Recorded carefully in isolated booths in the studio in May 2020, Ribot's latest captures the tension and anxiety of the time, as well as celebrating the triumph of the creative impulse in the face of adversity. As usual, Ribot scythes through a range of genres with both irreverence and informed understanding. 

Margo Cilker - Pohorylle (Loose) 

Searing and stirring country and blues tinged songs. 

Maria Elena Silva - Eros (BIG EGO) 

I'm baffled as to why this rich and rewarding record hasn't received more attention this year. Its combination of sensuality, flamenco-influenced guitar playing, improvisation and adventure make it a real standout. 

Maria Rosenfeld - Teenage Lontano (Room40) 

Fascinating reimagining of Gyorgy Ligeti. 

Marisa Anderson & William Tyler - Lost Futures (Thrill Jockey) 

A guitar duo collaboration every bit as sensitive, melodic, atmospheric and evocative as you would expect. 

Mary Halvorson & Sylvie Courvoisier - Searching For The Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic) 

An intimate, but not necessarily comfortable collaboration, exploring new and effective ways of integrating piano and guitar. 

Mason Lindahl - Kissing Rosy In The Rain (Tompkins Square) 

Circling, enveloping finger picked guitar. The kind of recording where you can hear nails against string and string scrapes, but they are made to feel warm and part of the sensuality of the whole. 

Mathias Eick - When We Leave (ECM) 

Gentle, ruminative and melodic jazz compositions. 

Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile - Snark Horse (Pi Recordings) 

A box set of concise 'one bar' compositions designed as a springboard for improvisation. One of this year's many gargantuan but somehow necessary projects. 

Matt Ridley - The Antidote (Whirlwind Recordings) 

The composer and bassist's third album as leader is his best, filled with strong writing, distinctive grooves, emotional range and risk taking improvising. 

Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolves (Drag City) 

Long awaited return of this empathetic partnership brings some incisive songs and an expansive approach to the music. 

Maurice Louca - Satt El-Hazz (The Luck Hour) (Northern Spy)

The Egyptian musician collaborates with the 'A' Trio and uses modified instruments to create something otherworldly and magical. 

Maxine Funke - Seance (A Colourful Storm) 

Sensitive and softly delivered songs. 

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime (Matador)

Roaring contemporary Saharan psychedelic rock. 

Mega Bog - Life, And Another (Paradise of Bachelors) 

Eccentric and richly imagined surrealist songs. 

Michael Wollny, Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre & Christian Lilinger - XXXX (ACT) 

Michael Wollny is a musician who seems to be able to occupy almost any kind of creative space and still make something striking and distinctive. This is a bold electric collaboration that constantly surprises, disorientates and delights. 

Mind Maintenance - Mind Maintenance (Drag City) 

Meditative minimalism from Joshua Abrams and Chad Taylor. 

Monocled Man - Ex Voto (Whirlwind Recordings)

A welcome return from Rory Simmons' project - a small ensemble that takes new leaps into the unknown with each release. Here, all band members expand into recording and producing their parts in isolation, with Simmons and drummer Jon Scott working closely on the final mix. The result is a vivid, cinematic musical world that really reels the listener in. 

Moor Mother - Black Encyclopaedia Of The Air (ANTI-) 

Moor Mother's highly individual combination of poetry, electronics and uneasiness continues to grow in impact. 

Myriam Gendron - Ma Delire - Songs of love, lost & found (Feeding Tube/Les Albums Claus) 

Haunting and transporting folk songs. 

Mzylkypop - Kiedy Wilki Zawyja (Discus Music) 

A dystopian vision of England in 2030 - or much closer to England right now than we'd care to admit? 

Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8 (Warp) 

With a group from the vanguard of mainstream UK jazz (including Nubya Garcia, Eddie Hick and Shirley Tetteh), Nala Sinephro has crafted a dreamlike, detailed sound. 

Nashville Ambient Ensemble - Cerulean (Centripetal Force) 

It is remarkable how well suited the pedal steel guitar can be to wildly unexpected contexts, whether it be the improvisation of Susan Alcorn, or the mysterious, languid, droning hums of this ambient group. It works really very well. 

Natalie Jane Hill - Solely (Dear Life) 

Hill's second album brings an openness to sharing and collaboration, drawing other musicians into her inward looking world. The songs are softly expressive and detailed. 

Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure Of The Text)

Music as community action. Vital. 

Nathan Salsburg - Psalms (No Quarter) 

Nathan Salsburg follows up his fascinating experiment with 78rpm records by recording a set of new arrangements of Hebrew psalms. Salsburg is a musician deeply invested in traditions, but capable of drawing something personal and contemporary from them. 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barn (Reprise) 

Like most of Young's recent albums, Barn oscillates wildly between the transcendent (Heading West, Welcome Back), the awkward and earnest but enjoyable (Canerican) and the occasional terrible knock-off (Shape Of You). But Barn is interesting for being the album to most successfully integrate his pastoral reflection with his questing rock improvising since Sleeps With Angels. 

New Bums - The Last Time I Saw Grace (Drag City) 

Ben Chasny's duo with Skygreen Leopards' Donovan Quinn is his most relaxed, loose and humorous work. 

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage (AWAL) 

Apocalyptic preaching and keening heartache combine brilliantly here. 

OK Aurora - Only In Autumn (Ubuntu) 

Drummer Rod Oughton produces a warm and inviting set of jazz infused pop songs, with great horn and vocal arrangements. 

Okkyung Lee - Na-Reul (Corbett vs. Dempsey) 

Okkyung Lee's contribution to the Black Cross Solo Sessions series - a strong and often distressing work made following a period of time spent apart from the Cello at the start of the pandemic, caring for her dying father. 

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp - We're OK. But We're Lost Anyway (Bongo Joe) 

A brilliant large ensemble celebration of turbulence, instability and unpredictability. 

Padang Food Tigers - God's Plenty (Shhpuma) 

More chimerical, haunted ambient folk from the brilliant duo of Stephen Lewis and Spencer Grady. 

Patricia Brennan - Maquishti (Valley Of Search) 

Magnificent, spacious, sometimes spooky solo percussion compositions. 

Patrick Shiroishi - Hidemi (American Dreams) 

Superbly arranged multi-tracked solo saxophone album exploring the personal experience of Shiroishi's grandfather after getting out from a Japanese -American concentration camp. After a brutally abrasive opening, the result is at once mournful, agile, graceful and hopeful. Shiroishi has been a hugely important musician for me over the past couple of years (see also the Fuubutsushi project). 

Pauline Anna Strom - Angel Tears In Sunlight (RVNG Intl.) 

Strom's first album in over 30 years is also unfortunately her last (she passed away in December 2020) - but this glowing, captivating work has enough depth and detail in it to resonate into the beyond.

Peggy Seeger - First Farewell (Red Grape)  

Interviewing Peggy Seeger over Zoom was one of the highlights of the year for me - and this endearing, witty, direct and honest album gave us plenty to talk about. 

Pendant - To All Sides They Will Stretch Out Their Hands (West Mineral Ltd.) 

Alter ego for Huerco S - similarly shifting and unsettling music. 

Perila - How Much Time Is It Between You and Me? (Smalltown Supersound) 

Captivating ambient avant garde music and an impressive debut album. 

Pink Siifu - GUMBO'! (Dynamite Hill) 

Simmering warped soul and hip hop. 

Pino Palladino and Blake Mills - Notes With Attachments (Verve/UMG)

One of the great musical sidemen finally steps out to illuminate his melodic and compositional side, together with the justifiably in demand multi instrumentalist and producer Blake Mills and saxophonist Sam Gendel. This album packs such depth and detail into its short running time. 

Piroshka - Love Drips and Gathers (Bella Union) 

A spectacularly rich, gleaming production from the supergroup of 90s stalwarts (Lush's Miki Berenyi, Elastica's Justin Welch, Mick Conroy from Modern English and KJ "Moose" McKillop) - this feels like a fresh reinvention rather than pure nostalgia. 

Plankton Wat - Future Times (Thrill Jockey) 

Slow burning majesty from Dewey Mahood. 

Powers/Rolin Duo - Strange Fortune (Astral Editions) 

Meditative music it's all too easy to get lost inside. 

Princess Diana of Wales - Princess Diana of Wales (A Colourful Storm) 

Laila Sakini's mischievously monikered project deals in eerie vocal manipulations and unnerving sonic detail. 

Punkt.Vrt.Plastik - Somit (Intakt) 

The trio of Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh and Christian Lilinger produce a second exemplary album of musical lattices and puzzles. 

Rachel Musson - Dreamsing (577) 

Striking, sometimes confrontational solo saxophone. 

Rachika Nayar - Fragments (RVNG Intl.) 

Rachika Nayar - Our Hands Against The Dusk (NNA Tapes) 

Two albums for two different labels, with different approaches to tactile minimalism. 

Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi - They're Calling Me Home (Nonesuch) 

Second highly impressive duo collaboration album. Giddens' project of reclamation continues to yield overpowering results. 

Richard Dawson & Circle - Henki (Domino) 

An unlikely collaboration between ramshackle folk and a Finnish metal band exploring historical flora and fauna. No, really. And it's tremendous. 

Ripatti - Fun Is Not A Straight Line (Planet Mu) 

Reorganised fragments from electronic wizard sometimes known as Vladislav Delay. 

Rob Frye - Exoplanet (Astral Spirits) 

Partially developing transcribed birdsong, this is music of aspiration and ascension from the Bitchin Bajas musician. 

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - Candyman OST (Waxwork)

Perfectly unnerving and unsettling score. 

Robert Finlay - Sharecropper's Son (Easy Eye Sound/Concord) 

I've not listened to much of Finlay's music before, but this is a superbly rendered modern soul and blues album. 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof (Warner Music) 

Very welcome follow up to Raising Sand, mostly traversing similar ground, but doing so with an effortless blend of voices and honesty in delivery. 

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Wednesday, December 29, 2021

2021 In Music Part 3: New Recordings Longlist 2

Editrix - Tell Me I'm Bad (Exploding In Sound)

Wendy Eisenberg's restless and terrifying electric progressive power trio. Brutal and turbulent. 

Eiko Ishibashi - Drive My Car OST (Newhere Music / Space Shower Music) 

In another good year for original film soundtracks, this one stood out for its nuance, delicacy of touch and plaintive feeling. 

Electric Jalaba - El Hal / The Feeling (Strut) 

Simo Lagnawi is one of the UK's leading exponents of Gnawa music and this exciting music recorded in London draws together a wide range of global influences and comes with a strong sense of movement and activity. 

Elephant9 - Arrival Of The New Elders (Rune Grammofon) 

A sometimes more considered, organised and pensive set from the Norwegian improvising trio. 

Elephant Micah - Vague Tidings (Western Vinyl) 

Another beautiful collection from underrated singer-songwriter Joseph O'Connell (very much in the Jason Molina, Will Oldham, Bill Callahan mould but less frequently mentioned), inspired by a tour of Alaska. 

Eli Keszler - Icons (LuckyMe) 

The percussionist and composer continues to forge a unique and personal path, meticulously interweaving acoustic and electronic sound worlds. 

Elori Saxl - The Blue Of Distance (Western Vinyl) 

This album exploring technology and our relationship with nature seemed perfect for this second pandemic year. 

Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow (Movement) 

A neat fusion of jazz, funk and psychedelic soul. 

Endless Boogie - Admonitions (No Quarter)  

Maximum mesmeric riffage. 

Equinoxx - Basic Tools Mixtape (Equinoxx Music) 

Great collage based hip hop/R&B/dub fusion. 

Erika De Casier - Sensational (4AD) 

Brilliantly produced R&B set bursting with rhythmic invention and acute hooks. 

Eris Drew - Quivering In Time (T4T LUV NRG) 

Superb, fully formed debut album from the DJ and Producer.  

Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha (Secretly Canadian) 

Soulful, country tinged songs delivered with both poignant vulnerability and an acerbic sharpness. 

Fergus McCreadie - Cairn (Edition) 

Stunning, beautifully evocative piano trio album tinged with Scottish folk melody. 

Field Music - Flat White Moon (Memphis Industries) 

The ever-prolific Field Music continue to develop their intelligent, idiosyncratic contemporary pop sound.

Fire! - Defeat (Rune Grammofon)  

The Swedish group again reshape their sound and approach, with Mats Gustafsson now focusing on flute (in addition to baritone saxophone and electronics). The superb Goran Kafjes also joins on trumpet. 

Foodman - Yasuragi Land (Hyperdub) 

Japanese footwork master's first album for Hyperdub is bass-less, but still rhythmically inventive and compelling. 

Fruit Bats - The Pet Parade (Merge) 

Fruit Bats - Siamese Dream (Merge) 

Eric D. Johnson's song craft project produces a winning, ingratiating album and a strangely satisfying softer, warmer reinterpretation of the Smashing Pumpkins classic. 

FUJI​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​TA - Noiseem (33 33) 

Fascinating record that finds Fujita working with amplified water, manipulating a series of water tanks that become their own instrument.

Fuubutsushi - Shiki (Cached Media) 

A collection of the four seasons themed albums from Sage, Jussell, Prymek and Shiroishi - beautiful, evocative, rustling, bristling, bright, eerie, crepuscular. 

GAS - Der Lange Marsch (Kompakt) 

Another welcome celebration of pulse and musical hypnosis from Wolfgang Voigt. 

Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth (House Anxiety/Ourness) 

One of the year's most impressive debut albums. 

Gerald Cleaver - Griots (Positive Elevation/Meakusma) 

A masterful, meticulously constructed electronic work from the outstanding jazz drummer that deserved more widespread attention. 

Gerycz/Powers/Rolin - Lamplighter (American Dreams) 

Improvising roots trio continues to expand its palette. 

Ghost Rhythms - Spectral Music (Cuneiform) 

Recorded remotely during the pandemic, yet still carefully interactive, this music explores themes of remoteness, isolation and connection. 

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee At State's End (Kranky) 

It is harder to listen to Godspeed now that it feels that the end times may have indeed come, but this may be the best of their albums since returning to action. There is, as usual, a sense of collective hope amidst the doom. 

Green-House - Music For Living Spaces (Leaving) 

Bright, empathetic and spacious music. 

Greentea Peng - Man Made (Universal) 

Absorbing modern soul music. 

Grouper - Shade (Kranky) 

Liz Harris continues to enthrall with her static-heavy textures and mysterious, manipulated songs. 

Growing - Diptych (Silver Current) 

Lilting, drifting ambient experimental music from the legendary duo, released on Ethan Miller's label. 

GS Schray - The Changing Account (Last Resort) 

Guitar-lead compositions revelling in unpredictability and surprise.  

Hafez Modizardeh - Facets (Pi Recordings) 

The saxophonist works with two of the most imaginative and skilled piano players currently at work - Kris Davis and Craig Taborn - with Tyshawn Sorey (better known as a drummer but also an impressive, characteristically thoughtful pianist) also contributing. The piano here is retuned to an unexpected temperament, leaving the players free to explore tonal spaces unusual to the western experience of the instrument. 

Hand Habits - Fun House (Saddle Creek) 

Meg Duffy's most wide ranging and impressive album as Hand Habits - melodic and enticing songs with impressively crisp production. 

Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Ding Dong You're Dead (Rune Grammofon) 

Norwegian jazz/rock trio veers between scything aggression and eerie contemplation. 

Helado Negro - Far In (Private Energy/4AD) 

The kind of album that offers space for calm and reflection, but still gently grooving too. 

Henry Parker - Lammas Fair (Cup and Ring) 

Brilliantly executed folk rock - think Fairport meets Ryley Walker. 

Henry Threadgill - Poof (Pi Recordings) 

Concise but typically adventurous music from he great saxophonist, composer and improviser. There's an intuitive relationship between the musicians that allows them to find their own spaces. 

Herbert - Musca (Accidental) 

Billed as the third album in a 'domestic house' trilogy (following Around The House and Bodily Functions), this celebration of domesticity and intimacy doesn't quite reach the heights of its classic predecessors. However, it's an impressively agile combination of musical contributions recorded in isolation (including contributions from Nick Ramm, Tom Herbert, Tom Skinner, Leo Taylor and Finn Peters alongside 8 vocalists). 

Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant (Brainfeeder) 

Welcome return from the much admired and dazzling Australian groove eccentrics. 

Hiss Golden Messenger - Quietly Blowing It (Merge)

Hiss Golden Messenger - O Come All Ye Faithful (Merge) 

More than fulfilling his commitment to release something every year, MC Taylor not only released a typically inspired set of original songs neatly addressing the contemporary moment, but also graced us with a fine seasonal holiday album (Hung Fire particularly stands among his best songs and transcends the functional context of the album). Quietly Blowing It included his most expansive and detailed arrangements yet, accompanying graceful and lyrical songs. 

Howie Lee - Birdy Island (Mais Um Discos)

Elaborate, sophisticated, invigorating sound design based around the idea of a floating theme park. 

Injury Reserve - By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Injury Reserve) 

Genuinely innovative contemporary hip hop, combining a freedom of wordplay with an improvisatory approach to sound. 

Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates (International Anthem) 

This brilliant band continue to go from strength to strength, presenting the combination of poetry and improvisation as a battleground force. 

Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few - Cosmic Transitions (Division 81) 

Five part suite offering a take on 'spiritual jazz'- not wildly original but certainly intense and genuine. 

Ivo Neame - Glimpses Of Truth (Whirlwind) 

A brilliant, powerful large ensemble album exploring the chaos, conspiracist modern times in which we live. It is at once turbulent and playful and Neame is one of the best composers and arrangers we have. 

Ivo Perelman Trio - Garden Of Jewels (Tao Forms)

Ivo Perelman & Nate Wooley - Polarity (Burning Ambulance)

Bold, risk taking trio set with Matthew Shipp and Whit Dickey. It's also fascinating to hear Perelman in a duo with Nate Wooley on Phil Freeman's new label. It feels as if duos, always an interesting format in which to create and improvise, are beginning to receive more interest through recordings. 

Jack Cooper and Jeff Tobias - Tributaries (Bandcamp) 

Compositions described as 'systems' and inspired by Essex tributaries of the river Cam. I would have liked to include the Modern Nature projects here too, but they are only available on ludicrously expensive vinyl and, I'm sorry, but I'm just not biting. 

Jacky Naylor - The Industrial Suite (Ubuntu) 

Beautiful, assured, richly melodic jazz suite telling the story of industrialisation (and post-industrialisation) in the North of England. I feel this deserved more attention this year. Commissioned by the Lancaster Jazz Festival. 

James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms) 

James Brandon Lewis Quartet - Code Of Being (Intakt) 

An extraordinarily productive year for the saxophonist. Jesup Wagon is my favourite of these two works. 

Jamire Williams - But Only After You Have Suffered (International Anthem) 

Ingenious sound montage. 

Jana Rush - Painful Enlightenment (Planet Mu) 

Abrasive, disorientating and disruptive electronic sound design. 

Janet Simpson - Safe Distance (Cornelius Chapel) 

A superb, cohesive set of modern country rock songs. 

Jason Moran - The Sound Will Tell You (Bandcamp) 

Inventive solo piano set inspired by Toni Morrison and making creative use of the 'DRIP' effect. 

Jeff Parker - Forfolks (International Anthem)

Subtle, drifting solo set from the exploratory, adaptable guitarist. 

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma & Ilyas Ahmed - You Can See Your Own Way Out (Devotion) 

Spectral, haunting combination of guitar, field recordings and electronics. 

Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue - Zero Grasses: Ritual For The Losses (Pi Recordings) 

Sublime multi-tracked vocals together with an astute ensemble, combining East Asian musical traditions with western improvisation. 

Jerusalem In My Heart - Qalaq (Constellation) 

An album with a title that may translate as 'deep worry' feels particularly acute for 2021. This is a fascinating and wide ranging work, involving numerous collaborators but retaining a coherent identity and approach. 

Jihye Lee Orchestra - Daring Mind (Motema) 

One of the most striking and resonant large ensemble jazz albums of 2021. 

JJJJJerome Ellis - The Clearing (NNA Tapes) 

A wonderful, highly original sound work exploring speech disfluency as a source of potential and promise.

Joan Armatrading - Consequences (Giftwend/BMG)

We don't talk about Joan Armatrading enough - and this is a confident album highlighting her observational and melodic qualities as a songwriter.  

Joan As Policewoman, Tony Allen & Dave Okumu - The Solution Is Restless (PIAS) 

Remarkable, original songs created from a series of improvisations between Joan Wasser, the late legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and The Invisible guitarist Dave Okumu. 

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints - Other Worlds (Greenleaf) 

Quintet inspired by the extraordinary, pioneering legacy of Wayne Shorter. This time, the track list consists exclusively of originals, but Shorter's guiding presence is still felt within the music, which is also imprinted by the individual approaches of these leading musicians. 

John Zorn - New Masada Quartet (Tzadik) 

Reaching back into the Masada repertoire, but delivered with a fierce spontaneity and risk taking adventurousness by this outstanding new quartet. In keeping with Zorn's principles, there is no easy way to hear this online, so I've linked to Boomkat where you can hear samples of each track. 

Johnathan Blake - Homeward Bound (Blue Note) 

Nuanced and intriguing music from the drummer/composer, delivered with an inspiring lightness of touch. 

Joseph Shabason - The Fellowship (Western Vinyl) 

An intimate and rewarding album with a fascinating story - the music encapsulates Shabason's family history in a dual Jewish-Islamic household. 

Josh Sinton - b. (FiP)

Solo album played exclusively on Baritone Saxophone. 

Julian Lage - Squint (Blue Note) 

Lage is a flexible musician, able to play in highly adventurous, radical situations or often making more melodically accessible music within a clear modern jazz lineage, as here. 

Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra - Tales From The Jacquard (Whirlwind) 

A superb (and thrilling) modern big band work from one of our most important musicians. 

Jupiter & Okwess - Na Kozonga (Zamora/Studio Gouv) 

Joyful, uplifting and energetic music from the DRC. 

Ka - A Martyr's Reward (Iron Works) 

Ka continues to be one of the most original and distinctive rappers at work. 

Kasai Allstars - Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound (Crammed Discs) 

Beware The Fetish is a former ILWP album of the year and still means a great deal to me. This work is not quite pitched at the same feverish level but is interesting in and of itself by broadening their sound world with electronic elements and inspirations from nearby regions. 

Kelman Duran - Night In Turana (Scorpio Red) 

First release on Duran's own label Scorpio Red - this is a subliminal, haunted synthesis of hip hop, jazz, electronica and ambient atmospherics. 

Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkeybirds - Swing From The Sean Delear (In The Red) 

A limited release EP that is already hard to come by, but (for now at least) is still up on YouTube. It's scintillating and a lot of fun. 

Kiran Leonard - Trespass On Foot (Bandcamp)

A long album split into two parts - the first half is Leonard working alone, the second half finds him operating with an ensemble. This is brilliantly constructed, densely allusive and fascinating music. 

Kit Downes & Lucy Railton - Subaerial (SN Variations) 

Another instalment in a long running musical collaboration, this subtle Cello and organ work may be the most fulfilling yet from Downes & Railton. 

Klein - Harmattan (Pentatone) 

A very different, occasionally unnerving set from this open minded producer, drawing together strands from contemporary classical, minimalism, drone and jazz. 

KMRU - Logue (Injazero) 

Another step forward from a key figure in ambient and electronic music. 

KUU! - Artificial Sheep (ACT) 

Angular, brain melting jazz rock with a punk-ish energy and directness. 

L'Rain - Fatigue (Mexican Summer) 

A thoroughly designed and intoxicating sound world from multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taja Cheek - and one of the year's most unique and overwhelming albums. 

Lake Street Dive - Obviously (Nonesuch) 

Cheesy? Uncool? Well, yes, probably. Irresistible? Certainly. A terrific band. 

Lambchop - Showtunes (City Slang)

This seems to have been oddly overlooked come the year's end. While it may be slight in terms of length, it's another impressive reconfiguration of Kurt Wagner's core musical values. 

Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club (Universal)

Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters (Universal) 

The acerbic observations continue to get more and more acute. The languid pacing can be a bit oppressive over the course of two albums though. 

Laura Mvula - Pink Noise (Flamingo/Atlantic) 

Mvula continues to reinvent herself with each new album. This is a triumph of day glo production values coupled with great songwriting and musicianship. 

Li Yilei - 之 / OF (Metron) 

Sound collage with each piece presented as 'a short, scattered poem - a moment that I captured to represent each hour'. Informed by pandemic experience, including time in a quarantine hotel, this music often feels hermetically sealed, but also strangely comforting. 

Linda Fredriksson - Juniper (We Jazz) 

A reflective work that Fredriksson describes as 'a singer-songwriter album performed by an instrumental jazz band'. Exactly my vibe, then. 

Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham (Warner)

Who needs Fleetwood Mac?!

Linkwood - Mono (Athens Of The North) 

Modest, homely electronica. 

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be An Introvert (AGE 101/AWAL) 

Articulate, fluent and sharply insightful. 

Lonelady - Former Things (Warp) 

Former Things is Julie Campbell's most assured and complete album to date, retaining her preference for wiry, scratchy grooves but developing form, melody and detail. 

Loren Connors & Oren Ambarchi - Leone (Family Vineyard) 

The first album bringing these two guitarists together - two individual pieces and a duo piece. Richly empathetic and thoughtful. 

Loscil - Clara (Kranky) 

Compelling, unsettling work reconstituted from a single orchestral performance in Budapest. 

Low - Hey What (Sub Pop) 

Like Double Negative before it, this is an excellent experiment in texture and radical abrasion, but this time with Alan Parker and Mimi Sparhawk's gloriously symbiotic harmonies left mostly untouched and at the forefront. 



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