kagablog

1. Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath – Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath (Fledg’ling) / Brotherhood (Fledg’ling)

- these reissues of the mighty Brotherhood’s first two early ‘70s albums actually came out in very late 2006, so I wondered, briefly, whether to hide their presence further down the list, but, since they include (make that since they’re saturated with) some of the very best South African music ever made, since they were surely among the greatest big bands ever assembled, since they offer perhaps the most conclusive proof of the galvanising effect the exiled South Africans had on the UK free jazz scene, since Rolling Stone magazine once chose the Clash’s 1979 “London Calling” as its Album of the ‘80s, and since I doubt whether any albums, new or reissued, gave me greater or more lasting pleasure last year, I wondered only very briefly

2. Various - The Very Best Of Ethiopiques (Manteca) / Various – Authenticité: The Syliphone Years (Stern’s Africa)

- the favourable political climates that fuelled the remarkable musical abundance in Ethiopia and Guinea captured on these two double albums overlapped to a significant degree - Ethiopia’s, captured here in 28 totally captivating and astonishingly varied tracks drawn from the marvellous “Ethiopiques” CD series, lasted from the early ‘60s to the mid ‘70s, a joyous interregnum between two separate periods of political repression and consequent artistic recession, with the majority of these songs drawn from a recording explosion that occurred between 1969 and 1975 or shortly thereafter – the sound of Guinea’s, full of exuberance and hope, and coinciding with a policy of authenticité following the country’s independence from France, was primarily captured on the Syliphone label between 1965 and 1980 – if only a few artists on show here made any impression on the outside world, the overall quality is close to miraculous

3. Various - People Take Warning! Murder Ballads And Disaster Songs, 1913-1938 (Tompkins Square)

- superbly packaged three disc set of songs about flood, fire and famine, train, plane and bus wrecks, family slaughters, crimes of passion and the sinking of the Titanic that includes the original recorded version of the Kingston Trio’s 1958 hit tale of the 1868 murder of Laura Foster by Tom Dula in the North Carolina backwoods by the grand nephew of the sheriff (mentioned in the song) who brought him in – mainly old time folk and country and blues, of course, but there’s a traditional prayer for the Titanic dead, sung by a Jewish cantor, that has finally wiped all trace of that Celine Dion abomination from my memory - I can’t resist this sort of thing, and neither should you

4. Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy – Cornell 1964 (Blue Note)

- a recently discovered double disc recording of an all but completely forgotten concert by this amazing outfit turns out to be as good as, if not better than several of the great bandleader’s most celebrated live recordings, with more than a phenomenal hour devoted to just Fables Of Faubus and Meditations and enough brilliance elsewhere to almost justify this placing even without that hour

5. Jim Ford – The Sounds Of Our Time (Bear Family)

- this obscure white country/soul singer’s only album (“Harlan County” from 1969), fleshed out here with singles and unreleased material, proves that, besides being a writer good enough to have attracted the attention of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Nick Lowe and the Temptations, and a personality funky enough to have been one of Sly Stone’s best friends, he was also an artist in the Dan Penn/Eddie Hinton class who might have been more famous had he been more interested, and enjoyed just a little luck

6. Nico – The Frozen Borderline 1968-1970 (Elektra/Reprise/Rhino)

- the Velvet Underground ice princess’s second and third albums, both produced by former bandmate John Cale, the only other musician on show and a perfect artistic foil who said of their non-commerciality, “You can’t sell suicide”, are stark, austere, desolate and intense, their carefully wrought atmosphere utterly uncompromising - yet there is heart here, of a sort, and even soul, as well as an appreciable amount of bitter beauty

7. Arthur Alexander – Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter (HackTone)

- Alexander had a voice that was once described as the sound of heartbreak, and was the only songwriter to have had his songs recorded by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan – by definition, therefore, he should have been a big star, but sometimes life just doesn’t turn out that way – this is an expanded edition of his last album, sweetly melancholy, vastly tuneful, packed to the gills with real soul, and recorded after a two decade long absence from the business during which he beat addiction, drove a bus and found the Lord - it will break your heart, and so will the fact that he died just a few days after its release

8. Michael Rother – Flammende Herzen / Sterntaler / Katzenmusik / Fernwarme (Water) // Harmonia – Live 1974 (Water)

- long overdue CD reissues of the first four solo albums by Krautrock guitar genius Rother, formerly of Neu!, as well as a surprise first time live release by the Harmonia trio he formed with Cluster – where Harmonia’s approach is ascetic and artistically rigorous (more so than on their studio releases), qualities much prized by many of their Krautrock colleagues, Rother’s immediately subsequent playing, on perhaps the greatest guitar albums you’ve never heard, is languid, liquid and hugely melodious, and, especially on “Sterntaler”, it soars ecstatically

9. Moby Grape – Moby Grape / Wow / Grape Jam / Moby Grape ’69 / Truly Fine Citizen (Sundazed)

- in a year that saw excellent and highly recommended reissues of classic albums by Fairport Convention, Sonic Youth, Young Marble Giants, Pink Floyd, David Crosby, Joy Division and the Watersons among others, this fantastic set seemed the most desirable, covering the first incarnation of potentially the least era (or area) bound of the all of the San Francisco Summer of Love bands, each of the albums fleshed out with worthwhile extras and an attractive booklet – the first and third are the places to start, the debut cementing its reputation as one of rock’s greatest, while “‘69” will surprise some with its unsentimental and often gorgeous way with early country-rock – but you’ll want the others as well

10. Various – I’m Not There

- an “original soundtrack” album many of whose songs don’t feature in Todd Haynes’s film “inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan” at all – in fact, Bob’s only on one, but it is the title track, the enigmatic Basement Tape song that was arguably the greatest still in his unreleased catalogue – the rest are covers of Dylan songs by a bewildering array of acts, some of whom (Willie Nelson, Roger McGuinn, Los Lobos, Mark Lanegan) might have been born to sing their choices, while others (Cat Power, Tom Verlaine, Sufjan Stevens) mould the material to their own musical personalities – much of the backing is provided by two fine bands built around Sonic Youth and Calexico respectively, while Joe Henry’s production skills are amply utilised, too

11. Various – The Cosimo Matassa Story (Proper)

- cataloguing, across four CDs and 120 tracks, recording engineer Matassa’s remarkable career as the Crescent City’s record man of choice in those days, this is nothing less than a masterclass in New Orleans R&B and rock ‘n’ roll between 1951 and 1956 – Fats Domino and Little Richard are the big names, of course, but there’s plenty of Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Bobby Charles and even early Art Neville and dozens of others, of differing degrees of fame or obscurity, influence or interest, with every one of them worth at least the space allocated to him (or her – Shirley Goodman’s unusual place in all this is emphasised by her almost exclusively male company)

12. Magnolia Electric Co – Sojourner (Secretly Canadian)

- four short albums of new, old and sometimes re-recorded songs, a similarly short DVD of life on the Canadian road and several other artefacts in a sturdy wooden box constitute the kind of package that fans of independent US rock should find irresistible, especially, if almost incidentally, because Jason Molina and latterly this band supply consistently fine music album after album and throughout this set

ALPHABETICAL RECOMMENDATIONS (the next 25 have asterisks)

Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Leonard Cohen / Songs From A Room / Songs Of Love
And Hate (Columbia/Legacy)
*David Crosby – If I Could Only Remember My Name …. (Atlantic/Rhino)
*Karen Dalton – Cotton Eyed Joe (Megaphone)
*Betty Davis – Betty Davis / They Say I’m Different (Light In The Attic)
*Jack DeJohnette & Bill Frisell – The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers (GBP)
*Sandy Denny – Live At The BBC (Universal)
*Dave Douglas – Live At The Jazz Standard (Greenleaf/Koch)
*Gordon Duncan – Just For Gordon (Greentrax)
Bob Dylan – Dylan (Columbia)
Joe Ely – Silver City (Rack ‘Em)
*Fairport Convention – Liege And Lief: Deluxe Edition (Island)
*Aretha Franklin – Rare And Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of
The Queen Of Soul (Rhino/Atlantic)
Robbie Fulks – Revenge (Yep Roc)
Green On Red – BBC Sessions (Maida Vale)
*Hallelujah Chicken Run Band – Take One 1974-79 (Analog Africa)
*Emmylou Harris – Songbird: Rare Tracks And Forgotten Gems (Rhino)
Dale Hawkins – “LA., Memphis & Tyler, Texas” (Rev-Ola)
*Andrew Hill – Compulsion (Blue Note)
*Robyn Hitchcock – I Wanna Go Backwards (Yep Roc)

*Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette – My Foolish Heart: Live At
Montreux (ECM)
“Peerie” Willie Johnson – Willie’s World (Greentrax)
*Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures / Closer / Still (Collector’s Editions) (London)
Bill Knight – Kaapse Mengsel (Self released)
Konono No 1 – Live At Couleur Café (Crammed Discs)
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Original Album Classics (Columbia/Legacy)
*Makgona Tsohle Band – Mathaka Vols 1&2 (Gallo)
John McLaughlin – Original Album Classics (Columbia/Legacy)
Pat Metheny – Secret Story (Nonesuch)
*Mono – Gone: A Collection Of EPs 2000-2007 (Temporary Residence Ltd)
John Moriri – Various reissues (Gallo)
*Gwigwi Mrwebi – Mbaqanga Songs (Honest Jon’s)
*Gram Parsons – Archives Vol 1: With The Flying Burrito Brothers Live At The
Avalon Ballroom 1969 (Amoeba)
*Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (EMI)
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys – Jazzfest Live 2007 (Munckmusic)
Jason Ringenberg – Best Tracks And Side Tracks 1979-2007 (Yep Roc)
Tom Russell – Wounded Heart Of America (Hightone)
*Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation: Deluxe Edition (Geffen)
*Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band – Live In Dublin (Columbia)
Ralph Stanley – Mountain Preacher’s Child (Rebel)
Jem Targal – Luckey Guy (Obscure Oxide)
Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez – Live From The Ruhr Triennale (Train Wreck)
Richard & Linda Thompson – In Concert, November 1975 (Island)
Various – BBC Radio 3 Awards For World Music ’07 (Manteca)
Various – Cape Jazz 3: Goema (Mountain)
Various – Classic Old-Time Fiddle (Smithsonian Folkways)
Various – Goin’ Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino (Vanguard)
Various – Jazzfest Live: The 2007 Compilation Album (Munckmusic)
Various – The Rough Guide To North African Café (World Music Network)
Various – Sound Of The World 2007 (Warner)
Various – Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988 (Light In The Attic)
M. Ward – Duet For Guitars #2 (Merge)
Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton – Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down
(Epic/Legacy)
*The Watersons – Frost And Fire / Sound Sound Your Instruments Of Joy (Topic)
Andre Williams – Movin’ On With Andre Williams: Greasy & Explicit Soul Movers
1956-1970 (Vampisoul)
Wreckless Eric – Big Smash (Stiff)
*Neil Young – Live At Massey Hall 1971 (Reprise)
*Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth & Collected Works (Domino)
Warren Zevon – Preludes: Rare And Unreleased Recordings (New West)
Warren Zevon – Stand In The Fire (Asylum/Rhino)