Rolling Reissues 2022

Anthony Braxton's News From the '70s is now on Bandcamp:

https://felmayrecordsjazzusa.bandcamp.com/album/news-from-the-70s-soo-duo-quartet

It features six tracks from between 1971 and 1976: a mixture of solo, duo, and quartet pieces. Most important from my POV is a duo between Braxton and Dave Holland (playing cello) that was part of the 1972 Town Hall concert but didn't fit on the double LP made from that show. But if you're a fan and (like me) think that era was kind of the peak of his work, the whole thing is a must-have.

Great news, thanks! Never heard this:

The Clouds

DFA reissues beloved cult classic from the early 2000s

First-ever vinyl release remastered and cut at 45 RPM by Bob Weston (LCD Soundsystem, Nirvana)
Super limited edition LP housed in a craft stock gatefold with a tipped in fold-out featuring lyrics, liner notes, and photos.

n 2003, The Coleman Center, an Alabama non-profit arts organization, welcomed Stuart Hyatt as an artist-musician in residence. The center, which encourages and supports projects that engage and reflect the unique surrounding community, invited Hyatt to explore local music.

Four weeks later, he emerged with The Clouds.

Hyatt, reckoning with the notion of mortality, had written and recorded songs with a variety of local citizens, social groups, and schoolchildren.

The result is a record that is plainly, if not stylistically, Americana – a patchwork of voices sown together by some simple songs about the one thing we all experience.

The original release was super DIY – Hyatt’s grandparents helped him assemble the packaging, which also somehow managed to score a Grammy nomination in the category. A copy of the CD somehow wound up in the DFA offices, where it was shared and beloved but still sat until 2020, when we decided it may finally be worth trying to re-release on vinyl.

That process took two years and an insane attention to detail, but the final product is part and parcel with the original project – a unique document of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration.

links etc.:
https://mailchi.mp/riotactmedia/the-clouds-dfa-reissues-beloved-cult-classic-from-the-early-2000s?e=adc06515ce
Adcance track: https://thecloudsdfa.bandcamp.com/album/the-clouds

From Real Gone:

Here come those holidays, and if you’re like us, you could use some music to put some pep in your step. Enter one of the most beloved releases in our catalog, one that’s been out of print for about five years: THE METERS: A Message from the Meters—The Complete Josie, Reprise & Warner Bros. Singles 1968-1977. This 3-LP, 40-track set presents the A and B-side of every single that the world’s greatest funk band (organist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter, Jr., and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste) cut for the Josie, Reprise & Warner Bros. label, virtually their entire singles output (all but two co-produced by the late, great Allen Toussaint) save for a few odds ‘n’ ends issued mostly overseas. That means that you not only get every hit along with its hard-to-find B-side but also the rare single mixes, including the especially rare original mono single mixes of the 1968-1971 Josie sides (the first three LP sides are all mono; the last three, featuring the later Reprise and Warner Bros. singles, present all stereo single mixes). These songs represent the mother lode of New Orleans funk, classic tracks like “Sophisticated Cissy,” “Cissy Strut,” “Look-Ka Py Py,” “Chicken Strut,” “Hand Clapping Song,” “Hey Pocky A-Way,” and more. And, with liner notes by Bill Dahl featuring quotes from Nocentelli, Neville, and Porter, this 3-LP set offers probably the best retrospective to date of this enormously influential band. And how’s the sound? Well, after extensive and exhaustive tape research, we were able to come up with original tape sources for all but five of these single sides (all on superior-sounding black vinyl), and the remastering—by Mike Milchner at SonicVision—is tight! We’re selling this at the unmatched low price of $44.99…put a check mark next to the music lover on your Christmas list.

nice!

https://svartrecords.com/pictures/4877637f62a27f513.jpg

Oriental Beat by Hanoi Rocks gets the redux treatment, officially mixed and revived from the original sessions, and released on March 17th on deluxe vinyl, CD and digital formats. The CD and vinyl come with the song lyrics, checked and approved by Michael Monroe.

Dubbed the “re(al) mix”, this 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studios in Finland in collaboration with the band. Vocalist Michael Monroe calls this release “the longest and slowest album project ever,” stating that “40 years in the making, it's not just a remix, but the REAL MIX supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks”.

Recorded in London, UK in 1981, for 200 pounds a day, Oriental Beat was made during the height of the British punk + New Wave movement, when the band was hanging out with everyone from Phil Lynott to the Damned. Hanoi Rocks’ original drummer Gyp Casino says of Oriental Beat that: “Back in the days we gave heart, soul and a bit of pain to make this record something else” but the sound of the album, originally released in 1982, did not match their efforts at the time. Bassist Sami Yaffa called it “the worst sounding album of our career” and Michael Monroe said that “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”.

Oriental Beat’s original engineer Peter Wooliscroft, was not a rock producer, and according to Hanoi Rocks’ manager Richard Bishop he “tried to mix the album to sound like Spandau Ballet”. Released before the band could remix or rerecord it, as the label had run out of money, and the master tapes had gone missing, the band has always considered the original mix of Oriental Beat to be a “disaster”. With the tapes mysteriously showing up in the Universal vault recently, the band was finally able to mix and resequence the album the way they wanted it to sound.

Oriental Beat is a defining masterpiece made when Hanoi Rocks was about to explode onto the world scene and written at the absolute peak of lead guitarist Andy McCoy’s creativity as a songwriter. Rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide says “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down it became our dream come true! THIS is what it's all about” as this definitive edition of Oriental Beat now fully displays the ultimate arrogance and attitude which defined the band. Monroe says: “now, 40 years after its original release in 1982, we finally got the album sounding as great as it deserves, with no overdubs or samples,” and McCoy adds that: “It's better now than ever. This is what it was meant to sound like. So enjoy it...Another shot of Hanoi Rocks”.

https://svartrecords.com/en/product/hanoi-rocks-oriental-beat-%E2%80%93-40th-anniversary-real-mix/10891

I had (might still have) the 2CD version of that Meters set. It's great.

Real Gone Music is also continuing their Holiday Hootenany vinyl sale: https://realgonemusic.com/collections/sale?rs_oid_rd=201919297551061
Adding a couple of Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes titles, Eddie Hazel's solo alb Game(sic), Dames, and Guitar Thangs---which I recall as disappointing, considering his P-Funk peaks, but maybe a few keepers---also Dusty Springfield's reemarkable The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971: a double LP, like Michael Nesmith's Different Drum: Lost RCA Victor Recordings. Also the unearthed "pysch classic" by Tintern Abbey, and overall quite a mixed bag. Would like to hear this:

Melvin Van Peebles: Watermelon Man (Green “Watermelon Skin” Vinyl Edition) LP Regular Version

In an extraordinary career spanning seven decades, director and "godfather of black cinema" Melvin Van Peebles only made one studio film. 1970's Watermelon Man shattered conventions with its bitingly satirical story about a white couple, intolerant and obnoxious insurance salesman Jeff Gerber (Godfrey Cambridge) and his seemingly liberal wife Althea (Estelle Parsons). One morning, Jeff awakens to discover that his skin color has changed from white to black-and it's not a result of his daily tanning routine. Unable to successfully change back, he learns what it's like to live in America as a black man, and his eyes are opened. The uncompromising Watermelon Man shocked audiences in 1970 and remains all too relevant today. Accompanying the scathing comedy was an original soundtrack composed by Van Peebles himself, then recording for A&M Records and about to take on Broadway with a pair of Tony Award-nominated musicals. The soundtrack to Watermelon Man was released on the small Beverly Hills label, preserving Van Peebles' enjoyably eclectic score - blending jazz, funk, rock, rhythm and blues, proto-rap, and even bluegrass - and the songs "Love, That's America" and "Soul'd on You" as well as a special appearance by Estelle Parsons on "Where Are the Children." All that and Ry Cooder, too: the slide guitar virtuoso, while uncredited, is said to have played the indelible slide parts throughout the album! Watermelon Man came to be overshadowed by Van Peebles' seminal follow-up Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and the album disappeared, too. But the time has never been more right to rediscover Van Peebles' prescient film and its killer soundtrack. Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records' first-ever vinyl reissue (and first reissue in any format) of Watermelon Man features remastered audio from Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision as well as an insert with on-set photos and liner notes by The Second Disc's Joe Marchese, with a green, "watermelon skin" pressing. "Love, That's America" was adopted decades after its original release as an anthem for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now, it's your turn to discover this one-of-a-kind soundtrack from visionary filmmaker, writer, actor, songwriter, and musician Melvin Van Peebles.

Side One
1. Love, That’s America
2. Great Guy
3. Eviction Theme
4. Soul’d on You
Side Two
1. Where Are the Children
2. Erica’s Theme
3. Fugue #1
4. Fugue #2
5. Fugue #3

And this (Two is the title; it's one LP):

Three Man Army Two LP
Brothers Adrian and Paul Gurvitz were responsible for some of the most progressive hard rock sounds of the late '60s and '70s, first in The Gun, and later with Cream drummer Ginger Baker in The Baker Gurvitz Army. In between those two bands, though, was the one that was perhaps the best of the bunch; Three Man Army put out three records from 1971 to 1974 that would nestle nicely in your heavy British rock collection next to, say, Cactus and Jeff Beck's Truth and Beck-Ola records. 1974's Two was, confusingly, their third album, and it’s safe to say they saved their best for last. "Polecat Woman" kicks off the record with a Led Zep-like boogie stomp, "Today" is very Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, and "Flying" almost sounds like a harder version of Badfinger. But the highlight might be "I Can't Make the Blind See," which, with its orchestration and soulful vocals, almost sounds like a power ballad done by Traffic. This overlooked '70s hard rock platter gets a long-overdue vinyl reissue with a cobalt blue pressing limited to 1500 copies!
Side One

1. Polecat Woman
2. Today
3. Flying
4. Space Is the Place

Side Two

1. Irving
2. I Can't Make the Blind See
3. Burning Angel
4. In My Eyes

Alan Vega's Saturn Strip is also in the RGM sale---hadn't seen that about Hanoi Rocks, looks appealing. What's their best?

(I've never heard Three Man Army sound like Badfinger or Traffic, and don't particularly want to: those bands had their moments, but it's not how I think about Gurvitz rock)

(But I shouldn't hold label copy against them, must listen w/o prejudice.)

Uh-oh, just now saw this

Omnivore Recordings
Less Than Perfect Sale
Dec. 5-7
Limited Quantities
Reissues and Previously Unreleased

ello Omnivores,

While music is now available in many forms, we still love and prefer LPs and CDs. The only drawback is as things ship across the country to get to our warehouses, sometimes they arrive—in well, less than perfect condition. The vinyl and discs are fine, but the packaging may have a slight ding here or there. Rather than sending them to the scrap heap, we’re offering them at a discount to you!

Titles in this sale are priced at 50% off of their normal price. Move fast if you’re interested by going to www.omnivorerecordings.com/less-than-perfect and grab them at incredible prices. There is very limited stock on hand and when they’re gone they’re gone!

Remember, these are “less than perfect” on the outside, but it’s the same great music on the inside. If there’s something you’ve been meaning to pick up, this is the perfect opportunity to add selections to your collections. Again, quantities are extremely limited, so don’t delay!

Please note, the prices you’ll see in the webstore will have the discount already applied to them.

did the nuggets reissue thing ever happen?

I'm not pasting the entire track listing, but this looks pretty impressive:

Stax Records and Craft Recordings are proud to announce the release of multiple new titles paying homage to the iconic Wattstax Benefit Concert which took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20th, 1972. Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection, Wattstax: The Complete Concert, and The Best of Wattstax, plus 2-LP reissues of the original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Word and The Living Word: Wattstax 2 will all be released on February 24 and are available for pre-order today.

In celebration of the 1973 Columbia Pictures music documentary, Sony Pictures will re-release Wattstax at participating Alamo Drafthouse locations throughout the U.S. from February 24.

Created in conjunction with the annual Watts Summer Festival to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts uprising in Los Angeles, the Wattstax benefit concert was attended by more than 100,000 people. It featured performances from Stax Records’ most popular artists of the time, including, but not limited to, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas and The Bar-Kays. These releases are the first complete audio collections of what Wattstax creator and then-President of Stax Records, Al Bell calls the “most jubilant celebration of African American music, culture, and values in American history.”

Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection is a 12-CD box set featuring the complete 1972 L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert plus recordings from the Summit Club, including 31 previously unreleased tracks across the collection. These recordings are housed in a folio with a 76-page, full-color book featuring an introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and new essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway. A previously unreleased version of the iconic soul funk anthem “Theme From Shaft” by the legendary Isaac Hayes from his headline set at Wattstax is available to stream and download here today.

Wattstax: The Complete Concert includes the full L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert and is available on both 6-CD and 10-LP formats. In addition to musical performances, it features all the speeches and other stage banter from the event, including event MC, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s often referenced “I Am Somebody” speech. Both formats of this collection include the full-color book with introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway that is also included in Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection.

A 1-CD title, The Best of Wattstax, brings together a handpicked selection of twenty of the best musical performances from the Wattstax concert. Including performances by Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Kim Weston, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Eddie Floyd and more, and serves as a great introduction to the event and the many iconic artists that it featured.

Newly cut from the original analog tapes, reissues of the two original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Wordand The Living Word: Wattstax 2—which feature highlights from the concert and subsequent documentary film—will also each be reissued on 2-LP formats on the same date.

whoa

> did the nuggets reissue thing ever happen?

"A five LP Nuggets box set is on the way – delayed until spring 2023 owing to the vinyl production backlog."

jeez, yet another Omnivore flash sale:

People are always told never to wait until the last minute to do something. Well, we believe that sometimes, it’s exactly the right thing to do. If you’re looking to grab some last minute holiday deals, for yourself or for someone special, we’re offering 25% off everything (except pre-orders) in our webstore for three days only—Monday, December 12 through Wednesday, December 14! Choose from CDs, LPs, singles, EPs, posters, t-shirts, slipmats… if it’s in stock, it’s 25% off.

The sale is limited to stock on hand, and there’s no limit as to how many copies you can pick up per title. The only thing we ask is that you remember not to add pre-orders to your cart, as that delays your shipment and negates the discount. So, don’t do that! Just take advantage of 25% off everything that’s in the store now.

Top Sellers
Janis Joplin & Jorma Kaukonen – The Legendary Typewriter Tape: 6/25/64 Jorma’s House
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – Jonathan Sings!
Bobby Cole – A Point Of View
The Cowsills – Rhythm Of The World
New Riders Of The Purple Sage – Lyceum ‘72

Soul Jazz Records 2022 releases:
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/img/M1BYOWw2NU16SnEvQTdtUzdVNFNUQT09/sjr-495-lp488-count-ossie-grounation.jpg

The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari
Grounation

"One of the greatest albums of all time just got better. Do not miss." Quietus

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Definitive 50th anniversary release of this seminal album!

Soul Jazz Records are releasing this long-revered album release in three unique formats; a one-off pressing limited-edition deluxe box set triple-vinyl edition complete with a free 45 single + art print + an exact-replica reproduction Mystic Revelation 1977 mag/zine + download code;

Secondly as a triple album + download code with complete sleevenotes.

Thirdly there is also a deluxe 2 CD version complete with 40 page large format outsize booklet encased in double-walled slipcase.

All editions come with extensive new sleevenotes, photography, exact reproductions of the original text and artwork, and a new interview with founding member Sam Williams (aka Time).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like Sun Ra's Arkestra and John Coltrane are to jazz, the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are to reggae - the ultimate expression of roots music and Rastafarian ideology in reggae music, music functioning at a high level of spiritual consciousness combined with an equally avant-garde and forward-looking approach to sound.

The group's stunning, unique and groundbreaking 1972 album ‘Grounation’, a mighty conceptual triple-album (the first ever reggae triple!) is, similar to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin' On', a definitive all-encompassing cultural statement of its time and place. A sprawling album of raw and unique cultural expression that combined Rastafari consciousness with deep spiritual jazz music - an absolute and essential classic of Reggae music.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari group came into existence at the start of 1970s, the union of two artists of equal repute – Count Ossie and his African Drums and saxophonist Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks’ and his group, The Mystics. Both Ossie and Brooks were alumni from the great Studio One Records.

Master drummer Count Ossie and his collective of Rastafarian drummers performed for Haile Selassie on his momentous visit to Jamaica in 1966. Cedric Brooks came out of the Alpha Boys School – the fertile breeding ground of musicians who dominated the Jamaican music scene from the 1960s onwards; Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Headley Bennett, Johnny Osbourne, Yellowman, Leroy Smart, Bobby Ellis, Joe Harriott, Eddie Thornton, Vin Gordon, Rico Rodriguez, Owen Gray, Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace and more.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari’s ‘Grounation’ is a massive opus, a work of profound musical genius that tells the story of Jamaica through music and words. The album is a cornerstone in the history of reggae, a unique and other-worldly album the like of which has never been made since.

-

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/img/Snd4ZGpoQ0tTRkpCeVdIWTBUeWJQZz09/sjr-lp507-life-between-islands-sleeve.jpeg

Soundsystem Culture : Black Musical Expression In The UK 1973 - 2006
SOUL JAZZ RECORDS

Soul Jazz Records new ‘Life Between Islands’ collection is released in conjuction with Tate Britain’s exhibition of the same name. This landmark exhibition explores the links between Caribbean and British art and culture from the 1950s to now.

Soul Jazz Records album, sub-titled “Soundsystem Culture – Black Musical Expression 1973-2006,” focuses on the most important Black British musical styles to emerge out of the distinctly Caribbean world of sound systems. The album features an all-star line-up including Dennis Bovell, Shut Up and Dance, Cymande, Digital Mystikz, Brown Sugar, Funk Masters, Janet Kay, Ragga Twins and more.

The album is a lightning-rod journey across Roots Reggae, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Jazz-Funk, Lovers Rock, Jazz, Dubstep and more. Much of Soul Jazz Records’ catalogue comes out of these genres and this album is partly an overview of some of Soul Jazz’s earlier releases (including Digital Mystikz’ long-deleted groundbreaking and now highly-collectible single, ‘Misty Winter’) alongside some choice rare and classic tunes that span over 30 years of sound system culture.

Many of the tracks represent how Black British artists defined their own identity with songs such as Brown Sugar’s righteous ‘Black Pride’, ‘I’m In Love with A Dreadlocks’ and Tabby Cat Kelly’s powerful ‘Don’t Call Us Immigrants’. Aside from being musically rooted in the distinctly Jamaican-born phenomenon of the sound system, much of this identity is also shaped by the triangular relationship of being British-born, of Caribbean heritage, and with an equal love of African-American Jazz, Funk and Soul, as evidenced with many Lovers Rock tunes reggae covers of American soul tunes (such as those of Jean Carn, William de Vaughan and Rose Royce featured here). This stateside influence can also be heard in groups such as the Funk Masters, a group formed by reggae radio DJ Tony Williams, whose jazz-funk music successfully crossed over into New York’s clubland, as well as the great Cymande, whose unique street-funk became staple material for numerous US hip-hop artists in the years that followed.

In the early 1990s, jungle and drum and bass artists took the essence of reggae’s soundsystem culture – MCs, dubplates, crews – and applied them to their own music, applying heavy reggae bass lines to intense double-speed drum breakbeats. At the forefront of this new movement were the duo Shut Up and Dance, working closely with The Ragga Twins, aka Deman Rocker and Flinty Badman, both MCs for North London’s infamous Unity reggae soundsytem. In the early 2000s, dubstep, spearheaded by Digital Mystikz, became the latest instalment in this ever-evolving soundsystem culture.

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Life Between Islands’ shows how these many styles are interconnected. The album comes as a heavyweight triple vinyl (+ download), deluxe double CD with slipcase and digital release. Lloyd Bradley (author of the classic book on reggae ‘Bass Culture’, and ‘Sounds Like London’), provides the excellent sleevenotes, which are also accompanied with exclusive and striking photography.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There is probably no better or more appropriate way to celebrate the Tate Britain’s exhibition, Between the Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s – Now, than with an accompanying compilation album. As with the art itself, music has all the possibilities to reflect its surroundings through an array of lenses limited only by the creator’s imagination. Hence this astutely conceived and compiled soundtrack is as beautiful and as varied as the art itself, offering stories of immigration and settlement that can exist without filters or outside interference, providing a vivid snapshot of one of the cornerstones of black British culture.” Lloyd Bradley

Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now is at Tate Britain 1 Dec 2021 until 3 April 2022.

REVIEWS:

"It’s yet another example of Soul Jazz Records winning combination of historical insight and high quality, often exceptional music, the label spreading knowledge with nary a trace of academic dryness." Vinyl District

Rough Trade - Top 10 Compilation of the year

More info, audio:
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr/product/life-between-islands

Saxophonist Marzette Watts only ever made two albums — Marzette & Company for ESP-Disk, and The Marzette Watts Ensemble for Savoy, the latter of which was produced by Bill Dixon. It's been out of print since 1969, never reissued on CD. The Portuguese label Mad About Records is doing a limited edition vinyl run and selling it digitally:

https://madaboutrecordslabel.bandcamp.com/album/the-marzette-watts-ensemble

The word is, this is not a "legit" reissue because Savoy has nothing to do with it; they got the tapes from Marty Cook, who plays trombone on the record and is the last living member of the group. But since Savoy (which is now owned by Concord) has never bothered to do anything with the album, I say fuck 'em, get it how you can. I've wanted to hear this music for more than 20 years and now I can.

Didn't know about that one---is Sonny Sharrock on there again?

D-I-Y or Die ! Art, Trash, Neon - Punk 45's In The UK 1977 - 1978
SOUL JAZZ RECORDS

Soul Jazz Records’ long-lasting Punk 45 series are high-quality editions of early punk 45s. While previous editions have focussed on the early days of punk in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Akron, France, and proto-punk, this new edition focusses on mainly do-it-yourself, or self-released 45s, all made in the UK in the early days of punk.

While only a handful of Punk 45s were released in 1976, the following two years produced an avalanche of them. Aside from the few punk bands who signed to major labels, many of these singles were self-released private press 45s or independent label 45s. With limited distribution and access to the media, many of these sunk without trace and were lost in history. This album features many of these independent punk 45 gems, lost nuggets of gold from the sea of time!

The bands featured here come from all across the United Kingdom. Here you will find The Drive, Scotlands’ answer to the New York Dolls, Dansette Damage from Newcastle, Stormtrooper, from the Isle of Wight and many more - a snapshot of some of the finest private-press 45s ever made. Other bands include Cybermen, The Exile, Neon as well as the early punk incarnations Johnny and The Self-Abusers (who later became Simple Minds) and The Killjoys (led by Kevin Rowland who later formed Dexy’s Midnight Runners).

These are all one-off and super rare releases from bands that you have probably never heard of! – totally hidden gems from the wastelands of the early days of punk. Totally in keeping with the spirit of the time, this is high-octane, righteously-independent - DIY or die!

Resident - Top 10 Compilation of the year

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/img/VVFpWE9lRXE0aUl4ZVV5czVieUJNdz09/sjr-lp505-punk-45-diy-sleeve.jpg

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/img/VVFpWE9lRXE0aUl4ZVV5czVieUJNdz09/sjr-lp505-punk-45-diy-sleeve.jpg

Steve Reid
Odyssey of the Oblong Square
SJR

ew special one-off pressing v.limited edition gold vinyl edition (and gold CD edition!) of this intense and radical jazz classic album.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A Truly Phenomenal Artist' Gilles Peterson

"Steve Reid is one of the greatest drummers. He is a musical genius." Kieran Hebden, Four Tet

“Reflects the spirit of a generation- Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, the Black Artists Group.” The Wire.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Odyssey of the Oblong Square'---featuring heavyweight players Arthur Blythe, Charles Tyler, David Wertman and Muhammad Abdullah---was originally self-released by Steve Reid in 1977 on (his) own Mustevic Sound record label (where it came out in an edition of 1000 copies) and has been a serious collectors album ever since.

These special gold vinyl and CD editions are both one-off pressings, which, like the original, are limited to 1000 copies worldwide.

Steve Reid became known worldwide for his radical collaborations with Kieren Hebden after they first recorded together on the Steve Reid Ensemble album Spirit Walk released on Soul Jazz in 2005, releasing five joint releases together in the following years... up until his untimely death in 2010.

Steve Reid is steeped in musical history and a true pioneer of US deep left-field jazz. He played in Sun Ra’s Arkestra, was a Motown session drummer and backed James Brown at the Apollo! He was a Black Panther, imprisoned during the Vietnam war as a conscientious objector and lived in Africa in the early 1970s. Reid worked with Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Ornette Coleman, Lester Bowie, Fela Kuti, Leon Thomas, Miles Davis and many more in his long illustrious and groundbreaking career.

"A Truly Phenomenal Artist' Gilles Peterson

"Steve Reid is one of the greatest drummers. He is a musical genius." Kieran Hebden, Four Tet

“Reflects the spirit of a generation- Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, the Black Artists Group.” The Wire.

More info, audio:
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr/product/steve-reid-odyssey-of-the-oblong-square

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/img/ZC80RTRsNVRaWk4vSHRmN2QzdVRjZz09/sjr-lp514c-steve-reid-odyssey-slve.jpg

For more 2022 Soul Jazz Records releases, see:
https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr

I think they're all downloads as well, though storefront plays up the more expensive formats.

The word is, this is not a "legit" reissue because Savoy has nothing to do with it; they got the tapes from Marty Cook, who plays trombone on the record and is the last living member of the group. But since Savoy (which is now owned by Concord) has never bothered to do anything with the album, I say fuck 'em, get it how you can. I've wanted to hear this music for more than 20 years and now I can.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, December 12, 2022 10:40 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Bill Dixon (who also plays piano on one of the tracks, "Play It Straight") called Savoy a "plantation." Fuck 'em seconded.

FTR, bassist Steve Tintweiss is also still among the living. In fact, I interviewed him earlier this year about Albert Ayler:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/albert-ayler-revelations-interview

welp

Dear buyer, unfortunately, we will have to provisionally withdraw the reissue of The Marzette Watts Ensemble LP due to discrepancies in the authorisation we had to do so. Mad About Records is firmly against unofficial releases, and we strictly adhere to this policy. With this reissue, some discrepancies have arisen, and we don't want to operate in a territory where there could be any suspicion. Until we have a clarification, we will withdraw the disc from the market until then in pre-sale. We apologise for what happened and the damage caused. We will immediately refund the purchase and ensure that this reissue is a reality so that we can all enjoy the excellence of this record.

One of my favorite Latin spiritual jazz albums, trumpeter Luis Gasca's For Those Who Chant, has been reissued on CD in a nice mini-LP sleeve by some South Korean label I've never heard of, but I just bought one on eBay, so I guess I'll report back on the quality of the remastering etc. when it arrives in, like, February. The personnel on this record is fucking mind-blowing, and it really should be better known and never out of print:

Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Luis Gasca
Tenor Saxophone – Joe Henderson
Flute – Hadley Caliman
Guitar – Carlos Santana, Neal Schon
Piano, Electric Piano – George Cables, Gregg Rolie, Mark Levine
Organ – Richard Kermode
Bass – Stanley Clarke
Vibraphone – José "Chepito" Areas
Percussion – Garnette Mims, Joan MacGregor, Rico Reyes, Snooky Flowers
Congas – Mike Carabello, Victor Pantoja
Timbales – Carmelo Garcia, Coke Escovedo
Drums – Lenny White, Mike Shrieve

So he's got pretty much all of early Santana-the-band on there, along with Joe Henderson and George Cables and Stanley Clarke etc.?!

Yep. He had an interesting career — only made a few albums under his own name, but he was a member of Woody Herman's band, played with Mongo Santamaria and did sessions for Janis Joplin, Van Morrison, Santana (he was also on the live album with Buddy Miles), Malo, George Duke, and Joe Henderson.

good lord, that lineup

holy shit, that lineup is nuts. definitely let us know how the quality is, that sounds like something i will totally keep an eye out for.

did the marzette watts reissue on mad about get scrapped? the link is now dead.

it did, I think there was a post above abt that?

Yeah, it's down. The copy I purchased is now set to "Private" in my Bandcamp account and I can't download the files anymore. Fortunately I downloaded them the minute the transaction went through...

Do you have the full line-up? Was wondering if Sharrock was with him again (def his apprentice work on the ESP-DISK, but wondering if they did more, when he could play a bit more).

I haven’t been able to find a definitive listing of the personnel (there may be one out there; I’m just lazy), but Sharrock isn’t on it. The drummer I believe is J.C. Moses and, as I posted upthread, Bill Dixon produced, and played piano on one track.

The lineup (and instrumentation) are pretty interesting — credits via Discogs:

Cornet – George Turner
Tenor Saxophone – Marzette Watts
Trombone – Marty Cook
Violin – Frank Kipers
Piano – Bobby Few
Bass – Cevera Jeffires, Juini Booth, Steve Tintweiss
Drums – J.C. Moses, Tom Berge
Vocals – Amy Sheffer, Patty Waters

Sorry; the first bassist's name is Cevera Jeffries.

it did, I think there was a post above abt that?

― sleeve, Tuesday, December 20, 2022 4:01 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, sorry, missed that!

whoa, this is big news. iirc this is one of those German records that routinely fetches $500+

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/wegmuller-walter-tarot-2lp/KK.2258003LP.html

Also a 4CD reissue:

Four CD version. Includes two remastered versions, each on two CDs. Four-CD version includes two remastered versions, each on two CDs; first remaster by Dierks/Flüchter and then a completely different mastering by Dieter Wegner, who has already remastered many albums of the krautrock catalog, including the albums of the Cosmic Jokers.

that rules, always wanted to hear that since reading about it in Krautrocksampler

you can hear it on YouTube, it sounds like a mash-up of Ash Ra Tempel & Amon Duul II. really cool and definitely something I've always wanted to own. plus the intro where he introduces the band is (accidentally?) hilarious

yeah I'm super stoked, this has long been on my wishlist

Just found this posted elsewhere today:

Mechanical royalty rates are calculated in a completely different manner for European labels, so what may be possible for European labels is not viable for U.S. labels. There's a reason why European labels can include a ton of songs on a disc and sell it for a low price, or sell 4-fers for the cost of a single disc, or do box sets with tons of great content for a low price, while U.S. labels cannot do the same. The law in Europe is that the mechanical royalties (the money paid to the songwriters) are calculated and paid as a percentage of the wholesale price of the disc. If the wholesale price of the disc is $8, the amount paid in mechanical royalties would be the same whether the disc had 10 tracks or 50 tracks. In the U.S., it's a statutory rate paid per song -- and a 32% increase in that statutory rate just went into effect this year.

I vaguely knew that royalty payouts were higher in the U.S. when they included more songs on an album (one reason why U.S. versions of U.K. albums in the '60s had less songs), but I didn't realize how much of a difference that made in the CD era.