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recent years, containing all the documen- tation and background information that reissues need in particular. This past year was no exception – though we do suspect that certain labels are not doing them- selves any favours by their misguidedly cheapskate habit of only sending preview CDs without the packaging to reviewers.
So in this section it’s any form of com- pilation by genre or artist, any reissues or first-time issues of older recordings (even when including some new material), local licences of albums which have appeared elsewhere in previous years, any remix albums, and all ‘Various Artist’ compila- tions (whether new or reissue).
REISSUES & COMPILATIONS
1. Various Africa – 50 Years Of Music (Discograph/ Sterns)
2. Étoile De Dakar featuring Youssou N’Dour Once Upon A Time In Senegal (Sterns)
3. Various Palenque Palenque (Soundway)
4. Various The Roots Of Chicha 2 (Crammed/ Barbès)
5. Shirley Collins Sweet England (Fledg’ling)
6. Various Ghosts From The Basement (Weekend Beatnik)
7. Various Next Stop Soweto Vol. 2 (Strut)
8= A.L. Lloyd An Evening With A.L. Lloyd (Fellside)
Various Folk Against Fascism Vol.1 (Folk Against Fascism)
Various More Miles Than Money (Ace)
11. Various The Sound Of Siam (Soundway)
12= Bob Dylan The Witmark Demos 1962 – 1964 (Sony)
Incredible String Band The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter (Fledg’ling)
Issa Juma & Super Wanyika Stars The World Defeats The Grandfathers (Sterns)
Various Afrobeat Airways: West African Shock Waves (Analog Africa)
Various Angola Soundtrack: The
Unique Sound Of Luanda (Analog Africa)
Various Sound Of The World Presents Anywhere On This Road (Warner Classics & Jazz)
Runners up (alphabetically): Afro Celt Sound System Capture 1995 – 2010 (Real World); Sandy Denny & The Strawbs All Our Own Work (Witchwood Media); Incredible String Band The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion (Fledg’ling); Fela Kuti Anthology 2 (Wrasse); Fela Kuti The Complete Recordings [Box Set] (Wrasse); John Martyn Live At Leeds (Uni- versal / Island); Ola Belle Reed Rising Sun Melodies (Smithsonian Folkways); Various Echoes From The Mountain (Rif Moun- tain); Various Egypt Noir (Piranha); Vari- ous Listen To The Banned (Freemuse/ Grappa); Various Looking For A New Eng- land 2 – The Other Traditions (fRoots); Var- ious Oi! A Nova Musica Brasileira! (Mais Um Discos); Various Theme Time Radio Hour Season 3 (Ace); Various The World Ends – Afro Rock & Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria (Soundway); Various Yes We Can – Songs About Leaving Africa (Outhere); Anibal Velasquez Y Su Conjunto Mambo Loco (Analog Africa).
I
n these days of downloads, it’s quali- ty packaging that can make a big dif- ference to whether you buy the CDs or the files. Artistic skill can produce a must-have artefact of beauty, along with enhancing the listening pleasure by providing ambience and information.
Natalie Merchant’s Leave Your Sleep is a classic example of how to do things well: an outer slip-case holds a CD-sized 76-page hardback book also containing the two CDs. Merchant’s stories of the lives of all the poets whose work she’s set to music are accompanied by archive photos and full lyrics, all beautifully printed on art quality paper. It’s hard to imagine why anybody would settle for the basic single CD sampler version.
1. Natalie Merchant Leave Your Sleep (Nonesuch)
2. Various Africa – 50 Years Of Music (Discograph/ Sterns)
3. Bellowhead Hedonism (Navigator)
4. The Chieftains with Ry Cooder San Patricio (Concord)
5. AfroCubism AfroCubism (World Circuit)
6. Bob Dylan The Witmark Demos 1962 – 1964 (Sony)
Runners up (alphabeti- cally): Batuko Tabanka Djunta Mõ (PAI); Kro- nos Quartet with Alim & Fargana Qasi- mov & Homayun Sakhi Music Of Central Asia Vol. 8 – Rainbow (Smithsonian Folkways); Müller & Makaroff El Gaucho (Mañana Music); Ravi Shankar & George Harrison Collaborations (Dark Horse); Various Afrobeat Airways – West African Shock Waves (Analog Africa); Various Angola Sound- track – The Unique Sound Of Luanda (Ana- log Africa); Various Cantigas Do Camiño (Do Fol Musica/ Boa); Various Congotronics Box Set (Crammed); Various Ghosts From The Basement (Week- end Beatnik); Various Mañana, El Tango – Perlas Del Label (Mañana Music); Various Palenque Palenque – Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots In Colombia (Soundways); Vari- ous The Roots Of Chicha 2 (Crammed/ Bar- bès); Various To Scratch Your Heart – Early Recordings From Istanbul (Honest Jon’s); Hank Williams The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings… Plus! (Time Life).
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