10. Can - The Singles (Mute)
When this was first announced, I wasn't sure how essential it was going to be. Given that the best work from Can builds around extended grooves and side-long jams, how good could a compilation that collects 23 tracks over 80 minutes actually be? Pretty great, as it turns out. In addition to incorporating rare and unreleased tracks, the best of which is probably 1971's "Turtles Have Short Legs", this does a great job of addressing the band's later years.
9. German Oak - Down in the Bunker (Now-Again)
Now-Again has been absolutely killing the reissue game through its Reserve series, particularly when it comes to lost and ultra-rare albums. German Oak was a long obsessed over "lost" Krautrock band that released their only record in 1972 on a very small label. As the title suggests, this was recorded down in a former World War II bunker, a haunting sound reflected in the music. Over the years this was bootlegged many times with questionable WWII referencing song titles, thankfully Now-Again returns this to the original band members' real vision. A true gem.
8. Various Artists - Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares (Numero Group)
Speaking of killer reissues labels, here's yet another gem from the Numero Group. The second in their Warfaring Strangers series (itself an off-shoot of the Wayfaring Strangers releases) runs similar in concept to Riding Easy's Brown Acid series, highlighting heavy psych rock from around the globe in the '70s and beyond. Killer artwork and terrific liner notes make this an essential release for fans of heavy rock.
7. U-Men - U-Men (Sub Pop)
Long before grunge exploded onto the national scene, Seattle was long a hotbed for forward thinking bands that lit up the underground. Between 1983 and 1987, U-Men were one of those very groups and this killer collection compiles their long out-of-print discography. Their sound was raw, dirty and explosive, though not really all that close to grunge despite becoming a key influence on folks like Mudhoney's Mark Arm.
6. Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic (Luaka Bop)
While the work Alice Coltrane did in the late 60s and early 70s, following in the footsteps of her late husband, is well known and appreciated by fans of jazz and exploratory music alike, the work she performed in her later years has been a bit more of a mystery. This disc collects the originally cassette only chant music that Coltrane created during the 1980s on her Sai Anantam Ashram in California. While tilting a little closer to new age, the music itself suggests that Coltrane never stopped exploring her spirituality through the medium of music.
5. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation [40th Anniversary] (Rhino)
I'm not at all into the frustrating hunt for exclusive Record Store Day releases, but one good side effect of that day are records that get a wider release out of it, such as this fancy 2xCD reissue of the seminal punk album, Blank Generation. In addition to restoring the original 1977 cover art and track listing, it gets a second disc filled with demos, singles and live tracks that fill out this era of Hell's career. It was great to finally immerse myself in this landmark record.
4. Metallica - Master of Puppets [Remastered] (Rhino/Blackened)
Metallica's excellent reissue campaign finally gets to their landmark third album, the seminal thrash high water mark Master of Puppets. I didn't shell out for the crazy huge box, but the three disc expanded edition works nicely - adding a disc of riff tapes and demos and, more essentially, a packed disc of live tracks culled from the band's 1986 tour. Essential listening for any fan of metal.
3. Bob Dylan - Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Volume 13 (Columbia)
By now most Dylan fans are well aware of the high level of quality of this Bootleg Series. Even though I'm not enough of a Dylan-head to get the expanded versions of every release, I've managed to snag at least the smallest version of every release in the series. Even though Volume 13 may not represent his best material, it certainly has been the most revelatory for me. Covering his much maligned "gospel years" between 1979 and 1981, this presents tons of live material that shows how much this material killed on stage even when it resulted in lackluster studio albums. This goes a long way towards proving how key this period was in his overall development and points toward the Neverending Tour.
2. Wilco - A.M. / Being There (Rhino/Warner Bros.)
While it does certainly make me feel old when albums from my college years start getting that deluxe album reissue treatment, I'm appreciative for getting fresh looks at albums like these that were pretty instrumental in my developing musical tastes. I'd just barely missed out on Uncle Tupelo, but I was there from the start with Wilco, even when A.M. leaned a little too far into country for my tastes at the time. Being There, however, broke my brain open and exposed it to all the possibilities I hadn't been exploring - I must have played that thing a hundred times when it first came out. The A.M. reissue tacks on a handful of outtakes and live songs, but it's the Being There package that I love most - adding a full disc of outtakes and rarities, with another two discs that capture a full contemporary live show and a few radio appearances.
1. Husker Du - Savage Young Du (Numero Group)
One of my long-running dreams has been high quality reissues of the much mistreated Husker Du catalog - no band deserves a loving reissue campaign that those guys. While we are still waiting for that official reissue campaign to begin (I'd love for the rumors to be true about Numero picking that up as well), we at least get this beautifully crafted 3xCD collection of early material featuring 47 previously unreleased songs, including demos, recording sessions and live tracks. It's a treasure trove that captures the band at it's fiery creation, just on the verge of exploding into one of the 1980s most important underground groups.
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