Issue #32 ~ Nov 2023
It’s November and the bigwigs upstairs at Regular Media Inc. are insisting I begin the annual year-in-review. “There’s only two months left, you wretched shirkaday,” they bellow from behind their oaken desks. And so reflect I must, lowly cog in the media conglomerate of my imagination. This first year-in-review instalment focuses on reissues and archival releases. In December, I’ll be focusing on some of the wonderful albums that came out in 2023 (possibly in two instalments? there’s already a lot to cover and the hits just keep coming).
In my earliest days of list-making as a naive young Pitchforkian, I used to worry about trying to get these sort of lists ‘right’, and slowly I let that go. Though after that, I was still preoccupied with trying to ‘hear it all’ (lol). Now, this time of year, I just look forward to the absolute glut of excellent recommendations about to come my way from like-minded listeners.
Here are some things I really enjoyed this year - may you discover something you love!
click the cover to listen or go your own way ~~
Cvartetul De Jazz Paul Weiner - Spirale (1976)
This proved a trusty accompaniment to a good number of dinner parties and/or after dinner drinks. A brisk, elegant album of Romanian modal jazz with two basic modes: enchantment and nostalgia. It’s got a lot of heart, and it’s entirely more melodic and approachable than the proggy proto-screensaver cover art might suggest.
Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - Jerusalem (1970s)
Really can’t hype this hard enough: RIP TO THE REALEST. If you’ve been following along, you know Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is an all-timer for me. She passed away in March at the age of 99. There simply are no words that can do justice to her heavenly sound. What a blessing to get fresh, essentially unreleased music from this absolute beacon of spiritual kindness and peace. We all need this. Thank you Mississippi.
Jody Stecher & Krishna Bhatt - Rasa (1981)
Bluegrass is not a field I really step into (yet?) and hindustani classical just feels so vast that, while I’ve listened a fair amount and read a lil’ bit, I still have soooo much to learn. So I’m genuinely curious how this crossover record hits for folks who are deeper into those worlds. The press release for the reissue of Rasa describes it as having “long been admired and studied by musicians as a model for how to do a cross-cultural recording project where the musicians actually understand something of each other's musical cultural and actually feel it”. Deeper context or not, this one’s a dandy.
Various - Canto Lo Divino
Another blessing from the fine folks of Mississippi Records, this collection presents archival recordings of sacred, communal music performed in a remote region of Chile. Entirely new to me (and apparently rarely heard outside the region from which it originates), Mississippi collected and released this in conjunction with Observatorio Cultural, a national institution with a mandate of preserving and sharing cultural information from throughout the country. Somewhat fixed in form, these declarative guitar+vocal songs are captured intimately with close recording. The songs function as a mode of storytelling; vital records of lives lived, lessons learned and loved ones lost.
Lori Vambe - Space-Time Dreamtime: The Four-Dimensional Music Of Lori Vambe (1982)
A while ago, one of the deepest heads I know posted themselves holding an OG Lori Vambe LP with the caption ‘I’ve reached the final station of music’. And listening to this epic slab, it really does feel that way. The music of Lori Vambe is so deeply instinctual, mystical, fundamental. It feels like Vambe had done a full arc around the universe, soaking up every sound, only to return to the primordial thud. The presser on this one elucidates that Vambe “had a dream-vision involving a feeling of ecstasy while playing an unknown instrument that extended from his own umbilical cord; the instrument would manifest itself as the drumgita”. DEEP.
pel mel - Late, Late Show (1980s)
I’d happily take a double serving of this stuff. Charming, lean-cut, pop-funk miniatures where the songwriting is sophisticated and the means of production are… less so. This archival release collects late era, unreleased tracks from the Sydney group. I looked up their other stuff and, with all the polish, it doesn’t hit quite as hard as these janky lil’ gems. Like a bouncier Young Marble Giants.
Ettab - Ettab (1992)
A smokin’ collection of SWANA pop produced in Lebanon. Ettab (aka Tarouf Abdulkhair Adam Talal) was a celebrated singer, actress and activist born in Saudi Arabia in 1947. I’ve not read too much into her life/career and she was heretofore unknown to me. This article from Egypt Times published posthumously on her birthday claims she was Saudi’s ”first female singer to perform publicly”. Very much looking forward to digging deeper.
Voice Actor - Fake Sleep (2022/23)
Ok so, Voice Actor released their debut album Sent From My Telephone last year on the excellent Belgian imprint STROOM. It’s amazing - truly fascinating, otherworldly art-pop. But the real trouble with it, for me and presumably others, is that it’s 109 tracks long. For a physical release, the artists + label paired it down to a scant 16 tracks (adding and redoing a few) and released it this year as Fake Sleep. And I’m so glad they did, because it really crystallizes the hypnagogic poetics of the initial behemoth. It’s an excellent entry point into one of the most striking debuts in recent memory. Basically what Jenny Hval might sound like if you “fell asleep”.
Svitlana Nianio - Transilvania Smile (1994)
Svitlana Nianio is an avant-garde singer and composer from Ukraine whose work has a kind of refined, folkloric liquidity to it. I first came across her work through Night School’s reissue of the excellent Znayesh Yak? Rozkazhy in 2020. Transilvania Smile, a soundtrack for a dance performance recorded with a German troupe, predates that work by two years. Decidedly less lysergic yet no less gripping, her music here feels firmly medieval and contemporary at once.
Shapiros - Gone By Fall: The Collected Works (1994)
The Shapiros, a supergroup for a very niche set of jangly indie pop fans, only existed for a few weeks in the late summer of ‘94. And, rather than being all-too-brief, perhaps that lil’ window was just perfect. These collected works, all clocking in around two minutes, are equally short and sweet. Ambitions are humble, performances understated, songs pitch perfect. If you’ve appreciated, oh I dunno, the first delicate winds of autumn, early Tom Courtney, specs and turtlenecks, an eggie in the hole, or anything inbe(twee)n, this one’s for you.
…and just because / in case: more!
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Alan Hovhaness - Orbits, Mountains, Moons & Flowers (1955-57)
Alberto Lizzaralde - “Haizetxe” (1980s-90s)
Arthur Russell - Picture Of A Bunny Rabbit (~1985)
Aselefech Ashine & Getenesh Kebret - Beauties (1976)
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Surround (1986)
Kuku Sebside - Kuku Sebside (1980s)
McNeal & Niles - Thrust (1979)
Randy Raine-Reusch & Michael Red - ERAS (2014)
Sergey Karapetyan - Duduk Solos (1986)
Thomas Buckner Sings Robert Ashley - Spontaneous Musical Invention (1984-2014)
Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar - Vrindavan (1982)
Various - The NID Tapes: Electronic Music from India (1969-1972)
Woo - Into The Heart Of Love (1990)
ICYMI, I started a donations page for Regular Readers. All the money I receive will go back towards music (eg. purchasing physical/digital music, merch, concert tickets, supporting other music outlets, etc.). If you’re not able to support the newsletter financially (no presh!), you might also consider liking / sharing / following on Instagram.
ALSO, I started a ~*fun*~ tracking sheet that provides transparency on donations and spending. It also includes links to my Bandcamp + Discogs profiles. This is as much about accountability as it is an experiment in tracking my own financial investments in music over a calendar year.
I’m super interested in feedback / dialogue / suggestions. If you have ideas about the newsletter, want to share music with me, have specific questions / requests, don’t hesitate to get in touch. And please: share this newsletter with a pal if you feel so inspired!
Yrs.,
Andrew P.
andrewdanielpatterson [at] gmail [dot] com