It’s a very special time of year at Regular Music Incorporated, where I choose to live in the present (sort of, more so). November, as is tradition, begins my look back at the calendar year in music, starting with my Favorite Archival Releases And Reissues of 2024. You’ll find ‘em below - read ‘em and weep, put that in your pipe and smoke it, etc… Next up, in December, I’ll go a-prancing through my favorite albums of the year.
Happy time travelling!
click the cover to listen or go your own way ~~
Corker / Conboy - In Light Of That Learnt Later (2003)
Kinda hard to imagine a more appropriate title for an album getting the reissue treatment. In Light Of That Learnt Later is a highly approachable album of understated, rhythm-oriented instrumental music from the British duo of Adrian Corker and Paul Conboy. Incorporating an impressively broad range of ideas for such a smooth, cohesive listen, any genre tag in the mix seems to require a somewhat counterintuitive adjective: balmy downtempo, balearic post-rock, organic electronic. It feels super clean yet decidedly dubby. Easily one of my most listened-to of the year.
Penny Carson Nichols - Trinidad Seed (1992)
There’s a trio of artists I’ve written about in previous issues that function as a perfect RIYL pool for this private press gem: Connie Converse, Myriam Gendron and Rosalie Sorrels. It’s the kind of folk music that creates maximum effect through minimum adornment. Small and simple song with enormous feeling. Originally produced in an edition of roughly 50 cassettes, Trinidad Seed is named in reference to Trinidad, Colorado, the small town south of Denver where Penny Carson Nichols was born and raised. It was recorded straight to tape with a “suitcase record player”. The version on Youtube Music includes brief interludes in which you can hear crickets chirping, chairs shuffling, beer being swigged and Penny offering wonderful insights into her songs. The writing on the record is curious and remarkable, from the climate-conscious ‘The Earth Was A Good Old Planet’, to the MLK elegy ‘Remember My Name To The Spring’, to ‘Watching The Underwear Fly By’ which is, according to Nichols, about “the universal human experience”. It’s the kind of record, both in content and scale, that seems to contain the entirety of its own context, but you can also find a nice accounting of the project here. The reissue was put together by Yoga Records, with remastering by Chris Cohen and liner notes by Penny Carson Nichols herself.
Christer Bothén feat. Bolon Bata - Trancedance (1984)
This 40th anniversary reissue c/o Black Truffle introduced me to a whole constellation of Swedish jazz I was totally unfamiliar with. The figurehead here, Christer Bothén, played extensively with Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society, which makes sense to me because Trancedance feels like a party-ready version of the Codona Trilogy, which is an entirely different kind of gathering (and some of my favorite music ever, period).
Eddie Marcon - Yahho no Potori (2009)
Australia’s A Colourful Storm did the wider world a favor by reissuing this gem which had heretofore circulated predominantly in Japan. The softly psychedelic, folky vibes of Yahho no Potori will almost certainly appeal to anyone who fucks with Tori Kudo, and perhaps even the decidedly more refined world of Ichiko Aoba. It’s an entirely charmed affair, with flutes, glockenspiels and harmoniums adding wonderful textures to these lysergic lullabies. Also, someone named Bunsho Nishikawa is credited for sighing (which I believe can be heard on the ebullient second track, ‘Horizon’, at the 1:25 mark, in case that’s yr thing).
Broadcast - Distant Call - Collected Demos 2000-2006
Warp’s archival project for The Best British Band of This Century™ continued this year with two releases, Spell Blanket and Distant Call. The former contains demos from the period between the group’s last album and songwriter-vocalist Trish Keenan’s untimely passing. As a massive fan, it’s an interesting listen, but ultimately uneven and far from essential. Distant Call, on the other hand, is entirely remarkable. It contains early demos of bonafide Broadcast classixx: ‘Colour Me In’, ‘Ominous Cloud’, ‘Tears In The Typing Pool’, etc… Not only does it work as a perfect, dreamy, self-contained folk album, the collection serves as a beautiful reminder of just how special Broadcast was, down to the project’s very core. According to the presser, it also serves as “a closing of the door on Broadcast and will be the last release from the band”.
Abacothozi - Thema Moboneng (1975)
Jazz Room Records reissued this heater at the end of May, which timed perfectly for heavy summer rotation. If you need a jolt of sunshine as the cold creeps in, look no further than Thema Moboneng. Just from a purely sonic perspective, Abacothozi feels like the South African equivalent of The Meters. Funkee instrumental bops rich with regional undercurrents.
Terre Thaelmitz - Tranquilizer (1994)
I don’t really like featuring music that isn’t easily accessible for free on the internet. Terre Thaelmitz doesn’t really like making her music easily accessible for free on the internet. And I can def respect that, especially considering this thoughtful statement she’s posted on the matter. That said, if you can get yr ears on Tranquilizer, her debut album, it’s entirely stellar . An ambient house classic, or as Boomkat puts it, a set of “deeply affective, dematerialised soul music”. You can order CD + LP copies of the 30th anniversary edition directly from Terre’s Comatonse shop, as well as hear some snippets there.
Carman Moore - Soul Musings (2002 - 2023)
Reading Group continues to be one of the most fascinating imprints of which I’m aware. I don’t love everything they release, but I listen to everything they release because I’m always sure it’ll change my perspective and crack me open a little. Soul Musings is a wonderful collection of archival recordings (which I do, in fact, love!) from NYC-based composer Carman Moore. His own words on the project capture the spirit and breadth of the work so beautifully, so I’ll just get out of the way:
“SOUL MUSINGS is a series of mainly-meditative excitements I've improvised both at piano and at my Ensoniq keyboard over several years. Many are short pieces that started out with grander intentions—as would-be orchestral or choral or even solo vocal songs lacking lyrics. Some were taken from a work that will someday be released as the album "Love Notes to Central Park." Some are plucked from the earlier meditative album "Meditations and Dances to the Millennium." Some were get-well improvs for special friends in need. Most were simply deep-night or mid-day answers to the call of the Tao. Especially for AFRO-LATIN MEDITATIONS, so many were called forth from the Hispanic/Latino sound, rhythm and heart of New York City living. And some others come from time spent living and creating the forest-oriented children's opera RASUR in Costa Rica in 2002. In any event I love all these works and hope they will function as mental and spiritual transportation for YOU its listeners.”
Do You Want More?!!!??!
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Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - Souvenirs
Pascal Gaigne - Iguzki Hauskara
Ahmed Malek - Musique Originale De Films - Deuxième Tome
Gastr Del Sol - We Have Dozens Of Titles
Various - Triangulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra
Various - European Primitive Guitar 1974-1987
Jorge López Ruiz - Coraje Buenos Aires
Galaxie 500 - Uncollected Noise - New York ’88-‘89
Alice Coltrane - The Carnegie Hall Concert
ICYMI, I started a donations page. 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