Because I enjoyed reissues this year as much as I did "new" music, and because end-of-the-year lists with pictures are more fun, below find my annotated and illustrated cheater's dozen, alphabetically organized.
Dorothy Ashby, The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby (Dusty Grooves)
Detroit harp genius Dorothy Ashby was plucking those strings in genre-spanning ways long before neo-folk sprites were born. Ashby's other albums are equally worth seeking out for her jazz explorations and for her lounge takes on the likes of "(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls." Here, she takes the listener on a journey, and reveals that she has a sonorous mezzo voice that's as impressive as her instrumental abilities.
Vashti Bunyan, Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind (DiCristina/Spinney)
A smart-asser-than-thou magazine recently dissed this record because Devendra Banhart likes Vashti Bunyan. It's tough to convey the pure stupidity behind that pose -- um, Bunyan wrote and recorded these songs before Banhart was even born. If you have even a passing affection for the many charms of British '60s girl pop, you have to get this, because Bunyan's non-Diamond Day efforts are pop tunes, and ones I prefer to Marianne Faithfull's from the era. The vocal performance on "Train Song" is a thing of wonder -- voice as pure instrument.
Cluster, Cluster II (Revisited/Brain) and Zuckerzeit (Revisited/Brain)
Fantastic cover art, and I hear John Carpenter's ideas forming from the sounds of Zuckerzeit, which also out-Suicides Suicide.
Gilberto Gil, Gilberto Gil (Water)
For the closing sprint and coda of "Can't Find My Way Home," which I'd love to play next to Jeff Buckley's take on "Hallelujah" and Donnie Hathaway's interpretation of "A Song for You."
Eduardo Mateo, Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame (Lion Productions)
I haven't gotten around to looking into and trying to figure out the late (and crazy, a trait I usually relate to) Uruguayan Mateo's lyrics -- yet. But this album contains some of the loveliest acoustic guitar and voice I've heard. It's the kind of keeper that will probably reveal itself over years and even decades without ever giving everything away. If you like Jose Gonzalez, seek out this forebear.
Pylon, Gyrate Plus (DFA)
Uncovering Pylon's proto-Sleater-Kinney sound and adding some new-production pop to tracks like the now-classic "Volume" might be the best thing DFA has done.
Robert Scotto: Moondog: The Viking of Sixth Avenue book w/CD (Process)
I'll admit it -- I haven't gotten 'round to reading the book. But Moondog has been in my ears a lot the last few years, as I hunt down whatever recordings I can find. Todd Haynes recently used Moondog as a signifier, but a lot more interestingly and genuinely, back in the late '80s or early '90s, Prefab Sprout wrote a song about Moondog and placed it next to a suite of songs about Elvis Presley.
Sun Ra, The Night of the Purple Moon (Atavistic), Strange Strings (Atavistic)
Wurlitzer freakouts!
Various artists, Disco Deutschland Disco (Marina) and Queer Noises 1961-1978: From the Closets to the Charts (Trikont)
There were a lot of disco comps this year, and a couple great ones, but I'll go with Disco Deutschland because Dirty Space Disco has gotten more attention (even if it has Sylvester's most sublime recording), because Marianne Rosenberg's "Wieder Zusammen" is gloriously gorgeous, and because Amanda Lear is on it. She isn't on Queer Noises, but I won't hold it against author and comp-maker Jon Savage, because he seems to have another volume in store, and this one has some strange delights, such as the punk hustler rage of "Trouble at the Cup."
Caetano Veloso, Caetano Veloso, aka White Album (Lilith), Caetano Veloso, aka A Little More Blue (Lilith) Araca Azul (Lilith), andJoia (Philips)
I'm completely obsessed. Some quick notes: Veloso's self-titled white album might contain Rogerio Duprat's peak arrangements, his eponymous A Little More Blue (a corollary to the Gilberto Gil album above) is a lovely, lonely letter from England, specifically addressed to Maria Bethania in one standout song; massively returned by record-shoppers at the time, Araca Azul is still radical now, from its sonic collage to its in-your-face exhibitionist (and sensual inside) cover art; the plaintiveness and sensuality of Joia from a little later on is pure Veloso -- he needs little help in reinventing the Beatles' "Help."
Nancy Wilson, The Nancy Wilson Show! (Capitol)
For some reason Mary J. and Beyonce like sounding like stressed-out lasers. I liked Mary a lot more when her tone was lower and she wasn't always in such a strained, breathless hurry (to sell more records?). Anyway, Ms. Wilson knows how to turn a voice into a laser beam, but she does it with a sharp sense of timing that is hair-raising. Her obvious love of and debt to Jimmy Scott has fully morphed into her own related sound here, on a recording that shows how a show should be.
Young Marble Giants, Colossal Youth plus 2 CDS (Domino)
Pedro Costa knows.
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