THOMAS MAPFUMO & THE ACID BAND - Hokoyo!

This debut album under Thomas Mapfumo's own name (after earlier efforts with the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band) was released in 1978, one year before The Clash's London Calling, and in a way Mapfumo, the "Lion Of Zimbabwe", can be seen as his country's Joe Strummer, deeply political and musically direct. Mapfumo's key innovation, dubbed chimurenga, was to translate traditional Shona mbira melodies onto the guitar, creating a simpler style played in a taut staccato in contrast to the more fluid and complex style of highlife and rhumba found elsewhere in Africa. The way his Acid Band played in 6/8 or 12/8 time de-emphasized syncopation, making it no less tricky to groove to, while keeping things melodically repetitious in order to drive his revolutionary rhetoric straight to the widening consciousness of his people. Hokoyo! was a massive commercial success, and played no small role in swaying the then-Rhodesian musical and political climate, much to the chagrin of the colonial rulers who were defeated with the establishment of Zimbabwe in 1980. Keep an eye out for his second solo disc (this time with The Blacks Unlimited), Gwindingwi Rine Shumba, also reissued on Water.

GLORIA JONES - Share My Love

Originally revered for the northern soul classic "Tainted Love" (before Soft Cell canonized it in 1981), Gloria Jones is also known as the backup singer and keyboardist in the latter half of T.Rex's career. When Bolan died in a car accident in 1977, she was the driver of the car. Share My Love was recorded in 1973, one year before she joined T.Rex. Aided by the great Motown arranger Paul Riser, Jones shows remarkable stylistic range, from the deep soul of "Try Love" and reggae of "Why Can't You Be Mine" to the proto-Philly sound of the title track and Mediterreanean flavour of "Oh Baby". Here, the then-Motown songwriter offers no musical hint of the stylistic shift she would take after joining Bolan both musically and matrimonially. At times, her singing mines a grittiness similar to that which also characterized Betty Davis' vocals, a sound she would largely abandon for her T.Rex years. Guaranteed to make many end-of-year soul reissue lists.

ANITA CARTER - Songbird

By the time the Carter Sisters took over the Carter Family name following the 1960 death of A.P. Carter, Mother Maybelle's youngest daughter had already taken her first steps as a solo artist 10 years earlier. Always reluctant to flee the nest, Anita didn't pursue a career outside of her family with the enthusiasm that her talent would have allowed her. This collection shows her moving from strength to strength in a stellar set of songs drawn mostly from the late '60s that makes this the best release by a long shot on the already-great country rarities label Omni. The bass-playing singer possessed a pure and soaring voice of remarkable beauty that made her a favourite duet partner of Hank Snow, Waylon Jennings (their classic "I Got You" is included), and Johnny Cash (she co-wrote "Ring Of Fire" with sister June, incidentally). Comparisons to Lynn Anderson are justified, although her pedigree gives her country pop a deeper authenticity. Throw in a few key Carter Family songs, and this is an unbeatable collection that will hopefully correct her underrated status in country music.

THE WHO - The Who Sell Out

The Who's underappreciated treasure from 1967 has been reissued for the first time in fourteen years, in a deluxe double-disc package consisting of both mono and stereo mixes and a slew of bonus tracks. Before becoming famous for their rock operas, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and co. were very much a pop group--albeit an extremely loud and hard-edged one--whose success in the UK owed a great deal to airplay on offshore pirate radio stations. The British government ban on these stations in '67 incensed Townshend, who turned what could have been an album of unrelated songs into a tongue-in-cheek tribute to top-40 radio and crass commercialism. Fake commercials and genuine jingles link the most psychedelic tunes The Who ever recorded. Sell Out's mono version is a must-hear for guitar solos markedly different than the ones on the stereo mix, notably on the song "Our Love Was, Is". The bonus cuts include demos and material left off the original album which, in this reviewer's opinion, was The Who's strongest and strangest.

FRANCO & LE TPOK JAZZ - Francophonic

Franco was apparently underwhelmed when James Brown played on his home turf of Zaire (now Congo) for the famous "Rumble In The Jungle" fight between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali. In a time when many African nations were embracing independence, many African bands were proudly strutting their authenticite (modernized sounds combined with authentic African roots) and for Franco, James was just not real enough! Twenty years after the death of this giant of African music, Stern's has scored with this massive collection spanning his earliest Congolese rhumbas in 1953 to being awarded Grande Maitre by his country in 1980. Repeated listens reveal an artist who had a masterful command of various idioms and would often shift through a few in the space of one track. A long-awaited double-disc collection and absolutely essential listening.

JEAN-PIERRE MASSIERA - Midnight Massiera: The B-Music Of Jean-Pierre Massiera

Known to collectors primarily as the mad genius behind the nutsoid quasi-soundtrack album Les Maledictus Sound from 1968, French producer/engineer/guitarist Jean-Pierre Massiera epitomizes Finders Keepers' sensibilities perhaps more than any other artist. Recording mostly in the late '60s and '70s, Massiera's vision was to never do anything straight-ahead, whether playing cosmic surf music early in his career, charting similar psychotic territory as White Noise, Pierre Henry and Ennio Morricone, or experimenting with proggy disco. His ear for radical combinations of sounds and effects puts him in league with producers Joe Meek and Lee Perry--just check his version of "They're Coming To Take Me Away" in French! After being blown away by Midnight Massiera, you can also seek out the Mucho Gusto label's Psychoses: Freakoid (1963-1978), their second of two collections which focuses mostly on his weird Euro-disco period.

SERGE GAINSBOURG - Histoire De Melody Nelson

On this, the first-ever French concept album, Monsieur Gainsbourg alternately murmured and crooned the story of a doomed love affair between a middle-aged man and an adolescent girl, Melody Nelson. Setting the tragic tale to an instrumental accompaniment that perfectly combined bracing hard-rock guitar and funked-up rhythms with sumptuous orchestration, the record didn't sell very well upon release but still wound up becoming a classic, with everyone from Beck to Air having been influenced by the beauty of Melody. This isn't the first re-ish of Gainsbourg's 1971 masterpiece, but the Light In The Attic label has done an absolutely bang-up job with packaging that includes the original French lyrics translated into English, a detailed look at the making of the album, and an early-'70s interview with le grand Serge himself.

THE PRETTY THINGS - Philippe DeBarge

In 1969, British R&B/psych cult heroes The Pretty Things were somewhat at loose ends. S.F. Sorrow, their innovative rock opera released the previous year, had flopped commercially, although Pete Townshend, then in the midst of creating Tommy, had certainly been taking notes. Into this picture stepped a wealthy young Frenchman, Philippe DeBarge, who commissioned the group to record a new album--with him on lead vocals. Strange but true. The Pretties came up with a batch of sterling psychedelic gems, and the end result, never released at the time, has now seen the light of day. While not sounding as strong as Pretty Things frontman Phil May, DeBarge's raspy voice suits the material just fine. Detailed liner notes courtesy of Mike Stax, publisher of essential garage-psych 'zine Ugly Things, whose offshoot label is responsible for this disc's release.

VA - Local Customs: Downriver Revival

The fine folks at Numero Group have taken a break from flipping through bins to sort through the reels upon reels of tape at Double-U-Sound in Ecorse, Michigan. Opened in 1967, Double-U was a home studio operated by Felton Williams, an entrepreneur trained as an electrician at the Ford Motor plant, and as a steel guitarist at The Church Of The Living God. He recorded anyone who would knock on his door, in hopes of chancing upon a hit performance by neighbourhood talent. The focus of this compilation is gospel music, although the breadth of activity at Double-U is well-represented by some Hammond jazz, shaggy funk, and a even a garage-punk number that betrays its proximity to Detroit. There's little in the way of polish on these recordings, but the incredible music captured is more than worth the odd bump along the way. In addition to Numero's picks, they've also included a second DVD disc with even more tape to sift through on your own, and a 30-minute documentary about Felton and his studio.  

DEATH - ...For The Whole World To See

Sometimes there's nothing like a little Death to liven up a party, and in this case, Death's ...For The Whole World To See is a very welcome addition to the incendiary legacy of high-energy Detroit proto-punk. Consisting of three African-American brothers, this mid-'70s group recorded some ear-blasting, metallic, jams-kicking songs in the vein of The MC5, especially on this disc's lead-off track "Keep On Knocking", on which Death's lead singer sounds like a dead ringer (no pun intended) for Rob Tyner. Other highlights include the aptly-titled "Freakin' Out" and "Politicians In My Eyes", making for one excellent punkadelic reissue.

VA - Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge Of The Super Female Rappers!

In an ambitious two-disc collection, Soul Jazz takes on the once-fertile subgenre of female rap. Celebrating three decades of sister rap, this comp actually digs way back to a couple of excellent early-'70s samplings of proto-rap from Sarah Webster Fabio and Nikki Giovanni. The real focus, however, is on the early '80s, via Roxanne Shante (to the chagrin of The Real Roxanne), MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and others who rocked the mic backed by live DJs, drum machines and the occasional live funky bass player. Going no further than Missy Elliott's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" from 1997, Fly Girls! drives home the point that hip hop is not nearly as fun as it used to be, and that it may have something to do with the ever-diminishing number of prominent women in rap in this last decade.  

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - Flamingo/Teenage Head

Courtesy of the excellent Rev-Ola reissue label comes this terrific two-fer of the Flamin' Groovies' seminal 1970-71 albums, Flamingo and Teenage Head. It was from the latter that Hamilton's punk-rockin' finest got their name--fittingly enough, since the Groovies proved themselves to be perfect punk precursors, all the while mining the rich, raunchy heritage of '50s rockabilly and R&B. Both albums feature snarling Stones-y originals, often out-rolling and rocking Mick Jagger and co. The careening covers (including a Randy Newman number!), slide-guitar playing, Roy Loney's snotty vocals, and overall bad-ass attitude make this disc as essential as The Stooges or MC5. And the Groovies' later power-pop excursions are not to be missed either, but that's a whole other story...

BEE GEES - Odessa (Deluxe Edition)

Following the deluxe reissues of the Bee Gees' first three albums comes this sterling re-ish of their sumptuous 1969 opus, Odessa. It's a less psychedelic affair than their earlier efforts, as the Brothers Gibb add previously non-existent country and bluegrass twang to their trademark orchestral pop-isms. This three-disc set comes complete with alternative mixes and demos, along with the obligatory mono and stereo mixes of the original album. Throw in informative liner notes, and you've got one classy package befitting the elegance of the Bee Gees' pre-"Jive Talkin'"/funk-disco era.  

NEIL YOUNG - Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968 (CD/DVD-Audio)

Starting with an on-mic announcement by a concert organizer surprised by an eager turnout, the crowd that packed this small Ann Arbor club on November 9 and 10, 1968, was evidently already hip to the fact that the newly-solo Young (whose self-titled debut was to be released just days later, and whose last show with Buffalo Springfield was just seven months before) had already amassed a heady batch of personal work. The included DVD-audio disc's preview trailer for the complete Archives may be too much of a tease, but this is revelation enough for this year.

BOBBY CHARLES - S/T

Sounding here like a Cajun, countrified Randy Newman or an older bon-vivant equal to The Band's Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, Bobby Charles' career was (attempted to be) revived with this 1972 set, co-produced by Danko and including contributions from Manuel, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, John Simon and Dr. John. With Vetiver having covered "I Must Be In A Good Place Now" and local rock'n'soul revue Steamboat featuring Charles/Danko co-write "Small Town Talk" in their repertoire, these songs have been kept alive by a current generation of musicians, and are now back in print (while the limited pressing lasts) via Rhino UK's arm of the Encore series.  

VA - Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977

An already stellar year for soul reissues (see the Sweet Soul Music series on Bear Family or the Eccentric Soul series on Numero Group) continues, as Take Me To The River compiles 75 deep soul songs, each one a matter of the heart and, in most cases, heartbreak. One great strength of the set is that superstars like Otis and Aretha sit side-by-side with overlooked masters like James Carr and O.V. Wright, bringing to light the depth of riches to be found in soul music.

LINDA LEWIS - Fathoms Deep / WEE - You Can Fly On My Aeroplane

Here lie two very smooth, but very innovative mid-'70s soul albums entirely unknown to us prior to respective recent reissues on Collector's Choice and * (that would be the Numero Group's full-length Asterisk imprint pulling a Prince right there), whose catchiness has helped them worm their way into the listening habits of many of us here at the shop over this past month.

Fathoms Deep, Riperton-ian UK session singer (for Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Al Kooper, and Elton John) Lewis' second solo effort from 1974, has slightly savvier sequencing (and stronger songs, arguably) than debut Lark; "If I Could"'s reggae gallop anticipates peppy Stiff young'un Rachel Sweet's later hand at chirpy Caribbeana "It's So Different Here"; clean-sleaze clavinet wobbler "Kingman-Tinman" dirties up Betty Davis-style for some chorus breakdown funk; and under-two-minute live excerpt "Moles"' unadorned self-accompanied guitar shows that she could wow with solo folk as well.

Wee, a decidedly more obscure act by comparison, was the studio creation of Columbus songwriter and peripheral Capsoul Records roster alum Norman Whiteside, originally released in a 1000-copy pressing by Owl Studios in 1977 following Capsoul's rejection of his solo material and its subsequent dissolution. Aeroplane's spaced keyboard textures, melodic drive and oddball ambition should endear it to lovers of For You, Small Talk, Music Of My Mind, and Inspiration Information.

BILL EVANS - Sunday At The Village Vanguard [Keepnews Collection]

The first of two albums culled from a 1961 live date with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday At The Villiage Vanguard still stands as the model of the modern piano trio. In the two years preceding this recording, Evans, along with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, had reinvented the sound of this standard jazz grouping as a collaborative creative venture with three unique voices, rather than that of a featured pianist with rhythm accompanists. Much of this innovation was facilitated by the unmatched virtuosity of LaFaro, whose horn-like lines can be heard weaving through Evans' rich harmonies, never married to the pianist's left hand, nor to a strict four-to-the-bar swing.  LaFaro's role in the trio also extended into the repertoire played--his Gloria's Step and Jade Visions present vehicles as daring as the trio's approach, with odd phrase lengths which exploit the constant momentum created by the group's interplay. Sadly, this recording was to be LaFaro's final statement, as he was killed in an auto accident a mere 10 days after this recording at the age of 25.

VA - Sweet Soul Music: Scorching Classics From 1961-1965

Sweet Soul Music continues Bear Family's year-by-year exploration of R&B that began with the excellent Blowin' The Fuse series (1945-1960).  The first batch in this new series covers 1961-1965 and includes just about every classic soul single released during that period - no obscurities here, this is simply hit after hit compiled by Toronto's own Dave 'Daddy Cool' Booth.  It fills a void left ever since Rhino's Beg, Scream & Shout went out of print. Admittedly, these German imports are more expensive than a typical disc, but every track is a keeper plus you get an 80 page booklet containing stories, photos and cover art.  A must-have!

RODRIGUEZ - Cold Fact

Originally released in 1970, this album by Detroit's Sixto Rodriguez sank without a trace domestically, but curiously hit it big with listeners in Australia and South Africa. Cold Fact bears a Dylan/Donovan influence, and was co-produced by great Motown session guitarist Dennis Coffey. Kicking off with the dreamy acid-folk rock of "Sugar Man", a paean to a drug dealer, and the fuzz guitar crunch of the searing putdown "Only Good For Conversation", this disc bitterly reflects the harsh comedown of the hippie hangover. Caustic, socially conscious songwriting and hard-bitten vocals, along with some lovely orchestration, make for a lost classic well worth rediscovering.