The Jackin’ Pop reissues poll was handily won by the deluxe edition of Pavement’s Wowee Zowee, and while its upper reaches were filled with familiar names–David Byrne, Brian Eno, R.E.M., The Clash–we were pleasantly surprised by a few of the results.
· The long-overdue compilation of recordings by the all-female post-punk outfit Delta 5, Singles And Sessions 1979-1981, came in at No. 16. One interesting wrinkle; it tied for first in the reissue race among female critics with Karen Dalton’s In My Own Time, which placed second overall.
· The essentials-compilers at the UK label Soul Jazz had a strong showing: Tropicália! A Brazilian Revolution In Sound, its 20-track, meticulously annotated overview of the Brazilian artistic movement, came in at No. 5, and Big Apple Rappin’, two discs full of early New York City hip-hop, reached No. 21.
· And, since we are contractually obligated to mention Jarvis Cocker at least once a week, you should know that the deluxe reissue of Pulp’s Different Class–an import-only release in the States, which meant that a lot of our voters had to work to get it–tied for No. 27 on the reissues list.
(Also, we’d really like to check out A Tom Moulton Mix (tied for No. 9), Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’ Legends of Country Music (tied for No. 21), and Fats Waller’s If You Got to Ask, You Ain’t Got It (tied for No. 31)–if you happen to feel like sharing an MP3 or two, send ‘em our way.)
Jackin’ Pop Critics Poll 2006 Results
Delta 5 - You [MP3, link expired]
Caetano Veloso - Alfomega [MP3, link expired]
General Echo - Rapping Dub Style [MP3, link expired]
Pulp - Mis-Shapes [MP3, link expired]
Thank the heavens for the Bit Torrent community.
Different Class was a solid re-issue as was This Is Hardcore. Although the re-master of Hardcore was bit over-compressed for my taste, the extra songs on disc two are awesome.
Pulp also put out a BBC Sessions disc in Europe last year that is killer. The We Love Life stuff is great live.
I actually thought Different Class was the weakest of all the Pulp reissues, in terms of quality bonus tracks.
“A Tom Moulton Mix” was my No. 2 reissue and is without question one of the half-dozen best disco compilations I’ve ever heard. You really owe it to yourselves to hear the opening track, a remix of Eddie Kendricks’s “Keep on Truckin’” that just obliterates everything in its path (”truckin’” metaphor somewhat deliberate).
I never know what to do with Reissues lists in year-end polls. Selfishly, I was happy P&J dropped it. And I was sorta stumped doing it for Jackin’ Pop.
I buy at least a dozen old/reissued discs a year in addition to my steady diet of current stuff. (Sometimes several dozen.) But most of it is stuff I just happen to get obsessed with at a random moment - not the instant a label does a reissue. (For example, last spring I decided I needed to own some Harry Nilsson, which had been reissued by RCA years ago.)
In fact, I’ll go one step further and say that the insidious thing about Reissues lists is that they separate the haves from the have-nots - the only way you’re going to keep up with a year’s worth of reissues is if you have a serious (preferably media-outlet-backed) music budget. I’m not, like, marching on the Idolator offices over this, but it is kind of a fact.
“A Tom Moulton Mix” is the album I listened to most last year by a wide margin. I know at least one person who told me that putting it on at a small party led directly to everyone making out with each other, and I don’t doubt it.
The Tropicalia and Tom Moulton compilations really are great. But then, basically everything I’ve got put out by that label is awesome. I’ve also got the Chicago Soul and Soul Gospel compilations. The latter contains the most crazy awesome Eleanor Rigby cover ever.
Soul Jazz deserves many slices of free cake for being awesome.