Packaging

Seriously, if you're in a record company and worried about increased downloading, illegal or otherwise, why on earth would you wanna make listening to music even more difficult by wrapping a piece of cardboard around the CD that cannot be removed by any other means than brute force, as is the case with the packaging of the delightful-though-not-terrible-different-form-the-EP-that-was-leaked-last-year-even-if-I-wish-they'd-kept-that-song-"Ladies of Cambridge-which-is-ace new record from Vampire Weekend. (And if you're able to read Norwegian, let me point you to this write-up of the album from Platekompaniet's on-line shop, which is a much better take on the album than any other review I've read so far in the Norwegian press).

Reissues + Idolator's thing-a-ma-jig

Forgot to list reissues (jazz) yeaterday, 'though in my defence I've not made enough of an effort to follow the flow of reissues this year, jazz or otherwise. In some cases I've not even listened to the reissue if I own an older issue of the album. Out of those I have picked up, they would rank something like this:

1. Thelonious Monk Trio: Thelonious Monk Trio (1952-54, Prestige)
2. Charlie Mingus: Tijuana Moods (1957, RCA Victor/Legacy)
3. Alber Ayler: The Hilversum Sessions (1964, ESP)
4. William Parker & Hamid Drake: First Communion + Piercing The Veil (2000, AUM Fidelity)
5. Andrew Hill: Compulsion (1965, Blue Note)

As a side note, I just want to mention that Black Saint relaunched their online music store last year, and while they are not actually reissues, many of the records in their great catalogue have not been widely available for some time (The same is true of a few other lables as well, e.g. Candid).

I also noticed that my 2007 list is part of Tom Hull's Year End Mop Up, which I take as an honor and proof that someone is still reading my blog. Thanks, sir.

Idolator's 2007 Poll.

Jazz in 2007 + the Village Voice's Poll

A tad bit late, but a post that was meant to coincide with and comment on the Village Voice's 2007 Jazz Poll. My initial reaction after seeing the list was to question whether I was completely out of touch with the knowledgeable people polled. My second reaction, after reading Francis Davis' enlightening comments, lessened that feeling but rather mirrored some of the reactions to Destination-Out!'s 90s Poll, strengthening the contention that we are indeed in an age where there seems to be less and less consensus about what good jazz is. Nonetheless, the top of the list is filled with old timers (Mingus (!!!), Brecker, Lovano/Jones, Hancock, Lincoln). No harm in that as such, but most of those records operate in fairly safe waters, in my opinion (and some of them I don't think are all that good). It leaves me with the feeling that the real winner this year were those who feel that jazz was better "back in the day" and/or played by those old enough to remember "how to". The first album on VV's poll to appear among my favorites is Andersons/Drake's From the River to the Ocean at 16. My list would look something like this:

1. (((Powerhouse Sound))): Oslo/Chicago: (((Breaks))) (Atavistic)
2. Assif Tsahar/Cooper-Moore/Chad Taylor: Digital Primitives (Hopscotch)
3. Adam Lane/Ken Vandermark/Markus Broo/Paal Nilssen-Love: 4 Corners (Clean Feed)
4. Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Shamokin'!!! (Hot Cup/CD Baby)
5. Billy Bang Quintet Featuring Frank Lowe: Above & Beyond: An Evening in Grand Rapids (Justin Time)
6. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake: From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey)
7. Tyshawn Sorey Quartet: That/Not (Firehouse 12)
8. Matthew Shipp: Piano Vortex (Blue Series)
9. David S. Ware Quartet: Renunciation (AUM Fidelity)
10. Kahil El'Zabar's Infinity Orchestra: Transmigration (Delmark)
    

Happy to see Tyshawn Sorey do well both in the main poll and getting top spot for best debut. He would get my vote for debut of the year.

Honorable mentions to:

• Matt Lavelle Trio: Spiritual Power (Silkheart)
• Jewels and Binoculars: Ships With Tattood Sails (Upshot)
• The Claudia Quintet: For (Cuneiform)
• David Murray Black Saint Quartet: Sacred Ground (Justin Time)
• William Parker: Corn Meal Dance (AUM Fidelity)
  

Matt Lavelle is probably the one record out of those most likely to push for a top ten spot. Murray and Parker both made good but slightly disappointing records (even having a similar post-bop-with-vocals starting point). Yet to hear Happy Apple's Back on Top - praised by Tom Hull - in any length, but it does sound promising.

I Told You So + Happy New Year

Every year people seem too eager to review the year in music, and every year I get asked to submit top 10s as early as November. Similarly, every year good records pop out from nowhere late in the year or sometimes even well into the following year (which is what happened when I discovered This Moment in Black History's It Takes a Nation..., released in 2006, as late as January 2007).

The best late comer last year was Shamokin'!!! by the splendidly named Mostly Other People Do the Killing. May even crack the top ten, but even if it doesn't, it's still a highly enjoyable, hard swinging bop record.

I don't have internet connection at home for the time being, but hopefully more regular blogging will resume in a short while.