CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG - IRM

While it may be prime heavy-hitter time at the movies, there's an unwritten rule about releasing one's albums too late in the year. Most critics' year-end lists are set by November and even if they have a copy of it in advance, chances are that your record is not going to have had enough time to sink in and unseat a year's worth of competition in the home stretch. I'm sure Charlotte Gainsbourg could care less, but for what it's worth, a more palatable release date would have had a lot more people talking about IRM as 2009 came to a close. A close collaboration with Beck (who handles production and nearly all writing duties throughout), IRM is a subtle stunner and an equally triumphant achievement for both parties. Beck's admiration for Serge Gainsbourg's musical legacy is very evident, especially in the gorgeously orchestrated "Le Chat du Café des Artistes" and "Time of the Assassins". But it's to his credit that the songs that bear his own audio signature ("IRM", "Greenwich Meantime") are just as strong, giving Gainsbourg ample opportunity to groove with her delicate, blank croon. And when the two stylistic worlds collide—as on the echo-chamber-spiced pop of "Me and Jane Doe"—the verdict on the success of this union is a solid très bon. It's neither flashy nor ground-breaking, but IRM is one of the most repeat-worthy pop records I've heard this year—I only wish I'd heard it a little earlier. As a stocking stuffer, though, it's a slam dunk.

BLO - Chapter And Phases: The Complete Albums 1973-1975

A few years back, you would be forgiven for believing that BLO’s only song worth hearing was “Chant to Mother Earth”, a psychedelic dirge-waltz that, for a while, seemed to be comped every few months. Nothing else was available aside from expensive imports that I avoided because, once again, I thought they were only worth the one song. Far from it. These guys, who once toured with Ginger Baker, synthesized jammy fuzz-rock with their Nigerian roots in a way that few African bands did as well. In this context, it makes sense that Rev-Ola, purveyors of obscure pop and psych from the '60s, would put this out instead of the usual suspects from the super-hot Afro reissue scene. It’s been a long time coming, so get this one while it lasts. 

VA - Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81

In the seven years since Soundway put out their first comp, they've become arguably the finest reissue purveyor of floor-shaking grooves from Nigeria, Panama, Colombia and, most recently, Guadeloupe & Martinique (on last month's sublime Tumbele set). By focusing on hard grooves from the '60s and '70s, they've helped move tastes away from the slick “worldbeat” production values that dominated the market in the '80s and '90s. Ghana Special is a return home of sorts, and a follow-up to the remarkable Ghana Soundz collection from 2002 that started it all for the label. The heavy funk heard on that disc must have made many a DJ in the rare groove scene want to trade in their jazz-funk records for these records that were more than convincingly “funky”, and indeed many did pursue this route. Since then, Soundway boss Miles Cleret has toned down the overt funk influence and has shown that his preferences have matured, though not at the expense of the dancefloor–far from it, in fact. The two discs here show a diversity that the Nigerian deluge of last year, great as it was, could not match. In fact, there are so many fantastic tracks here, I’ll be digging into this for a long time to come. One of the top African collections of 2009.

VA - Dirty French Psychedelics

This is not the 'official' psychedelic sound, but rather a sound that has been overlooked by revivals from the '60s to the '80s, ignored for lacking easy categorization. In 1970s France, moody orchestrations by Jean-Claude Vannier for the epochal Melody Nelson session with Serge Gainsbourg (as well as the less-acknowledged but artistically equal Brigitte Fontaine Est...) combined with the clash of exotic folk and cosmic jazz on the Saravah label to create an atmospheric and far-reaching sound that embraced open-mindedness, come-down grooviness, and the pristine (but definitely not smooth) production techniques of the time. It is a sound that's a purple haze without being “Purple Haze”, if you get my drift. Paris' Dirty Sound System have defined an amorphous genre, a rare thing in the compilations market, and have done it with a flow that betrays some serious mixtape obsession. A creepy and ominous mood is created by soundtrack greats François de Roubaix and Karl Heinz Schäfer, plus freaky pioneers Brigitte Fontaine and Dashiell Hedayat, along with many more.

VA - Tumbele!: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean 1963-1973

From the moment we first threw this one on we knew that we had a winner, a sentiment confirmed by the steady line of customers asking about this disc. Soundway is one of our favourite reissue labels, leading the pack with the best African comps of the last few years, plus popular collections of Panamanian and Colombian music. This time they’ve switched focus to the music of Guadeloupe and Martinique, a highly unlikely source but one that has proven irresistible on the dancefloors of the rising “tropical funk” movement spearheaded by Miles Cleret (the man behind the Soundway label), Quantic's Will Holland, and Toronto’s own Symon Warwick, whose regular Turning Point dance parties are always a reliably steamy night out. The selections here are some of the most infectious grooves you’ll hear all year, combining calypso melodicism, latin rhythms, afro-charged horns and percussion, and New Orleans jazz. It’s a delicious mix of influences that will have you dancing in your kitchen for months.

(UPDATE: Soundway's Miles Cleret will in fact be guest DJing at the next Turning Point dance party, Sat. Nov 7 at the Gladstone Ballroom!)  

ARVE HENRIKSEN - Cartography / JON HASSELL - Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street

Sometimes you can just look at the back of a jazz album, check out the list of players and their instruments, and conclude that it will be great. And when the label in question is ECM, anyone who needed an extra push just got one. So is the story with the latest of the label's discs to win this writer's heart from a pair of exceptional trumpet players—Arve Henriksen's Cartography and Jon Hassell's Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street. In truth, this may be the most revelatory pair of releases on ECM since Anouar Brahem's transportive Le Pas Du Chat Noir. Henriksen and Hassell both possess a uniqueness of phrasing that transforms the typically bright clarion call of the trumpet into a mournful timbre more akin to that of an oboe. Match that voice with layers of drifting electronics and spare, exotic percussion and you end up with the kind of East-meets-West albums in which ECM specialize—records that manage to deftly navigate the fine line separating truly gorgeous, multi-ethnic ambiance from, well, Enya. It's far harder than it sounds, and they owe their success mainly to a touch that never forces any one flavour upon a track.

Henriksen's album is even more remarkable for the success of spoken word appearances by David Sylvian. Often the straw that breaks many a pretentious album's back, Sylvian's spare readings intersect beautifully, much in the way that similar (albeit much heavier) pieces on Sunn 0)))'s recent albums blend ambience and narration. Although both discs stand easily on their own, it's telling how well they complement one another—each an exceptional exercise in active musical meditation.

(For another take on Jon Hassell's Last Night The Moon..., also check out a review of that disc that ran back in February 2009.)

OLATUNJI - Drums Of Passion (Legacy Edition)

Before 1959, if you wanted to hear music outside of the Anglo-American experience, you could go for the ersatz (though nonetheless charming) exotica of Les Baxter and Martin Denny, or find warmth in the recent calypso craze popularized by Harry Belafonte (who was criticized for his inauthenticity). Then along came Nigerian-born Babatunde Olatunji, discovered by John Hammond and asked to record the music he had been performing with the ensemble he had formed to fund his studies. The impact of these recordings is immeasurable–his influence is all over Serge Gainsbourg’s Percussions album (especially on “New York USA”), and “Jin-Go-Lo-Ba” was a perfect fit when covered on Santana’s monumental self-titled debut. That Drums Of Passion sold 5 million copies speaks to its accessibility, and lends credence to the claim that it was the record that started "world music". The production and remastering here is remarkably clear and spacious, with this Legacy Edition's second disc featuring more percussion and call-and-response singing on the enclosed sequel album, More Drums of Passion.

JACQUES DUTRONC - Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi: 1966-1968

If Serge Gainsbourg was the prime purveyor of Parisian pop in the '60s, Jacques Dutronc didn't lag far behind. Dutronc emerged as one of France's answers to Bob Dylan in 1966, releasing several hit singles and a debut album consisting of acerbic and ironic social commentary wed to an Anglo r'n'b-derived garage-rock beat. So strong and consistent was that album that it's featured almost in its entirety on this very welcome compilation that also includes the best of his more baroque and orchestrated late-Sixties recordings. Suave, debonair, and almost always tongue-in-cheek, Dutronc went on to have a successful career in film as an actor, but this CD will introduce his music to wider non-Francophone audience, and even if your grasp of French is tenuous, there's still plenty here to enjoy.

VA - Black Rio 2: Original Samba Soul 1968-1981

Seven years after the first Black Rio collection, British DJ Cliffy finally returns with another killer batch of samba-funk numbers culled from years serving as one of the top dealers in the rare Brazilian vinyl market. Here Cliffy proves that the genre is far from spent, introducing previously unknowns (Super Som Lord and the improbably-named Pete Dunaway) and giving exposure to once-ultra-rare tracks (Sonia Santos’ “Poema Ritmico Do Malandro” and Renata Lu’s “Faz Tanto Tempo”) while not shying away from tested dancefloor stormers (Edson Frederico’s “Bobeira”, Emílio Santiago’s “Bananeira”, and Bebeto’s “Princesa Negra de Angola” form an anthemic threesome toward the end) to make a perfect soundtrack for prolonging the summer. Grab this now and let the good folks at Strut know that you won’t wait another seven years for part three!

VA - Legends Of Benin

The accelerated pace of African reissues is working toward a collective deepening of understanding of the wealth of music to be found on the continent in a logical, non-jarring way. Following up from their survey of heavy jams from Togo and Benin on last year’s African Scream Contest, Analog Africa returns with a focus on four artists from Benin’s classic funkified '70s period. Only El Rego et Ses Commandos appeared on the previous comp, and here they show a strong Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”) sense of funk. Honoré Avolonto limns closer to the Fela model of Afro-funk, while Gnonnas Pedro & His Dadjes Band open things with an unusual and infectious dance track, “Dadje Von O Von Non”, that shows unlikely and subtle new-wave quirkiness. The real revelation here, though, is the astounding Antoine Dougbé, whose songs are the most relentlessly rhythmic and danceable tracks I’ve heard all year. A full disc of his work would be much appreciated.

VIEUX FARKA TOURE - Fondo

There are occasions when a son's music cuts so close to a fabled father's legacy that it becomes a little difficult—initially at least—to make an assessment of their own talent. Femi Kuti is one such artist. Jeff Buckley springs to mind, too. You can place Vieux Farka Touré amongst that same company. His late dad, Ali, was an musician of truly groundbreaking renown, merging the Griot traditions of his Mali home with a reclaiming of the roots of American blues. Ry Cooder was famously floored and Western ears soon followed. Only a year after his exceptional posthumous final album, Savane, his son Vieux's 2007 debut arrived. In many ways, it was like Ali never left, but at times the similarities were unnerving. With this second album though, Vieux solidifies his case as one very worthy successor. It's not that Fondo is a terribly risky collection. It's just very, very good. And with a couple more years distance, it doesn't matter anymore how similar to Ali's music his might be. It was such a rare and beautiful sound to begin with that it's only a pleasure to have more of it around. And when he does get around to making a masterwork on par with Niafunké, watch out—it'll be a heck of an album.

VA - Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77

Not known as a hotbed of musical activity, nobody would have expected the excellent Soundway label to put a whole collection together spotlighting a country best know for its canal. Well, here they are with a surprising follow-up—surprising not only because the middling quality of the original may not have warranted a return record-hunting expedition, but also because part two has vindicated the project. The cuts on this collection, as with the first, reveal no sound that is particular to Panama except for an openness to pan-tropical idioms, funky grooves and some delightfully lo-fi recording techniques. Styles are mashed together with no regard for orthodoxy and it's on these tracks that this collection really comes to life. Cumbias take on an “eastern” sense of melody and vocal timbre; salsas feature guitar; and the calypsos sound nothing like calypso. In other words, the variety here will make this a fail-proof summer soundtrack.

VA - Marvellous Boy: Calypso From West Africa

Remember that whole Blur vs. Oasis snafu and its London art-schoolers vs. Manchester lads battle for British supremacy? Oasis may have borrowed most blatantly from the Beatles catalogue, but it's always been clear that Blur best understood the Fab Four's spirit of innovation and exploration. So while Liam Gallagher launches his attack on skinny jeans with mundane new clothing line Pretty Green, Blur/Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn's Honest Jon's label has slowly but surely been archiving all manner of exceptional unheard music from around the world. Calypso has been a big part of the label's identity from the start, and Marvellous Boy fits right in. Detailing a vibrant movement in West Africa in the '50s and '60s when African ex-pats were returning to home soil from the Caribbean, this collection is sunny and effortlessly enjoyable, but it also carries a historical punch courtesy of the label's typically thorough and well-written liner notes, as well as tracks like "Dick Tiger's Victory", which chronicles the Nigerian middleweight boxer's success in America. The range of genres within is impressive, from swing and highlife to Afro-Cuban jazz and military bands, and it's no shock that Marvellous Boy is a winner from start to finish. Patio music of the highest order.

JOYCE, NANA VASCONCELOS & MAURICIO MAESTRO - Visions Of Dawn

Despite the trio billing and the outstanding ensemble playing throughout, for all intents and (collectors') purposes, this is Joyce's great unreleased record from the mid-'70s. All three were graduates of Luis Eca's Familia Sagrada that toured Mexico and produced the legendary (and insanely arranged) La Nueva Onda De Brasil. Recorded during the same European stint that produced the beautiful Passarinho Urbano, this album was recorded in Paris but never issued until now. An excellent transitional album, Visions bridges her folky psych-samba of the early '70s and points to the dancefloor jazz heights she would achieve with 1980's Feminina after hooking up with future husband Tutty Moreno. The legendary Nana Vasconcelos handles percussion duties and keeps things dreamily atmospheric, occasionally ramping up the energy on tracks featuring Joyce's emerging scat singing style. Thanks to Far Out, the only full-length that remains unreleased from her first decade of recording is the Claus Ogerman-produced Natureza from 1977. Don't miss her when she makes her Canadian debut this summer!

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.

LHASA - S/T

When discussing her astounding trilingual 2004 album The Living Road, Lhasa offered that the songs on that record chose the language in which they were going to be sung, be it Spanish, French or English, but even the all-English titles found on the back of this record don't quite prepare you for Lhasa's gentle country-ballad opener "Is Anything Wrong", seemingly miles removed from the dark Spanish beauty of her debut. Then, there in the bridge, it appears--a subtle Latin hand-clapping break that provides the flavour we were expecting all along. Lhasa may only have two other albums to her credit, but they cast a long shadow amongst her faithful and she seems playfully aware of it, this time creating an album that explores what her voice can mine from her Anglo songbook. Though capably backed by members of the Godspeed/Silver Mt. Zion collective, this album is not anywhere as dark or intense as similarly-staffed excursions by Carla Bozulich as Evangelista. In fact, after a few spins, the more things change the more they stay the same--different palette, new colours, same uniquely expressive painter.

VA - Boogaloo Pow Wow: Dancefloor Rendez-Vous In Young Nuyorica

While we've heard a few notable Nuyorican comps in the last year (The Soul Of Spanish Harlem, and Fania's killer Joe Bataan anthology Under The Streetlamps), Honest Jon's has truly taken things to the next level with Boogaloo Pow Wow. Heavy grooves unite a varied range of tracks, with traditional Afro-Cuban forms getting a funky backbeat here and there, and even some serious jazz blowing to remind you that this is, after all, New York. It's a serious dance party, from the super-cool sunglasses and satin shirt moves of Willie Rosario to the bizarro fusion of Diane & Carole's "Feelin' The Pain"--like someone accidentally brought a guiro to a Brill Building girl-group session.

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.

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.

JON HASSELL - Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street

Always one to leave breadcrumbs of esoteric info around for the interested (as on his website's Atmospherics sidebar), Jon Hassell makes a point of musing on the term "montage" in Last Night...'s liner notes, and enough time has elapsed since his Maarifa Street group first assembled in 2005 for a second recording by the band to now arrive, composites of live and studio work that follow last year's long-awaited reissue of Hassell's first session for ECM back in 1986, Power Spot. With Hassell's harmonizer often tracking his trumpet as on past efforts, Jan Bang and Dino J. A. Deane's live sampling particularly helps congeal these tracks into a miasma both tense and placid, nearly New Age but with an unmistakable edge that's been remarkably maintained throughout thirty years of Fourth World formulations.