MAGNET editor Eric T. Miller picks his favorite reissues and collections: Galaxie 500 (pictured), Pavement, the Soft Boys, Syd Barrett, R.E.M., Elliott Smith, Superchunk and more.
A disclaimer: Of course, no reissues/collections lists from 2010 would be complete without the likes of the Rolling Stones‘ Exile On Main St., the Beatles‘ 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, George Harrison‘s All Things Must Pass, Richard And Linda Thompson‘s Shoot Out The Lights, David Bowie‘s Station To Station, Paul McCartney & Wings‘ Band On The Run, T.Rex‘s The Slider, Bruce Springsteen‘s The Promise, the Who‘s Live At Leeds and the absolutely amazing John Lennon campaign undertaken by Capitol Records (I’ve listened to more solo Lennon this year than most of the other stuff here combined), but for the following two lists, I decided to concentrate solely on reissues and collections by the kind of artists we have always made the focus of MAGNET’s editorial coverage. Like Lou Barlow once sang, just gimme indie rock.
Reissues
1. GALAXIE 500 Today, On Fire and This Is Our Music [20/20/20]
2. THE SOFT BOYS Underwater Moonlight and Can Of Bees [Yep Roc]
3. R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction [Capitol/IRS]
4. SUPERCHUNK No Pocky For Kitty and On The Mouth [Merge]
5. ROBERT WYATT Rock Bottom, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, Nothing Can Stop Us, Old Rottenhat, Dondestan, Schleep, EPs, Cuckooland and Theatre Royal Drury Lane [Domino]
6. THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION Extra Width, Orange, Now I Got Worry, Acme, Controversial Negro and Year One [Majordomo]
7. NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS Tender Prey, The Good Son and Henry’s Dream [Mute]
8. THE CURE Disintegration [Rhino]
9. THE DREAM SYNDICATE Medicine Show [Water]
10. ROYAL TRUX Thank You [Plain]
Collections
1. PAVEMENT Quarantine The Past [Matador]
2. SYD BARRETT An Introduction To Syd Barrett [Capitol]
3. ELLIOTT SMITH An Introduction To… [Kill Rock Stars]
4. ORANGE JUICE Coals To Newcastle [Domino]
5. THE CHURCH Deep In The Shallows: 30th Anniversary Definitive Singles Collection [Second Motion]
6. CROWDED HOUSE The Very Very Best Of Crowded House [Capitol]
7. LEONARD COHEN Songs From The Road [Sony Legacy]
8. THE UNDERTONES The Best Of The Undertones [Union Square]
9. BLACK TAMBOURINE Black Tambourine [Slumberland]
10. TOMMY KEENE Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983-2009 [Second Motion]
3 replies on “Best Of 2010: Reissues/Collections”
Whaaaaat!? No Bitches Brew 40th mention? The classic fusion album that brought jazz into rock? The same album that influenced one of the best releases of last year by the Flaming Lips????
I kept my picks to rock reissues, but I did listen to the Bitches Brew re-release often in 2010, especially while enjoying Dogfish Head’s Bitches Brew beer.
I couldn’t agree more with Karen Sundell. Miles Davis stretched the limits of Jazz on this one while stepping into the realms of Rock and living to tell about it. Nothing like this had been ventured before(I’m bettin’ nobody dared to try) and it projected Miles to another level from which he never returned. Tell me groups like Chicago, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Chuck Mangione, Toto, and the like have not felt the reverberations from thidisk. A bad oversight on an otherwise excellent list.