Egon's Funk Archaeology for NPR: 5 Favorite Reissues of 2010

• December 21, 2010

My shelves are filled with original albums from the 1960s through the present day, so a reissue had better be damn good if it's going to fit between an original Solar press of Lula Cortes and Ze Ramalho's Brasilian psychedelic masterpiece Paebiru and the solid, mid-'70s funk of the Turner Brothers' Act 1 (on the Brothers' MB label, of course). Or at least that's what I tell myself to keep the small Los Angeles house I share with my wife from turning into the next episode of Hoarders.

While 2009 added a small, excellent trove of African reissues to the racks — as well as a few well-packaged American and Middle Eastern albums — 2010 was, by comparison, empty. I'd heard rumors that the great Ghanaian guitarist, composer and arranger Ebo Taylor would be feted with a thorough anthology. By the end of the year, hopes dashed, I found myself spending hundreds of dollars on original copies of his rare albums on eBay — and returning to Soundway's crucial 2009 Ghana Special. The fact that Ghana Special hasn't left my car's seat pocket in a year says something about the quality of 2010's crop.

That said, it wasn't hard to pin down five albums as must-haves for music fans of all ages and backgrounds. I've purposely left off major-label releases like the fine West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology so as to focus on smaller, passion-driven imprints. And I've left off the murky Iranian and Turkish bootlegs that have flooded the market in the past year. As interesting as they are — and I bought them all — I hope they inspire a generation to seek out the original artists, or their heirs, and properly document the musical heroes of those hard-to-penetrate '60s and '70s scenes.Egon’s latest entry to his Funk Archaeology series at NPR sheds some light on his forthcoming anthology Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesia Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk 1970-1978. Indonesia’s various 70s scenes were dense, but often times underground; this piece sheds light on not only the process he and fellow record collectors and archivists had to go through in the discovery process, but also on a forthcoming (hopefully?) Madlib/Indonesian collaboration, of sorts, for the discussed, but not-yet-realized, Supreme Team project.

1. Omar Khorshid - Guitar El Chark (Guitar Of The Orient) Sublime Frequencies
2. Syl Johnson - Complete Mythology Numero Group
3. The World Ends: Afro Rock And Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria Soundway
4. California Funk: Rare Funk 45s From The Golden State Jazzman
5. Pastor T.L. Barrett and The Youth For Christ Choir - Like A Ship (Without A Sail) Light In The Attic

Link to the show:
Five Favorite Reissues of 2010

Link to the series:
Egon's Funk Archaeology on NPR