2007 Year-End Review: Top 50 Compilations & Re-Issues

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Let’s take a break in the middle of our Top 100 countdown to have a look at the best old music released, compiled, remixed or covered during the past twelve months. Among our selection: Renowned labels’ anniversaries; proof of the good health the deluxe format is enjoying; mixtapes; soundtracks and our favorite robots.

The Top 50 Best Compilations & Reissues of 2007 after the jump

10-VARIOS-After Dark (Italians Do It Better)

Italo-disco revival started here, from this small underground label that became the most influential stop for avant-garde dance with this compilation of their 12″ work, thanks to hundreds of blogs. It included Mirage’s remix of Indeep’s classic “Last Night A DJ saved my life”; Glass Candy’s delicate version of Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love” plus tracks by Chromatics, Professor Genius and more beginners that went to release their debuts along the year with a devotion for Giorgio Moroder as their common denominator.

9-PYLON-Gyrate Plus (DFA)

James Murphy looked back in time to rescue this nearly forgotten US new wave cult band, giving the deluxe treatment to their seminal album “Gyrate”. Frequently quoted as a reference by B-52’s , their neighbours from Athens R.E.M. and many others, their pioneering style, mixing elements of disco and punk, is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago.

8-OST-I’m Not There (Columbia)

For the soundtrack of his experimental vision about the multiple sides of the Dylan myth, Todd Haynes congregated everyone who’s anyone in Today’s American independent scene, trying to embrace all the legendary singer-songwriter’s different periods under as many different angles as possible. No one’s missing, neither the indie classic acts (Yo La Tengo, Calexico, Iron & Wine, Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens, Eddie Vedder, Stephen Malkmus and a long etc.), nor a group of lesser known but equally respectable bluesmen. And although it’s got the typical ups and downs of a double album, it reveals itself as one of the best covers collection in recent memory.

7-ELLIOTT SMITH-New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)

Sorely missed by fans and a new generation of indie artists alike. Many tried to occupy his place but no one’s been able to. Elliot Smith’s label managed to polish his last unreleased recordings and compiled them in this double CD. Far from the late songwriter’s best moments but with his spark still present in every single track.

6-VARIOUS-The Big Stiff Box Set (Salvo)

The influential, particularly during the new wave period, British label was vindicated again with this anthologic box set released by the small independent company Salvo. A complete review of a body of work spawned over 30 years, it included well known classics by Ian Dury, Kirsty McColl, Tracey Ullman, The Pogues, The Damned, Belle Stars, Joe “King” Carrasco, Devo and Madness bringing us back to the days of wine and roses of a brand sadly condemned to oblivion.

5-VARIOUS-Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 (Rhino)

The acclaimed series of psychedelic sounds from the sixties stopped by San Francisco to compile the sounds from the genesis of the hippie movement in an exhaustive collection of freaks, free spirits and purveyors of lysergic adventures. It mantained the high quality control of former Nuggets releases.

4-DAFT PUNK-Alive 2007 (Source)

Triumphant again after the low of their third studio album, Daft Punk planned their new attack in several fronts:their first and experimental feature film “Electroma” and the planification of one of the most acclaimed and espectacular tours of the year. From their pharaonic pyramid stage they remixed their back catalogue with an imagination and intensity that reconquered the fan and convinced the exceptical. Highlights of the shows were compiled in this album, breaking the book of rules for live records, that also served as an unusual greatest hits package.

3-SLY & THE FAMILY STONE-Remasters/The Collection (Epic/Legacy)

After decades of showbiz retirement Sly Stone regrouped his family and returned to the stages to coincide with the release of his complete back catalogue in deluxe remastered editions. For the newcomer, his record label also launched another excellent compilation of his legendary tracks, true seventies funk and soul classics, from which every R&B artist has been profusely drinking since.

2-YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS-Colossal Youth & Collected Works (Domino)

The Cardiff trio saw their first and only album reissued alongside the rest of their body of work. Their fine songs, skeletically estructured and basically instrumented defined the first days of the post-punk movement and have been a constant reference for many later alternative bands.

1-A-TRAK-Dirty South Dance (Bootleg)

Kanye West’s beats provider surprised us with this irresistible mixtape, conceived as a bootleg, possibly without all the licenses to use these tracks in his impressive mash-ups. Showing amazing skills for selecting and mixing the sounds currently shaping the music world, where the most recent of hip-hop hits were dressed in catchy eurodisco hooks; fashionable divas (Stefani, Miss Kittin) hung out with electro-hipsters and the DJ introduced some future stars from his entourage (Kid Sister).

La lista completa del TOP 50 RECOPILACIONES/REEDICIONES del 2007 aquí.