Global A Go-Go

Top 10 compilations & reissues of 2023

Sun, Dec 31, 2023

The reissue label Analog Africa Records has a slogan: “The future of music happened decades ago.” They make a good point: If you didn’t hear it decades ago, it’s all new to you.

So every year when I put together lists of my favorite recordings of the year, I save a special place for the best reissues and compilations I heard. These albums introduce me to music I didn’t hear back when they were made (in the case of compilations of current songs, music I wouldn’t have heard right now either), or maybe get me deeper into music I already know a little bit about.

Unlike Ted Gioia, I’m not worried that old music is killing new music. (According to music economist Will Page, less than 10 percent of all streamed music was produced before 2000.) And I just devoted two whole programs earlier this month to my favorite new albums and singles of the year. So two hours of oldies following four hours of 2023-vintage material seems like a reasonable balance to me.

Tune in this week (Sunday December 31, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) for two hours of my new favorite oldies: Music from 1959 forward, all of it released again (or in some cases, for the very first time) in 2023, and all of it excellent.

Without further ado, here are my favorite compilations and reissues of 2023:

Top 10 Compilations & Reissues of 2023
1. Maalem Mahmoud Gania (Morocco) | Colours Of The Night | Hive Mind
2. Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats From Apartheid’s Dying Years (South Africa) | BBE
3. Piconema: East African Hits On The Colombian Coast (Kenya-Tanzania-RD Congo) | Rocafort
4. Ary Lobo (Brazil) | 1958-1966 (Limited Dance Edition No. 19) | Analog Africa
5. Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! Vol. 1 (Colombia) | Vampisoul
6. Léon Keïta (Guinée Conakry-Mali) | Limited Dance Edition No. 16 | Analog Africa
7. Colombian Musical Powerhouses Vol. 4 (Colombia) | ASIC
8. Grupo Celeste (Perú) | … El Fabuloso! | Discos Fantástico
9. Guts (many countries) | Straight From The Decks Vol. 3 | Heavenly Sweetness
10. Remi Kabaka (Nigeria-England UK) | Son Of Africa | BBE

Honorable Mention
Jewel Ackah (Ghana) | Electric Hi-Life | BBE
Victor Axelrod (USA) | If You Ask Me To: Victor Axelrod Productions For Daptone Records | Daptone
Ayizan (Haiti-USA) | Dilijans | Comet
Roger Bekono (Cameroon) | Roger Bekono | Awesome Tapes From Africa
East African Highway: More Gems From The Golden Age Of Benga And Rumba (Kenya-Tanzania-RD Congo) | No Wahala Sounds
Fruko Y Sus Tesos (Colombia) | Fruko Power Vol. 1: Rarities & Deep Album Cuts 1970-1974 | Vampisoul
Erkin Koray (Turkey) | Meçhul: Singles & Rarities | Sublime Frequencies
Mukambo Presents Global Afrobeat Movement Vol. 4 (many countries) | NYP
Helen Nkume (Nigeria) | And Her Young Timers Band | Dig This Way
The Soul Of Congo: Treasures Of The Ngoma Label (RD Congo-R Congo) | Planet Ilunga

My top 20 compilations and reissues are available as a Spotify playlist (note that 6 of the 20 aren’t on Spotify): bit.ly/47dGCVP

Podcast: radio4all.net/program/117105
All the podcasts: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go

Show archive

Playlist