The Top Reissues and Reimaginings of 2025

A bundle of cassettes containing unreleased Bruce Springsteen studio recordings was one of my most cherished possessions in the 1980s. Much of that material was officially released this year. Springsteen’s buried treasures meant more to me decades ago, but the following ranking reflects the sustained value of the illicit cache. Hours of obscure Sun Ra sounds also saw the light of day in 2025. I acknowledge that embarrassment of riches with only one listing. Caveat: I have yet to tackle new collections of rarities by icons including Anthony Braxton, Bob Dylan, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and the Who.

1. Bruce Springsteen- Tracks II: The Lost Albums
Perfect world.

2. Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska ‘82: Expanded Edition
Reason to believe.

3. Moor Mother- Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes
An orchestral reimagining of her 2019 album.

4. Anat Fort- The Dreamworld of Paul Motian
The pianist with Steve Cardenas, Garry Wang and Matt Wilson.

5. Woody Guthrie- Woody at Home, Vol. 1 and 2
My review..

6. James Newton Quartet- Live in Willisau Switzerland 1983
The flautist with Geri Allen, Anthony Cox and Andrew Cyrille.

7. Larry June, 2 Chainz and the Alchemist- Life Is Beautiful: Chopped But Not Slopped
A lost art.

8. Nick Drake- The Making of Five Leaves Left
Time has told me.

9. Makaya McCraven- Off the Record!
His four 2025 EPs compiled.

10. Joni Mitchell- Joni's Jazz
One side now.

11. Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley- Flashing Spirits
Spectral sounds from 1988.

12. Irène Schweizer, Rüdiger Carl, Johnny Dyani and Han Bennink- Irène's Hot Four
Improvisational madness from 1981.

13. Charles Mingus- Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts
A glorious mess from 1977.

14. Sun Ra- Uncharted Passages: New York Piano Soliloquies 1977-79
Solo.

15. Sviatoslav Richter- The Lost Tapes: Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 18, 27, 28 & 31
My review.

16. Peggy Lee- Mirrors: Expanded Edition
Existential art songs.

17. Kassa Overall- CREAM
My review.

18. Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell Present- Mad Dogs and Englishmen Revisited: Live at Lockn’
Feelin’ alright.

19. Willie Nelson- Oh What a Beautiful World
Willie on Rodney.

20. Art Pepper- Geneva 1980
Bird lived.

21. Rima Khcheich- Ya Man Itha: Tribute to Fouad Abdel Maheed
The Lebanese vocalist interprets the Egyptian composer.

22. Don Letts- The Rebel Dread at Echo Beach
Reggae party.

23. Branford Marsalis Quartet- Belonging
A fresh take on Keith Jarrett’s 1974 album.

24. Willie Nelson- Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle
Swinging doors.

25. Sister Irene O’Connor- Fire of God’s Love
Zany but persuasive gospel.

May 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of May 2025

1. Billy Woods- Golliwog
Darkness.

2. Cosmic Ear- Traces
My review.

3. Barbara Hannigan- Electric Fields
Splendor.

4. Grupo Firme- Evolución
Tijuana’s finest.

5. Arve Henriksen- Arcanum
Tomorrow is (still) the question.

6. Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons- Live in Philadelphia
Traveling turbulent spaceways.

7. Milena Casado- Reflection of Another Self
My review.

8. Morgan Wallen- I’m the Problem
Same.

9. Mike and Tony Selzer- Pinball II
Slurry.

10. James Brandon Lewis- Abstraction is Deliverance
Clearly defined.

The Top Three Reissues, Reimaginings and Broadsides of May 2025

1. Irène Schweizer- Irène’s Hot Four
At Internationales Jazzfestival Zürich in 1981.

2. Pink Floyd- Live at Pompeii MCMLXXII
Steven Wilson’s remix of the 1971 concert.

3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band- Land of Hope & Dreams
Chimes of freedom flashing.

The Top Ten Songs of May 2025

1. Badbadnotgood and V.C.R- “Found a Light (Beale Street)”
Illuminated.

2. Brandee Younger- “Gadabout Season”
Flittering.

3. Kali Uchis- “Sugar! Honey! Love!”
Sweet.

4. Lizzie Berchie- "Happiness"
It’s possible.

5. Karol G- “Milagros”
Yet another minor miracle.

6. HiTech featuring Lovesexy- “Empty Bus Stop”
Decadence.

7. Bruiser Wolf- “Air Fryer”
High comedy.

8. Stereolab- “Vermona F Transistor”
Spare parts.

9. Evan Bartels- "Montana"
My review.

10. Hardy- “Girl with a Gun”
Hands up.

The Top Ten Performances of May 2025

1. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

2. Speed, Whispers, Spine and Stakes Is High at the Ship
My Instagram clips here and here.

3. Maria Ioudenitch and Navo Chamber Orchestra at Southminster Presbyterian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

4. Bachathon at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

5. Rod Fleeman, Gerald Spaits and Ray DeMarchi at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

6. Stephanie Larsen, Maria Crosby, Duncan Steele and Sunho Kim at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Vine Street Rumble at Shawnee Town 1929 Museum
My Instagram snapshot.

8. The Kansas City Symphony’s Mobile Music Box at Meadowbrook Park
My Instagram clip.

9. Aztlan at Guadalupe Center
My Instagram clip.

10. Ken Stringfellow at Knuckleheads
My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Gigs, Gimmicks and Geegaws

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Running errands in a car without bluetooth capability (oh, the horror!), my life companion and I resorted to fiddling with the radio.  We settled on the oldies station that dominates radio ratings in Kansas City.  Hits by the likes of Hall & Oates, John Mellencamp and Madonna were featured in an all-’80s Memorial Day weekend promotion.

I fussily complained that having completely absorbed the songs decades ago, I was incapable of deriving even a modicum of pleasure from listening to them for the umpteenth time.  I waited a millisecond too long to reply after the love of my life asked if I felt the same way about her.

She wasn’t mad for long.  She knows humans are infinitely more complex than static pop songs.  Unlike, say, Men at Work’s infuriating 1981 hit “Down Under,” even the most circumspect person constantly undergoes significant changes.  I may be disinterested in glorifying the past, but I’m a sucker for gigs, gimmicks, revisions and makeovers.

I’d be first in line to fork over twenty dollars to catch Men at Work at an area nightclub tonight.  And while the experience they offer is inherently inferior, live albums also hold enormous appeal to me.  I’m genuinely impressed by Point of Know Return: Live & Beyond.  The souvenir of Kansas’ 2019-20 tour, the prog-rock behemoth’s new album is far better than anyone could reasonably expect.

Can’s Live in Stuttgart 1975 is a more astounding surprise.  Five extended instrumental jams occupy the preposterously esoteric realm in which the Velvet Underground and Weather Report overlap.  Yet my favorite new live release is Celebration, a 2019 collaboration of two avant-garde stalwarts.  Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer and American percussionist Hamid Drake veer between violent cacophony and joyous swing as if the two styles are compatible.  (They are.)

A significant portion of Moby’s success derives from his knack for conjoining styles most listeners consider incongruous.  I disagree with classical traditionalists who suggest the signing of Moby by Deutsche Grammophon is crass.  The famous yellow seal may have lost a bit of luster in the classical powerhouse’s recent crossover bids, but I’m completely sold on the string-laden version of Mark Lanegan’s “The Lonely Night” pairing Lanegan with Kris Kristofferson on Moby’s Reprise.

The vitality of Moby’s classical venture is a mild surprise, but the weakness of K.D. Lang’s Makeover is a bitter disappointment.  Creating dance remixes of several of the stellar vocalist’s most beloved tracks seems like a can’t-lose proposition.  Yet ecstatic jubilance is never attained.  Maybe I’ll feel differently should I encounter the St. Tropez Mix of “Miss Chatelaine” on a personalized oldies station 30 years from now.

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The rapid expansion of my concert calendar is exciting.  Yet all but a few of the most compelling tours are skipping the Kansas City area.  I whined about the inability of improvising musicians to draw crowds in this town at Plastic Sax.

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Spotify’s latest customer engagement effort insists Karol G is my top artist at the platform. That’s cool, but if the tagging process in classical music wasn’t so byzantine, Spotify’s bots would correctly cite Richard Wagner as my most-streamed artist.