Some of this year’s best releases were actually re-releases, compilations or collections of some kind or another. If I had decided to include them in my main list, most of them would have made my top ten of the year. But there’s only so far you can stretch the concept of a ‘2006 release’. So I’ve separated them out in their own little list. They are in no particular order, other than alphabetical, which is quite a particular order, but not a meaningful one.

NB. Where I have included audio clips, you have to press play every thirty seconds.

Battles — EP C/B EP

A collection of the band’s previous releases, EP C, B EP and the single Tras / Fantasy, this is the revelation of the year for me. I haven’t been as excited by the noises guitars can make in years. This is the album I hoped Tortoise would make following Standards. Battles are definitely a band to keep an eye on. Let’s hope they don’t mess it up with their first proper album. The promised autumn release date has come and gone, though the band’s MySpace blog says that a single will be out in February with an album coming in early spring. I can’t wait!

What I said about it at the time

Brian Eno + David Byrne — My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

This classic album was digitally remastered and re-released for its 25^th anniversary. As an extra special treat, seven tracks that didn’t make the original were included (although ‘Qu’ran’ was removed). Two tracks were even available to download for people to remix under a Creative Commons license. So an old favourite given a very 21^st century twist. The best thing about this album is the fact that — despite its heavy reliance on technology — it simply doesn’t sound twenty-five years old. Just incredible.

Broadcast — The Future Crayon

A fine collection of Broadcast’s B-sides here. Some of these are brilliant tracks. The fact that ‘Illumination’ was not included on an album was criminal. That is rectified here. ‘Unchanging Window / Chord Simple’ is also not to be missed! All-in-all, this is an essential album, even if (like me) you already had many of the tracks on previous EPs. And if you’ve always wondered what the fuss about Broadcast was, but never got round to investigating — well, there couldn’t be a better place to start.

Field Music — Write your own history

Another collection of B-sides here. Field Music only have the one album out, and they’re already getting the retrospectives out there. Ker-ching! I thought this album was a bit bland at first. Unlike Broadcast’s album, you could really tell that these songs were B-sides. Often there is a little something lacking. Having said that, this album, presented in chronological order, has grown on me a lot. A lot of it is dangerously close to ripping off The Beatles. But if you can get beyond that, this is a charming and sometimes surprising collection, just like their album. If you liked their first album then you should get this. If not, hold back.

Gescom — MiniDisc

“Groundbreaking” is a word that’s spread around rather liberally. But Gescom’s MiniDisc possibly deserves the tag. It was said to be — by none other than Sony’s MD — the world’s first ever MiniDisc-only release, way back in 1998. It seems to have been an attempt both to take advantage of and thwart the various pros and cons of the MiniDisc format. In particular, MiniDisc’s seamless shuffling was utilised, allowing listeners to shuffle and loop the MiniDisc’s eighty-eight short tracks to their heart’s content — without having to endure those painful gaps you get with CD players.

Of course, the MiniDisc format is pretty much obsolete now, so MiniDisc has been re-released on CD. Not that it matters too much, as iTunes 7 can do the whole gapless shuffle thing anyway. As for the music itself, people’s general reaction is usually mixed. But I think there are a lot of really great tracks on this. Gescom probably works best as a way for Autechre to let their hair down, and they certainly do that here (I know one person who particularly loves the fact that one of the tracks is called ‘Helix Shatterproof’). I particularly like ‘Polarized Beam Splitter’, ‘Pricks’ and ‘Le Shark’.

John Cage — Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (Maro Ajemian)

This is a re-release of the first recording, made over fifty years ago, of John Cage’s incredible Sonatas and Interludes. It is interesting, but nothing more. Infact, some parts of it are painful to listen to — not because of John Cage’s wizardry, but because the recording is so poor. Could they not have remastered it or something? Save yourself a few quid and just buy the Naxos version.

Steve Reich — Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective

In celebration of the hugely influential composer’s seventieth birthday, Nonesuch have put together a huge five CD box set of Steve Reich music. And some of his best work is all here — ‘Music for 18 Musicians’, ‘Different Trains’, ‘New York Couterpoint’, ‘Electric Counterpoint’, ‘Triple Quartet’, ‘Drumming’. All jaw-droppingly amazing. There are a few mediocre pieces though. How many times can he get away with re-hashing ‘Music for 18 Musicians’?

The set also misses out the literally pathfinding ‘It’s Gonna Rain’. Still, you can’t complain. I got my hands on this for eighteen quid, which is not much more than what I paid for ‘Music for 18 Musicians’ alone, and the same as what I originally paid for ‘Drumming’. The great value is the best thing about this set. And there couldn’t be a better place to start your Steve Reich collection.

Tortoise — A Lazarus Taxon

Tortoise certainly have plenty of great tracks hidden away in the dustier corners of their catalogue, and it was about time some of these tracks got a good airing. There are many highlights such as ‘Gamera’, ‘A Grape Dope’ and ‘Waihopai’. There are also a few fairly boring tracks. This album is unusual in that I have actually become less fond of it over time. Still, I am grateful that this set of three CDs and one DVD was released. What a treat for Tortoise fans. Let’s hope that their next proper album isn’t as duff as It’s All Around You!

What I said about it at the time

My top ten proper albums of new music of the year will appear next week!

(NB. You might notice that in the current batch of album reviews I’m writing at the moment, the albums are getting progressively older. Yup, I’m just writing a bunch of reviews that I didn’t have time / energy to write at the time.)

At last, a CD of these concerts has been released. Warp Works is a collaboration between Warp Records and the London Sinfonietta designed to explore the links between the electronic music of the likes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher and contemporary classical music, “in the belief that the different kinds of music shed light on each other.”

A lot is made of this supposed association between the two genres. A lot of the associations drawn are pretty tenuous. The claim that Richard D. James is the modern equivalent of Mozart seems particularly fanciful. But this CD successfully highlights the similarities between IDM and avant-garde twentieth century music without going too far up the bum.

The CD begins with a pair of prepared piano pieces by Aphex Twin. Although they are untitled on this CD, spotters will notice that these are performances of ‘Jynweythek’ and ‘Hy A Scullyas Lyf A Dhagrow’ from DrukQs. For these tracks, Richard D. James took inspiration from John Cage’s invention of the prepared piano. A piano is specially set up with chains, screws and whatever else the musician can think of. Each note makes an exotic sound. Playing the prepared piano is like having an exotic percussion ensemble.

Also included are specially arranged versions of classic tracks by Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. Results are mixed. The tracks chosen for reinterpretation were surely not chosen for their accessibility or ease of translation. Indeed, the translation is positively uneasy. Maybe that was the point. Still, it is fascinating to hear ‘Afx237 V.7′ being played by an orchestra.

Undoubtedly the most successful reinterpretation is that of ‘Polygon Window’. It sounds like the London Sinfonietta had real fun playing this rip-roarer, and the audience clearly loved it as well.

Not all of these performances made it to the CD though. Notably absent is ‘Pete Standing Alone’, originally by Boards of Canada. Surely a recording must exist, because I’m sure I heard this on Radio 3 when they broadcast one of the concerts. Also missing is ‘Port Rhombus’, originally by Squarepusher.

With the reconfigurations of classic Warp tracks now making up just four of the tracks, the rest of the double CD is left for performances of pieces by avant-garde composers. This is where the listener is rewarded the most.

I had never heard of Conlon Nancarrow before, but I am now interested to learn more about his music. Nancarrow, just like today’s masters of electronic music, was interested in music that humans couldn’t possibly play. He used player pianos to achieve this. But ‘Study no. 7′ is presented here in an version for human players. It’s a complex but fun listen. My brother said that it sounded like cartoon music. I can see his point. It’s whimsical in that way. I would love to hear a piano-only version of this.

More familiar names appear on this CD aswell. Steve Reich’s ‘Violin Phase’ is a captivating listen. I would have liked more information on how this was performed. Only one player is listed, so I’m guessing the rest was done with electronics or tapes. Whatever, it’s a real treat to the ears.

Five of John Cage’s Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano also make an appearance. Sonatas & Interludes is a favourite of mine, and it’s interesting to hear just how different these performances sound to the cheapo Naxos CD that I own. I guess it is all part of John Cage’s interest aleatoric music, that two performances of the same piece could sound so different. I could end up seeking out more versions of Sonatas & Interludes for this reason.

Meanwhile, Karlheinz Stockhausen is a famous composer that I’ve never had the inclination to investigate. At first, I found the piece included here, ‘Spiral’m a bore. But I have found repeated listens rewarding. This will spur me on to investigate further.

All-in-all, Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters is a very interesting album. It avoided being merely a gimmicky attempt to shoehorn electronic and classical music together. Instead, composers who did genuinely share ideas and approaches with today’s popular electronic music makers were deliberately chosen. The comparison between Mozart and Aphex is rubbish. But the similarities between Nancarrow and Squarepusher are fascinating.

There might be noticeable absences in the tracklisting, but you really cannot complain about what you are given here. This is a top selection of brilliantly performed avant-garde music. It will almost certainly encourage me to dip my toe in this arena further than just Reich and Cage.

• Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters website
• 2004 review of Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters
• London Sinfonietta
• Warp Records