Scott Walker - Live On Air 1968-1969 These TV recordings have been released before but it's great to see them back in print. What other treasures remain in the archives? The road to Happy Sad definitely leads through this incredible performance. Collins's congas is an essential element. The recording is quite good, mainly foregrounding Buckley and his 12-string guitar but the throb of the unknown bass player and Carter C.C. His voice is at its most stunningly elastic, whether in the falsetto of Hi-Lili Hi Lo or the long notes of Wayfaring Stranger. He is in rare incantatory form here, barely pausing for breath between songs, several of which feel like improvisations in the moment. Tim Buckley - Live at The Electric Theater Co, Chicago 1968Not since Dream Letter: Live In London came out 30 years ago has there been as revelatory a live release from Buckley - and this one is even better. For more Tin Machine fun, read my thoughts on the 30th anniversary of the debut album in Rock & Roll Globe. It's a sharp cut above the Oy Vey Baby album, which was from a later tour and finds them indulging some regrettable instincts. Tin Machine - Live at La Cigale Paris, 25 June 1989I’ve had a bootleg of this blistering show for years - now everyone can revel in Bowie’s art-punk freakout band at their best. Press play on this playlist or below to listen along to selections from most of these albums while you read. The CD still sounds, well, FAB, and even through the crackle, my $1 record sounds warmer and more cohesive - and isn't that what we want from The Beatles? When it comes to Giles Martin’s remix of the album, I compared it to the 2009 CD and my vinyl copy - an original 1969 pressing - I found it added little. As for the Abbey Road set, while there are some nice fly-on-the-wall moments from the outtakes, none of it captivates as much as the similar material on the White Album box.

In the case of the latter, these are certainly attractive, real shelf candy, but the lo-fi demos will likely only fascinate for one or two listens. Some of those are represented below but conspicuous by their absence are certain high-profile fetish objects, such as the Abbey Road 50th anniversary doorstop and various Bowie boxes. The flood of music from “out of the past,” representing both reissues and never-released music, is dominated by super-deluxe boxes with lavish packaging and extensive documentation.

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