Who says vinyl reissues are American Centric?

 I read a thread a short time ago, on you-know-who's board, decrying the dearth of 'audiophile' reissue labels outside of the American ones. Well, for an American, maybe that is true, particularly if one views the universe as revolving around Salina, Kansas. For others with a wider view, that is far from the case.

I suppose it revolves around what one's view of 'audiophile' reissues is. If it is what we are told in the American online and mainstream media, it means pressed at RTI or Pallas, mastered by some "big name" mastering guru, and produced by one of the specialist "audiophile' labels. That' s a construct invented and perpetrated by the American audiophile retailers, the online "big box" retailers that control the distribution chain for pricey audiophile reissues. And not surprisingly, the absence of awareness of vinyl reissues originating outside of America is completely perpetrated by those retailers - none of them carry any of the European labels, aside from the big ones - Speakers Corner and Pure Pleasure, as well as a few classical labels like Supercuts and Testament.

Reality is, though, that the best and most exciting reissues are coming out of Europe and have been for years. Spanish label Guerssen is a prime example. There has been a steady stream of top flight obscurities, underground classics, and minor masterpieces from this label, the latest being Octopus "Restless Night" and Apple's "An Apple A Day", wonderful records from the long defunct Penny Farthing label which was a prime mover of psych tinged pop in the 1960's. Both are far superior to the garage psych coming out of the U.S at the time, and either put most of the Sundazed catalog to shame. An amazing attention to detail on the part of Guerssen - authentic glossy flipback covers, sleeves that match the textures of the originals, cover art that at least is as good as was able to be produced back in the 60's, wonderful, dead quiet, clean 180g pressings, and much better lined inners than Speakers Corner or Pure Pleasure use.

Guerssen have also reissued two late 60's Hollies masterpieces - "Butterfly" and "Evolution" Both remastered analog with care, at least as good if not better sounding than the typical Salina fare.

 Coming soon from Guerssen is the Plastic Penny records originally on Penny Farthing - both are superb, particularly Currency (decent originals go for very big bucks). Look into Guerssen. They are right up there with the very best.

In the U.K., Sunbeam have been reissuing some amazing titles for several years.  Two recent issues, remastered at Abbey Road (analog, for this vinyl edition) are two classics by Kaleidoscope. Not the American Kaleidoscope, the U.K. band that issued two stone classic pieces of psychedelia - "Tangerine Dream" and "Faintly Blowing", the former being by a slight margin the better and harder rocking record. Both have long been considered psych masterpieces among underground collectors. Here they are beautifully pressed, sound fabulous, and deserve your attention. Sunbeam have a pretty impressive vinyl catalog that you need to check out - Blossom Toes, Gordon Jackson ( virtually a lost Traffic album!), Synanthesia, Moonkyte, Mighty Baby, and many others. Or, you can re-purchase The Doors catalog from Chad Kassem for the umpteenth time, and be bored.

 Then - there is Acme Records, that operate so far under the radar they barely register. This U.K. company have a website that hasn't been updated in years, but who can blame them - Acme product sells out the minute it hits the market, if not before. Titles that have come and gone include T2's legendary "It'll All Work Out In Boomland", as well as the long lost unreleased second T2 album, The Syn (Chris Squire's pre-Yes band), an amazing set of boxes featuring mostly obscure and highly collectible Decca psych and mod singles. Most of these have been long out of print and are highly prized.

 Andromeda's "Seven Lonely Street", a new reissue from Acme, a 1969 prog/psych/garage obscurities, has killer leads, a heavy proggy vibe and is just killer. Also look for the Acme reissue of Bulldog Breed's original Deram Nova album. Acme gives you superb remastered sound, that to my ears are analog, and decent if not always top pressings, well presented in period reproduction covers.

Even better from Acme is Fuzzy Duck's self titled album, another psych prog rock obscurity that commands big dollars on the collectors circuit, is given a fine reissue by Acme that includes a bonus rare 45. Not to be missed. The fuzz is in the guitars, the Hammond reminds of Jon Lord, and it rocks.

So there you go - the most interesting reissues are actually coming from the very vibrant European market, and never hit the mainstream over here. And I haven't even gotten to labels like Wah-Wah yet....