Split up for more than a decade, Sonic Youth released one of the best albums of 2022.
In/Out/In is five mostly instrumental tracks recorded between 2000 and 2010.
It’s one of three archival releases that really stood out to me last year.
Chicago’s International Anthem released Step on Step, a collection of previously unearthed songs by a longtime music industry fixture, Charles Stepney.
Stepney was a Chicagoan who worked behind the scenes as producer, arranger and composer for artists as varied as Muddy Waters, Ramsey Lewis and Earth Wind & Fire.
His own original music was never released until last year.
Finally, Neil Young’s Toast, his latest release from the vaults, is another interesting offering.
The songs were recorded with Crazy Horse in 2000 and 2001, then shelved and Young put out another album, Are You Passionate?
“Toast was so sad that I couldn’t put it out,” Young said in 2021. “I just skipped it and went on to do another album in its place.”
Other notable archival releases:
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 20th anniversary edition
All the Young Punks 