Bill Ferris has a vision in Other Music, NYC, January 2011.

Brothers and sisters, 2011 is now upon us and within us. 2010 is spent, consumed, history. Onwards!

This month we received the repressing of Said I Had a Vision, which is now available for sale directly from us, as well as from select record shops internationally who carry items distributed by Mississippi Records. The repressing features a new green LP label, but otherwise, it contains all the same materials as the original. Because we sold out of the initial 500 copies so quickly–thanks to y’all for making that happen–we weren’t able to distribute any LPs to press and media outlets of the print, virtual, telegraphic, or smoke signal varieties. Regardless, Vision has ended up on a few interesting Best of 2010 lists, which you can access below. Thanks to those enterprising Folks in the Know who kindly covered the album, and please email us if you’re interested in reviewing it for your publication or website. (Thanks also to Bachelor supporter Bill Ferris, who sent us the wonderful photo above.)

Nathan Salsburg–of Twos & Fews Records; the Root Hog, or Die blog; and Association for Cultural Equity/Alan Lomax Archive–wrote a beautiful review for Other Music, which is excerpted below. Nathan also selected Vision as one of his favorite records of 2011, which means a lot to us, considering all the excellent musical projects with which he’s been involved this year, including the Hamper McBee record and the beautifully curated five-LP series of reissued Alan Lomax recordings on Mississippi.

“Unlike many releases of its kind, this is no revel in obscurity for obscurity’s sake. David Lee made some outstanding records. In fact, with such a slim discography to his name, you could say that nearly all of his records were outstanding — and all of them, of course, have been long out of print until now… Sacred and secular, white and black, it’s all killer and no filler… The Paradise of Bachelors team has left few if any stones unturned in compiling their tribute to David Lee — their extensive liner notes put the triumphs and travails of the Washington Sound principals in fascinating geographic and historical contexts, and what emerges is a charming, complex, and sympathetic portrait of Lee, who will turn 75 this year and who, judging by his reminiscences in the booklet, has no regrets concerning his career. “Said I Had a Vision” is a labor of love in the great David Lee tradition, and it made for one of this listener’s favorite records of 2010.”

– Nathan Salsburg for Other Music

MC Taylor, a folklorist and fine songwriter who records some of the Bachelors’ own favorite recent records as Hiss Golden Messenger, chose Vision as one of his annual favorites for London’s blackmaps label. The PoB Soundsystem will be playing records at the release party for his stunning Bad Debt CD at All Day Records in Carrboro on Saturday, February 26, 2011, also featuring fellow travelers Hans Chew and the Black Twig Pickers.

Hilariously, courtesy of Chris Toenes, we ranked #1332 on the Village Voice’s 2010 New York Pazz and Jop list, just a few beneath Bardo Pond’s latest and 1331 pazzes and jops beneath Kanye’s new joint.

Other 2010 best-of mentions can be found on the blogs A Wrinkle(boro) in Time and the Perlich Post; in the staff picks of Tempe, Arizona’s Hoodlums Music; among WXDU’s top local releases; and via Lynchburg, Virginia’s Speakertree Records. Let us know if you’ve cited the record yourself, or if you’ve found mentions elsewhere. More press forthcoming, friends, as well as news about upcoming releases…

Stay tuned for a dance party in honor of both the repressing release and, um, the concept of partying, at Chapel Hill’s Nightlight on February 19, 2011. We’ll be announcing details shortly on the Book of Faces. Bo selecta!