A journey through the past of pop, rap and jazz, in 27 boxes

By the time Detroit hip-hop producer J Dilla released his first studio album in 2001, “Welcome 2 Detroit,” he was already somewhere in the realm of myth. A member of the Soulquarians and Ummah production collectives, he was known for his luscious yet punchy music – he was hugely influential and essentially impossible to copy. (He died in 2006.) “Welcome 2 Detroit” is a musically broad album, but never vibrates with anything other than its particular vibe, the J Dilla sensation that exists somewhere just under the skin. This immaculately detailed box set includes 7-inch singles of the songs on the album as well as instrumental versions, alternate mixes, and a book detailing the making of the album. CARAMANIC

Willie Dunn, “Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology”

(Light in the Attic; two vinyl records, $ 35; MP3 download, $ 10)

Willie Dunn (1941-2013) was an Indigenous Canadian songwriter, filmmaker and activist; this set only offers a sample of its extensive recorded catalog. It emerged in the 1960s with songs rooted in folk and country, sometimes incorporating native instruments and melodies. His voice was a gentle but outspoken baritone, with notes from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Gordon Lightfoot. Dunn was a clear-eyed storyteller, and in songs like “The Ballad of Crowfoot” he chronicled individual lives, historical injustices, and the power and majesty of nature. PARÉLES

Bob Dylan, ‘Spring in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985) ‘

(Columbia / Legacy; five CDs, a hardcover book, and memorabilia, $ 140)

The last dig of Bob Dylan’s archives dates back to the first half of the 1980s, when he let go of the certainties of his rebirth phase and returned to thornier and more enigmatic songs that were still grappling with morality, the love, history and responsibility on the albums “Infideles” (1983) and “Empire Burlesque” (1985). He also tried the 1980s-style production, which left those albums with over-the-top drum sounds and dated electronic sparkle. Two records of the 1980 sessions and rehearsals for his 1980 “Shot of Love” are mostly tokens, with the exception of the cloudy and disturbing “Yes Sir, No Sir”. But the songs from the sessions and tours for “Infidels” and “Empire Burlesque” offer more. The ensemble unveils a full version of “Blind Willie McTell” and a boisterous bluesy rock song that only surfaced briefly on tour in 1984, “Enough Is Enough”. He finds more vulnerable, less whimsical versions of familiar songs, and he details the evolution – and sometimes overnight rewrites – of songs that became “Foot of Pride” and “Tight Connection to My Heart”, a big one. shot of Dylan’s constant tinkering and getting better. PARÉLES

Beverly Glenn-Copeland, “Keyboard Fantasies” and “Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined”

(Transgressive; LP, CD, cassette or download, from $ 6.99 to $ 27.99)

This is the latest installment in the campaign to resuscitate the work of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, the Canadian new age / electronic music producer and singer whose recordings were rediscovered a few years ago. “Keyboard Fantasies”, originally released in 1986 in a limited edition cassette, is spellbinding and almost eerily calming. “Welcome to you young and old / We’re always new, we’re always new,” Glenn-Copeland chirps softly, a beacon of safety and possibility. The original album, now released on CD and vinyl for the first time, was followed by a collection of remixes and reinterpretations by sidekicks, most notably Kelsey Lu’s ecstatically elegiac version on “Ever New”. CARAMANIC