The first ever collection of cover versions using 8-bit technology - Several years in the making, these Kraftwerk cover versions are performed by some of the most renowned 8-Bit composers from both sides of the Atlantic - These recordings have all been formally approved by Kraftwerk themselves - As a new sub-cultural development, the 8-Bit scene is already attracting the attention of the electronic press and is bound to mushroom outwards via print and online features - A labor of love, many years in the making, Astralwerks is pleased to present a various artist covers compilation, featuring interpretations of classic Kraftwerk songs, arranged primarily on Lo-bit microchip & handheld controlled synthesizers, such as Gameboys, Ataris, NES systems and Commodores. This game-influenced branch of electronic music has developed a flourishing international live scene, and is one of the first new genres of music to use the internet to its fullest advantage, with the advent of home-brewed synth cartridges and hacker influenced musical tools. This compilation features a selection of the best musical innovators, and several of the inventors themselves. These are not merely faithful reproductions of Kraftwerk songs, but truly inspired re-interpretations that use a relatively limited technological framework to its furthest reaches. 8-bit festivals like NYC’s Blip Fest and live events around Europe have started an underground scene that is ripe to expand globally and ‘8-Bit Operators’ is a fascinating document of a creative force that continues to attract new fans through the gaming world and online channels. Conceived and compiled by long-time electronic artist and 8-bit composer Jeremy Kolosine (a.k.a. Receptors), the 8-BIT OPERATORS collection has been formally approved by Kraftwerk themselves and will feature some of the top 8-bit artists from North America, South America and Europe. Only being released in the uS & Germany
Sept. 22 street date. An era defining collection of records from artists that have become the backbone of what we now know as dance music and club culture. CD1 travels from the Balearic optimism of Bocca Juniors, Jah Wobble and Paradiso, to the Boys Own remixes of Indie/Dance anthems from Primal Scream, James, The Farm and the Happy Mondays. CD2 is adventure into the early era of UK house and Acid house, focusing on the label's highlights: Fire Island, Chemical Brothers, Pete Heller and the anthems of all anthems ‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld. From Junior Boys Own; a label that not only defined what British dance music actually sounded like but also what it should sound like. These are not just great records, or even great house records, but they evoke something that is embedded in British culture.
May 18 street date. Ten years after 2008's African Scream Contest, crate-digger Samy Ben Redjeb unveils a new treasure trove of Vodoun-inspired Afrobeat heavy funk crossover greatness on African Scream Contest 2. Gut-busting yelps, lethally well-drilled horn sections and irresistibly insistent rhythms. Features Stanislas Tohon, Elias Akadiri & Sunny Black´s Band, Picoby Band D´Abomey, Antoine Dougbé, Orch. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Black Santiago, Lokonon André et Les Volcans, Sebastien Pynasco and L´Orchestre Black Santiago, Super Borgou de Parakou, Cornaire Salifou Michel et L´Orchestre El Rego & ses Commandos, Gnonnas Pedro and His Dadjes Band, and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. African Scream Contest 2 includes meticulously researched text and effortlessly fashion-forward photography, supplied by the artists themselves. CD version comes with a 44-page booklet. Double LP version comes on 140 gram vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes 24-page, LP-size booklet.
Reissue from 1994 combines concrete loops Hip-Hop beats mid-East & African instruments w/snatches Irish & other musics + samples of preachers etc. Sounds reminiscent of early out-there On U Sound releases like African Headcharge. Brilliant!
October 30 street date. In uproarious celebration of Black Sabbath's 50th anniversary, Magnetic Eye presents a double album featuring 15 heart-stopping renditions of classic tunes from across the Sabbath discography by some of the riff-heaviest bands in the worldwide stoner doom scene. As a companion piece to "Vol. 4 Redux", "Best Of Black Sabbath" features both faithful takes and almost unrecognizable re-creations, all in devotion and tribute to the godfathers of metal. Includes ripping tracks from Earthless, Rwake, Caustic Casanova, Howling Giant, Elephant Tree and more.
February 22 street date. "Big Gold Dreams" documents the vibrant independent music scene to emerge in Scotland across the late 70s and 80s. Initially ignited by punk, labels sprang up inGlasgow, Edinburgh and elsewhere to give a voice to the explosion of new acts across the country. Named after Fire Engines' memorable single and Grant McPhee's recent TV and DVD documentary, "Big Gold Dreams" includes many of the Scottish music scene's most important names as well as countless obscurities. Includes landmark tracks by The Rezillos, Simple Minds, Skids, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, The Waterboys, Cocteau Twins, Aztec Camera, The Shamen, Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie and many others. Includes recordings from key labels such as Zoom, Postcard, 53rd & 3rd, Rational, Fast Product/Pop:Aural, Supreme International Editions, Creation, Egg, Sarah, etc. Boasts lengthy essays and band histories by Grant McPhee, Neil Cooper and Tim Barr, within a lavishly illustrated 70-page booklet.
(12 month calendar with free CD) This unique 12" by 12" 2008 calendar features original classic artwork and rare photographs of legendary Blues performers. This highly enjoyable collector's item carries R. Crumb's endorsement: "Some of the most imaginative commercial graphics ever produced!" Inside are sample song lyrics, brief biographies, and birth and death dates of numerous Blues artists. Includes a free CD of the Blues songs of each month! It is something to collect and enjoy long past 2008. This is Volume 5 in a series of 15, all different Classic Blues Calendars scheduled for the coming years.
May 29 street date. "Occasional Rain" is the sequel to Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs' highly successful "English Weather" collection. This is the sound of young bands experimenting in a period of flux, feeling for a new direction, exploring jazz and folk - as many songs are led by mellotron, piano and flute as they are by guitar. Lyrically, there are two themes that crop up regularly: the search for a home that isn't there anymore - the certainties of the optimistic 60s, the physical reality of terraced streets - and the rain. "Occasional Rain" puts the era's bigger names (Traffic, Yes, Moody Blues) and the lesser known (Mandy More, Shape Of The Rain, Tonton Macoute) side by side. Like "English Weather", it evokes the turn of the new decade, a beautiful state of fuzzy confusion, and the feel of a wet Saturday afternoon at the dawn of the 70s spent flicking through the racks, wondering whether to buy the new Tull album or maybe take a chance on that Christine Harwood album in the bargain bin.
June 1 street date. The events of May 1968 are seen as a turning point in France's social history - pictures of the barricades are still potent images. Lines were drawn politically, culturally, socially, and pop music was not exempt. "Paris In The Spring" is a collection of the new music, put together by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, that emerged from France between 1968 and the mid-70s, an extraordinary blend of several previously independent strains - French chanson and yé-yé, American jazz and funk, British chamber pop - shot through with the era's underlying mixture of optimism, uncertainty and darkness. This is the first collection of its kind, released on the 50th anniversary of the Paris uprising. Artists include Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Dutronc, Jane Birkin, Jean-Calude Vannier, Michel Polnareff, Francoise Hardy, Triangle, and many more.
Oct. 25 street date. From 1958 to 1993, Thomas and Louise Boddie's industrious Boddie Recording Company issued nearly 300 albums and 45s, recorded 10,000 hours of tape, and remained in operation longer than any other studio, pressing plant, or label group in the history of Cleveland. Long forgotten even by the standards of the chronically overlooked northeastern Ohio music scene, Boddie was a fusion of its owner’s engineering genius and his limited economic means; its DIY recording studio housed in a humble barn, churned night and day to capture the sounds emanating from Cleveland's east side neighborhoods. The 58 tracks on these three CDs represent the best of the Boddies' in-house Soul Kitchen, Luau, and Bounty labels, which released an unspoiled treasure trove of kitchen-sink eccentric soul, fuzzbox funk, shoestring doo-wop, and haunted, eerily hook-laden spirituals. Enclosed inside is a mountain of office-styled ephemera: two massive booklets brimming with detail on the Boddies and their artists; extensive notes and scores of unpublished photos; a complete detailed discography folio; reproduced fliers; and a Boddie greeting card - all rendered with the handcrafted charm that was the Boddie hallmark. Call it a self contained record industry crammed into one box.
Oct. 26 street date. Comprising 24 tracks by 20 acts (Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Jacqueline Taïeb and France's top girl group Les Gam's are each represented by two titles), 'C’est Chic!' features many of the premier female stars of Gallic pop, plus a few French-singing non-nationals for good measure. The majority of the songs here are French compositions, but astute listeners will recognise some others in their English language originals, each given a distinctive French twist. The compilers are currently immersed in the recordings of the yé-yé girls of Italy and Spain with a view to future Ace International releases. Also in the works is a collection of compositions by fabled songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, from whose vast catalogue "Roller Girl" by Anna Karina, "Laisser Tomber Les Filles" by France Gall and "Non, A Tous Les Garçons" by Michèle Torr are among this set's highlights.
June 3 street date. Back in May/June 1986, the New Musical Express released one of their regular mail-order cassettes. Reflecting the latest trends in Indie music, C86 was a 22-track cassette which was inspired by the NME’s C81 tape from half a decade earlier. Aside from a few name bands (The Pastels, Primal Scream, the Wedding Present, the Mighty Lemon Drops), most acts were relatively unknown beyond the back pages and gig listings of the weekly music press. A few hadn’t even issued a record! C86 slowly but surely became the NME’s best-selling ever compilation, selling an estimated 40,000 copies and eventually being reissued on LP and cassette by Rough Trade the following year. C86 prompted a week of shows at the ICA and would come to embody a whole musical style and era. This deluxe expanded edition of the original C86 cassette adds some 50 bonus tracks. The box set is curated by original compiler Neil Taylor and has the endorsement of the NME. Neil has chosen tracks which could conceivably have been on the original C86 package: all the recordings were made between mid-1985 and mid-1986. Neil wrote about many of the bands at the time. The C86 3-CD has been assembled by the same team behind last year’s Award-winning 5-CD box set Scared To Get Happy (AIM Best Catalogue Release Of 2013). Many tracks have never been on CD before. A few are even previously unreleased. Key names include The June Brides, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Primitives, That Petrol Emotion, Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes, Happy Mondays, The Nightingales, The Railway Children, Pop Will Eat Itself, BMX Bandits, the Blue Aeroplanes and Treebound Story (featuring Richard Hawley).
April 1 street date. This CD kicks off a brand new BGP series which looks at the obscure and wonderful from different areas of American black music. The first collection digs into the West Coast studio scenes that produced so much great street funk and ghetto soul in the late 60s and early 70s. Focusing mainly on Los Angeles and San Francisco, the music ranges from the sweet harmonies of the Ballads’ ‘Butterfly’ to the relentless groove of ZZ Hill’s ‘Think People’. As well as previously unreleased masters by Eleanor Rigby, Chucky Thurmon and Choice Of Colors, “California Soul” includes the super-rare ‘Strike’ by Union and Little Johnny Hamilton’s ‘The Git Down’ from the rare Watts USA label. There are floor-fillers by Warm Excursion, Brenda George and Little Denise. Housed in a glorious sleeve featuring a Bill Ray shot of sharply dressed youths at the Watts Tower, it includes a detailed note housed in a fully illustrated booklet.
August 5 street date. 2015 was the year jazz hit the mainstream again. The catalyst for this was saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s 3CD masterpiece “The Epic”, influenced by the symphonic, spiritually aware jazz of the early 70s. “Celestial Blues” is a compilation that shines a spotlight on some of the music that may have influenced “The Epic”. The ten tracks range from the evidently spiritual – such as Gary Bartz’s classic ‘Celestial Blues’ or Joe Henderson & Alice Coltrane’s astounding collaboration on ‘Fire’, to less obvious but just as relevant recordings by drummers Roy Brooks and Joe Chambers. Charles Earland’s contribution bears a remarkable resemblance to ‘Henrietta Our Hero’ a stand-out track from “The Epic”, whilst Carlos Garnett and Azar Lawrence’s mix of saxophone, strings and voices could be a template for Washington’s whole sound. The compilation is completed by fine examples of the era’s jazz from Hampton Hawes and Bayeté Umbra Zindiko. Oliver Nelson’s ‘Aftermath’ is an apt closer.
February 3 street date. The 1960s girl-pop compilations on our occasional Ace International and Big Beat International imprints rank among our most popular releases of recent years. Having hit upon a winning formula by hopping over the Channel to France for 'C’est Chic!' and 'Tres Chic!', and by venturing further afield to Japan for two volumes of 'Nippon Girls', we now turn the spotlight on Italy. The collection opens with Brunetta’s prized dancefloor-filler ‘Baluba Shake’ and closes with ‘Cuore’, a dramatic beat ballad by petite dynamo Rita Pavone. Star of the show is the prolific Mina - queen bee of Italy’s female singers - with three tracks: ‘No’ (a wailing folk rock nugget), ‘Più Di Te’ (a cover of the Tracy Dey/Bob Crewe classic ‘I Won’t Tell’) and ‘Se Telefonando’ (a sophisto-pop epic courtesy of maestro Ennio Morricone). Other highlights include the sitar-embellished ‘Il Mio Posto Qual’È’ by Ornella Vanoni, a convincing cover of ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ by beat girl Caterina Caselli, Gigliola Cinquetti’s superbly orchestrated Eurovision-winner ‘Non Ho L’Età (Per Amarti)’ and breathy-voiced actress Catherine Spaak’s bossa-imbued ‘La Notte È Fatta Per Rubare’.
February 3 street date. The 1960s girl-pop compilations on our occasional Ace International and Big Beat International imprints rank among our most popular releases of recent years. Having hit upon a winning formula by hopping over the Channel to France for 'C’est Chic!' and 'Tres Chic!', and by venturing further afield to Japan for two volumes of 'Nippon Girls', we now turn the spotlight on Italy. The collection opens with Brunetta’s prized dancefloor-filler ‘Baluba Shake’ and closes with ‘Cuore’, a dramatic beat ballad by petite dynamo Rita Pavone. Star of the show is the prolific Mina - queen bee of Italy’s female singers - with three tracks: ‘No’ (a wailing folk rock nugget), ‘Più Di Te’ (a cover of the Tracy Dey/Bob Crewe classic ‘I Won’t Tell’) and ‘Se Telefonando’ (a sophisto-pop epic courtesy of maestro Ennio Morricone). Other highlights include the sitar-embellished ‘Il Mio Posto Qual’È’ by Ornella Vanoni, a convincing cover of ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ by beat girl Caterina Caselli, Gigliola Cinquetti’s superbly orchestrated Eurovision-winner ‘Non Ho L’Età (Per Amarti)’ and breathy-voiced actress Catherine Spaak’s bossa-imbued ‘La Notte È Fatta Per Rubare’.
June 24 street date. On June 24, Smithsonian Folkways will release the 23rd installment of the award-winning 'Classic' series. Classic African American Songsters traces the complicated yet rich history of the "songster", featuring celebrated artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Brownie McGhee, Lead Belly, Peg Leg Sam, Mississippi John Hurt, John Cephas, and more. The collection spans seven decades, and touches on everything from ragtime, country, and Tin Pan Alley to pre-blues, blues hybrids, and old-timey string band though 21 classic tracks - including five previously unreleased. Classic African American Songsters was co-compiled and produced by Pearson and Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place, a two-time GRAMMY Award winner who has produced more than 50 Smithsonian Folkways recordings. As with every compilation in the Smithsonian Folkways Classic Series, Classic African American Songsters explores the breadth and depth of a genre with liner notes that offer insight into the cultural and historical contexts of each selection. During the last 10 years, Smithsonian Folkways has released 'Classic' compilations of bluegrass, folk, blues, maritime, old-time, and mountain music, among others.
January 19 street date. Mississippi, particularly the Delta, lays claim to being the land where the blues began. Forged in the crucible of poverty and racial oppression, blues flourished there as nowhere else, evolving into what most critics consider the deepest or most intense strain of the blues tradition. During the Great Migration, music changed consistently, adapting to its new surroundings like St. Louis and Chicago, while retaining its connection to its down home Delta roots. This collection celebrates the diversity and dissemination of the blues’ most powerful and influential voices. Track Listing: 1. C.C. Rider - Big Bill Broonzy 2:34 / 2. Woman In Elaine, Arkansas - Roosevelt Sykes 2:23 / 3. Death Letter Blues - Son House 2:58 / 4. Your Crying Won’t Make Me Stay - KC Douglas & R.Riggins 2:43 / 5. Columbus, Mississippi Blues - Bukka White 3:30 / 6. I’m Going To Walk Your Log - William ‘Cat Iron’ Carradine 1:53 / 7. Why Did You Go Last Night - Clifton Chenier 3:17 / 8. I Stand And Wonder - Sam Chatmon 3:51 / 9. Sleeping With The Devil - Johnny Young and Walter Horton 3:58 / 10. Short Stuff’s Corinna - Short Stuff Macon 2:43 / 11. Married Woman Blues - Big Joe Williams 1:57 / 12. Up The Country Blues - Little Brother Montgomery 2:57 / 13. Dream - John Littejohn 4:44 / 14. Good Morning Little School Girl - Dr (Isaiah) Ross 3:36 / 15. Catfish Blues - David “Honeyboy’ Edwards 3:27 / 16. M & O Blues - Memphis Slim 3:37 / 17. Forty-Four - Scott Dunbar 4:14 / 18. Sun Goin’ Down - Son House 4:59 / 19. Frisco Line - Mississippi Fred McDowell 3:58 / 20. Diggin’ My Potatoes - Big Bill Broonzy 2:58
July 15 street date. In Classic Folk Songs for Kids, curator Jeff Place culls a cross-section of 26 classics from the Smithsonian Folkways vaults to tell an intriguing story of American signature sing-alongs. The songs’ origins are as fascinating as the songs are fun: centuries-old European ballads, an American Revolutionary tune, 19th-century American folksongs, African-derived game songs, a sea chantey, a railroad jingle, camp songs, and even an opera song! And the singers themselves are a who’s who of American folk music artistry —Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Cisco Houston, Suni Paz, Tom Glazer, Lord Invader, and many more.
Please note new street date: February 19. From label owner Terry Cole, "It was on March 16, 2020 that we closed up our storefront as the reality of a worldwide pandemic began to spread across the Midwest. While the level of uncertainty was unnerving, from that uncertainty came the idea for "Brighter Days Ahead". We knew we wanted to continue to release new music, but proceeding with our heavy 2020 release schedule as planned seemed ill advised. So the idea was to release individual tracks from many of our artists on a weekly basis and as a musical family, we could all help shine light on each individual artist weekly. So throughout the summer and into the fall, that's what we did. We released several dozen tracks and the weekly announcements certainly garnered a strong sense of community for our artists and fans alike. We're very proud to present "Brighter Days Ahead": a compilation from our talented stable of artists on both our Colemine and Karma Chief imprints". Features tracks from Ikebe Shakedown, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Ben Pirani, Neal Francis, and many more. 22 tracks, of which several tracks will only be available physically on this compilation.
Please note new street date February 19. From label owner Terry Cole, "It was on March 16, 2020 that we closed up our storefront as the reality of a worldwide pandemic began to spread across the Midwest. While the level of uncertainty was unnerving, from that uncertainty came the idea for "Brighter Days Ahead". We knew we wanted to continue to release new music, but proceeding with our heavy 2020 release schedule as planned seemed ill advised. So the idea was to release individual tracks from many of our artists on a weekly basis and as a musical family, we could all help shine light on each individual artist weekly. So throughout the summer and into the fall, that's what we did. We released several dozen tracks and the weekly announcements certainly garnered a strong sense of community for our artists and fans alike. We're very proud to present "Brighter Days Ahead": a compilation from our talented stable of artists on both our Colemine and Karma Chief imprints". Features tracks from Ikebe Shakedown, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Ben Pirani, Neal Francis, and many more. 22 tracks, of which several tracks will only be available physically on this compilation.
June 3 street date. ‘Downtown’, ‘Call Me’, ‘Joanna’, ‘Sugar And Spice’, ‘You’re The One’, ‘Where Are You Now’, ‘A Sign Of The Times’, ‘Colour My World’ . . . There is no prize for knowing these songs were all penned by Tony Hatch, the subject of the latest release in our highly rated Songwriters series. Hatch is the first UK songwriter to feature in the series, a sign of the high regard in which he is held by our in-house compilers. The British Bacharach, they called him. While Bacharach had Dionne Warwick, Hatch’s muse was Petula Clark. And like his celebrated US contemporary, Hatch also excelled as a producer, arranger and recording artist in his own right. Already established as a hit-maker in Europe, with ‘Downtown’ Petula Clark became a star in the USA and Hatch’s renown spread across the Atlantic. Throughout the 60s, Hatch was under contract to the UK’s Pye label, the source of over half the tracks here. For added variety, our collection also features a number of recordings by American artists. The package includes a bumper booklet featuring an essay based on an exclusive interview with Tony Hatch, plus rare photos of him in the studio.
Side A . Common – The Light (Kero One Remix) 4:28 2. Common – The light (Kero Instrumental) 4:28 3. Erykah Badu - On and On (Kero One Remix) 4:28 Side B 1. Andre 3000 – Roses (Kero One Remix) 5:04 2. Andre 3000 – Roses (Kero Instrumental) 5:04 Brand new remixes by Kero One of three classic tracks from Common, Erykah Badu, and Andre 3000. The remixed tracks are dance floor friendly but maintain that jazzy, feel good funky soul that Kero One is known for Producing. The EP includes 5 tracks with plenty of live instrumentation (Fender Rhodes, Fender Bass, Jazz guitar, vintage synths, etc.). Concept: Common, Erykah, and Andre of Outkast all shared a same passion, the passion to make good music. Additionaly, Common and Andre 3000 shared something else in common: Erykah Badu. They did however have differences, as their romantic relationships with each other didn't last long. Kero One attempts to sort out the differences, bringing them together for one last time to shine on the same record.
Sept. 1 street date. New volume in Defected's highly successful "In The House" series! Recent volumes have visited Miami and Ibiza - next up is Amsterdam - a legendary party destination for clubbers and hedonists alike. Festivals, clubs and beach parties play host to prominent international guest DJs alongside a profusion of a new breed of Dutch producers. Hardsoul and Chocolate Puma combine (1 mixed disc each) - experience the new dance capital of Europe! As well as this, the compilation will also include a 'Defected Records Guide To Amsterdam', a comprehensive guide to the best clubs, bars, hotels, galleries and more - including both Hardsoul and Chocolate Puma's top tips and favourite locations.
October 28 street date. The CD release of DFA Records Compilation #1 came out in days of yore, when the iTunes store did not exist, when iPods were more coveted than your phone. The only way to hear the first batch of singles DFA released was to seek out the vinyl and lots of people did. This magical mythical first group of releases from DFA included “House of Jealous Lovers” by The Rapture, “Losing My Edge” & “Give It Up” by LCD Soundsystem. It also included two very different approaches to dance music from The Juan Maclean – “By The Time I Get To Venus” and “You Can’t Have It Both Ways”, which subtly introduced the world to the vocal powers of Nancy Whang. Black Dice also released a 12” single, throwing their noise roots behind a 4/4 screech and created one of the most unique singles in the DFA catalog with “Cone Toaster”. The compilation was edited to fit onto one CD, more a sampler than a completist’s anthology. In hindsight, it should have been an anthology of the first 5 singles in full but the A sides had enough momentum happening to make the sampler a bonafide success for the label. The 8.0 review from Pitchfork in 2003 helped cement the DFA label as both the leaders of a new production approach, as well as a collection of artists who could co-exist make music together and please both the discerning DJ and the indie rock enthusiasts. This is the first time this title has ever been pressed to vinyl.
September 2 street date. This is the latest in our series of DJ-inspired releases, compiled by one of world’s leading funk, soul and R&B spinners, Snowboy, based upon his London club night The Good Foot held every Friday at Madame Jo Jo’s in Brewer Street, Soho. A sweaty underground den, it is the home of the very best music and the top favourites are included here. Snowboy has DJed around the world: from the UK to Japan and all points in between. He has been the music selector for Craig Charles’ Funk & Soul show on BBC Radio 6 and is a curator for the Vintage Festival. His latin jazz band has released nearly a dozen albums since the early 1990s. The music on the album features many of his discoveries, as well as several classics that continue to fill dancefloors. Tracks such as Etta James’ ‘Can’t Shake It’ and the Contours’ ‘Do The See Saw’ were played from CD as previously unreleased masters and rapidly became Friday night soundtracks (our LP version is their first vinyl release). Other cuts by the Ikettes, Dorothy Berry and Little Eva have been worked relentlessly until they have become anthems.
September 2 street date. This is the latest in our series of DJ-inspired releases, compiled by one of world’s leading funk, soul and R&B spinners, Snowboy, based upon his London club night The Good Foot held every Friday at Madame Jo Jo’s in Brewer Street, Soho. A sweaty underground den, it is the home of the very best music and the top favourites are included here. Snowboy has DJed around the world: from the UK to Japan and all points in between. He has been the music selector for Craig Charles’ Funk & Soul show on BBC Radio 6 and is a curator for the Vintage Festival. His latin jazz band has released nearly a dozen albums since the early 1990s. The music on the album features many of his discoveries, as well as several classics that continue to fill dancefloors. Tracks such as Etta James’ ‘Can’t Shake It’ and the Contours’ ‘Do The See Saw’ were played from CD as previously unreleased masters and rapidly became Friday night soundtracks (our LP version is their first vinyl release). Other cuts by the Ikettes, Dorothy Berry and Little Eva have been worked relentlessly until they have become anthems.
June 24 street date. Fifty records later, The Numero Group returns to its eccentric roots, Ohio’s Capitol City and the sonorous Shangri-La carved out by the indefatigable Bill Moss. Filling in, around, and on top of our original The Capsoul Label collection, Capitol City Soul is a trove of completely unissued and underissued treasures from Moss and company. A decade in the making, this is the set of soul discoveries that no one but The Numero Group could achieve. Features otherwise unreleased songs from the Kool Blues, the Four Mints, Jupiter’s Release, and Love Maximum, alongside rare sides by Dean Francis & the Soul Rockers, the Chandlers, Associated Press, the Soul Partners, and the Vondors. From the vaults under the basements under the garages of one of the nation’s most unsung music scenes. This double LP set is ensconced in a thick tip-on gatefold jacket splashed with a colorful spread of vivid archival imagery accumulated over a decade of research into the Columbus, Ohio culture. The liner notes serve as an in-depth history of Columbus soul music, linking The Capsoul Label with The Prix Label and Norman Whiteside’s Wee project (recently sampled by Kanye West). A strong addition to the already epic Eccentric Soul series from The Numero Group.
September 10 street date. In 1969, after three years as Soul Sister #1 to James Brown’s touring entourage, Marva Whitney came home to Kansas City, putting Ellis Taylor’s Forte label back at full fighting strength. She’d calmed aching crowds the day after MLK’s death, and she’d lived the life, despite its rigors - to pour out her pain and exuberance on Forte sides including 'I’ve Lived The Life' and 'Daddy Don’t Know About Sugar Bear', which made national rounds in 1972. Numero 047 Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label charts Kansas City yeoman’s work, the Carpets and the Derbys, dapper clothiers mysteriously murdered, and marriages made and broken. In 28 LP tracks or 21 on CD, plus a trove of promo headshots and every-hued label scans detailing all iterations of Forte’s logo in print, this 16th Eccentric Soul sojourn hands over vivid floor shakers and lost dance craze records alike - though what moves 'The Hen' required remains anyone’s guess.
Nov. 22 street date. Nickel and Penny are twin sides of the same eccentric coin, and that coin was Chicago's #1 Dusties DJ Richard Pegue. He was the writer, arranger and producer of some of the most beautiful Chicago soul records in the 60s and 70s; too bad they all went out of print weeks after being released. On order here are rare sides by Jerry Townes, the Voices, the Norvells, Little Ben & The Cheers, South Shore Commission, Joyce Williams, The Halleluiah Chorus, Brothers & Sisters, and more. These 24 tracks tell Pegue's epic tale, from dedicated music producer, to DJ making corny radio jingles that usurped the tens of thousands of air-time hours the songs included here so richly deserved.
March 23 street date. Available on CD or 2LP. The 20th volume of our flagship Eccentric Soul series has all the boxes checked: Gun-toting, skip-tracing record producers, child stars, rip-offs, the "World's Greatest Bail Bondsman," swindles, soaring falsettos, and a dwindling rust-belt cityscape offering mere glimpses of hope before the record industry escaped for the coasts. Helmed by the O'Jays Bobby Massey, Saru was a creative vortex that pulled Cuyahoga County's greatest talent in, making a strong case for Cleveland to contend with Detroit, Philly, and Memphis as America's soul music's capital. Includes obscure and unknown sides from the Out of Sights, the Elements, Pandella Kelly, David Peoples, Sir Stanley, the Ponderosa Twins + 1, Ba-Roz, Bobby Dukes, and of course, the O'Jays.
Nov. 18 street date. Two years after Numero's landmark double CD set, they return with a deluxe 4LP box set of Eccentric Soul:
Twinight’s Lunar Rotation. This definitive version features 14 bonus tracks not available on the CD, updated liner notes, more photos, and a full singles discography.
March 26 street date. During the mid-1980s heavy metal music was under attack on multiple fronts. It was in the midst of this culture war that Christian metal emerged in American popular culture. Stryper became the face of Christian metal when their 1986 album "To Hell with the Devil" went platinum, earning the band Grammy nominations, and regular rotation on MTV. Stryper's unprecedented success inspired a generation of young Christian metalheads. "Electric Jesus" tells the story of one of those groups, a fictional teenage Christian metal band called 316. Set in 1986, the film offers an affectionate look at 80s Christian youth culture as it documents 316's journey from playing bible camp talent shows and church lock-ins, to performing at Christian music festivals and hardcore metal nightclubs. Any decent fictional rock biopic requires a convincing soundtrack, and Electric Jesus' director Chris White found the perfect collaborator in Daniel Smith. Smith is a prolific figure in indie rock, having worked under the Danielson moniker (and its variations- Danielson Famile, Brother Danielson) over the past two decades.
Nov. 8 street date. 'The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973' is the lynchpin of Ace'Kent's extensive catalogue campaign spotlighting the recordings and artists associated with the Fame label and studio of Muscle Shoals, Alabama - home of the Muscle Shoals Sound. The 75 track, 3CD set is an open-minded, celebratory overview of this world famous institution's golden era, when under the stewardship of owner Rick Hall, Fame birthed countless recordings that have come to define Southern Soul music. Hall's idiosyncratic engineering and production technique, and the highly regarded session crew he employed, resulted in an unprecedented run of hits, not to mention an equal amount of astoundingly soulful misses. The featured artists are a virtual "who's who" of 1960s soul, including Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Arthur Conley, Irma Thomas, Joe Tex, Joe Simon, Lou Rawls, Arthur Alexander and Otis Clay, alongside lesser known, yet no less worthy names such as the Blues Busters, Maurice & Mac, Spencer Wiggins, Willie Hightower, Bettye Swann and many, many others. The set also includes several of the notable pop hits recorded at the studio by the Osmonds, Tommy Roe and Bobbie Gentry, among others. Special attention is paid to those acts closely associated with the Fame label, such as Candi Staton, Jimmy Hughes and Clarence Carter, as well as its inestimable stable of writers and producers, including Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham and George Jackson. This incredible collection is the fruit of two years' extensive research in the Fame vaults by the Ace team, with full access granted to this legendary tape and photo archive. The heavily illustrated package not only boasts over a dozen unissued tracks (including previously unheard rarities by Otis Redding and Arthur Alexander) but also comes laden with informative essays and extensive track notes, all based upon fresh interviews with many of the principals involved. If you know anything about soul music, you know Fame, which is why 'The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973' is an essential purchase.
EXCL. - A unique compilation specially selected by cat lovers for cat lovers. Feline Groovy started as a private collection driven by pure cat appreciation and progressed into a purrfect musical concept. It isn’t just a random selection of cat-themed songs, however. This CD is a aural treat too. We have 24 slinky tracks from the late 50s to the mid 60s with a chic mix of rhythm & blues, jazz, folk and soul, but with a difference - they are all about, you guessed it, CATS! Music fans will recognise many of the artists featured on this CD, such as Lee Dorsey and Mongo Santamaria (of course, Tom Jones is the obvious pick) but there are also some cool rare tracks we have unearthed which bring that unknown quality. I think cats would be very inquisitive about this fact.
Feb. 28 street date. This is the CD companion to the glorious book of the same name that Octopus Publishing printed in 2010, compiled by Martin Kelly, one of the three authors. Though the first guitars were made in 1946 it was in the following year that Leon McAuliffe re-recorded his splendid composition "Steel Guitar Rag" on which he had played the lead instrument on for Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys in 1936. This time the star of the record was the Fender. We then travel through some Western Swing to the blues of Ike Turner, cut way back in 1954 before women singers raised their pretty heads. By then, the distinctive guitar sound had spread across the country and we have offerings from Johnny Cash in Memphis, Otis Rush in Chicago and, by the early 60s across the pond, the mighty Shadows in London town. The world of soul with Booker T & The MGs, surf from the guitar of Dick Dale, garage from the anarchic Kingsmen and Thames delta blues from one E. Clapton esq. with his 1964 outfit the Yardbirds all hit the zeitgeist, and frequently the charts, with that distinctive twang. Records as disparate as King Curtis' "Memphis Soul Stew" and the Velvet Underground's "Beginning To See The Light" all benefited from the Fender factor. The CD features many much-loved popular music classics that are seen through the eyes of guitar aficionados who are more interested in the sound than the genres we tend to classify and often limit appreciation of music by. There are also four catchy little Fender radio shot jingles that add to the charm of the presentation!
November 6 street date. To bridge the gap until the next volume of our long-running "Where The Girls Are" series is ready to roll, our in-house team have dreamed up this vinyl-only compilation of hand-picked female treasures to keep girl group buffs happy. Highlights include first-time reissues of the Angels' great version of frat rock nugget 'Louie Louie' and Hollywood-based identical triplets the Drake Sisters' Gold Star-cut rendition of doo wop classic 'Smoke From Your Cigarette'. Housed in a heavy-duty sleeve sporting an ultra-rare photo of the Drake Sisters, the collection is pressed on 180g lava-coloured vinyl and comes with printed inner bag featuring a 2500-word track commentary and some terrific photos. In other words, it's not just great to listen to but a good read and fab to look at too.
EXCL. - Ace’s special Country edition of their long running, best selling The Golden Age Of American Rock‘n’Roll series (CDCHD845) surpassed our high expectations and quickly became one of the biggest sellers in the Ace catalogue. They’ve been consistently asked when they were going to follow it up - and the answer is NOW! Once again Ace has assembled some of the greatest names in 1950s and 60s country, and some of their biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits of the period, which include some of country music’s most beloved songs of all time. As well as making the Hot 100, all except two of our inclusions made the Billboard Country Top 10, with the vast majority of them peaking within the Top 5. Beautifully mastered from the best possible sources, and featuring a typical Golden Age style booklet crammed with copious annotation and a host of illustrations, this is a treat for Golden Age collectors and fans of vintage country music alike. 28 tracks from artists like GEORGE JONES, JOHHNY CASH, FARON YOUNG, DON GIBSON, PATSY CLINE, BOBBY BARE, RAY PRICE, and many more greats!
EXCL- Healing the Divide, A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, is a once-in-a-lifetime event, a gathering of musicians from wildly different backgrounds in a benefit for Richard Gere’s Healing The Divide Foundation. The concert, recorded live at Lincoln Center in New York, features transcendental performances from Tibet’s Gyuto Choir, India’s Anoushka Shankar; and genre-bending duets from Tibetan avant-garde musician Nawang Kechong with Native American master R. Carlos Nakai, and maverick composer Philip Glass with Gambian virtuoso Foday Musa Suso. The concert closer is a unique collaboration between musicians who personify the spirit of adventure in contemporary music, as Tom Waits performs four of his classic songs accompanied by Grammy-winners the Kronos Quartet. Add a moving opening address from the Dalai Lama, and Healing the Divide is the perfect musical embodiment of the Foundation’s mission: to bridge cultural gaps and forge revolutionary new bonds between peoples around the world. Proceeds from the sale of this CD will be directly applied to projects benefiting the peoples of Tibet and the Himalayan region. 10% deal until July 24th, 2007
April 6 street date. Gatefold, 2LP Colour vinyl (1 x Opaque Pink / 1 x Opaque Blue) includes download. Here is a 2LP cover album!!.. and companion piece to the podcast debut of I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats, from Night Vale Presents in collaboration with Merge Records and the Mountain Goats. Premiering September 2017 and running through early April 2018, this unique bi-weekly podcast is a conversation music series focusing on the seminal Mountain Goats album All Hail West Texas, between Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn’t Dead creator Joseph Fink with New York Times best-selling author John Darnielle, who is also the founder, lead singer, and songwriter for the Mountain Goats—and Fink’s own personal artistic hero. Together, Fink and Darnielle take the listener on a deep dive into the world of creativity and the duality of being an artist and a fan, both by sharing their own creative processes and music-geek obsessions and through immersive chats with other notable musicians and writers including best-selling YA author and music nerd John Green (The Fault in Our Stars) and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), as well as many special music guests such as Andrew Bird, Craig Finn, Laura Jane Grace, and Amanda Palmer, who offer up their own opinions as well as new renditions of songs from All Hail West Texas. This limited edition 2LP contains the full All Hail West Texas covers collection, introduced over the course of podcast season one, pressed to opaque pink & opaque blue vinyl. Full list of contributing artist to be unveiled later in 2018.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 28 street date. New release in Ace's hugely successful Golden Age Of American Popular Music series. Here are the orchestral and ‘easy’ instrumental hits, both big and small (but mostly big) that helped define the Golden Age of Popular Music, an era spanning, roughly, 1956-1967, when the US charts were brimming with an eclectic cornucopia of sounds and styles that is unlikely to be repeated in today’s age corporate, socially engineered music making. An element of post-modern ironic in our approach makes ‘Hits With Strings And Things’ extremely pleasing on the ear while avoiding the blandness that characterises other releases of this kind. There is a surprise at every turn. Many of the tunes feature strings or horns (or a combination of both) with intrusions from the occasional twangy guitar and even a dash of marimbas. Artists include Les Baxter, Kai Winding, Paul Mauriat, Bent Fabric, Hugo Winterhalter, Al Caiola, Billy Vaughn, Al Hirt and many more!
March 29 street date. The great American musical invention of the 20th century, jazz is an ever-youthful, still evolving music of beauty, sensitivity, and brilliance that has produced (and been produced by) an extraordinary progression of talented artists. JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology traces the turning points in its history through its legendary innovators - among them Armstrong, Ellington, Basie, Parker, Gillespie, Davis, Hancock, Corea, Marsalis - and notable styles, from early ragtime to international modernism and every major movement in between. With 111 tracks that showcase artists at their best and most influential, this remarkable anthology is the successor to the milestone Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz of 1973, once again offering a wellspring resource for educators, students, musicians, beginners, and aficionados. Scores of leading jazz scholars, performers, and writers collaborated in selecting the recordings and producing the incisive annotations. The accompanying book also features an informative background essay as well as suggestions for listeners on appreciating the full richness of the performances. If ever there were a 'jazz appreciation course in a box,' this is it. JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology renews the legacy of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch’s commitment to letting the 'people’s music' be heard and fulfills the educational mission of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the nonprofit record label of the United States national museum. 6 CDs : 111 tracks: nearly 8 hours of music : 200 - pagebook with historical photos .
Feb. 28 street date. "As a producer, you've got to be a catalyst, an ally, a co-conspirator. Sometimes you need to introduce conflict" - John Cale. Film directors have always been lionised by their industry and by fans who made household names of Ford, Hitchcock and Spielberg. Record producers, on the other hand, have by-and-large laboured in near-anonymity outside the music business and the most devoted of followers. To help remedy that situation, Ace instigated their Producers series, focusing on the studio output of Jack Nitzsche, Jerry Ragovoy, Kim Fowley, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Martin Hannett and other visionaries who lived to bring the sounds in their heads to the grooves of a record. Another master of the art was John Cale, whose work as a producer and arranger is in the spotlight on this 75-minute 20-tracker. Far from anonymous as a cutting-edge performer, Cale has enjoyed a lower profile in his parallel role as a producer throughout his lengthy career. Spanning 40 years, the collection includes everything from the proto-punk of the Stooges and Modern Lovers to left-field pop princesses Lio and Cristina. Also includes tracks by The Velvet Underground, Squeeze, Alejandro Escovedo, Patti Smith, Nico, and many more.
February 9 street date. The second "book-end" to Jon Savage's hugely popular 1966 Faber book and Ace compilation and to last year's "1967" CD follow-up, this prequel double CD based around 1965 represents the lead up and context to all that was about to happen. A genre-spanning mix of hit singles, slow burners and lost gems from soul, funk, psych, garage and rock’n’roll, these are the 45s that defined the year, captured the mood and crystallised Jon Savage’s personal memories of the year. Dylan, denim, soft drugs and political disaffection, 1965 saw the death of Churchill and the rise of civil rights. 1965 was the year the sixties ignited.
Sept. 1 street date. Limited edition low budget sampler - the perfect introduction to Bear Family's 'Sweet Soul Music' series! Ten fabulous soul tracks from 1961 to 1970, in chronological order, in a digipac with full-color booklet and photos. Artists featured on this compilation are BOBBY BLAND, ETTA JAMES, RUFUS THOMAS, MAJOR LANCE, JOE TEX, EDWIN STARR, DYKE & THE BLAZERS, ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS, CLARENCE CARTER, and CHARLES WRIGHT & THE WATTS 103rd STREET RHYTHM BAND.
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