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Hey there, what’s up Sorry Staters? Are you melting like we are here? It’s brutal, isn’t it? Hopefully most of your day is spent somewhere with air conditioning or where it’s cooler.
There’s been a few cool records come into the store this last week, both new and used. Of course I was interested in the older stuff, with one or two exceptions. I suspect Daniel might have words regarding the return of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, but the Australian band’s new record should hit the spot if you’re a fan also. Daniel and I talked about a new reissue out from the L.A. group Chinas Comidas. He knew all about them and has their records, but this reissue rounds up some rehearsal and demo tapes and live recordings, all circa 1978/1979. I liked what I heard. The singles are the money tracks, but with the extras it certainly makes for a worthy pick-up. Especially if you don’t have those originals. They’re not too hard to find should you need to go that route, but for the rest of us, here’s a neat compilation.
Not sure, but I imagine John Scott grabbed himself a copy of the Alex Chilton produced Memphis sessions called Gravest Gravy by The Cramps. I shall need to grab one of those myself next go-around. As I type, we were about to sell out, but hopefully we can get some more for you. It looks like Henry Rollins and all involved have done a nice job in getting these historic late 1970s recordings back out there and sounding great and at a fair and decent price per record. Kudos.
Here at the store, we are always trying to bring in titles and genres that fall outside of our punk and metal wheelhouse. It’s often you, our customers, who ask about certain records, that tip us to stuff that we might not have brought in otherwise. The old saying about being a Jack of all trades and a master of none is a good one and can be applied to a lot of things, including a record store, so we don’t stray too far from our core identity, but we do attempt to curate an interesting selection of records in those other genres. I’m always excited when we can beef up the Reggae, Latin, Soul and International sections, and I’m happy to report that we’ve got some good ones in there currently. The other week, during a busy Friday or Saturday here at the store, John Scott had played a compilation called Congo Funk. It was released by the fantastic Analog Africa label out of Germany. We’ve mentioned them here before, I am sure. This one gathers a mighty array of sounds recorded between 1969 and 1982. We were playing it off the computer and at numerous points a customer would ask what was playing. We could have sold several copies. Unfortunately, when I looked at our distributor who carries the label, they were out of stock. It’s only been out a couple of years now, so they might get a restock, but often these types of things don’t come back. It depends on the label and how many they pressed, etc. We streamed the playlist once or twice more at the store and got similar reactions. I got into the Afro-Funk grooves for sure and knew I had to get a copy. I initially asked my DJ partner whether he had a copy, as he has almost all Analog Africa releases, but this one had slipped by him also. Next step was to take a look online and see whether anyone had one in the USA that was at a good price. Several fellow record stores across the country had copies, but I found one private seller who had a used copy for a great price and so I jumped on it. It arrived last week and I have given it several run outs. We jammed it here at the store too. I love the selections. I love the quality packaging and all the photos inside the gatefold of the original record sleeves, and I love the thick booklet with more photos and information on the artists that comes included. Great job, as to be expected from this label.
I couldn’t begin to talk with any knowledge about any of the records collected here or about the artists that made them, but the compilers steer a nice journey through a diverse spectrum of sounds. Some tunes are outright funky Afrobeat, others are more folky leaning, some have a Latin influence, and others are just good soulful songs. The liner notes do a good job of contextualizing the records represented and I was interested in hearing about the influence Mobutu, the president/dictator of then-named Zaire, had on the local indigenous music scene. He was a music lover and encouraged knowledge of music that was created inside the country as much if not more than knowledge of music created outside of the Congo and the African continent. He did, after all, approve the music festival that preceded the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match between Ali and Foreman. The festival that had James Brown headlining. That three-day event, not surprisingly, electrified the city and sent shock waves throughout the land. It inspired a whole new generation of younger artists to start making music. Many of them are featured within the album. Again, with some informative information and photos. Great stuff and highly recommended.
Okay, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you next time.
Cheers – Dom