S/D -- The Numero Group

I liked "Wayfaring Strangers" myself. esp. the Caroline Peyton song, and the one about the ocean told from the ocean's point of view. they're great packages, too.

I just got the new Detroit comp (the Big Mack label) but I haven't had time to digest. haven't heard the early comps.

Then the Wildman
Called the Lady's hand
For there came a day
When he could not wait
He said, ''Pretty woman,
Don't let it go.
This is magic
We'll never know again.''
She said, ''I won't let you in.''
I'm not loving anyone these days
And I can't take your crazy ways.
So the time passed
And the Lady grew sad.
For she had not planned
To love the Wildman.

Delivered with even a hint of camp or irony, these lyrics -- and the song -- would crumble. But Reilly plays it straight, putting the song over perfectly. I still think it's a hit-or-miss compilation, but I'm beginning to appreciate its considerable charm.

It's really amazing to me that the artists this label unearths didn't find a bigger audience (or any audience) in their day. Maybe 20 years from now, the Numero Group will be re-releasing Iron & Wine, Howe Gelb and Low.

On Wayfaring, Caroline Peyton is amazing. I did a piece on her and this other lady, both of whom ended up in Nashville, for the Scene a couple months ago. You can find it on nashscene.com, it's called "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," I think, I don't have the link handy. Anyway, Peyton is seriously talented, and thriving--she did legit Broadway stuff and sang in Disney animated movies, and has done well. She lives in Emmylou Harris' old house, in Nashville. Fascinating to talk to, and I actually got her to lend me her "Mock Up" LP from '72, from which "Engram" on Wayfaring is drawn.

He's always playing way ahead of the beat; he's floppy and his time flops all over the place, I guess; it's indefinite and that's the one thing a drummer isn't (usually) supposed to be. I guess it's the same guy on most of it? Plus, that band, they were originaly a marching band, and that shows as well. It doesn't strike me as small-group drumming, fundamentally.

But altho he's not a good drummer, he's really interesting. I mean I'm not hung up on all that too much--the music works, most of it. It's weird music from the drumming on up; so maybe he's a *great* drummer and realized how strange the whole project was and played accordingly.

I think I really like this Big Mack comp, too.

The New Times article is available online, at

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-02-16/music/music2.html

When you mentioned that you're a music writer, it reminded me of the sheer number of really talented music critics that post on ILM. I've seen contributors who appear to be from all the major online music websites, e.g., Pitchfork, Stylus, Popmatters, and major print publications, e.g., Village Voice, No Depression. None of this would matter, of course, if the posts were all snippy and lacked content, but I've been amazed by the thoughtfulness of the posts and of the forum's contributors (not that anyone would care about my opinion on the subject). How did you all find this board?

-- Daniel (n.1)

_____________________________
(n.1) I should receive the Big Mack album over the next day or so.

dude

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/resizeImage/htdocs/export_images/620/620.x600.mr.abcsofsoul.jpg

Winight's Lunar Rotation is really good, for the most part (the impaled falsettoes etc are mostly at the beginning) You can still hear one of the better tracks, read a review of it and the whole set:
http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=688

Twilight's Lunar Rotation is ok, but it could've easily been one disc rather than 2.

Obviously you mean Twinight, no worries there... Thing is, Kent had already done a Twinight comp so it was imperative that this be as exhaustive as possible. It is a superb Chicago soul music collection for the real Shy collector. I wish I had the product itself but their discs are too dang expensive. I know they are nice etc etc but I just aint got that kinda scratch. (Plus I own that Kent rcd already so I wasn't about to buy all them trx again).

Big to the southside anyway...

They have two new discs either out now or on the way: Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts of Deep City, which is a follow-up to the fantastic Deep City label and Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli.

Twilight's Lunar Rotation is ok, but it could've easily been one disc rather than 2.

Obviously you mean Twinight, no worries there... Thing is, Kent had already done a Twinight comp so it was imperative that this be as exhaustive as possible. It is a superb Chicago soul music collection for the real Shy collector. I wish I had the product itself but their discs are too dang expensive. I know they are nice etc etc but I just aint got that kinda scratch. (Plus I own that Kent rcd already so I wasn't about to buy all them trx again).

If you think you got it all on the Kent CD or that this could have been one disc, you're missing out. The booklet alone is worth the 25 bucks. Have you seen the photos? The Kent booklet had like three, this thing's got like 30. I mean, who else was going to track down the Mystiques?

Pick up those Twinight 45s if you get a chance. Can't imagine they'll be around long.

ok, you talked me into it!

(I did actually mean the Numero Group thing was a great collection, not the as-usual raggedy-ass Kent one. All I meant is I hadn't sprung for the actual CDs yet.)

Now we just need a Mar-V-Lus comp ... and make sure it includes Von Freeman's 45 ! my copy is sorta crackly.

Anyone heard the new one yet? I got it this week (I'm on The Numero Group's annual plan). So far, v. good (on limited, partial spins). Not sure it's as gripping as some of the label's prior releases, but they're all so solid that this isn't much of a criticism.

Very much hooked on the Jackie Stoudamire tracks.

Stoudemire -- excuse me.

I've been enjoying the Guitar Soli comp (vol. 2 of Wayfaring Strangers, I guess) -- some wild Fahey/Kottke/Etc kinda dudes on there. A cool glimpse into a weird little subculture of musicians, great liners, packaging, the whole shebang. I've always eyed the soul comps on Numero, but haven't made the plunge just yet. what's the one to start with?

I say the Eccentric Soul: Deep City Label disc is the place to start.

revive

nobody?

Hah I still haven't heard anything (and their packaging still bugs me.)

what would you like us to say?

x-post

"(and their packaging still bugs me.)"

you must be talking about CDs. cuz the vinyl packages are a fetishist's dream.

guitar soli double vinyl is sooooooo beautiful. and an amazing collection.

I am talking about the CDs. Everything is white with a grainy Jandek pic on the front.

I enjoy the soul stuff, etc, but I can live happily with just the Antena.

for real? weird. they put such care into the vinyl. the design of those soul comps should be winning awards.

x-post

they went cardboard and ink starting with #18. Not sure if this is just an interruption or a new paradigm.

scott, i would like you to SEARCH and DESTROY

http://i31.tinypic.com/ao0qxw.jpg

I love this label

also http://i31.tinypic.com/ao0qxw.jpg

not super-impressed w/ "wayfaring stranger: ladies of the canyon". i'm really enjoying the "bearded ladies" comp on finders keepers much more (although i guess that comps not as historically specific).

the two "cult cargo" comps are pretty awesome, even though i expected them to be much much more tropical and much less US-oriented.

i've only heard a few of the eccentric soul volumes. "kid soul" is pretty good but i don't think it really keeps up over the whole disk. but "capsoul" and "outskirts of deep city" are really fantastic.

very interested in hearing the "bandit", "big mack" and "twinight" volumes.

If you liked Outskirts Of Deep City, you should definitely consider the prior disc, The Deep City Label. It has even stronger material, especially from a group called The Moovers (e.g., Someone To Fulfill My Needs and Darlin I'll Go).

Curt1s, those promo pictures you posted above are for which Numero disc? I don't recognize them (and I think I have all but 3 of the label's discs).

sounds sort of amazing

Soul Messages From Dimona

Following a path blazed in Belize and the Bahamas, The Numero Group finds yet another stop on the soul diaspora tour: Dimona, Israel. Between 1975-1981, a group of American ex-pats took their native sounds of Detroit and Chicago and intermingled them with the messages of the Black Hebrew culture. The results are a heavenly mix of spiritual soul and jazz with an undercurrent of gospel psychedelia. Featuring the Soul Messengers, the Spirit Of Israel, Sons Of The Kingdom, and the Tonistics, Soul Messages From Dimona is the only living document of a thriving community at both the center and fringe of the world.

Yeah, it does. Thanks for the info! And the disc's release date is right around the corner: 05.06.08.

Are those guys not still over there? They were pretty popular. Speaking of Israel, do yall know about Numero's journey to Yisrael? Wild story on their site, and more here (with music)http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=1479

Just got the new disc today in the mail! (xp)

So glad to hear there's a new one and it sounds amazing. They've really been on a streak recently, as both Guitar Soli and Recording Tap are fantastic.

So early impressions on 021: As usual, great packaging and a very informative, interesting booklet. And Track Nos. 5 and 7 (Hey There and Equilibrium, respectively) are the jam. I really like the vibe on a lot of these songs, which blend jazz and funk and gospel and rock and 60s psychedelia.

BTW, am I right that the Numero Group discs -- which are all sequentially numbered -- jumped from 019 (Don't Stop: Recording Tap) to 021 (the new disc, Soul Messages from Dimona)?

BTW, am I right that the Numero Group discs -- which are all sequentially numbered -- jumped from 019 (Don't Stop: Recording Tap) to 021 (the new disc, Soul Messages from Dimona)?

Mystery solved. Numero Group is simultaneously working on Disc Nos. 020 and 021, and happened to finish 021 first. So 020 is forthcoming.

And 021 is sounding better and better to me. One song -- Daniel -- is fast becoming a standout, and not just because it has an awesome title.

track 2 is Steam lol

You mean Track No. 2 appears on that Steam soundtrack or album (whichever it is)?

Good review of 021 from Dusted Magazine.

i <3 the tap records set

Yeah, it's good. FWIW, the new one (tho from a totally different genre) is even better.

OMG "standing on the corner" from the "mighty mike lenaburg" comp is incredible!

Hmm. That song never worked for me. That comp wasn't my favorite to begin with, tho.

you don't like soul music as garage rock?

You mean Track No. 2 appears on that Steam soundtrack or album (whichever it is)?

no I mean it's basically the melody of "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"

interview with the numero group founders at gapersblock.

heartwarming

Good interview. And Numero Group No. 021 still is about the best thing I've heard this year.

i got the recording tap vinyl box yesterday. sure is pretty. and it comes with the cd! do cd people mind that the vinyl issues have so much extra stuff on them? mostly instrumentals and such, but, damn, those Tap instrumental versions are friggin' great.

do cd people mind that the vinyl issues have so much extra stuff on them?

Nah. The label isn't doing annual subscriptions for the vinyl, I don't think, and ordering a year's worth (of the discs) in one shot is a big convenience to me.

Nice review of No. 021 in Pitchfork this morning. Only quibble: The author says the best track is Victory. It's a good track, but nothing I haven't heard before. That song has nothing on Daniel. The call-and-respons vocals on that song are ace, and there's an otherworldly, swirling quality to it that I can't put my finger on. Anyway, it's a v. good song, from a v. good compilation.

my favorite is "Equilibrium"

I do like the drastic change in direction toward a harder, funkier sound at about the 2:00 mark in Equilibrium. The early part has a nice 60s sound (the vocal part of the chorus in the early part of the song reminds me of the Love American Style-theme).

I semi-dismissed it (as too generic) at first, but I'm now beginning to really enjoy the new Numero Group disc, Numero 020 -- Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels. It's got more of a rock influence and Southern feel than some of the other Eccentric Soul volumes. What Can The Matter Be is an especially good example.

finally copped recording tap vinyl, they were selling it @ pfork for just $25

that's a steal, really. such a nice package. can't remember what they were selling it for here at the record store. the instrumental versions on the vinyl box are awesome.

love the interplay of the background vocals @ the end of 'dont stop dancing'

deej, did you get the soul messages from dimona vinyl. so great.

nope will check out

that dimona thing goes to the top of the heap for me. the music is so amazing.

i also got the recent vinyl issue of numero 001 - the capsoul label comp - but i'm afraid the dimona comp has overshadowed it. i'll have to give the capsoul one a fresh listen once my afrohebrewfunk love dies down a little. but that could take a while.

Numero No. 022 -- Brotherman: OST by the Final Solution just arrived today! Looks great. The Numero Group's 2008 releases have all been fantastic, so far.

New disc is v. good. Maybe great, actually. I love the guitar work on it (I read a negative early review, which said the songs were mostly unmemorable, repetitive arrangements; but I think the guitar lines and the raw demo quality of the recordings take the songs out of "unmemorable" territory). I'm not articulating this very well (overtired), but I hope you get the idea.

Anyone else heard it? Sample song here, via a blog.

I thought the Brotherman OST was ok. Not one of their worst but not one of their best either.

The recent Numero and Asterisk releases have stepped up the game.

Overall though, Finders Keepers >>> Numero Group. Granted, different mission for each label.

I thought the Brotherman OST was ok. Not one of their worst but not one of their best either.

this. i wish the guitar on the whole album was as crazy strummy as on the first track.

I really really really like the Titan Records one; the glammy cuts are kind of not the best, but the great stuff (particularly all the Gary Charlson and Secrets* tracks) are hell of choice. I'll be picking up Yellow Pills as soon as I'm not a brokeass anymore.

I hated the Titan Records disc on first listen. I've warmed up to parts of it. I like when the Numero Group steps outside its "lost soul" comfort zone, e.g., Antena; Yellow Pills; and Belize City Boil Up.

And I'm digging some stuff on the new Numero Group disc, Smart's Palace.

Niela Miller!

I am SO looking forward to the Eccentric Soul Review (Syl Johnson et al) @ the Park West on April 4. The faded pimp majesty of the venue should be perfect for the gig.

You can get tickets directly from the label and avoid the fees (if you hurry).

i haven't listened to the entire disc yet, but the one that came out in march (downriver revival) comes with a really neat documentary in which one of the numero guys drives around the midwest knocking on doors and interviewing old musicians. he gets some really cool impromptu performances from folks who are well into their 70s. fun stuff.

i now own all but four numero releases (yellow pills, titan, ladies from the canyon, and the second deep city one)

downriver revival - wow! wow! wow!

yeah, it's a great one.

Anyone heard the new one: Pices, A Lovely Sight (i.e., No. 029)? It's 60s psych/pop, which is something totally new for the label. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet (largely because I'm not too interested in 60s music, especially 60s psychadelic music), but -- as I say above -- I always like it when the Numero Group steps outside of its "comfort zone."

listening to the samples of pisces, it's totally sounding up my alley. gonna keep an eye out for that.

i mean, thanks for pointing that out cause i had no idea and the samples are blowing my mind.

Yeah. I'm not sure if it's been actually released yet. I'm an annual subscriber to label, so I think maybe I get new releases just prior to street-date.

i got an e-mail about the pisces and it looks like they are just selling it as an MP3 album. no cd or lp release. cuz if it had a vinyl release i would buy it.

first song fom the Pisces' album sounds innaturaly good.

numero's distributor just went out of business, right?

I received the Pisces CD this week. (xp to Scott)

They lost their distributor!?! What do you think that mean for the label?

fwiw their site still has cd/lp coming out 6/3. but if they emailed scott i guess that's more up to date. sucks because i love numero and don't want to have to not buy mp3s from them.

hmmm, i'll check again. i didn't see the lp/cd thing on their site when i looked. i got that e-mail a week or two ago.

sorry for any confusion!

No worries. I am concerned, however, about the impact on the label from losing their distributor.

IIRC the story my record store buddy told me was that numero was distributed by ryko (rykodisc), who are being folded by warner music into ADA (alternative distribution alliance). this means all the numero stock that's not in stores or at numero is sitting in a warehouse right now waiting for ADA to pick them up - i guess the upshot is that nobody can order or restock numero titles.

But rykodisc's situation won't mess up the label's future releases, is that right?

Enjoying this new disc way more than I expected, given the era/genre. That first song is "unnaturaly good." The woman's voice that provides the backup vocal harmony on Children Kiss Your Mother Good Night is perfectly placed, all shadow-y and lurking in the background.

Have no fear, I have it on good authority that the ADA/Ryko merger has little impact on Numero, or any of the labels involved. The Ryko new release books have Pisces on CD for 6/2, LP on 7/28. They've also got that unreleased 24-Carat Black LP/CD scheduled for that day as well.

got the pisces disc over the weekend--it is awesome! and like daniel i'm not usually all over stuff from that era. lots of cool production tricks and the woman who sings on four of the songs was a special talent to be sure.

holy fuck have y'all heard the 24 carat black?

the pisces album is amazing. 'sam" sounds like portishead 40 years before the fact.

still love the pisces album.

just listened to samples of the new wayfaring strangers: lonesome heroes and i am so buying that on sight. man. perfect fall music.

i really enjoy the "downriver revival" collection, but does anyone else think the liner notes are unnecessarily condescending to the produer/artists involved? and frankly the numero group people seen interviewing the musicians on the accompanying DVD seem a bit peevish and assholish.

"holy fuck have y'all heard the 24 carat black?"

spooky!

just ordered "lonesome heroes", really looking forward to hearing it.

xxp numero liner notes always have that tone--i can see why u could read as "condescending" but i think they're trying to be a little flavorful and romantic, even precious. i'd prefer something more straightforward myself but hey. i didn't think the dvd had any weirdness tho.

the numero group people seen interviewing the musicians on the accompanying DVD seem a bit peevish and assholish.

I didn't detect that at all. OTOH, I've only made it through about half the DVD. Certainly, they'd better not be peevish or assholish, since its critical that the Numero Group maintain a good, respectful relationship with the people who own the master tapes the label seeks to reissue.

assholish was too strong.

at one point one of the folks they're interviewing says he doesn't have someone's phone number, then a few minutes later he remembers, and one of the numero guys gives the camera this look like "oh, what a fucking moron." i mean, come on. you're talking to an elderly guy about folks he recorded 40+ years ago. give him a break.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/oct/22/numero-group

That's a nice article. Just before hitting the link, I was afraid it was about the label shutting down. I had no real reason to believe that, except (a) it had been awhile since I received my last disc from them (I'm on the annual subscription plan) and (b) a lot of labels have folded recently. Anyway, very glad to hear the label is alive and well.

Just saw the Eccentric Soul review tour before a small DC crowd. Syl Johnson was a lot of fun--seemed drunk but his raspy soul vocals on numbers like "Any way the Wind Blows," "Come on, Sock it to Me," and "Take Me to the River" sounded great. He was carrying on between several songs about royalties he got from Wu Tang Clan and Kid Rock samples, and he was happily reminiscing about his 1968 appearance at the Howard Theatre. Plus he was wearing a Megadeth t-shirt under his sports jacket. Renaldo Domino wasn't bad and the young backing band JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound were kind of uneven, but mostly impressive. The Notations harmonies and gold jackets were awesome, although they spent too much time doing jokes and schtick.

revue

Sounds like a good time!

I just got the Light: On The South Side Book + 2xLP and I highly recommend it!

havent seen any of the numero shows but i caught syl perform in the interlude at a sharon jones show a year ago ... killed it

x-post. They were selling all the Numero Group stuff at the DC show and I looked through that impressive book of '70s era Southside Chicago photos of soul club patrons and stuff, and was so tempted to to spend the $60 for the book and record, but I chickened out. The book also made me wish I had been taking pics at obscure DC soul joints and shows I have been to since the '80s.

I'm an annual subscriber, and I haven't heard from the label lately. I hope they're again doing annual subscriptions for 2010.

The Ligt: On The South Side is worth the 60$ I promise.

Light*

are they releasing that on CD? i know, that sounds so tacky, but there you go.

Haha no clue but it would be funny if it was just a scaled down replica of the original.

Opening song (Like A Ship) on the new release (Good God! Born Again Funk) is remarkable.

BTW, the label is offering subscriptions again in 2010. Price has gone up some ($150.00). Looks like The Numero Group is branching out into video, too (e.g., NYC video maker's lost gems collected on a DVD that is part of the 2010 subscription).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UdZSrEos-k

want

yeah! that looks great.

LONE STAR LOWLANDS! YEAH!

it's like they had a meeting and said, hey, is there anything we can do for scott? he's a good guy, what would he like?

HE LIKE THIS!

but now i want the vinyl version with extra songs. i'm so greedy.

after first hearing it, i was afraid that no. 034 -- local customs: lone star lowlands -- might be the first numero disc i didn't like. but it's really, really grown on me.

my record store seems to basically not be stocking new numero anymore? sucks.

local customs totally grew on me too, now it might really be one of my favourites

they released that mixtape, too, but i didn't receive it (and i'm an annual subscriber). i wonder if it was released on one of numero's sister labels.

yeah i don't think the mixtape was technically a numero release

nice review of the new disc:

Lone Star Lowlands , the second installment in the Numero Group’s Local Customs series, collects material recorded in the Port Neches, Texas Lowlands studio between 1969 and 1974. Located in the center of east Texas’s “Golden Triangle” (home to Janis Joplin and Johnny and Edgar Winter), Lowlands was opened up in a strip mall by Mickey Rouse, professional accountant and amateur musician, in late ‘69, and made most of its money recording commercial jingles. What Lone Star Lowlands collects, needless to say, is the rest of the studio’s material, largely the work of aspiring local musicians hoping to market themselves with a well-cut demo single. None of the acts here ever hit it big — the obscurity is, of course, part of the raison d’être of Numero’s project — but most of the material here is unabashedly commercial. Indeed, there’s nothing quirky or unexpected about any of the artists represented here, who come across not as outsiders or provincial dilettantes, but aspiring professionals trying to respond to a rapidly changing music scene.

While a number of genres (blues and boogie rock, hard rock, jazzy pop) are represented on the album, the bulk of the material is mellow folky pop, a less hip, more “adult” counterpart to Crosby, Stills and Nash or Joni Mitchell. While a look at the track line-up suggests a large group of different musicians, the music collected here is largely the work of a close network of associated musicians; this, along with the common producer/engineer (Rouse), gives Lone Star Lowlands a more cohesive feel than one might otherwise expect from a selection of singles. The strongest among them are Mother Lion’s “Simple House,” a perfectly constructed pop-rock mini-epic that recalls The Looking Glass’s “Brandy,” and Boot Hill’s “No Control,” a knockout fusion of Led Zeppelin blues metal and King Crimson-ish noodling.

Two names pop up again and again, dominating the collection — those of Bill Swicegood (who played keys with Mother Lion) and Bobby Welch, both of whom are represented under several different monikers on the collection. Swicegood’s contributions are consummately professional, but somewhat stodgy, tending toward buoyant and sappy acoustic pop (Insight Out’s “Live My Life Today,” Sage’s “Everyday is Saturday”) — polished but pedestrian feel-good flowery fluff that would fit right in on early ’70s AM radio. Welch functions as a sort of youthful counterpart, representing the late vestiges of teen-oriented bubble-gum psychedelia (Mourning Sun’s “Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”) and some no less bubble-gummy stabs at country rock (“Benashaw Glen”). Had they been more successful, both would have likely been dismissed as terribly un-hip and commercial (as would most of the artists here), but in this context their music is a fascinating and highly enjoyable record of the time, a forgotten double or mirror image of the period’s popular music.

I liked the Lonesome Heroes comp and am looking forward to Syl Johnson's set, which comes in October. Over the years I've come to love the Antena record a lot. And the Jarnow stuff is great. The label has really flowered over the last couple of years. I'm proud to say I wrote the liners for a couple of Asterisk reissues, the Caroline Peyton records on Bar-B-Q. She's still doing an occasional show and just did one in Nashville last month, still has that amazing voice but doesn't do very many of those songs (mostly Mark Bingham tunes) any more--writing stuff in a folkier/country vein these days.

lone star lowlands is very sweet. am bubblegum meets country rock sound reminded me of the twin engine record that rev-ola put out a few years back

i wrote it up for my column in decibel. first numero group review in an american heavy metal magazine? i'm a bold pioneer.

review available online?

print only! it's like the dark ages or something. my column isn't huge so i have to cram in as much as i can. i don't get to really stretch out and talk about something. i have to be in and out and hope my hyperbole makes people curious about a record that i really dig. well, you've been on ilm for a while, you know how i roll.

i will seek out a print copy of decibel magazine.

someday the internet will be no more, and only those journals who know how to survive in the print-era will flourish.

are getting these on CDs or vinyl or both?

my subscription is cd-only. idk if they have a vinyl-subscription option (but it would make sense).

they've been pretty quiet for a few months; i need to check the site and see if something's up.

hm. syl johnson's Complete Mythology is apparently coming out later this month, so all must be well.

forthcoming box-set from numero group:

Boddie Breaking Out -- by Numero Group on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 11:33am.

We had hoped that Plain-Dealer writer Robert L. Smith would heed our advice and not publish this article until our massive Boddie Recording Co. 4CD/6LP box drops next year, but it looks like his editor had the final say. For those not in the know, educate yourselves.

the article

pretty much in love with the two local customs releases, want mooooore.

Has anyone else checked out the Willie Wright release? Lovely low-key music from an R&B musician turned 70s singer-songwriter. There's not much on Youtube apart from a Curtis Mayfield cover ("Right on for the darkness") and the introspective "Africa":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQmlIsLX30s

eesh, this looks cool. wish i had the $$ to buy everything this label puts out! american heroes.
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/z/zzboddierecordingcomp_101b.jpg
Boddie Recording Company – Cleveland, Ohio
rom 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 (or 65 track 5LP) 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 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.

i ordered this on the internet! i don't think i've ever done that before. um, aside from ebay.

should get mine, like, monday. if you pre-ordered on numero site you got a live soul album that boddie pressed. not available in stores!

not the actual copy that boddie pressed. there is just one acetate i think. a numero-pressed version.

that set looks great but y'all should really start getting excited about their upcoming Richard Pegue set. I know I am. "Scorpio" by the South Suburban Strings is one of my all-time fave funk 45's

yeah. i'm hoping the label continues its subscription program in 2012.

i like it when they step out of their soul-reissue comfort zone. the antena disc, for instance, was killer.

me too! i love the cult cargo series.

How does the subscription thingy work? Is it pricey/worth it? I really love this label.

$120.00 a year for the label's output (about six discs).

that's what it used to be, at least.

I hate being poor.

really wish they were UK based so that the shipping costs didn't put me off buying that Boddie set :-(

Something really surprising coming from them soon...

What, the Codiene thing?

give us the deets.

Nope. This hasn't been announced yet -- a project that was supposed to come out years ago on another label and never did. I can say no more...

tease!

i hope they do what soundways and analog africa have been doing periodically, by releasing full-length "lost" or "underappreciated" albums (like numero did with antena, i think?).

The just put up the details for the 2012 subscription on the site.

just got a flyer about it. again, $100.00 for an annual compact-disc subscription (with eight titles scheduled for 2012).

thank god they give the _option_ of LPs or CDs. really annoying when packages make you buy both formats at a time -- it's an insult. (the syl johnson was like that no?)

you're saying that numero-group forced fans to buy the disc and vinyl for the syl johnson set? if that's so, i didn't know it. i got both on my annual CD subscription, at no extra charge. i was actually going to mention this is one of the nice touches that keeps me coming back as an annual numero-group subscriber.

i think the one box had both CDs and vinyl.

yup: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Mythology-6xLP-4xCD-Johnson/dp/B0042GNDWU/

right.

PERSONAL SPACE: Electronic Soul 1974-1984

If the rest of the album holds up to the Soundcloud track ("Don't Challenge Me" by the Makers) this is gonna be pretty awesome.

Boddie set is chock full of great stuff, but there are some pops on my records and I know it's not me or my player. Has this happened to anyone else?

boddie vinyl kinda sucked. that's why there is so much surface noise.

yeah it's really distracting! disappointed b/c the songs are so good. would they offer me free downloads if i complained, do you think? i don't want a refund or to go through a big rigamarole, but...i would like to listen to these records in some form without unwelcome popping noises.

huh that's too bad. the CDs sound good, though some of it is more on the lo-fi side of things.
been really enjoying the set, first disc especially. i need to get more of these numero things, I only have a few.

LL, sent you an email...

got it, responded, thx :)

TYLER you have to get the Home Schooled one if you don't already -- it's all kiddie groups.

http://www.numerogroup.com/catalog_detail.php?uid=00305

BTW ordering the site is great - they offer you the chance to get discounted CDs before checkout, and there are no tax or shipping fees. I was planning on buying one box and ended up getting two more albums for $7 each.

ordering FROM the site

oh cool, i'll check it out!

These guys DJ-ed a late-night dance party last night and O it was fun.

Yes I can confirm, Numero Group dance party was top notch highest quality -- people totally flipped when they played stuff they knew and loved, and everyone wigged out for "The Devastator". I was pleased to hear "Trust Your Child" but disappointed I didn't hear anything I recognized from the Chicago Boricua set. If you're reading this, NG, may I humbly request mas salsa.

i showed up for the chicago dance party but the hideout was filled to capacity 30 min before the start time. didn't feel like hanging around outside in 10 degree weather waiting to see if some folks left. oh well.

i would've seen you guys there, i guess, right? oh well.

you would have! we waited for 30 min before 12 and also 30 min after the comedy show was supposed to end in order to get in. i was in that shit for the long haul. worth it though!! it would have been fun to meet you, although i have no idea what you look like.

Also I now realized that it was advertised as an "eccentric soul" dance party so there wouldn't have been any salsa regardless of my preferences. NEXT TIME, numero group!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plfuv81J8g4

I have the 1971 Polydor S/T. Not bad, particularly this track. Though at time it rambles into more generic "festa" sounds, not to my liking. Too much accordion.

The Racional volumes are classics.

oops. wrong thread. apologies.

Well while I'm here, can we talk about the "new direction" NG is taking into the 90s? I feel kinda mixed feelings about this, but I guess it's inevitable. I just hope we don't wind up with 3rd rate Gruntruck reissues or sthg.

I'm willing to trust them until they let me down like 3x in a row. That's how I operate.

http://numerogroup.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/n201-codeine-when-i-see-the-sun/ for reference

i dunno, they must be really big codeine fans! plenty of people are. and brokaw is a bro, so i'm all for it. but i wouldn't buy it...

kinda like when mississippi puts out postpunk stuff and old chills comps. feels wrong somehow...

totally, esp if you were around the first time
i kinda wish they would have gone in the other direction and give me some music from the 20s-50s that i'm not familiar with

or earlier!

love that "light on the south side" box. it was the best gift we got for the wedding! (excepting the bread machine perhaps.)

pondered ordering the boddie vinyl box but you guys were saying there were some issues w/it? is the vinyl pressing itself not to good or is it the original recordings themselves?

i think it's just my copy of the vinyl pressing (among others, i'm sure, but none that i know of)
jjj says his is fine! my friend who sold it to me says that he hasn't received any complaints either and his is ok. i just got a bum one, i guess.

mine is kinda noisy. i figured it was the original recordings. that were loud. i mean, they make a point of saying that they used recycled vinyl and cheap sources in general in the booklet. doesn't really bother me. i haven't listened to it much though. got so much to listen to. forever. maybe i'll play it now...

see, mine isn't just noisy, it has loud distracting pops periodically

jam jam jam POP jam jam jam jam jam POP POP jam jam jam
etc

oh okay then maybe you should try sending it back.

;_;
i probably should but uuuuugh

listening to side E right now and it sounds fine. i guess i never got to side E. oh there was a pop. just one though. this stuff was recorded over a pretty long period of time. sound will vary, i suppose. it was the oil crisis when they started recycling vinyl. there is definite surface noise. but hell i've been playing old reggae 45s for months now and everything else sounds pretty clean to me now.

not to dis reggae vinyl. despite the surface noise on old jamaican 45s, they are definitely the way to go. you ain't gonna get that deep bass on some trojan cd comp. sorry, no you are not. and 70's jamaican 12 inches. don't even get me started. like jah on vinyl. so heavy.

but yeah that sucks. sorry. it happens. i hate returning anything.

the personal space compilation is FANTASTIC

like, amazingly amazingly fantastic.

that personal space thing they will be putting out has me STOKED.

wait--dave, has it leaked? did you get an early copy? hook a brother up.

got a review copy but because i want numero to keep putting records out i can't hook anyone up. but you will NOT REGRET yr purchase i promise.

yeah i will purchase this and gladly no matter what. i'm just chomping at the bit to hear it. what is the release date?

So stoked for the Codeine boxset!

February according to the sleeve!

Finally got around to listening to Pressed At Boddie and this song!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psCbxzqYrA0

this Syl Johnson 4CD set is fucking amazing. can't stop listening to "Same Kind Of Thing."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxYgJBpNNio

he was extremely energetic when i saw the numero group revue a few years ago
lively dude!

I still need to get that box.

WHEN DOES PERSONAL SPACE COMP COME OUT PLZ TO BE ANSWERING MY QUESTION

^^^ IMPORTANT QUESTION

Looks like late April? I WANT IT NOW.

Wait, so is this coming out on Numero Group or Chocolate Industries? It was being promoted as an NG release I thought.

http://pitchfork.com/news/45354-chocolate-industries-to-issue-electronic-soul-comp/

Oh yeah and I got seven songs from it on slsk and they're awesome.

i think its on choc industries but is compiled by the numero guys and distro'd by them?

huh. that's weird.

Oh yeah and I got seven songs from it on slsk and they're awesome.

― Big Drug Dan (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, March 3, 2012 4:43 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you are taunting me, bro.

Was at Numero House last week (which is a major clue if you know who I used to be) and Codeine is a sign of things to come. In addition to my thing (will stop being cute about it once the contracts are signed), something MIND-BLOWINGLY HUGE from the US punk rock 80s is being negotiated (they swore me to secrecy and it's understandable, the label and personal situations being what they are this could all fall apart). It's also very clear that the coming punk and post-punk stuff is an expansion of Numero's vision, not a change in direction -- they want to reissue insufficiently available fantastic DIY stuff and do it in gorgeous packaging, and that will always include soul, gospel, and psych (and psychedelic soul gospel), but for Ken especially that has to include punk and post-punk.

Anyway: The Lou Ragland box is terrific. Also really gotta rep for the Stone Coal White cd, which is on Cali-Tex but is manufactured and distributed by Numero. It's ridiculously short and very lo-fi, but man, is it fantastic. Really heavy 70s soul, almost garage punky, except that they play so damn well. There's a cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" that's fairly faithful and relatively low-key, but it sounds like someone's going to get killed if she doesn't come home soon.

not gonna openly guess about the 80s US punk rock but salivating at the possibilities. the sampler for the ragland box is boss.

coming out of deep freeze to read Three Word Username's tea leaves, and hoping the news will be about a trio from the Twin Cities...

that Personal Space comp is out now and it OWNS OWNS OWNS OWNS OWNS

Got that in last week, but it got overwhelmed by Record Store Day - I will be giving it a good listen today...

The record store day release is greeeeeeeat. Love it.

fyi, Numero only distros that Personal Space comp. Chocolate Industries released it. here's where i spoke to Dante and Marvin about it: http://read.mtvhive.com/2012/04/27/personal-space-soul-compilation/

ace piece andy. dante's a great interviewee. and huzzah for citing the robotic 'give it up turn it loose' cover, have always loved that.

still haven't wrapped my head completely around personal space, not quite as space-y as i'd hoped, way more sad.

"personal space" is fucking amazing!

it took me awhile to get into it, i guess i had in my mind that it would be some very sci-fi new-age-ish sun ra meets oneohtrix point never type of thing, it's not, it's a mix of all types of soul and funk and whatnot done w/ either drum machine or synth or both

that said ... what an amazing set of tracks! what a revelation! where did they dig this shit up?!?

WTF?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Light-On-The-South-Side-2-LP-Book-12870-/110876881429?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item19d0c6f215#ht_2827wt_1086

What?

What are we missing? I can't see anything remarkable there.

yeah the point is that at the price-point, sorta an all-time eBay snag

to wit http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=fpgv9zz5w2&ref=browse.php&refQ=kwfilter%3Dsouthside%26amp%3Bincl_oos%3D1%26amp%3Bincl_cs%3D1

53 vs 6. unless the thing is totally trashed .. seller didn't say so!

I just got a sealed copy of Yellow Pills: Prefill for a reasonable price, woo!

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/05/17/soul-survivor-the-lost-recordings-and-magic-touch-of-robert-hosea-williams/

Thanks Stormy! Yeah, seriously how did that complete at $6?

new Buttons stuff looks great. Unfortunately they only have the reissue of 004 in LP.

how is "you can fly me on your aeroplane"?

i am very skeptical when i hear stuff called "psychedelic soul", it tends not to be much more than "soul w/ bloopy synths"

Haven't listened to that Wee reissue in a couple years at least--this track was/is one of my favourites on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re0y1qL1dgU

(As you can hear, it can get somewhat Shuggie-y)

The inst. reprise of the title track is where there bloopy synths come in, btw--one of my fave moments on the record:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncB65dETKlM

tghnkg u

4 Shoes LPs available for preorder.

My new heroes for this alone

http://thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/collateral-damage_numero-group-on-the-vinyl-bubble

"Good God! Apocryphal Hymns" is amazing.

yeah it is

I really like the thread of Gospel groups integrating the latest Soul/R&B trends instead of just going secular - I'm sure this was something that must have been happening with actually-famous Gospel acts too at the time, don't really know all that much about the genre.

Or someone like Dwaine Vinyard, who came to it from a complete outsider perspective, the idea of Gospel being produced outside of its traditional community structures.

Also, man those keys on the Shelton Kilby track.

"Good God! Apocryphal Hymns" is amazing.

Good to hear! I ordered a copy for my gf's birthday but it's just sitting there in shrink wrap. Just like Roy Orbison. Mmmm

!

http://pitchfork.com/news/51723-numero-announces-pre-prince-minneapolis-compilation-purple-snow/

Plus

http://numerogroup.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/the-tease-050-5-revealed/

cryinig

wow. so prince is allowing this? seems out of character.

is purple snow going to actually contain any music by prince?

hey, odd question, has anyone on the board dealt with these dudes on the licensing side? I'm thinking from everything I've read that they might be a good option for my/my fathers long running tape collection project (i know ive talked to ned abt this and a few of the rest of you, but fuck it, no need to be coy anymore, I just want to get this stuff to see the light of day.)

Have not dealt with them but they do make mention on their site of going through months of licensing hell on a project

is purple snow going to actually contain any music by prince?
pfork article linked to says: "Purple Snow's 32 tracks include late 70s/early 80s projects from pre-solo stardom Prince"

i really want the iasos disc.

looks like more than half of the tracks are previously unreleased?

oh lol nevermind, looks like most of em were prev released.

Okay so I have a review of _Purple Snow_ up...

http://thequietus.com/articles/13909-purple-snow-forecasting-the-minneapolis-sound-review

Great review Ned. Can't wait to hear this!

Yeah excellent review...prolly my most anticipated album of the year...

that sounds really amazing

Fits, starts, second tier work, sudden flashes but no more - Prince appears on a few tracks as a quietly competent side performer on organ or guitar, Jam and Lewis are woodshedding

Ah. Thanks Ned for the nice article

Yer welcome. And yeah, do NOT come to this expecting to hear unreleased full-on Prince demos or the like.

that era of mpls funk is underrated. and it is slightly different to funk from elsewhere - those guys had more of a pop edge (not overt but its still there)

Even though I'm a massive P fan more in interested in hearing proto Jam and Lewis and other Minneapolis alumni...

really sad i didn't renew my annual subscription to this label in 2013. if their yearly-fee is about the same next year ($100.00 or so), i'll start-up again.

yeah i need to get back on the wagon, i forgot about my numero comps for a while and have gotten back into them and they're all so good.

Purple Snow up for streaming:

https://soundcloud.com/numerogroup/sets/num050-purple-snow-forecasting

Purple Snow is the first one I've pulled the trigger on buying and, oh my god, is it fantastic.

you gotta try . . .

• 002: Antena: Camino Del Sol
• 006: Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
• 007: Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label
• 021: !יאצללה: Soul Messages from Dimona

I've heard some of them before, particularly liked the Deep City one you mention, but this is the first I've bought for myself.

yeah. this one, from the moovers and on the deep city disc, is jaw-droppingly good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtMcSj2aHAk

haha. this makes me want to become a numero group annual subscriber again.

Ha ha ...the D & D demographic

They're out there. Kinda. A review of this will be running in the Quietus soon. The compilation's a bit of bait and switch in that it's more shared 70s epic fantasy/Tolkien reading etc. rather than specifically a D&D thing but I see the logic of it.

some of this medusa album, which is apparently a big part of the new numero disc compilation, is really good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30A1HrI9WmU

picked up darkscorch canticles yesterday and it is making me so happy today!! are there other extra heavy pebbles comps out there? are they this good? so far my favorites are dark star and wizard. best numero release in a while for me!

i don't care about the lyrics at all tbh but the sound is totally awesome

what a jam!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JDhDNrNisE

I can't wait to hear this! Man Chest Hair from Finders Keepers is also really good 70's heavy rock n roll.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNMvRjHsDrY

That Man Chest Hair comp kinda bummed me out because it gets really weak after the first batch of tracks. Downer Rock Genocide might be a good one to try.

whoa: http://ntslive.co.uk/the-numero-group-six-hour-takeover/

Easily the best reissue label of the last decade took over NTS, live from Chicago last weekend. Six hours of beautiful music is just a click away…
TRACK LIST
Hour 1:
Opening bed: The Unknowns “Please Don’t Go”
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr “You Can’t Blame”
Teques “If I Could”
Eula Cooper “I Need You More”
Donations “I’m Gonna Treat You Good”
Bed: Capsoul Group “You’re All I need to make it”
Notations “I don’t wanna be late”
Sole Inspiration “Life”
Mystiques “That’s The kinda Love”
Si-Berians “This Is The Ending of Our Love”
Bed: Sky’s The Limit “Don’t Be Afraid”
Four Mints “Crystal Rivers”
Brand New Faces “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
Ruby Carter & the Exceptional Three “Unlucky Girl”
Sensations “It’s A New Day”
Bed: Sidney Pinchback “Soul Strokes”
Marion Black “Who Knows”
Penny & the Quarters “You And Me”
Them Two ”Am I A Good Man”
Syl Johnson “Different Strokes”
Bed: Syl Johnson “Soul Heaven”
Hour 2:
Stone Axe “Slave of Fear”
Jocefus “Crazy Man”
Dark Star “Spectre”
Supa Chief “Red Brained Woman”
Bed: Air “12 O’Clock Satanial”
Medusa “Strangulation” (45 version)
Wicked Lester “Here Comes My Girlfriend”
Inside “Wizzard King”
Wrath “Warlord”
Bed: Pisces “Genesis II”
Pisces “Kiss Your Mother Goodnight”
George Cromarty “Flight”
Joni Mitchell “The Jungle Line”
Susan Pillsbury “Never Say Goodbye”
Riley Walker “Clear The Sky”
Break: Riley Walker “Joni’s Tune”
Jessica Pratt “Bushell Hyde”
Sandy Denny “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”
Kathy Heideman “Stormy”
Screaming Gypsy Bandits “Path of Light”
Hour 3:
Bed: Leon Lowman “Fluorescent Funk”
Ned Doheny “Give It Up For Love”
Greenflow “I Gotcha”
Burgatti & Musker “Every Home Should Have One”
Midnight “It’s Never Too Late”
Bed: Father’s Children: Linda Movement
Archie James Cavanaugh “Take It Easy”
Alan Gordon “I Found You Love”
J. Michael Henderson “Nite People”
Hall & Oates “I’m Just A Kid Don’t Make Me Feel Like A Man”
Bed: Ned Doheny “Prove My Love”
Tom Grose & the Varsity “More of You”
Leslie Smith “Love’s A Heartache”
Chaka Khan “Wha Cha Gonna Do For Me”
Hour 4:
Outskirts of Twin City
Chris Moon “Spatial Latitudes”
Westside “Don’t Take It Away”
Enterprise Band of Pleasure “Move It On Over”
Danny Holien “The Driver”
Steven “Quick” [talkset]
Alexander O’Neal “Do You Dare”
Bromar “Call Me Up”
Bobby “Make You Mine”
Nature “The Prep”
Caribbean Half-Hour
Smokey 007 “Same Kind Of Thing”
Lord Rhaburn “Soul Brother”
Sambo “I Am Tired Of Going On”
Hamilton Brothers “Music Makes the World Go Round”
Flatbush “Disco Breakdown” [talkset]
Alfonso Lovo “Tropical Jazz”
Lennox Gray “Fighting The Feeling”
Jay Mitchell “Tighter and Tighter”
Professionals “Part of Being With You”
Hour 5: Gospel Hour
Trevor Dandy “Is There Any Love”
Preacher and the Saints “Jesus Rhapsody Pt. 1”
The Spiritual Harmonizers “God’s Love”
King James Version “He’s Forever”
Gospel Comforter “Jesus Will Help Me”
Robert Vanderbilt “A Message Especially From God”
Greetings From Ohio
Gaylords “Loose Beat” [talkset]
Sensations “It’s A New Day”
Volcanic Eruption “Red Robin”
Norman Scott “Ain’t That A Heartache”
Harmonics “Which Way”
Sensations “Demanding Man”
Lou Ragland & The Bandmasters “Party at Lester’s”
Betty And Angel “Honey Coated Lovin’”
Rob And Verna “More Soul”
Eddie Fisher “You’re Not Loving A Beginner”
Sammy Jones “She Didn’t Know”
Dean Kearns and the Soul Rockers “Funky Disposition”
Hour 6: the Party Has Begun
Carl David & The Chi Sound Orchestra “Windy City Theme”
Pat Stallworth “Questions”
Four Below Zero “My Baby’s Got ESP”
The Chosen Few “We Are The Chosen Few”
Harvey & The Phenomenals “Soul & Sunshine”
Alexander O Neal & Cherrelle – Saturday Love
Richard M “Private Eyes” [talkset]
Free Life “There’s Something Better For You And Me”
Bileo “You Can Win”
Sag War Fare “Don’t Be So Jive”
Promise “I’m Not Read for Love”
K.L. Hamilton “I’m Trying”
Starphire “Zap Bang Shang-A-Lang”
Congress “You Gotta Get It” [talkset]
Larry T And the Family “I’m Moving On”
Hamish Stewart “Midnight Rush”
[end transmission]

Anybody pick up the Jacobites reissues? Really want to grab those, provided the sound is good (not that I expect otherwise)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2JICVGdncI

Numero Group ‏@numerogroup 4m4 minutes ago

Spring forward to the sweet sounds of the weekend. Ultra-High Frequencies: The Chicago Party is streaming
https://soundcloud.com/numerogroup/sets/ultra-high-frequencies-the-chicago-party-num056?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter

Been meaning to post about this - I guess it's nothing essential, but it is a lot of fun. Has anyone seen the DVD?

Not yet; more info in their latest newsletter on Rolling Reissues 2015.

sounds dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=troUxXj4YAo

A few months old now, but this Universal Togetherness Band record is pretty fantastic.

i dug up the cult cargo comp from the bahamas and
o
m
g
it is making my (otherwise chaotic and not entirely pleasant) day so much better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrDak71O-5g

Ork Records comp w/two unreleased Feelies cuts due in October.

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/ork-records-new-york-new-york

hah that is a serious slap in the face to the people who bought the 7" box set

"oh guess what, we're reissuing this six months later with two extra tracks"

ha, yeah, with a huge book included too! so the feelies 7-inch is the only added music?
i will be getting this version of the set. the music is pretty great.

hah that is a serious slap in the face to the people who bought the 7" box set

that seems par for the course these days, sadly.

have they +/- abandoned their cult cargo series?

So they're preparing a White Zombie box set.

(I am not kidding.)

https://twitter.com/chunklet/status/625757798643691520

Grayson Currin mentioned the other day he's already sent in his liner notes for it.

ooh that's cool

http://www.networkedinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/fonz_shark.jpg

hey you may laugh but I can't afford vinyl copies of those excellent albums and Soul Crusher has been oop for 30 years

I would love to have the early stuff actually. Like up to and including Make Them Die Slowly which is an interesting, if Laswellianly flawed, album.

What do y'all think of the Ork Records set? First listen is pretty damn fun, familiar bands great not often heard singles mixed with forgotten chancers. Great proto-punk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/arts/music/terry-orks-punk-rock-time-capsule-celebrates-a-nihilistic-niche.html

interesting background info

Does anyone have a Numero POX - like a dream mixtape of their most essential tunes?

still so many of their releases i haven't gotten to... haven't really been disappointed yet, though.
Ork set is pretty incredible (the book might be even better than the music!).

bought this in a charity shop in Lewes for a couple of quid http://www.discogs.com/sell/release/38942?ev=rb

Last Sold: 17 Sep 15
Lowest: £17.93
Median: £29.13
Highest: £74.45

sorry, wrong thread

damn, this new wayfaring strangers comp is the shit!

Is that the Cosmic American Music one?

yes! i don't know a whole lot about country rock, but i love this.

One of my blind spots, too, I'll have to check that comp out.

i mean i know the byrds, burrito brothers, beau brummels, buffalo springfield ... hmm ... a lot of "b" bands ... and some country soul / southern rock comps, but this one is so deep, sounds like there's a whole galaxy of stuff out there waiting to be discovered

The remastering on the White Zombie set (everything they did before signing to Geffen) is great. They did't remix Make Them Die Slowly or release the earlier version (produced by Wharton Tiers, not Bill Laswell, IIRC), but it still sounds better.

Whoa, I never knew there was an earlier version. Have you heard it? Wonder if I can find that...

I like MTDS a lot despite the Laswell production. Ditto Orgasmatron.

I am deriving way more enjoyment from the Los Alamos Grind comp than I expected from a buncha rockabilly/surf revival (I think? Stuff certainly doesn't sound like it's from the 50's) sampler.

Anyone signed up for Project Twelve? So far it seems to be mostly albums by artists who feature in the compilations...

they're on bandcamp now

but why is the yellow pills powerpop compilation not on spotify or on their bandcamp? i feel like there was some weirdness with it before, leading to the addition of "prefill" to the name, but i wish it was streaming bc there are some killer songs on it

apparently it's on spotify as "buttons: starter kit" for some reason

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/pain-pills-the-heated-copyright-debate-over-a-st-louisans-power-pop-compilation/Content?oid=2501994#

thanks. now i vaguely remember reading that before.

rip 'physical' media i guess?

idgi

Numero's liquidating their pre-2017 CD stock on their website and claiming their getting out of the CD business.

2nd one should be "they're" and of course this happens on a broke weekend.

The reality is a little less dramatic (and you can tell Shipley is behind the THIS IS IT WE ARE DONE DO YOU FOOLS NOT UNDERSTAND press releases): they've been overproducing cds in the past and are going to make far fewer of them per release. It's a combination of not wanting to deal with the backstock and a prediction that another format will be here within three years that will end cds.

Whatever their doing, it finally got me to order that Purple Snow set. $10!

lots of talk in Stereophile magazine about a new hi-res technique called MQA that doesn't require as much storage as standard hi-res formats but is better and permits streaming. tidal streams hi-res via MQA. you apparently need something to decode it though.

Supposedly, they'll only be pressing 2000 copies of future CD releases. Which means the upcoming (pre-SST, but still) Hüsker Dü set will sell out in a day.

But they're not doing the same with vinyl, right? So RIP CD, sure, not RIP physical media.

We'll take our chances with streaming. Vinyl is a dead end as well.

— Numero Group (@numerogroup) July 21, 2017

Future of the CD is limited edition, high quality, jacked up prices. Prepare.

— Numero Group (@numerogroup) July 21, 2017

:/

idk maybe they're right. they're great cds and i considered buying everything they have and i don't, but i just don't know what i would do with a bunch more cds i'll rip and never listen to.

Pretty much you're buying them for the liner notes.

Anyway I figured there were a few things worth getting, so I did -- I'll take that Scientists set for $20, sure!

Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles 2lp set and board game is on sale for $50. I admire crazy projects like that, hope they'll continue to bring the ambition with the box sets (when is that Huskers coming?).

I can see the "vinyl is a dead end" angle -- it's prohibitively expensive, and quality control from most pressing plants is iffy -- for about a week, my fb feed was dominated by "I have to return this one LP in the Unwound set," which must've been a colossal headache for Numero.

And the Hüskers set is supposedly out in September, but no date has been announced yet.

The Darkscorch set is a ridiculously hilarious indulgence. (I mean this as approval -- we're definitely not giving up ours here.)

disappointed the unwound box isn't on sale.. it says it's pre-2017?

yeah i was hoping that would be on sale too. getting the bedhead set for 20 bucks was sweet tho

most of the stuff i would have bought is stuff i already have but i couldn't help it -- i got 4 things
if your $5 is burning a hole in your pocket, i have listened to the bahamas and belize cult cargo comps so many times since i bought them years ago that they're permanently imprinted on my brain -- totally worth your $5!!

sold out of the Bahamas one :(

Scientists gone as well

that's ok bc the belize one is better!
the slow simmer of this song always gets me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WtA-gVznRA

oh wait they let me buy them at checkout, weird

couldn't pass this stuff up:

1 x Cult Cargo - Belize City Boil Up | CD
1 x Purple Snow - Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound | 2xCD + Book
1 x Ultra-High Frequencies - The Chicago Party | CD+DVD
1 x Eccentric Soul - The Prix Label | CD
1 x Eccentric Soul - The Capsoul Label | CD
1 x Cult Cargo - Grand Bahama Goombay | CD
1 x Cult Cargo - Salsa Boricua De Chicago | CD
1 x Iasos - Celestial Soul Portrait | CD
1 x The Scientists - A Place Called Bad | 4xCD

I sooooo want to buy sooooo many of these CDs but I just can't bring myself to do so, for the same reason Numero is going to stop selling them.

CDs will be the new LPs in 10 years

I heartily recommend the Royal Jesters "English Oldies" set from the Eccentric Soul series: Latin Soul & Progressive Doo Wop from '60s San Antonio.

I'm a little worried the Scientists thing was a bug but worth a shot! great sale man they have put out some cool stuff

1 x Buttons - From Champaign To Chicago | CD
1 x Express Rising - Express Rising | CD
1 x Elyse Weinberg - Greasepaint Smile | CD
1 x Warfaring Strangers - Darkscorch Canticles | CD
1 x Iasos - Celestial Soul Portrait | CD
1 x Cult Cargo - Belize City Boil Up | CD
1 x Boscoe - Boscoe | CD
1 x The Scientists - A Place Called Bad | 4xCD
1 x Wayfaring Strangers - Guitar Soli | CD

reminds me that I have no idea what Soul Jazz has been up to.

Given that you at least get free 320 mp3s with these orders, there's that, in case the Scientists thing IS a botch. (And they'd normally charge twice as much for said mp3s in comparison.)

(downloads MP3s, thanks Ned)

Happy to help.

This was my order FWIW

1 x Elyse Weinberg - Greasepaint Smile | CD
1 x Stone Coal White - S/T | CD
1 x Express Rising - Express Rising | CD
1 x Express Rising - Fixed Rope | CD
1 x Mind & Matter - 1514 Oliver Avenue (Basement) | CD
1 x Bobo Yéyé - Belle Époque in Upper Volta | 3CD + Book
1 x Edge Of Daybreak - Eyes Of Love | CD
1 x Bedhead - Live 1998 | CD
1 x The Scientists - A Place Called Bad | 4xCD
1 x Medusa - First Step Beyond | CD
1 x Various Artists - Teen Dance Music from China and Malaysia | CD
1 x The Notations - Still Here: 1967-1973 | CD
1 x Wayfaring Strangers - Guitar Soli | CD
1 x Codeine - What About The Lonely? | CD

I had a rip of _Guitar Soli_ already but that one does have honestly great art/packaging so I figured get that. Everything else was stuff I didn't have -- the rest of the basic catalog (that was released on CD at least) I had already one way or another (promos, mp3 purchases, etc.), with the exception of a couple of the more recent releases not on sale. (And the Ork set, which is gone, pretty much.) Nice way to fill out the corners, and I suspect that besides the Scientists and Upper Volta sets I may sell on a few of these to Amoeba.

hmm that Upper Volta set re-materialized, so I got that too...

new set coming out "acid nightmares". it's got whistler's mother's "dark dawn" on it, which i still remember from when scott seward posted it years back!

The reality is a little less dramatic (and you can tell Shipley is behind the THIS IS IT WE ARE DONE DO YOU FOOLS NOT UNDERSTAND press releases)

― Three Word Username, Saturday, 22 July 2017 06:59 (ten hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol I had no idea that dude was involved with this label but immediately knew which Shipley you were talking about

there's a sequel to Wayfaring Strangers out in two months btw, eager to listen

that shipley, poor guy is always one toke over the line

good lookin' out on the MP3s Ned

I downloaded the Boscoe, Wayfaring Strangers Guitar Soli and Scientists (the three that might not really be available).

I guess at worst I get a refund or credit and keep the MP3.

You know...if I was a more skeptical person I'd say this big "change" was a great little stunt to generate a huge infusion of cash over a weekend, and in reality means nothing more than they are carrying through with a reasonable downscaling of the numbers of CDs they are pressing to meet demand

Wish they kept this going a little longer, as I could have really loaded up this weekend. Still, glad I was able to pull the trigger on that Lonestar Lowlands comp, which is now listed as unavailable on the site.

will report back as to how many items in my order were unavailable, but yeah I'm glad I have the MP3s now

I honestly thought I had more Scientists tracks already, but looks like I only had two before so what the hell, me. So yes, the box was a happily necessary thing. Between that and getting the Creation set used a couple of months back, I am content.

the Creation set is so good
sounds way better than those dodgier 90s comps

So, remember how a few of us were encountering 'gee I thought they said this was sold out' demi-glitches? Just got this email:

Remember when vinyl was back? Well now CDs are back, and all it took was a ridiculously low-priced Numero Group CD sale to single-handedly juke the stats. Here’s what happened: the analog magnetic tape mainframe that hosts our wildly outdated and derelict website failed to stop selling items when they sold out of the quantity that we actually have. Once we get it sorted out, heads over here will proverbially roll. In the meantime, we want to offer you the opportunity to swap out the item we simply don’t have any more of, for an item we actually do have.

Everything after that is specific to my order, so anyway. Point being, though, hope you all got your mp3s as I suggested!

i didn't get an email (yet)--fingers crossed.

It all depends on if something you bought was actually sold out at the time of sale. About half my order was like that -- the only thing I will really miss was that Scientists set, sadly, but as I've been able to get (among a few other things) the Ork set in exchange, not complaining.

yeah I missed out on Guitar Soli, Boscoe and Scientists - but did get the mp3 so still worked out

subbed those for the Ork 2 cd box and Syl Johnson 4cd, which not complaining about those at all

yep out of Guitar Soli and Scientists for me, I just took the refund

Guitar Soli here, too - and I didn't get the mp3s. Balls. Got the Belize compilation though, so all good (albeit I had to get it delivered to my sister in Denver and won't be seeing her until September, so...).

got my stuff today; the bedhead set is super tight.

Belize Boil Up is so fucking fun

otm

Ork Records was such a glorious fucking mess of a label. Loving this comp so much.

Great liner notes too -- hell of a deep history.

yeah the CD box set and book and packaging is remarkable, what a document

my only complaint so far with the stuff i got is that the packaging for the purple snow set is lovely but not very portable if you care about preserving the book from having car-coffee spilled on it regularly (yes i am a slob)

yeah they are more for display at home than portability

Kenneth Higney was a real piece of work, don't know anything about him

So! The Husker Du box is streaming.

http://www.npr.org/2017/09/05/547854997/first-listen-husker-du-savage-young-du

And the story's great too.

Very exciting, and yet, the early years of Husker Du is not why people like Husker Du.

As long as Greg Ginn is being kept alive by his cat menagerie, this may be as good as it gets.

ugh hate how hard it is to get anything from these guys in the UK. shipping prices are ridiculous, most likely no shops will bother getting it and sets like this don't really get any amazon uk distribution so i guess i'll not be getting it

I'm expecting Norman Records may stock it, probably Monorail. I got the Bedhead and Codeine boxes over here so would expect to get the Husker Du one.

I agree that the shipping is brutal though. Had this in my cart but couldn't justify it to myself.

the early years of Husker Du is not why people like Husker Du
know what you mean, but this early Du is the period I'm least familiar with, so I think it'll be interesting to do a deep dive here ...

ordered

tyler u gotta check out Everything Falls Apart especially, that record is killer

As long as Greg Ginn is being kept alive by his cat menagerie, this may be as good as it gets.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 8:21 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Form what I gather second or third hand (Mpls not a very big town) we should be amazed we are even getting this.

The other Katzmann Land Speed Record tape is something I have heard abt for like 25 yrs, can't wait to finally here it.

xp i've heard it, just haven't really given it a lot of time compared to the SST jams.

Ginn as punk supervillain still bums me out.

Also the personalities of this band & their relationship are...complex

Ginn as punk supervillain still bums me out.

Weed is a helluva drug

sets like this don't really get any amazon uk distribution

I would be really REALLY surprised if this isn't available via amazon uk

tyler u gotta check out Everything Falls Apart especially, that record is killer

yep, that whole burma-meets-keith levene sound they had, it's great

i feel like i learned a lot about early HD from reading Bob's book -- imagining Bob and Grant meeting and becoming friends truly warms my heart and gives me hope for humanity in spite of how their relationship has turned out. it seemed like the kind of intense friendship that doesn't happen every day.

a hell of a lot of work went in to make even this happen

and all legal avenues to rescue the later stuff from Ginn

Also the personalities of this band & their relationship are...complex

― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 10:03 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and let's just say a certain member is in many many ways less motivated to make stuff like this happen for fairly obvious reasons

personally I think this early period will be more fascinating and contain more surprises than a later set

I think there's more of substance that hasn't been heard

Very exciting, and yet, the early years of Husker Du is not why people like Husker Du.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 8:10 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think Everything Falls Apart is as good as anything they ever did and better than some of the later albums (IMO)

agreed, this release is essential and I expect it to redefine how people see these early years

I think there are some people that think Sorry Ma is the peak of the Replacements, too. But I don't think Everything is better than any subsequent HD record save maybe Candy Apple Grey on a bad day.

Well, we just have different tastes in Husker Du I guess. I also very much love Stink (even moreso) and Sorry Ma.

If there are people who like say Don't Tell a Soul or All Shook Down more than Sorry Ma, which I'm sure there are, we just value dif things abt the band.

I think because their mature period was so much better than most hardcore bands people actually underrate HD as a hardcore band.

Now that they're redoing the CD model to be like 2,000 copies each, should I expect Rough Trade to carry these, or do I have to do mail-order?

xp Stink is totally the best Replacements record in my world

sorry ma is my favorite
i went to look for my everything falls apart cd to listen to in the car only to find a cruel joke i apparently played on myself the last time i went down this stretch of memory lane: the HD cd had been replaced by Let It Be
lol

the ol' minnesota shuffle

is that really right about them just doing 2,000 of the CD sets? Yow, I better get mine. one of the best things about numero is that the CD sets are so nicely priced.

extra 7" is essential btw

Yeah, I'm basically vinyl for the proper numbers, CD for the 200 series

Everything Falls Apart is incredible, but I agree, this is not the boxset or reissue that will expose Hüsker Dü to new generations like they deserve. Hearing Flip Your Wig at 19 for the first time was a revelation - I was a massive Nirvana & Green Day fan, how had no one told me about this amazing power pop hardcore record?????

any Mpls heads wanna dish some dirt on why the above scenario is unlikely to happen?

You mean more reissues? I think that can be broken down to:

1) Bob is doing really well, musically and financially, and doesn't need the aggravation.
2) No one in the band has stayed on particularly good terms.
3) Label woes.

Anyway, I like early Huskers just fine, for what it is, which is generally good. But I think they really hit their highs a couple of years later. That's not a terribly controversial opinion, I don't think. I listen to the early stuff for aaaaargh, the later stuff for ahhhhhhhh!

not really dirt basically, worked w/same lawyers who had worked w/other SST acts.

in some way that was a technicality and not explained, somehow even in the realm of shitty unfair SST contracts, the Huskers have a worse contract than, for ex., Dino or Meat Puppets or ppl who have been able to wrest control from Ginn

I live in eternal hope that one day there'll be a Slovenly box, but I can't imagine anyone ever lawyering-up over that :(

I live in eternal hope that one day there'll be a Slovenly box, but I can't imagine anyone ever lawyering-up over that :(

Oh me too. Didn't someone else here say Tom Watson has been working on it for years?

Well, it helps that Dino, Puppets, even Sonic Youth were able to get their SST stuff back because they did so at the height of the '90s alt-rock boom, when they all had resources, when their visibility was at a premium, when they weren't, you know, broken up. HD was one of the first indie bands to sign to a major, but they broke up before they could reap those benefits. It's somewhat ironic that when Bob had his biggest success piggybacking on the '90s boom it wasn't on WB but on Ryko!

I think there are some people that think Sorry Ma is the peak of the Replacements

Definitely my second favourite, after Let It Be. Tim/Pleased have lots of filler imo.

Puppets didn't get their albums back until late 90s, and that was via Ryko.

Yeah, but this was still more or less right after their commercial success on a major, right? I assume it took major label money/lawyers to extract the catalog. I mean, it can't be a coincidence that everything thinks Ginn is a dick, and SST trouble, and yet pretty much every single band *but* Husker Du has eventually escaped it grasp/wrath, save the Minutemen, and they seem fine stuck there.

If I haven't cleared it up, I love Sorry Ma - stuff from that album was a highlight of the reunion shows, iirc - but if that album was the end of the Mats they would just be a lil cult thing. Hit or miss or full of filler, it's the next few that made the band's legacy. That's what I meant re: HD. The Early Hardcore Years have a lot to love, but LSR was basically the end of the beginning before the group came out of its pupa. Again, love the hardcore stuff fine, but Metal Circus and beyond was (for me) essentially life changing.

Ok. Now that your official position is on record is it ok if we are excited about this?

They could reissue xeroxed Husker Du show flyers and I would be excited. They have been at times my favorite band.

There are other bands that have SST problems iirc. The Stains, Saccharine Trust. The Dicks' Kill From The Heart master tapes were lost, but Alternative Tentacles managed to do a reissue from MRR's copy of the LP.

The Pups' reissues were five or so years after MTV Unplugged, and I don't think they were on London anymore at that point (or even a band, really). I remember hearing a story back then that they won access to heir tapes because Ginn erroneously sued them, and lost the case, and in doing so lost ownership of their tapes, but I kind of think that was just hearsay.

Gina/SST is such a mess. When I did my Black Flag book a few years back, it was near-impossible to get people to talk on record about his business activities. He's litigious, for sure.

Keith Morris has some things to say about that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=RkHomVPQNU4

Hahahaha

Keith gave me some of the best quotes on Ginn, especially about the failed Ginn-led Flag reunion circa Rollins' West Memphis Three album.

The Pups' reissues were five or so years after MTV Unplugged, and I don't think they were on London anymore at that point (or even a band, really)

They still owed a record to London, or presumably must have, since Curt's band at the time changed their name to the Meat Puppets to release Golden Lies (and the You Love Me EP beforehand). This was just after the reissues, which were handled by Derrick way more than Curt (Cris was in the midst of his troubles at this stage).

Keith talked so much shit about Ginn from stage when I saw Flag, hilarious

Anyone else here who ordered the HD set still waiting on email confirmation? I ordered two days ago, and they look my money (my banks says so) but all I have is an order number via the website's account section - the actual item field is empty, and there's no download available (other say they've got theirs?). I've asked their Twitter but responses to others have been... terse. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence, even taking into account they're a small operation.

no email confirmation yet but this happened with their CD sale as well, and the traffic broke the website for a little while. wait and see, I guess? not ideal, I know.

i ordered it last night and got an email

Very excited for this. Especially the alternate Land Speed Record -- it drives me nuts that on CD everything is smooshed together onto 2 tracks. And a better performance and recording! I've had a decent reissue of Everything Comes Apart from the 90s that sounds better than most of the SST stuff. Still hold out hope that they'll rescue those SST albums.

xp well dammit now I'm a teensy bit concerned

Me too. Did they take your money as well?

probably, haven't checked. also not sure if the DL works yet, I'll try at home later.

I am comforted by the fact that there are order numbers in my account, though.

No email here as well and, like you said, same for the sale. It's in the system, I'm sure we're fine (went for the silver, can't wait to get this. hope that Terry K. gets his due in the booklet).

Went for the CDs with the 7" here (I'm sure the vinyl set is gorgeous but I couldn't justify it on aesthetic grounds alone). Hope they get things sorted over the next few days.

the vinyl is sold out right? how many copies did they press?

Just the silver vinyl. Black vinyl still up on the site and white vinyl going to retail

there were 500 silver sets iirc

gotcha. ha, that's awesome they pressed silver vinyl - it's so hard to describe but i always thought Bob's guitar sound was "silvery" - something about the stereo splitting & combination of the MXR distortion & using 2 harmonizers with one pitched flat & the other pitched sharp, creating that beautiful natural chorus sound.

What's the Pop-Up store like? How deep are the discounts/selection etc.? They're doing it here next week and need justification for re-arranging my schedule to attend.

i got the bedhead box for like $20 last year, it was kind of a fun vibe but a little crowded. don't torpedo your whole day but i'd go like.... 30 minutes out of my way

"cliff hanger for the next project" https://huskerdu.bandcamp.com/album/extra-circus

(I didn't know it was going to be released separately)

Was able to go. Discounts and selection not quite as deep as I'd like, but got there early and landed some neat stuff. Got the last sealed Syl Johnson box they had out for $50, and got some other soul comps.

In a bit of news, the counter guy said the Husker sets should start shipping next week.

Enjoying the Happy Rhodes compilation they put out - an ILX search reveals Tim F and JBR are fans. Post-Kate Bushh singer/songwriter Dream Pop is a nook I don't mind them exploring more!

Anyone listen to that exotica box?

Love the exotica box

Agree on the exotica box. Great to hear different takes on this music that don't involve the usual suspects.

Only five tracks in to the Happy Rhodes comp and it's fantastic so far.

Really reminding me of North Sea Radio Orchestra at times although obviously any resemblance is the other way round.

We're here for the reissue. https://t.co/WX6AvwJYYi

— Numero Group (@numerogroup) August 29, 2018

Forthcoming "Switched-On Eugene" compilation documents a mid-80s cassette label from my hometown:

https://www.discogs.com/label/98558-Eugene-Electronic-Music-Collective

the comp is very good, put together by Doug from Yoga records who also did the "I Am The Center" comp for LITA

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/switched-on-eugene

wide variety of approaches, some Heart of Space type stuff, some minimal synth, some experimental.

cool, thanks for the head's up! I Am the Center is currently on the platter, it's a constant go-to

"basement beehive" is worthy of standing next to "one kiss can lead to another" - praise doesn't come higher than that

I love the Cleopatra label comp, garage-y takes on pretty much every 60's pop genre.

rushomancy otm re: "basement beehive", super bad-ass stuff

quite a bit stranger than "one kiss can lead to another" imo but just as good

i love the cover of the switched on eugene comp

done by local artist Paul Ollswang, RIP

http://www.ollswang.com/

quite a bit stranger than "one kiss can lead to another" imo but just as good

― the late great

i don't know how to gauge "strangeness", particularly on comps - i mean "one kiss" did bring "egyptian shumba" to the internet's attention

Very sad that their subscription service is over. Found out about tons of great music through that, and getting a load of records in the mail meant I was also exposed to some stuff I'd never have bought. Newsletter saying that their streams are up and their music frequently pops up on TV shows now is reassuring for Numero's survival I guess. They've gotta do what they've gotta do, but as I said, for me it's sad.

Sixteen years ago we set out on a journey to compile lost and forgotten recordings on silver discs, packaged in stylish slipcases with overstuffed booklets. In that time we pressed nearly a million CDs, wallpapering many a music cave with our colorful spines. We set a new standard for the format, won a few awards, and somehow managed to squeeze out deluxe 11 and 16 disc sets when the rest of the industry was slimming their entire catalogs down for the truck stop market. It was a great ride, but today we announce that our time in the compact disc trench is largely over. In 2019 we’ve pressed exactly two titles on CD, and there are no plans in the foreseeable future to make any more.

http://www.numerogroup.com/d/satans-cd-sale-6-cds-6-decades-of-music-through-august-6th

Wow - 6 bucks is worth it just for the liner booklet in many of those cases, will def be stocking up

Some of the 2-CD sets, like the Girl Group one, are only 6 bucks. Pretty good deal.

bummed they aren't doing CDs anymore — i guess I'm the only one buying 'em! Big archival sets work better on CD imo and are so much cheaper ...

Glad I picked up Purple Snow when I did, looks like the CD set is no longer available.

Technicolor Paradise is not offered in the sale, but CD hounds ought to pick that one up as well, before it also goes out of print.

fuck, I don't get paid until Thursday

tyler I agree, theres something about the cd format that suits big sets like that, and the price difference between a 2 or 3 CD set and a 4 or 6 LP box is usually insane. The last 12 months I've been having a great time snapping up 2ndhand copies of all the CD box sets that I coveted over the last 10-15 years for peanuts.

yeah, and numero at least put some care/thought into their CD design. maybe they don't look quite as cool on your shelf as the LPs, but they're still cool.

their 24-carat black CD has a handsome all-black embossed slipcase iirc
http://www.numerogroup.com/d/24-carat-black-gone-the-promises-of-yesterday

I'd say a reissue label like The Numero Group saying they are done pressing cds is a another sign that the format is really getting near the end.

Pretty much. Although Numero's stuff is pretty niche, so I imagine justifying the expenses (packaging etc.) going into their CDs isn't something other reissue labels have to consider. OTOH, I have noticed that other Boutique American Indie Reissue Labels recent CD titles are frequently 'unofficial' limited editions, as in they do initial press run, and that's it.

What's weird is that I assumed some of these more niche labels might be the ones to keep CDs going a little longer, but I guess this is another step along the inevitable path of the format's forced death. As tyler points out, it'll be a shame when big archival sets are only on super expensive vinyl packages.

Yeah, but I think they put a bit more into their discs packaging-wise than most other labels (even the majors). They've been very mindful of what their fans actually acquire. They phased out download cards a few years ago, and a couple years back they announced they were scaling back CD production to single press runs on new titles and no represses on catalogue stuff. They've also leaned harder on vinyl and curated streaming playlists, the latter being something few in their field have done to that extent.

They never had download cards in their lps, if that’s what you mean?

Hmm, if it wasn't them, then what label did make a big deal a few years ago about discontinuing them? It was discussed somewhere on ILM.

the Buttons comp is tremendously fun power pop

Well, I just spent a bunch of money.

If you're bargain hunting, don't just stick to the sale page linked above--I found several titles for $6 that were not listed on that page (Express Rising, Los Alamos Grind).

Ah, good tip! Of course, I already have $106 worth of stuff in my cart. sigh

Welp, I just spent $114.

Wish that Willie Wright was on sale, but happy with my haul

Very tempted to buy one of each of the Eccentric Soul discs but limited myself to the two Deep City comps, Bandit, and Capsoul. Found Spirit Free for the sale price in the non-sale section (thanks, Hideous Lump!), and bought a bunch of early Christmas presents for my proto metal and power pop pals. Good sale!

Dang, wish i'd thought to look beyond the sale page! Oh well - I kept myself in check due to spending a fortune on records last week, but picked up the Jackie Shane set, Basement Beehive, Good God: A Gospel Funk Hymnal, and Eccentric Soul: A Red Black & Green Production

If you like salsa or 70s latin music at all, the salsa boricua de Chicago comp is soooooooo good -- excellent liner notes as well, very informative and great photos!!

Express Rising is amazing

Come to me Bedhead live disc

Another unexpected bonus:

They gave me links to download MP3 copies of every CD I ordered. In most cases, if the LP version has exclusive tracks, you get them with the MP3 download.

Again I've never seen a download copy in a Numero LP...?

Oh, I guess you aren't talking about MP3 download cards.

No, they just appeared on an Audio Downloads page on my account. After ordering sale CDs, they sent me this email:

"Due to popular demand, the Numero Group is paying a brief visit to the 21st Century to deliver you these popular packets of bits known as MPEG-2 Audio Layer IIIs, or mp3s as the kids are calling them. Enjoy your digital audio files by logging back into your account and downloading them to your preferred device or brain implant."

they had download cards for the first project 12

I decided to splurge on the Unwound box set. It's only 20 quid or so more than what I paid for the Husker Du one two years ago, so I reason that's a great deal for 11 discs and a book.

prices have gone back up. I assumed that until the 6th August included the 6th August.
Well I got some stuff. Was just thinking of grabbing more thgough.
Do wish they weren't dropping cds though.

Also discovered that pretty much all of the Numero group stuff is up on bandcamp which is useful.

I’m eternally grateful to Numero for reissuing that Jordan De La Sierra album, the most beautiful cloudy piano minimalism I’ve ever heard

THought that Willie Wright was in the sale possibly cos I discovered it on the bandcamp page. It does sound really good so shame it won't be around in that media though that label again. Is anybody else likely to pick things up on cd or is the death knell slowly tolling. I do find it a convenient format but maybe it is just too easy to copy.
Also just found the Happy Rhodes and Medusa over the last couple of days. THink medusa may have been talked about elsewhere when it was first out but somehow never got around to getting it.
ho hum.

anyone check out the seafaring strangers private label soft rock one from a couple years ago? stumbled on it this week and it's putting me in a great mood.

that “back to the streets” song is dope as hell. First heard it on the first soft rock for hard times mix.

yeah that song is a banger. the whole comp is a lot of fun, some goofy jams and some stuff that is genuinely inspired. "don't it make you feel" sounds like a cass mccombs tune. "madam operator" is just smooth as hell.

Ha, bang-on re: the Cass-ness of that "Don't It Make You Feel" track; also not worlds away from Donnie & Joe Emerson in terms of contemporaries--cool Beach Boys-y bass harmonica on that one, too.

hah yeah i love the harmonica hits. great arranging.

that “back to the streets” song is dope as hell

love that one, amazing song

http://www.numerogroup.com/d/reach-ride-the-algorithm

haha, i've read the email, i read part of that, i read the product page - and only now do i understand that no, there's not going to be a tracklist

TRACK LIST

Lenny White - Enchanted Pool Suite: Prelude & Part 1
Masumi HaraTo - Live In The Sea
Alex Johnson - The Kiss
LaRhonda LeGette - Thou Art With Me
Ascending Wave Modulation - Del Sol
A.R.T. Wilson - Past Life Regression
John D. Curnow - Wisconsin Bird Songs
Calvin Keys - Touch
Suse Millemann - Open Heart-Hawk Belly
Batang Frisco - Myth
Bob Siebert - Rain
Reach - Gold Dust Twins

whoops

Ascending Wave - Modulation Del Sol*

that Bob Siebert album is gorgeous, I got a cd of it that has some newer solo piano bonus tracks.. kind of a jazzy debussy-ish thing? very very cool. I asked them via email if they were planning on doing a physical release of the (also hot) Calvin Keys album that “touch” comes from... they said they’re partnering with another label to put it out later this year.

Great article!

oh duh, thanks Evan! i didn't see there was another tab on the website with the tracklist.

bummer though, i already know all of those songs inside-out

Gotta say I'm not a big fan of the move towards gimmicky packaging at the expense of actual liner notes. I understand the appeal of building an alternate reality with all the kayfabe stuff (Numero 95 and etc.), but context is one of the main things physical releases still have over browsing youtube or whatever.

Also if I'm reading the liner notes while listening that means I'm not on my phone.

yeah. the imaginary/conceptual releases are a fun idea in the abstract, an interesting take on how a reissue label continues and stays fresh in the 2020s, but I agree that I'm not terribly interested in reissue comps with fake liner notes or none at all.

It just bums me out so much that one of the few reissue labels that put so much time, care and thoughtfulness into their packaging is moving further and further away from physical releases. I mean, I get that physical media for reissues is a niche within a niche at this point, but if a label with the quality control and respect of Numero can't keep it up, it doesn't give me a lot of faith for other labels.

I'm not paying a ton of attention so I'm really asking here- is that what is happening? Or is it that they're expanding their catalog overall but most of the expansion is digital format?

I think it's the latter, so far, but they have explicitly said they aren't doing CDs anymore and hinted multiple times that they may be scaling back vinyl as well.

this gimmicky stuff is incredibly lame, did they determine that most people don’t read liner notes or something? depressing.

what release are y'all talking about?

xp ive always assumed its a combination of them looking at the decline in physical sales plus the idea of them prepping the 247th comp of local soul singles from Wichita Falls or w/e and thinking they need to find a different way forward

which i can relate to, but as a fan of lavishly notated historical reissues is still a drag

I remain totally baffled by this conversation

are the liners for that Reach comp fake or something?

Sorry, I was talking more generally wrt what they've been saying about physical releases in general. I'm not sure which comp has the fake(?) liners.

xp lack of geographic/contextual cohesiveness at the expense of packaging that looks like cigrette boxes

https://www.discogs.com/Various-NuLeaf/master/1781797

ah, thank you. that one makes more sense.

I do like the Reach comp, fwiw, and it has extensive liner notes that seem real to me.

this one rules and i quickly got over the fact there were no liner notes.

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Planisphere/release/13692923

yeah I mean I love comps like those, it’s just I really admired/enjoyed numero’s nerdiness/throughness/idk tbh they’ve been going this way for years idk what I’m complying about lol

speaking as a Light Sounds Dark fan, lol, hypocrisy

Ha ha. Light Sounds Dark take it to ridiculous degrees but then they are bootlegs pretty much so i guess they have to. i do love a dose of LSD too though.

i guess for Numero comps it depends on the comp. For some I'd want to know what time the drummer was born but some, like 'Planisphere' I'm happy to listen as a sort of anonymoys concept album.

plus the idea of them prepping the 247th comp of local soul singles from Wichita Falls or w/e

I LOLd

but probably because I'm in the key demo for such things

what release are y'all talking about?

The one brimstead posted is what prompted my post - doubly annoying because part of the gimmick there is it's a cigarette case so at the top there's a "seal" you have to rip to get at the actual record, so you're damaging the gimmick - but I was also thinking of stuff like Escape From Synth City and "imaginary soundtrack" You're Not From Around Here. They seem to all be part of the Cabinet Of Curiosities line:

http://www.numerogroup.com/d/the-cabinet-of-curiosities-a-numero-universe

I'm generally trying to buy less vinyl these days so I don't have any particular views on the packages here - but I think the point of these Cabinet of Curiosities comps is the rather abstracted, conceptual links they draw between things rather than it documenting a scene/period/genre/location. Tbh this approach will rise or fall on the music, but what I will say is that the extended essay thing about the Reach comp (linked further up the thread) had me adding the album to my basket without listening to a single note. (And I think Numero 95 is a great concept, though obviously the jury's out on whether it'll hold up as a listening experience.)

i guess the danger w/out the historical scene is it just becomes guys playlisting things. i trust them based on previous experiences with them but don't necessarily trust it as a permanent direction, and think there are lots of scenes and styles of music that could use this kind of curatorial ear that have been ignored

Their Spotify playlists are the only Spotify playlists I trust

I'm generally trying to buy less vinyl these days so I don't have any particular views on the packages here - but I think the point of these Cabinet of Curiosities comps is the rather abstracted, conceptual links they draw between things rather than it documenting a scene/period/genre/location.

Yes, but these links are interesting in and of themselves and thus worthy of liner notes instead of just telegraphing "you know, super mario" or "well it's like noir" via packaging. This is even more the case because the artists featured on these compilations are as obscure as anything Numero put out, so it's not like a playlist where some David Bowie b-side follows an Ebo Taylor track or whatever.

Fair point - I'm mainly thinking about the Reach comp here, where the online notes not only set out their stall well but persuaded me to actually buy it. (It's really good.)

"Santa Claus Ain't A Hippie", from the recently released Christmas Dreamers: Yuletide Country (1960​-​1972) is like a Marine Todd meme in song; totally baffling premise of hippies protesting against Santa and the song's protagonist righteously defending his honour.

It came out three years after "Okie From Muskogee" so was prolly riding the wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-MBp1V7WRs

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— numerogroup (@numerogroup) August 10, 2022

technicolor paradise 3LP repressed, your choice of four different colors. still regret selling the original so i went for “moon mist”

90s bands anniversary gig. Anyone go?