Best Numero Eccentric Soul Release

Isn't Omnibus all of them?

No, from CoS:
Described as “a tangled mess of loose ends”, Omnibus is a collection of 45 7” 45-rpm records representing lost gems that, for one reason or another, couldn’t find a home within earlier compilations.

Oh! Must get that one then.

haven't heard enough to judge but fingers crossed for decent voter turnout

i've heard the first nine or so and the answer is twinight

Only heard the first 5 so I'd go with Deep City, but will check out Twinight now

It's Deep City definitely. Outskirts is great too.

T W I N I G H T

one complaint: why are their liner notes only printed in about 4-point type?

Titan: It's All Pop!

Another complaint: why no DL codes Numero wtf???

i admire what they do but gotta say the numero group folks seem like... kind of difficult to get along with. and kind of touchy. and sometimes a bit scornful of their audience.

For what reasons?

i dunno. combo of liner notes, videos, web and FB posts, reading b/t lines, hearsay about their dealings w/ folks.

iirc lots of record stores dislike them because they opened a popup on record store day, thereby kinda defeating the purpose of the whole thing?

leaning towards Smart's Palace but I'm on a ES listening spree so I'll wait and see how that plays out.

IIRC they had the yellow pills guy do that compilation for them. then there was some problem with rights clearances for a song or two and they took it out of print. then quietly they re-released it under another name w/o those tracks and w/o much web fanfare, stripped out the guy's liner notes and any acknowledgment that he had compiled the original compilation.

i wish i had details... i think they are on the amazon page? and I'd heard something about this from folx

hm that's too bad. these comps are great though -- i've only heard about half of them...i usually read about one and think "oh whatever this probably isn't *that* great" and then I hear it and it is amazing. guess the boddie recordings thing isn't an eccentric soul release, but it fits in here...and is awesome.

This is lovely. Shirley Ann Lee listening to her own recordings for the first time in 40 years, in a car because she had no cd player in her house:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcsumBc4Zns

Numero put out a comp of her gospel recordings, and she's on the great Downriver Revival comp from their Local Customs series.

usually read about one and think "oh whatever this probably isn't *that* great" and then I hear it and it is amazing

yeah exactly - I kind of got thrown by the "eccentric soul" label, thinking it would be more novelty/fringey stuff that would be fun to listen to once or twice - but all of the stuff I've heard have real gems that transcend any of that

I must admit despite my vote that "Mama" off the Twinight comp is the best song out of any of it I've heard/own.

I miss their Cult Cargo series, but Soundway seems to do it better anyway.
I like the Boddie Recording Co. box the best, I think?

Twinight is def the place to start if you haven't heard anything.

the boddie comp has this which is pretty crazy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-qj7Martb4

usually read about one and think "oh whatever this probably isn't *that* great" and then I hear it and it is amazing

yeah exactly - I kind of got thrown by the "eccentric soul" label, thinking it would be more novelty/fringey stuff that would be fun to listen to once or twice - but all of the stuff I've heard have real gems that transcend any of that

― brio, Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:26 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the abcs of kid soul one is not that great, although it is very charming

yeah haven't heard it but sounds cute but not dropping $ on that

it's the closest one of the series to be kind of "outsider music"-y

like rather than just soul music that didn't get good distribution, a lot of it is soul music that is genuinely incompetent

i love the kid music one!
trust your child!

i like incompetent singers though.

yeah, i'm not saying it's BAD. i can get into it in a certain mindset, and I can be appreciative of inspired amateurism or inspired incompetence.

but it's not really in the same league as most of the other volumes...

well, no -- agree!

I feel like when two ILXors agree there should be some automatic post of a video of a bunch of people excitedly dancing in the streets while "dancing in the street" is playing

i have about 40 of the numero comps and i have to admit that i prefer most of the other series (wayfaring strangers, cult cargo, good god) to the eccentric soul ones

how am i going to listen to all of these in a week to participate in the poll is my question

has anyone checked out that Lone Star Lowlands one, from the Local Customs series? Looks like a good summer time beer-drinking back porch record.

yeah it's TIGHT

it's quite folksy, though. not quite the psych-y funk-y country-rock record i was initially hoping for.

how am i going to listen to all of these in a week to participate in the poll is my question

― the late great, Thursday, May 16, 2013 3:29 PM (28 minutes ago)

grooveshark?

well i have them all except nickel & penny, i just don't know if i have time

actually i don't have dynamic or omnibus or red black green either

those any good?

time, time, it's always the issue, they're getting practically as dusty in my cabinet as the og records

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2oY040bolk

A weekend of listening and Smart's Palace still has the edge but Dynamic and the two Deep City comps are creepin' up.

The Deep City ones are definitely great and I recently got the Red Green and Black one which was really enjoyable. But the Bandit comp is still my fave out of this series. It took me awhile to warm to it but it's pretty strong.

love Capsoul so much. soooooo much goodness. but i've probably neglected some of the more recent ones.

so what I'm getting out of this thread is that I should just get all of these, fuck. (already had Capsoul, Red Green and Black, and Deep City. picked up Nickel n Penny and that Phoenix one after thread started. Hesitated on pulling trigger on Twinight since it's more expensive than the rest, spending guilt had set in)

yeah they're all good

I'm going back through the Bandit comp for the first time in a while and fuck...it is SO GOOD.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Working the way through this series over the past week and surely Numero is considered among the best of the reissue labels on the strength of it. So many resonating, personal songs. But also a lot of awkward moments, not everything is a hit. A lot of Doo Wop-sounding groups that couldn't quite fit in with "the 60s." The odd Hendrix copycat. And lots of James Brown pastiche of course, all along the way. Have really enjoyed the competent early 70s Motown soundalikes (mostly on the Red Black +Green volume; probably my overall favorite so far).

Here's "It's a New Day" by the Sensations from the Way Out* volume:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lRykldErg

Put on a couple in a row -or maybe the 4+ hour Omnibus set- and it plays like an AM soul station from an alternate universe.

*released after this poll

Also posted on the Spotify playlist topic, so sorry for spam please tell me if not okay BUT I thought it may be relevant here too--

Working on a playlist of all the tracks featuring women lead vocalists. I overestimated my progress so it is very much still in the works, and yet still over 4 hours long. Shuffle recommended.

And to illustrate just how gargantuan this series is: some volumes feature only men vocalists.

Maybe my favorite thing from the whole series so far is "Remember Me" (1969) by the Trinikas, repping Oklahoma City:

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

It was the b-side of "Black is Beautiful." Indeed.

Okay, I'll stop spamming this topic now. Highly recommend the entire series. It's presently keeping me alive.

Working on a playlist of all the tracks featuring women lead vocalists. I overestimated my progress so it is very much still in the works, and yet still over 4 hours long. Shuffle recommended.

s'finished.

a couple things not licensed for streaming yet, but it's complete for what's on spotify. 6½ hrs long.

hard to rate the series overall, but the good moments are on par with the best of their more well known peers. such an incredible document of black america as well. feels more like folk music at times. not without fault, but highly recommended.

Thanks . Will try to check out some of your faves

Working on a playlist of all the tracks featuring women lead vocalists. I overestimated my progress so it is very much still in the works, and yet still over 4 hours long. Shuffle recommended.

― "Why is the voice of reason treated as the unreliable narrator?", asked (Austin), Saturday, July 9, 2022 9:03 PM

UPDATED

it's over 9 hours by now.👍🏻

getting to the more recent installments and it's business as usual here: motown+jb pastiches remain the status quo. ones to look out for include the more memphis-sounding shouters like j.jay+the dell tones on the cobra label or billy williams backed by consolidated productions. this stuff continues to prove its own endlessness.

oh here's a random song to accompany this revive and a slice of what you're in for should you choose to press play on the above link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auyvBY6dOWg
birdlegs+pauline ― "mist of a dream" (1964)