Numero Heads Way Out For Eccentric Soul

Another day, another stellar compilation from Numero. This time around, we're not in the Capital City but we're still Way Out! For this latest compilation the fine folks at Numero uncovered a ton of blinding soul burners from Cleveland's home of soul: Way Out Recordings. Fueled in part by Jim Brown the label offered rogue soul men, rust belt vocal ensembles and trial by fire producers a home and a place to record. Sure the recordings coming out of the label were rough but they were pure and stunning none the less.

As the liner notes say, all sorts of people and groups were beckoned to the wrong side of the tracks to mint masterpieces for the Sensations, Volcanic Eruption and a handful of others. Spread out over three LP's or two CD's this retrospective once again proves that good soul music can come from anywhere as long as it's honest. Way Out were a special label and it's hard to find fault with any of the 40 tracks on this compilation. This is deep 60's soul that's like a Northern Soul collectors dream come true. So many great tracks are spread throughout this compilation and the rebel spirit that went into making each of these songs make this yet another essential Eccentric collection. Way Out wasn't Motown and didn't want to be, it was it's own unique take on soul music and the treasures Numero have unearthed are priceless.

The musicianship on this set is top notch, the vocals are emotional, the hooks are huge and the ballads are stirring across the board. It's hit after hit here and no matter the group or vocalist you're guaranteed a tune of fantastic quality to rival the big boys. Numero packages all that classicism in gorgeous artwork and includes a 7000 word dissertation on the label. That alone says all you need to know about how good and how important Way Out really was. Essential stuff.

Numero Finds Capital City Soul

While Numero have extended their reach at finding deserving unheard of classics from genre's far and wide, what the label does best is find soul records that are just as good as anything Motown or Stax released but never got their due. They find them, polish the things up, dress them up and take them to the big dance. Their track record is simply stunning and the latest of their Eccentric Soul series comes to us from Capital City Soul.

The story of Capital City Soul is that it emerged out of the remnants of Capsoul and are separated from them by no more than one degree. It was that close of a relationship and the puzzle that began with Capsoul was put together by Capital City; it's history was found on air checks, buried in closets and other locations and thanks to the relationship that Numero developed with the folks associated with their Eccentric Soul: Capsoul album this latest edition came to fruition. As always this twenty song collection is a labor of love restored to perfection. The research, the love, the meticulous attention to detail is all here. They do such a good job at restoration that it will leave you thinking that there's so much classic soul music out there that no one has ever heard. Records like this, remind us of the influence that not only Motown & Stax had but soul music in general no matter where you looked. This music was inspirational and moving and no matter where you went, there were/are labels like Capsoul and stuff on Capital City Soul that created this musical magic.

Capital City Soul is just about perfect. From lovelorn ballads to floor burning movers this compilation has it all. There's so much material that's amazing, it's like a Northern Soul slice of heaven. Really, Numero is so consistent at finding this stuff and restoring it to fantastic shape it's a crate diggers dream come true. Featuring otherwise unreleased songs from the Kool Blues, the Four Mints, Jupiter’s Release, and Love Maximum, alongside rare sides by Dean Francis & the Soul Rockers, the Chandlers, Associated Press, the Soul Partners, and the Vondors it's an endless collection of cool. You've probably never heard of any of the groups and that doesn't matter because Eccentric Soul: Capital City Soul is essential stuff for anyone who loved(loves) the sound of the 60's.

Numero Unearths Red Black Green Productions

I've gone on and on about how Numero Records are awesome at what they do and how they lovingly search out, find, and restore records that need to be preserved. There's no one better at finding obscurities and bringing them to the light of day than Numero. And as per usual they've done it again. Their latest collection A Red Black Green Production is an astonishing array of classic quiet storm like tracks and stirring soul numbers that no one outside of the label has probably ever heard.

Taken from the District of Columbia the compilation focuses on the efforts of Robert Jose Williams and how he picked up the torch of the then defunct Shrine Records and made it all his own as A Red Black Green Production. The compilation is a beautiful array of passion, love, and heart and that's just the lyrics. Featuring 19 tracks or so, the compilation covers all its bases and includes artists as diverse as Father's Children, Skip Mahoney & The Casuals, East Coast Connection, and Promise. Artists that no one outside of the Beltway ever heard but nonetheless had the chops to make it big time they just never did. This is essentially the late 60's early 70's Motown sound found smack dab in the middle of the Capital an no one even knew.

While the quiet storm-like numbers tend to wear thin on fans of upbeat soul, like me, when the record finds its funky heart it truly excels. Check out the Summits, "Sleepwalking," for some funky love that Kool and the Gang would kill for 15 years later. This record has it all and as per usual has been painstakingly given the respect it deserves. Whether it's a night of passion or a slow dance at the club, A Red Black Green Production truly delivers it all in soulful fashion. This is the kind of record The Ladies Man would have playing in his boudoir with a glass of Courvoisier in hand to seduce his lady friends. And my guess is that it would work.

Codeine Gets The Numero Treatement

What more can you really say about Codeine that hasn't already been said over the course of their three album career and the decades since then. They pretty much invented sadcore, became one of the more influential bands on Sub Pop, and then called it quits before it all got too boring. As time moves on so do record labels and these precious documents of the band slowly slid away into the dark recesses of pop history. But now, thanks to the fine folks at Numero, they're back and all three of Codeine’s albums have been restored to their proper place in the pop canon.

Gathered together under the name of When I See the Sun, Numero has pieced together all three albums into one deluxe two LP+CD or Box set. It's epic stuff and some of the most depressingly essential recordings ever put to tape. Needless to say, we're glad that Numero took a break from releasing soul records to put this out and they deserve kudos for taking the time to make it so perfect. This is an awesome set that leaves nothing out and preserves the classic nature of all three albums: Frigid Stars, White Birch, and Barely Real. In addition, each album has been restored and is accompanied with a ton of bonus material including singles, demos, live recordings and even Peel Sessions.

This stuff is so good and so ahead of it's time that it will leave you in tears. As if to prove the point Codeine's cover of Joy Division's, "Atmosphere," is even more depressingly beautiful than the original and would probably make Ian weep. This is a set to fall in love to, it's something to treasure and it's and most importantly a document from era long since past. If you ever wanted to know where bands like Low got their start from...just listen to these records. Absolutely essential, When I See the Sun is easily one of the best re-issues of the year.

Time To Get Vintage With Electronic Soul

Before there was electronic dance music, before house ruled the warehouses of Chicago and New York there was electronic soul. It was synthesized technology at its finest and from 1974 through 1984 it was a time for experimentation, playing with new toys and unbeknownst to everyone laying down the template for everything that would follow in its footsteps. Thanks to Chocolate Industries, they've gathered up a smattering of these fantastic vintage tunes and compiled them in their latest compilation Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984.

Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 is so raw, so pure and honest you can almost hear the ideas coming to life on every one of these songs. They're not the sparkling productions that we associate with today's soul and dance but rough, under produced songs that were out to try new things and test the limitations of the technology and the listener. Honestly, about half the songs here aren't that great but the other half are cool, original, and groovy. Synths gurgle along to solid basslines and subtle notes of funk run through each tune as various vocalists attempt to lay it down with varying degrees of swagger. At times sounding like long lost Isaac Hayes tunes and at others sounding like Radio Shack Electronic Experiment Kits, Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 is a fascinating glimpse back at how electronics began to take more and more of a role in getting people to boogie.

Good, bad, and ugly it's all worth listening to here and you can't help but respect every track gathered on Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 because all played a part in the development of the genres we hold dear today. Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 is the sort of record that no discerning fan of soul, funk, r&b, or electronica should be without. This is a historical document that features seventeen important tracks that more than likely got your parents to dance long before you were born!

Numero Records Releases More Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels

Numero Records are easily the coolest reissue label in the world. Rooting around the basements and recording studios like the cast of American Pickers these guys fine music that's important but forgotten about. Through research and painstaking restoration the label brings to light and to the forefront these lost classics for everyone to enjoy. Their latest release in their Eccentric Soul series is the Nickel and Penny Labels.

Composed of twenty four tracks, Nickel and Penny Labels represents a lot of work, a lot of music, and a lot of fantastic soul music that very few people outside of Chicago ever got to hear. Nickel and Penny Labels is downright amazing and is packed to the gills with Northern Soul sounds, classic soul grooves, and enough melodies to last a lifetime. From girl groups to crooners it's all her and it's sparkly, restored and sounds brand new.

Founded by Richard Pegue, the Nickel and Penny Labels featured here are twin sides of the same eccentric coin, Pegue himself. He was the writer, arranger, and producer of so many potential classics it's nearly impossible to keep track of. The problem with Pegue's work is that all the records went out of print weeks after being released. Such is the life of the small independent label in the 60's and 70's but that's where Numero comes in. Preserving Pegue's legacy as a true talent who could do it all; from writing a soul hit to corny jingles.

From the girl groups harmonies of Voices' "Fall In Love Again," to the floor filling potential Wigan Pier classic, "You Are My Sunshine," by Jerry Townes Nickel and Penny Labels truly has it all. Nickel and Penny Labels is soul music and classic soul music at that. If you love the Motown Sound and Stax Records you owe it to yourself to listen to these brilliant tunes. This is the sound of Chicago Soul and it's bloody brilliant.

Numero Group Rescues Rare Records

Numero Group is one of the most important record labels on the planet today. If you've not heard of this label then you are seriously doing your ears a disservice. Digging through crates, garages, old record stores and just about anywhere else classic recordings might be buried this label painstakingly searches the country for the best music no one has ever heard of and then restores it to it's original like new condition and re-issues it for the world to hear. Covering just about every genre on the planet, the label has issued tons of classic soul, garage rock, power pop, breaks, and ephemera over 34+ albums, singles, and posters. They are truly awesome at what they do and every release is given an amount of tender loving care that it deserves. As a result of this, they've turned obscure records that five people have heard into works of art that the entire world needs to hear.

Here now, are a rundown of the latest group of releases from this essential label. There isn't a duff record in this bunch and you probably should just visit their website, plop down about $200 and buy every single one of these releases not because I said so but because they're just that good no matter how obscure and unheard of, any of these artists are. Good things are often found in the strangest places and the Numero Group proves that over and over again.

First up is the It's All POP!(Numero 024) compilation featuring the eight releases from Titan! Records. From 78-81 the label quietly amassed a stable of artists who recorded power pop that could quite easily have rivaled Elvis Costello or anything on the Stiff Records label and yet because of the fact that they were based in the Midwest no one east or west of the Mississippi ever heard any of these records. Armed with a truck load of melodic guitar work, plenty of piano, emotional singing, and choruses the size of the region itself, the eight bands that make up this compilation; Secrets*, Gary Charlson, Boys, JP McClain & the Intruders, Millionaire At Midnight, Arlis, Bobby Sky, and Scott McCarl should have all had huge hits in the early 80's. But, alas, being stuck in Missouri doesn't exactly help your cause when everything is happening either in New York, LA, or London. In any case, the double disc set that makes up this compilation is packed to the gills with simply stupendous pop music that should have crowded the airwaves with jumpy jaunty pop tunes that were dressed in skinny ties and Members Only jackets. This is the sound of rock and roll that was raised on bubble gum and the radio and nearly thirty years after their initial releases people from around the world can finally see that Missouri was quite the hot bed of musical activity.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum comes the Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes(Numero 028) anthology which compiles seventeen rarely heard or seen singer/songwriter/folk musicians and allows them to strum their guts out all in one convenient location. While I generally can't stand this stuff there are some real gems scattered across this record which sound unbelievably good. As if to prove the point, former Buffalo Sabres' player Jim Schoenfeld strikes gold. His tune, "Before," is a haunting dirge that sounds like the coolest nightmare ever put to tape; it's like shoegazing 20 years before the genre was invented and clearly proves that there are diamonds in the rough no matter where you look. From there, there are a few other tunes that illustrate how prevalent and good folk music was thirty years ago. While nowadays it seems as though everyone with an acoustic guitar is a singer/songwriter, back then it seems as though having a huge heart and the songs to match were a pre-requisite. Richard Smyrnios', "As I Walk," is a multi-instrumental tune that features flutes and brings to mind spring breezes and time for meditation. It's a nice tune that offers so much more than just an acoustic guitar. And to some degree that's what most of Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes does, brings something more to the table than a bog standard folk tune. Packaged with mini-bios of each artist and the story of how the record came to be, listening to Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes is like a lesson in underground folk...just check out the Tucker Zimmerman story for a fine example of international musical intrigue.

Going even further back in time is Pisces and their album A Lovely Sight (Numero 29). Decked out in cowboy hats, top hats, and scuba gear this Illinois band took the template the Beatles created with Revolver and turned it on its head. Taking a psychedelic trip down the rock and roll highway the band created a magical world of folk-rock, and prog pop tunes that couldn't be more 60's if it tried. A Lovely Sightis a magic carpet ride of wide eyed suburban kids lost on Haight and Ashbury and completely off their heads. This is paisley pop before there was such a thing and so many of the songs teeter on the verge of self-destruction that it's amazing the record was ever completed. But here it is, in all it's glory and had Pisces actually gotten to San Francisco one can't help but wonder what would have happened. Trippy stuff that looks like the Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band and sounds like the Velvet Underground on magic mushrooms, Pisces were a band destined for big things but never quite got there. This is a band who were a bit ahead of the curve, pretty darn creative to boot and had no problem with putting female vocals, strange sounds, dead air, multi-part vocals, multi-tracked sounds and lord only knows what else to create an intriguing album of melodic psychedelic folk pop. Pisces are the best band you've never heard from Rockford, Illinois and probably ever will.

Getting funky for jesus is what Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero 30) is all about. Whether your Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or Atheist, funk is the universal language of the groove and it's something that we can all agree on is good for the soul. The artists that make up Good God! Born Again Funk know this and bring it back to church in the name of the Lord. The eighteen tracks that make up this record are chock full of 70's funk, bell bottoms, wah wah guitars, fuzzed out basslines, and enough soul in their soul to find their way to heaven. This is one funky record that makes no bones about it's religion but is so darn groove oriented that whether or not your religious is irrelevant when getting down to this compilation. Good God! Born Again Funk gets started early on TL Barrett's, "Like A Ship," and brings it home with Justin Austin's "I'll Take Jesus for Mine," with the odd soulful ballad in between. If this record were put out on Stax in 1973 this would have sold by the truckload but as fate would have itt, these songs remained confined to the artists and churches that blessed them with their presence. This is the sound of soulful funk and if two things are apparent after listening to Good God! Born Again Funk it's that one, love is love no matter if its for your significant other or Jesus and two, you got to find a church that gets down like this record does. Essential stuff for everyone no matter what your belief system.

Wrapping up this epic quest of rare and reissued tuneage is Eccentric Beats and Breakswhich is essentially a bootleg of a bootleg of a reissue. Originally re-released then bootlegged by someone else and then bootlegged by Numero bootlegging their own recording, this classic instrumental breaks record is the very definition of "da funk." In fact, this record is so funky and packed tightly with so many grooves you can almost hear the samples jumping off of it and into like 50 or so Top 40 hip hop/big beat/dance tunes waiting to be finished. This record is an epic, filled with tunes that no one outside of the artists who made them have ever heard and that's what makes these grooves golden...they're so rare and so virginal they're just dying to be sampled or as the case were...bootlegged. Broken up into two sides or two tracks, Eccentric Beats and Breaksis the sort of record that would give crate diggers a heart attack and make someone like DJ Shadow lose his head...it's like stumbling upon a Picasso at a thrift store...that's how rare this stuff is. This is a unheard goldmine and it's cheesy cover hides the treasures that await you and your sampler once you crack it open. I'm not sure who any of the artists are, but the tracks are seriously fantastic instrumental break beat gold.

So there you have it, the latest crop of releases from one of the most important labels on the planet. Visit, www.numerogroup.com and order it all.