What in the hell is country funk you ask? The answer is a complicated one, in part due to the fact that Country Funk is an inherently defiant genre, escaping all efforts at easy categorization. The style encompasses the elation of gospel with the sexual thrust of the blues, country hoedown harmony with inner city grit. It is alternately playful and melancholic, slow jammin’, and booty shakin’. It is both studio slick and barroom raw. And while these all may seem unlikely combinations at first glance, upon close listen, it all makes sweet sense. Light In The Attic presents Country Funk 1969-1975, a melting pot concoction of the music of Dale Hawkins, John Randolph Marr, Cherokee, Johnny Adams, Mac Davis, Bob Darin, Jim Ford, Gray Fox, Link Wray, Bobby Charles, Tony Joe White, Dennis The Fox, Larry Jon Wilson, Bobbie Gentry, Gritz, and Johnny Jenkins.

Featuring extensive liner notes by Jessica Hundley (MOJO, The New York Times, Vogue), original album/label artwork, and new illustrations by Jess Rotter (JessRotter.com, Rotter & Friends), this down home package is not only a treat for the ears, but a feast for the eyes. Think of this as a fantasyland where the Josie-era Meters back young Elvis singing Kris Kristofferson-penned slices of rustic American life and you’ll begin to understand the country funk vibe. It’s from the swamp to the city and all points in between.

All tracks newly re-mastered
Features rare cuts by Bob Darin, Gray Fox, Dennis The Fox, Cherokee, Gritz and more
2xLP housed in a deluxe Stoughton “Tip-On” jacket with liner notes insert, along with Jess Rotter’s illustrations
CD with 24-page booklet with liner notes plus Jess Rotter’s illustrations

UPCOMING: Kid Koala - 12 Bit Blues (NINJA TUNE)

Written By 1 - August 03 2012

Due out Sept 2012 on CD or 2LP+MP3, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

As a real, genuine kid, long before he became Kid Koala, Eric San wanted an E-mu SP-1200 sampler– the Ark of the Covenent of hip hop production, used by his idols and heroes and imbued with legendary, almost supernatural, audio powers by rap aficionados worldwide. Unfortunately, he worked out he would have to deliver around eight million newspapers to buy one. Now, having hit his thirties, Eric finally has the machine he always craved.

Of course, music production has largely moved on, so Eric began working out what he could do with it - a kind of reverse engineering back to his childhood self. A little mucking around and it came to him – the blues was always about stripping music back to its bare essentials, which is exactly what the SP1200 does, too. Over three days he cut up and reassembled the bed tracks for “12 Bit Blues.” No sequencing software was used. Using the pads on the machine and a multitrack, Eric played each part of the tracks in real time, before finally returning and adding cuts over the top. The result is a really raw, immediate and strangely beautiful album, much like the music it draws on for its inspiration. In attempting to outplay and out-think the technology he is working with he revives the unworldly oddness of blues music before it became a staple of beer adverts and the jam-fantasies of middle aged marketing executives. This is the music, ripped and scratched and distressed until all those souls sold down the crossroads rise up and send shivers down your spine. It’s that real and, yes, that made up.

UPCOMING: Various - Private Wax - Super Rare Boogie & Disco (BBE)

Written By 1 - July 16 2012

Due out late August 2012 on 2LP & CD, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

Zafsmusic.com continues to bring you the rarest disco & boogie bangers with his new compilation titled "Private Wax" Vol 1. 15 scintillating excursions into the deep disco & boogie world of privately pressed & produced gems. Zaf Zafsmusic is a disco weasel of the highest order. He has, by his own admission, got it bad--losing sleep and suffering physical maladies from the want of certain must-have pieces of stamped vinyl. Fortunately, he also has excellent taste and a lengthy history of wheeling and dealing with other similarly afflicted individuals, a history that has allowed him to sift the wheat from the crap, err, chaff, as it were. As a long-time staffer of the notorious Reckless Records on Berwick Street, a hotbed of vinyl commerce in the Soho section of London, these skills were no doubt put to the test on a daily basis when dealing with the continuous influx of hustlers hoping to offload their by-and-large worthless wax at the shop. Faced with this parade of the common and shoddy, it takes a keen eye to single out the precious stones buried in the seemingly endless expanse of decent-but-ordinary (not to mention the middling-to-awful) records that comprise most collections. Our stalwart selector has also travelled an even more treacherous terrain: the world of online sellers. Without recounting any gory digital battle stories, suffice it to say that the online world inhabited by some vinyl obsessives is a rather scary place. It is without any sarcasm that I offer my sincere gratitude to Zaf for the yeoman's work he has put in discovering the tunes herein. So, while I still encourage all neophyte disco enthusiasts to get themselves a firm grounding in the classics before attempting to swim in the uncharted waters of small-label, independent releases, if you are ready to do so then Zaf is your man. Like some ancient mariner of disco, with this collection he has artfully navigated from haven to haven, avoiding the immense Sargasso Seas of mediocrity that threaten to bog down the adventurous record digger. Take, for example, "Smooth Talk" by Mr. Fox. A deservedly scarce early rap tune (the vocal is not going to give Melle Mel a run for his money) that unexpectedly reveals a mesmerizing instrumental groove on the flip side, it is a "Party Track" indeed. Another perfect party track is the offering from Special Touch, a midtempo sureshot that in this case has just the right amount of rap to work. Gregory Jolly's sassy "What'Em Doing Is My Business" takes its bass line inspiration from James Brown, and turns it into a slap- happy, southern-fried sizzler. And I defy anyone to turn their nose up at Chuck Strong's delicious take on the Willie Hutch penned boogie standard made famous by Gwen McRae, "Doin' It." If something more uptempo is your speed, try the frantic "Freex" -- which Zaf gives us in the preferred 7-inch version. The selections even touch on early house music, via the Mickey "Mixin'" Oliver (one- fifth of Chicago's legendary Hot Mix 5 DJ crew) version of 94 East's "If You Feel Like Dancin'." Especially enchanting is the virtually unknown Philadelphia Brite, whose "Never Leave Me And I'll Never Leave You" marries its sweet sentiment with an absolutely titanic mid-song disco break. But enough of the song-by-song breakd wn, Zaf has done a fine job of that already. Taken as a whole, this compilation is perfect party material, filled with feel-good tunes that take things back to that simple love of music that enticed us all in the first place. Zaf deserves our thanks for making his private wax public. Tracklisting & Soundclips: 1.Ashanti - Dance 2.Christian Gaubert - Sweet Maryline 3.Poncho C. Saint Fingers - When I Come Knocking 4.Contagious - Music Freak (12" Mix) 5.Mr Fox - Party Track 6.Pure Love - D.I.S.C.O. Spells Love 7.Gregory Jolly - What'em Doing Is My Business 8.Jeancy - Reservation (CD Only) 9.Yohon - Fly With Me (CD Only) 10. 94 East - If You Feel Like Dancin (Dance Version) 11. Special Touch - This Party's Just For You (12" Extended Version) 12. Philadelphia Brite - Never Leave Me and I'll Never Leave You 13. Aura - Freex (7" Mix) 14. Chuck Strong - Doin' It Cause It Feels Good 15. Leprechaun - There's No End To Our Love 16. Soseme Makonde - Manzara (CD Only)

Various - Best of Perception & Today Records (BBE)

Written By 1 - June 21 2012

Available on 2LP Pt. A Here, 2LP Pt. B Here & 2xCD Here

Perception Productions, a New York based label that ran from the late 60s through until 1974, was a strangely eclectic affair. Its roster stretched from a radical Afro-American poet through to the pop band King Harvest whose hit 'Dancing In The Moonlight' became a massive hit for the UK band Toploader a couple of decades later. The inbetween points covered jazz, funk, vocal harmony soul and proto-disco. In fact distilled down into this compilation the label provides us a view of Manhattan’s black music scene of the period, from the established greats to the fresh young things who would make their mark in the coming years.

When they started up the label their initial signings suggested that the black high arts were their true love. The first year saw Shirley Horn, James Moody and the most famous of them all Dizzy Gillespie signed in quick succession. Gillespie is one of African-American music's most important figures, who in the 1940s alongside Charlie Parker figureheaded the revolutionary changes in jazz that were labeled Bebop. By the early 70s jazz was going through a tough period and it may have occurred to Phillips and Frazier that if their labels were going to survive they needed to diversify, however their jazz leanings continued throughout the label's time. Organist Julius Brockington was a young talent and a typical leader of an organ combo, the most popular format for the jazz clubs in the Black neighbourhoods of the day. His records are in not especially sophisticated, in some ways the music is organ funk or RnB, rather than jazz, as can be seen on this frantic cover version of Aretha Franklin's 'Rocksteady'.

When they stepped into the soul and funk arena Perception / Today really found their feet through two people in particular Bill Curtis from the Fatback Band and a young producer called Patrick Adams. The Harlem born Adams was just into his twenties when he began working for the label and he proved incredibly versatile. With Jon Bartel he produced funk rock which was clearly being aimed the same audience that was propelling Motown's group Rare Earth to the top of the charts.

His greatest moments at the label came with Black Ivory which was the group that also first introduced the musical world to the genius of Leroy Burgess. Both Burgess and Adams are today lauded as some of the most important figures in the history of dance music, Adams with his songwriting and productions on his own P&P label and for scores of others. Burgess as a performer - often with Adams - and also as a songwriter and producer.

The Fatback Band's history is very much that of how street funk developed in New York. Bill Curtis had been in New York since the early 50s, and had been an on the road drummer who had played behind all the big stars of the time either on tours that travelled around the country or as part of the legendary Apollo Theatre's house band. By the late 60s he was working out of Queens, providing bands for all sorts of events from club gigs to weddings, from covering chart hits to playing calypso. He also had his own label for which he provided the main band, known after the label - and Bill's drumming style - as The Fatback Band. Tiring of never being paid as an independent label he decided to hand that task over to someone else and signed to Perception in 1971.

When Perception closed its doors in 1974 it had been producing records for nearly 5 years. It's left behind a legacy of great soul, funk and jazz which is contained within the compilation.

TRACKLISTING: Part A / CD1 :

01	The Eight Minutes	I Can't Get No Higher	clip
02	Adam Wade & Johnny Pate	Brother (Title)	clip
03	JJ Barnes	You Owe It To Yourself	clip
04	Debbie Taylor	Too Sad To Tell	clip
05	Joe Thomas	Chitlins & Cuchifritos	clip
06	The Fatback Band	Njia (Nija) Walk	clip
07	Bartel	Naturally Good	clip
08	Madhouse	Get Some Of This	clip
09	Astrud Gilberto	Gingele	clip
10	The Albert	One Life	clip
11	Bobby Rydell	Honey Buns	clip
12	Black Ivory	You And I	clip
13	The Eight Minutes	Take My Love Don't Set Me Free	clip
14	Wanda Robinson	Instant Replay	clip

Part B CD2:

01	Bartel	Boogie	clip
02	Dizzy Gillespie	Alligator	clip
03	Julius Brockington	Rock Steady	clip
04	Tyrone Washington	Submission	clip
05	Joe Thomas	Every Brother Ain't A Brother	clip
06	Bartel	You've Just Been Bitten	clip
07	Black Ivory	Surrender	clip
08	The Eight Minutes	Find The One Who Loves You	clip
09	James Moody	Heritage Hum	clip
10	J.J. Barnes	Wishful Thinking	clip
11	The Eight Minutes	Looking For A Brand New Game	clip
12	Wanda Robinson	A Possibility (Back Home)	clip

Visioneers - Hipology 2LP (BBE)

Written By 1 - June 13 2012

Available on 2LP Here

Marc Mac is one of a rare breed of producers who moves smoothly between different genres flitting between pseudonyms while leaving a trail of quintessential releases. Straight outta Dollis Hill London Marc Mac is one half of the legendary outfit 4hero and also founder member of Reinforced Records a label positioned at the cornerstone of early electronic music in the UK. In the late 90's Marc signed to Gilles Peterson's Talking Loud Records with his group 4hero comprising of himself & Dego (2000Black), they went on to produce 2 great albums with Talking Loud the Award winning 'Two Pages' & 'Creating Patterns'. 4hero then went on to set up their new label where they released the critically acclaimed 'Play With The Changes' and most recent 'Extensions'. Somewhere in this timeline, between producing music for Jill Scott to Roy Ayers, Phonte to Terry Callier, Marc started another project called Visioneers releasing a set of limited 7" singles getting the attention of some the top eclectic DJ's including Jazzy Jeff, Kenny Dope, Gilles Peterson & Norman Jay. Visioneers was then picked up by BBE records who released the debut album 'Dirty Old Hip Hop' with great success. Following on from the success of 'Dirty Old Hip Hop' Marc returns with a new Visioneers record Hipology. "Hipology is a collage of some of my personal influences as a DJ/Producer growing up listening to Hip Hop, a real eclectic mix of Breaks, Beats, Soul, Jazz, and freaky squeaks and not a sampler in sight. Visioneers is about revisiting my love for Hip Hop, What is was and what it is, the musical influences and the culture...". Hipology will be released on BBE records late spring and features guest spots from John Robinson, TRAC & Baron, Notes to Self, Luke Parkhouse & The Ariya Horns. TRACKLISTING: A1. Dial In A2. Back In Time A3. Come And Play In The Milky Night A4. Ice Cream On My Kicks B1. Shine (feat John Robinson & Jimetta) B2. Oil & Water (feat Notes To Self) B3. Funky Fanfare C1. Shaft In Africa C2. Jungle Green Outlines C3. Apache (Battle Dub) D1. Swahililand D2. LuAnne From Harlem D3. Rocket Man (Afrolatin Joint)

115A Ponsonby Road Auckland, New Zealand ph: +64 9 360-1999

Conch Records

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Various - Country Funk 1969-1975 (LIGHT IN THE ATTIC)

Available here on 2LP, here on CD

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UPCOMING: Kid Koala - 12 Bit Blues (NINJA TUNE)

Due out Sept 2012 on CD or 2LP+MP3, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

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UPCOMING: Various - Private Wax - Super Rare Boogie & Disco (BBE)

Due out late August 2012 on 2LP & CD, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

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Various - Best of Perception & Today Records (BBE)

Available on 2LP Pt. A Here, 2LP Pt. B Here & 2xCD Here

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Visioneers - Hipology 2LP (BBE)

Available on 2LP Here

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