Conch Records
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
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 - Soul Cal (Funky Disco & Modern Soul 71-82) (NOW AGAIN)
Available here on CD+Book, here on 2LP+Book
SIDE A 1. Luther Davis: You Can Be A Star 2. UPC All Stars: Don’t Get Discouraged 3. Pure Essence: Wake Up 4. Anubis: Ecology SIDE B 5. Rhythm Machine: Put A Smile On Time 6. Ellis & Cephas: I’m Gonna Miss You Girl 7. Mixed Sugar: It’s A Bad Feeling 8. Mixed Feelings: Sha La La SIDE C 9. Keys & Clearly: What It Takes To Live 10. Leon Mitchison: Love Is 11. Clifford Nyren: Keep Running Away 12. Stanton Davis/Ghetto Mysticism: Things Cannot Stop Forever SIDE D 13. C. Henry Woods Troupe: The Stranger 14. Record Player: Free Your Mind 15. Freedom Express: Get DownThe Definitive Survey Of America's Best, Independent 70's Soul-Ensembles. 15 rare and unreleased funky disco and modern soul tracks from 1971-1982, including songs never issued on the long out-of-print Soul Cal 12" single series. The double gatefold LP is presented with a perfect bound 80 page book printed on 150 gsm uncoated paper stock. The book is filled with rare photos and each band’s story.
A decade in the making, Soul Cal is the definitive survey of America's best, independent, 70s soul-ensembles. Profiled within this album and book are the bands that transitioned from funk to disco, the bands that kept up the backbeat as rhythm moved to the backseat. Against the odds, they left recorded artifacts for we at Now-Again to dig out, dust off and restore. Collected here for the first time are the musical dreams of dozens, dreams that were deferred but were never discarded.
Soul Cal features some well-known figures from the various "soul" scenes that paved the way for their resurgence. The Northern Soul, Modern Soul and Deep Disco and Funk circles have all obsessed over the likes of Luther Davis, Rhythm Machine, Mixed Sugar and Record Player. But these and Soul Cal's other bands - many of whom managed only to release a solitary 7" single in their heyday - will be unknown to most.
Their obscurity notwithstanding, the music made by these bands is sure to strike a chord within the soul of any person taken by black American music from the latter half of the 20th century. In his long-running investigation into this flux-period in black American music, compiler and key researcher Eothen "Egon" Alapatt sought not only licenses, records and master tapes - but the stories and backdrops of these
majestic soul songs and the ensembles that created them.
It is due to the immense research that his investigation demanded - and the trove of information and music he unearthed - that we at Now-Again decided to present Soul Cal as an album and a book at the same time. Soul Cal's music is too good to be anonymously relaunched and a CD or LP booklet can only hold so much information. Simply telling the stories of these bands without unleashing their largely unheard music just seemed unfair. Thus, Soul Cal offers the enthused a chance to listen to, read about and reflect on this great burst of black American creativity in the decade after funk, the decade before hip-hop.
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