Organic Grooves Vinyl 377 Items

Recorded in 1955 for Tom Wilson’s Transition label, "Byrd’s Eye View" was Donald Byrd’s first issued album as a leader featuring the trumpeter at the helm of the line-up of The Jazz Messengers with Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins, and Art Blakey plus trumpeter Joe Gordon on several tracks. "Byrd’s Eye View" is the first of three reissues from the Transition catalogue that will be released as part of the Tone Poet series in 2023, presented in a single sleeve with a booklet.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Mono, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket. With Booklet.

It's September 1981 and it's matter of weeks away from the release of 'I'M A RAINBOW', the second album Donna Summer had recorded for Geffen Records, which had also been produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. At the time that the album was being recorded, the musical landscape had changed and production techniques were developing further. Geffen also wanted a more R&B-influenced album, despite the album having a more R&B feel than 'The Wanderer' had done. The songs and their lyrical content were very strong and Donna's voice had never sounded better, which was always a tough comparison against previous albums. A decision was taken by the label to withdraw 'I'M A RAINBOW' just prior to its release. David Geffen then brought-in Quincy Jones to produce the next new album; 1982's 'Donna Summer'. 'I'M A RAINBOW' was eventually issued in 1996, as an 18-track CD, without the usual fanfare that heralded a 'new' Donna Summer album. A few tracks were familiar to Donna and non-Donna fans, as they had been released in the early 1980s; 'Highway Runner' ("Fast Times At Ridgemont High" OST) and 'Romeo' ("Flashdance" OST). "Flashdance" also included the ballad 'Lady, Lady, Lady' which was performed by original Brooklyn Dreams singer Joe "Bean" Esposito, who appears on the duet 'I Believe (In You)'. Fast-forward 40 years and 'I'M A RAINBOW' receives a fresh coat of paint, giving credence to the songs' great lyrics and compositions that they richly deserved at the time. 'I'M A RAINBOW - RECOVERED & RECOLOURED' has been slimmed-down to a compact 10-track album and completely re-imagined by a host of international producers, from North AND South America, Europe and Scandinavia. Junior Vasquez, Le Flex, Figo Sound, Jean Tonique, Ladies On Mars and Oliver Nelson - who has just signed to Atlantic Records - have all added their touch. The album now has a thread running through it, with a sequence that sees the album open with the beautiful title track and builds throughout the album through soul and dance, ending with the high-octane 'girl power' statement track, 'Leave Me Alone [Ladies On Mars 'Independence' Remix]'. The lead single, 'I Believe (In You) [Figo Sound Version]', is released 25th June and it starts the four-month pre-release campaign, up until the album's release. This 2LP format also includes two radio edits and three extended mixes.

Soul, funk and rock recorded by US Army Servicemen during the height of the Vietnam War and released as a recruitment tool by the US Army as a recruitment tool. United States Army soldiers made the music contained on this album during the politically turbulent early 70s, towards the end of the Vietnam War. East of Underground was comprised of soldiers stationed in bases across Western Germany. While little is known about the band, the players, and the milieu they came from - other than what can be pieced together from a handful of photos and documents found in a box in the New York Public Library, and the vague recollections of some of those involved – we at Now-Again Records have worked diligently with the United States Army and researchers the country over to present this important document – and some damn good soul and funk music.

Reissue of Edson Natale’s genre-challenging masterpiece from 1990. The album combines traditional acoustic Brazilian music with ambient electronics, all the while maintaining a strong pop sensibility. The album features Mitar Subotić (Rex Ilusivii) alongside some of Brazil's finest players and vocalists. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a gatefold cover with the original Portugese lyrics and liner notes on the inside.

Truth & Soul is proud to be bringing back a classic two sider that has been long out of print.

In 2006, the slight buzz of a Brooklyn band called El Michels Affair started to sound a bit more like a swarm of killer bees when their instrumental rendition of Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” was released as a 7” vinyl single. The band’s namesake Leon Michels and his production partner Jeff Silverman dropped the single on their boutique label called Truth & Soul, and it created such commotion that it would spawn an entire album of Wu-based covers. In honor of the 15th anniversary of that LP— “Enter The 37th Chamber”—the single is now getting its first vinyl repress in years. “C.R.E.A.M.” is featured on Side A, with its prominent guitars and powerful horns complementing the signature baseline and unforgettable piano hook that practically defined an era of New York hip hop. The B-side “Glaciers of Ice” offers a deeper, melancholic interpretation of the hard-driving “Cuban Linx” banger, with a mood consistent to the A-side, as the drums take a comfortable backseat to the melodic guitars and punchy horn lines. Originally released in 2009, El Michels Affair’s “Enter The 37th Chamber” LP on Fat Beats Records is celebrating its 15th Anniversary in 2024.

Originally released on Fat Beats Records in 2009, El Michels Affair’s landmark album “Enter the 37th Chamber” is celebrating its 15th Anniversary in 2024. Featuring reinterpretations of hip hop anthems from the Wu-Tang Clan, the album took stripped-down, raw hip hop bangers and flipped them into richly-arranged instrumentals. Cover versions of tracks such as “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Can It All Be So Simple” instantly sounded as vintage as the records that RZA had sampled to create the originals, with the familiar melodies and driving rhythms elevated by expertly-arranged horns and strings. The gritty and bottom-heavy style of these analog recordings—dubbed “Cinematic Soul”—has been both widely celebrated and often imitated. El Michels Affair namesake Leon Michels has since gone on to produce for and collaborate with artists as diverse as Adele, Black Thought, Lana Del Rey, and The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z). Now 15 years from its initial release, “Enter the 37th Chamber” has proven to be one of the true classic instrumental albums of its era, every bit as enduring as the music it had meant to pay homage to.

Repress as black vinyl! The world moves faster than ever these days, and even in the digital age, things can always be counted on to go in cycles. Despite all of the advances in computer recording technology, home studios, and electronic instruments, there is a flourishing interest in analog recording techniques and in recreating the mood and sound of vintage soul records. With one foot in the past but their eyes firmly set on the future, El Michels Affair are among the leaders of a resurgent funk & soul movement from New York City that’s sweeping both the music community and the charts.

Led by saxophonist/organist Leon Michels and producer/engineer Jeff Silverman, El Michels Affair began as a loose collaboration of session musicians (including members of top-selling acts Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, the Budos Band, and Antibalas) that looked to blend some of the vibrant quality of soundtrack records with the recording aesthetic of early reggae, and the rawness of 60's rock--they called it 'Cinematic Soul.' This delicate balance was evident on their 2005 debut album Sounding Out the City, which earned critical acclaim and acted as the inaugural full-length release for Michels and Silverman’s burgeoning label Truth & Soul (also the moniker for the duo as a production team).

The buzz generated from the album and a series of moderately successful 7” vinyl singles from Truth & Soul led to an invitation by Toyota’s Scion division for El Michels Affair to accompany the rapper Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan for a promotional concert. As avid Wu-Tang fans, not only were the band leaders thrilled with the opportunity, but Michels found that the ‘Cinematic Soul’ sound was consistent with the moods of RZA’s gritty soundscapes on the classic Wu-Tang releases. The concert was such as success, El Michels Affair went oan to play several more concerts nationwide backing Raekwon and other members of the Clan, and the shows led to the recording of two smash 7” singles featuring instrumental reinterpretations of the Wu-Tang classiac songs “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Bring Da Ruckus.” The singles combined to sell an extraordinary amount of over 7,000 units worldwide, and their success led to a contract in 2007 with indie hip hop powerhouse Fat Beats Records to record an entire album of Wu-Tang Clan interpolations entitled Enter the 37th Chamber.

Since the contract was inked, a worldwide explosion of retro soul led by Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings has transformed the pop music landscape, and the Truth & Soul production duo have been in strong demand, recording with everyone from breakthrough Grammy-nominated artist Adele to punk rock innovator Iggy Pop. They’ve been commissioned for official remixes of Amy Winehouse and Dinah Washington (for the popular Verve Remixed series), and produced for Australian multi-platinum acts Jet and Gabriella Cilmi.

Despite the eclectic group of clients for the Truth & Soul production company, El Michels Affair continued to build an audience within the hip hop community. A track from Sounding out the City was sampled for Ghostface Killah’s 2007 track “Shakey Dog Lolita,” and a horn part written and performed by Michels (for Menahan Street Band) was famously lifted for Jay-Z’s smash single “Roc Boys.” Truth & Soul also worked in the studio on original productions with multi-platinum producer Just Blaze (T.I.’s “Live Your Life,” Jay-Z, Usher).

With their increasing presence behind the scenes in the industry, El Michels Affair looks to have their status as recording artists rise significantly in 2009. With the release of their finally-completed album Enter the 37th Chamber, they can finally step out of the shadows of the retro-soul trend and establish their status as one of the most exciting and versatile bands in modern recorded music.

Over 10 years ago, Leon Michels released his first full length record, Sounding Out The City. It was Michels' first full length record under
the moniker El Michels Affair. At the time, the budding retro soul scene consisted of mostly organ quartets a la The Meters and of course,
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings were in the early days of their ascent to world domination.
Leon Michels, who was 18 when recording Sounding Out The City began, had just released Thunder Chicken, the first record by his high
school band The Mighty Imperials. At the time of SOTC, Michels was just discovering early rocksteady, afrobeat, and 60's garage rock,
which inevitably crept its way into the songwriting. He purchased a Tascam 388, an 80's 1/4" reel to reel 8 track intended for home
recordings, and began recording music in a 10x10 box with no windows that also doubled as his childhood bedroom. Along with fellow
Mighty Imperials Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Sean Solomon, and Michael Leonhart, Thomas Brenneck, and some of the
musicians from The Dap Kings, Michels recorded the LP over a two year period.
Upon it's release, it received some rave reviews and the small deep funk community ate it up, but due to the lack luster promotion and
distribution the rest of the world was slow to catch on to the instrumental gems featured on SOTC, which Michels appropriately labeled
as "cinematic soul". However, in 2005 it found it's way into the hands of the people who were organizing a series of concerts for Scion
that paired bands with MC's. El Michels Affair was contacted about playing one show with Raekwon The Chef of Wu Tang Clan fame. The
show was such a success it led to a tour, and then to another set of concerts that featured multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. This
eventually led to the release of El Michels Affair's second record, "Enter the 37th Chamber" which introduced them to a much larger
audience and has been their most successful release to date.
Michels has since gone on to produce and co-produce numerous records for powerhouse soul artists like Lee Fields. He shares
songwriting credits with Adele, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, and has played on records by Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, The
Black Keys and Dr. John.

the producer for the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Dudley Perkins, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Guilty Simpson and Wildchild steps out with his family of London-based singers

Baduizm is the 1997 debut album by neo soul singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. The album won numerous accolades including winning awards for "On & On" and a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998. Baduizm's success earned Erykah Badu popularity at the time and helped establish her as one of the emerging neo soul genre's leading artists. Recording sessions for the album took place during January to October 1996 at Battery Studios in New York City, Sigma Sounds and Ivory Studios in Philadelphia, and Dallas Sound Lab in Dallas.

Mama's Gun is the second studio album by Neo Soul singer Erykah Badu, released in 2000. Covering themes of insecurity, social issues and personal relationships, Badu delivered a highly intimate and personal album that reached Platinum two months after its release.

180g vinyl.

Finally, back on wax!
Double purple colored vinyl LP pressing. This is the first of a three-part series of acclaimed records by Erykah Badu where she explores a post-Civil Rights landscape in which African Americans have been left to sort out how to have a cultural identity as part of a nation that had, up until very recently, been a dedicated adversary. Originally released in 2008, it features the singles "Soldier," "The Healer," and "Honey."

For the first time on vinyl!

1st studio produced album by the New Zealand group from 2005. The album utilized the band's trademark dub, reggae, soul and funk influenced sound, and has been successful both in terms of sales and of critical reception. 7 times platinum in New Zealand!