Light In The Attic: can they do no wrong?

Also I thought the Free Design remixes were ill advised, and suffered even more from the execution.

Other than that, righty on.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00020H8IK.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

sphincter?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q04J1E73HXk

This Jim Sullivan U.F.O record is freaking me out.
I just bought a cd from the light in the attic webstore, guess the lp is sold out.
So I decided to pick up Harlan County and the Bernard Purdie skin flick soundtrack.
Sunday morning websplurge.

lee hazlewood thang they put out recently is fabulous too. still need to get the UFO record! liked what I heard.

This new Country Funk comp is so sweet.

yeah that looks great, i made a comp along the same lines a couple years ago, but LITA's seems much better.

other LITA release that deserves mention -- the amazing Kristofferson demos set from a few years back.

Do you have a link to your comp tyler? Curious to see what you would've put on there.

the country funk looks good! i have most of that stuff already, but it'll be a great thing for me to listen to in the last hour of the day at work when i finally have control of the turntable.. certainly looks a lot better than soul jazz's delta swamp rock compilations from last year--those mined a similar territory.

Most of the stuff on Country Funk is new to me, that's why I'm getting such good milage out of it. Not sure how it would be for people already pretty steeped in this stuff. I love this sound so much though, I didn't realize it was something I'd been aching for more of.

xxp oh i didn't post it or anything. but it had bobby charles / dr. john / jim ford etc. kind of like oddball southern rock, loosely.

gotcha, wasn't sure if i just missed it on your blog at some point

a couple unheralded records in this vein that i have listened to in the past week--
http://www.audiophileusa.com/covers400/68482.jpghttp://i.ebayimg.com/t/Charlie-Brown-LP-UP-GEORGIA-Polydor-1970-/22/%21BtVZt-wEGk%7E%24%28KGrHqQOKj%21EvPQsZF9lBL7go1Iydg%7E%7E_35.JPG

also suggested the s/t Country Funk LP on Polydor, which is actually not 100% countrified funk but also has some kinda psychy pop in there--same goes for the Muskrats "Progressive Country Sounds" LP on UK label Lucky (PYR subsidiary iirc; never seen anything else on it.)

PYE that is.

Country Funk is one of those bands that you see as the opening act on tons of old 60s rock posters, but I've never heard them. Will have to check them out.
http://www.sixtiesposters.com/images/tp70191.jpg

This new Country Funk comp is so sweet.

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, July 25, 2012 10:35 AM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

reissue of the year imo

Man between your love for this and Horseback, I'm <3ing u Whiney.

also, though it does not have the same style as his work on the country funk comp, the larry jon wilson record that drag city put out is really really great and i try to recommend it whenever possible. instead of being soulful country-groove it is stripped down acoustic guitar & singing. recorded shortly before his death. he does some covers and a bunch of originals and it is great all the way through. his voice is amazing.

and of course...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWD2Re6SsUU

http://lightintheattic.net/system/release_images/0000/6846/WendyRene_Cover_325_thumb_325.jpg?1328643882

Pretty great call from the LITA folks. And kept me away from chasing those Rene 45s on ebay.

the s/t country funk album is pretty sweet. for awhile i got it mixed up with the s/t from the band country, the album covers not helping much at all either. i found them both for $1 once.

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-2873492-1305105796.jpeg
http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-1545657-1250147503.jpeg

This new Country Funk comp is so sweet.

Yesssss. Can't believe Bobby Darin's track fits so well.

Those Direction records of Darin's have been at the top of my list for a while.

i have the darin rekkerd that is taken from.. it's pretty cool even if it seems like dylan aping sometimes.

Yeah, we had that pass through the shop a while ago and I wish I had checked it out now!

Fun read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/garden/touring-the-farm-where-the-emerson-brothers-recorded-their-1979-album.html

d'angelo - voodoo reissue coming in time for christmas. I love these guys.

Guys. They're doing an LHI Singles Box for Record Store Day 2:

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/768-you-turned-my-head-around-lee-hazlewood-industries-1967-1970

So fucking cool. The fact that they put Honey Ltd. on there leads me to hope they'll reissue that album.

How do I get that thing? I've never shopped at a record store day. Do I have to wait in line or something?

And wow, that Jim Sullivan U.F.O. record is soooo good.

That Lee Hazlewood box set looks amazing!! I wish it wasn't a record store day release and something you could actually buy.

oh man i would love a proper reish of the honey ltd. i have that 45 and it is so distorted

How do I get that thing? I've never shopped at a record store day. Do I have to wait in line or something?

I'd recommend going to your local shop and asking them if they can get it for you. That's probably your best shot. It is kind of ridiculous, and RSD feeds into the Pokemon Record Collector mentality I really hate, but it is a pretty cool looking set.

I'm hoping LITA does a re-release after a while, like they did with last years Hazlewood Record Store Day release.

that box set looks great. I just got the LHI Years 2lp comp. over the weekend. between that and Country Funk I'm on a big Light in the Attic kick lately. they are awesome.

Wow @ that singles box. Pity my RSD-friendly local record store has just closed down.

incredible comp

https://light-in-the-attic.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/release_image/18705/image/large_550_tmp_2F1465402231368-jyq56zukrwhb5qc3-e7b8f73a81af735465c915af28e9949b_2Fcover%2BDigital%2BZandoli.png

zouk-not-zouk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGstYzQCMT0

Considering they shipped four Lizzy Mercier Descloux CDs to me in unsealed box, they can definitely do wrong. (They actually sent two packages to me like that—the first time the CDs got lost on the way across the U.S.)

New compilation of Japanese folk (with the marvellous title of Even A Tree Can Shed Tears) is an absolute stunner. So much gorgeous music, so many artists I've never heard of who I'll now need to check out. Big recommendation.

Absolutely lovely comp with invaluable lyric translations by Hisham Bharoocha, whose name is unfortunately misspelled in the liners.

2nd Pacific Breeze comp announced!

In very, very welcome news, Hiroshi Yoshimura's 'Green' is getting a reissue: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/6773-green

green owns

If you're at all interested this edition of the Taxi Driver Soundtrack is the one to own. It's the only release that contains the complete score. The original release is sort of a train wreck; the first side is some chirpy shit that wasn't even in the movie IIRC.

I am so excited about this reissue of Yoshimura's Green. This new / restored version without the dumb sound effects is a revelation. Usually that stuff doesn't bother me ("Humming The Sea" by Yutaka Hirose is one of my favorite ambient tracks ever and there's the sound of surf all over it), but losing the stock birds-and-water sounds of the previous issue of this album really puts a different perspective on it. Now it sounds like an all-time classic. Love love love this record.

Any word about a reissue of Soundscape 1?

Please, please let there be a Soundscape 1 reissue.

green has been my lockdown s/t

Yeah, it's ideal for lockdown for sure (especially right before bedtime)

Two months later I am still listening to Green on an almost nightly basis. It's so beautiful, but it's also become my pandemic anti-anxiety medication. Like many of you I have heard my share of chill ambient and new age but I swear the middle of this record - the run from "Sleep" through "Feet" - feels like it actually slows down my heart rate a little.

It's still on order at my record store. Have been streaming it for months now but I don't think I've ever reached the end of the album as I mostly put it on when I go to bed lol

Yes, this and Kankyo Ongaku, which I only just got into this year, have been *immensely* helpful over the past few months

Very hard agree. Green operates in its own space & overall the Japanese ambient scene has been a godsend these last few months.

do you all prefer the SFX version or the clean version? i used to be a 100% clean advocate, but the SFX enhance the napping experience even more, sometimes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38q7p2c3eSE

I think it’s time for a critical re-evaluation of CAKE. Deeply weird songwriting, an absolute shredder playing guitar, and a surprising pop sensibility. They also take an intermission when they play a show and I like that

— Light In The Attic (@lightintheattic) September 11, 2020

CAKE were my favorite band in high school but the last time I listened to Fashion Nugget my impression was "the critics might've been right about these guys"

Haven't played in in forever, but looking at the tracklist now I feel like just removing "I Will Survive" and "The Distance" would instantly make it a much better record. I think I'd still like most of the debut, but WXRT absolutely killed this band for me by (still, I'd imagine) playing "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" every hour.

This is weird to say but the Weird Al parody almost ruined them for me, it was so on the nose that I couldn't hear them the same way

i'm listening to green and trying not to doom scroll atm. wait why the hell are you guys talking about cake

LITA tweeted about reevaluating the legacy of Cake

well i guess the answer to this thread title is that they can do wrong

Recently heard Cake set as finale to a quarantine-unearthed broadcast concert, feat. various artists---long-running public radio series Mountain Stage, prob in online archives----and deadpan singer just kept droning, band just kept unfolding, grew horns etc, all very effective. Good songlist too. I'd go see 'em.

Don't know the records.

they are hit and miss live. they benefit a lot from being one of those bands where the fans know the records very well so their shows have sort of a party atmosphere. but the band itself came off kinda unrehearsed one of the times I saw them, plus John McCrea was a dick to the audience, I very much got a "we're only doing this because you buy tickets" vibe to it. the other time they were pretty fun and seemed to enjoy themselves.

The set I heard was maybe 20 minutes, at most, which prob helped, and he did *seem* begrudging---but dour, pithy comments effectively introduced the songs: good contrast with the colorful, energetic band.

Best use of said dickishness, for a few minutes anyway.

probably discussed on another thread, but I am getting a lot of targeted ads for this

https://lightintheattic.net/releases/7377-somewhere-between-mutant-pop-electronic-minimalism-shadow-sounds-of-japan-1980-1988

I actually don't know any of this stuff...dip in the pool is the only artist I've heard more than a couple songs by...anyone wanna give a thumbs up or thumbs down

yeah, that got discussed briefly here: Please recommend me some Japanese new wave...

thanks for the reminder though!

can't hate on any comp featuring Wha Ha Ha / Ogawa / RNA Organism. it's just shocking as you wouldn't expect the result to sound like a study music playlist. you wonder if it's trying to open doors to the weirder chaos or airbrush out all the variety so that all we remember is the maximally streamable lounge

weird getting old, right?

recommend the recent vanity records reissues as counterpoint

yes

I like what this label does, but I sure wish they would offer the same compilation tracklistings across all formats.
Somewhere Between is 14 tracks on LP and cassette, 13 on CD, and only 8 for download.
Kankyo Ongaku is 25 tracks on LP, 23 on CD, and only 10 for download.

Is this a rights thing for different formats or are they just trying to steer people to the most expensive version?

I would totally understand if they don't want to put the complete comps on streaming. But let people pay to download the whole comp!

Perhaps I should be writing to them instead of complaining here. Perhaps I will.

Let us know if you do. I bought the Somewhere Between comp on CD and wasn't aware that it was, like Kanyo Ongaku (which I also bought on CD), shorter than the LP version. But yeah I'm guessing it's a rights issue, especially since CDs still sell in Japan from what I understand, and I'm assuming the license holders for a lot of that music are in Japan

PP otm. The digital version of Pacific Breeze 2 is like 4 songs.

How's Somewhere Between?

There are at least two absolute bangers in the form of "Arrows and Eyes" and "Tira-Rin" but I have yet to give the whole comp the attention it deserves. Will post here when I've had a chance to dig a little deeper. But I always find these LITA comps a safe bet, as there are usually at least a handful of great tracks on all of them. But I'm also a sucker for comps in general.

Is this a rights thing for different formats or are they just trying to steer people to the most expensive version?

They're not alone in this; the BBE label's J Jazz compilation series has varied track listings too. Vol. 1 has two more tracks on vinyl than on CD, Vol. 2 had 14 tracks - same on vinyl as on CD - but if you bought the digital version you only got five tracks, and the forthcoming Vol. 3 has three more tracks on the CD vs. the vinyl version. It seems to be a rights issue. (Similarly, the Real Gone label in the US only licenses their reissues for LP and/or CD, but never gets the digital rights, so stuff they put out like Ornette Coleman's long OOP Crisis and Ornette At 12 albums, if you didn't buy the CD, you were out of luck.)

the recent Joey Negro compilations have had this too - the digital, CD and vinyl tracklists all being different

i'd love to learn more about their research & discovery methods, especially for the compilations and *especially* the compilations like 'native north america' and 'i am the center' that contain a lot of incredibly obscure finds and strike me as superbly well-researched

can anyone recommend any resources?

For I am the Centre, the record collector (and coiner of the term PINA) Anthony Pearson was involved via Douglas McGowan.

its mentioned in the Numero records Periodical:New Age Issue, which is pretty much essential for anyone who liked IATC.

I guess, its getting a genre head to do some research and look into what rights can be obtained.

its tracking down the artists that needs old fashioned research and networking.

Douglas says that he first asked JD Emmanuel for the compilation, and I guess it might be a gathering of momentum as artists agree and that helps other agree to be on it.

Quite a few have had reissues since that compilation (Joanna Brouk, Michael Stearns, David Sylvian etc.) So its getting an impetus for them to find the original tapes, and once they are found its easier for subsequent labels to reissue retrospectives/album reissues.

that comp might be the best packaged and pressed vinyl I have, its a thing of wonder.

finally picked up a copy of Somewhere Between, made it nearly all the way through Side A before realizing it was a 45 RPM

sounds damn good at 33 though

Haha, I did the exact same thing a few weeks back.

I know Douglas a little bit and that description of his working methods seems accurate.

xp For info about Native North America, I'd recommend checking out this podcast interview with compiler Kevin Howes and featured artist Duke Redbird: http://vishkhanna.com/2014/12/04/ep-152-kevin-sipreano-howes-duke-redbird/

just now catching up to the kankyo ongaku — whoa, this rules!

^^^ yeah, I dig it all, in particular the Joe Hisaishi track "Islander" is incredible. I wish it was twice as long. Quite an obscure find too - it's actually by the one-off project Wonder City Orchestra, before any of Hisaishi's well-known work. These folks really know their stuff. It's inspired me to get some Hiroshi Yoshimura & Inoyama Land LPs, but I think this compilation is way beyond any individual release.

still been regularly playing Pacific Breeze & Somewhere Between as well. I wonder if the popularity of Pacific Breeze/City Pop in general is somehow linked to vaporwave? So much of it sounds like sample fodder. I'm surprised Somewhere Between hasn't been picked up on like the other two. Maybe it just goes a little too far in the weeds and doesn't have the same appeal. But I've been researching some of the acts on it quite a bit. There's so much out there to discover. My favorite might actually be the last track, as short and insubstantial as it is.

I wonder if the popularity of Pacific Breeze/City Pop in general is somehow linked to vaporwave?

I had assumed so!

kept forgetting there was a second Pacific Breeze. you know, I think this was more along the lines of what I was expecting the first time. obviously I love all the YMO family stuff but come on it is not "City Pop". this one has a much more chill, coherent feeling to it. also I counted three tracks already that were sampled in various vaporwave things I've heard

Edd Hurt and I discuss LITA's 2021 Country Funk 3 quite a bit over on Country Funk?, with links.
Also:
every time I listen to this stuff a cigarette magically appears in my mouth

― frogbs, Thursday, March 10, 2022 9:47 PM (three weeks ago)

There's some 70's rootsy stuff in that second Pacific Breeze volume that isn't really City Pop either, but frankly I welcome it - I admit full comps of that genre end up sounding too samey for me.

Second Pacific Breeze also gets points for not having a track liner note in the form of a spiral, rendering it unreadable.

Agreed all around: they're both fairly essential, but PB2 is the one I got back to more often.

Second Pacific Breeze also gets points for not having a track liner note in the form of a spiral, rendering it unreadable.

Comforting to know I'm not alone in my annoyance at this lol.

They should pick another MPB guy to champion, those Marcos Valle and Erasmo Carlos reissues never get old.

ha I saw this thread title and thought "letting those Valle reissues go out of print was wrong" ;_;

They also picked the wrong version of "O Beato" for a bonus track on "Vento Sul"