Light In The Attic: can they do no wrong?

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

Hello friends.
We would like to take this time to announce a very special live stream, this Friday, April 3rd to benefit @MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund. Full lineup below, and more information here: https://t.co/VaK0YdCj5g pic.twitter.com/FXnQYPwjyF

— Light In The Attic 🌱 (@lightintheattic) March 31, 2020

Acetone!!

Even a Tree Can Shed Tears has been my quarantine soundtrack so far. love it.

Gigi masin!

so relieved to hear that gigi was keeping well

New Pacific Breeze comp is pretty great. Not sure it's as great as the first volume, need a few more spins to determine.

THIS TRACK is dope as hell

Paul, you'd like the "Tokyo Nights" compilation.

i had this on repeat for longer than i care to say

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

Liking Pacific Breeze 2 almost as much as the first... that was more than enough for me to order the CD and dig a bit deeper on some of this stuff. All these compilations are getting me back into Japanese music after a long time away ٩(◕‿◕)۶

Spring Cleaning 20202 Sale happening. Lots of interesting looking stuff here. Anyone have any favorites from this list they'd recommend? I have a few things in my cart already but I'm gonna spend at least $75 to get the free shipping. Not a huge fan of horror soundtracks (though I can be convinced if there's one that's especially good or unique) but everything else is fair game:

https://lightintheattic.net/shelves/Vinyl%20Distancing%20and%20Spring%20Cleaning%202020

Oh, and I did love that link above, maffew12! Thank you. If the whole comp is of that caliber I'm going to have to pick it up.

Thanks for the spring cleaning tip. I picked up the 8LP Giant Sand box for $54!

Yeah, the Giant Sand box is an incredible deal. I snagged a couple of the Bevis Frond records from them recently too.

Spring Cleaning pages are staggering, but---The ones I'm most familiar with here are the Blaze soundtrack, if you're into outsidery Texas singer-songwriters (not too outsidery: Blaze was cherished and covered by ornery inside-outside stars like the latter-day Merle Haggard etc). This one made my Nashville Scene Top Ten. Also, even more in thee same vein, because vintage and various artists who are smokey pillars of East Nashville etc, the Heartworn Highways soundtrack, from the classick 70s documentary, with Townes Van Zandt, David Allan Coe, Guy and Susanna Clark and so on. Country Funk Vol. 2 has some keepers, though also some "OMG we're white stoned country *and* funky!" self-amazed goobers.
A friend of mine used to play Bernard Hermann's Taxi Driver quite a bit, and though I never heard it when my friend wasn't talking, the music came over and around him pretty well.
Only heard The Exorcist in the theater, but music and sound design by far the best elements of that otherwise lurid-to-ludicrous/70s-as-hell-flick (not nec. a bad thing, but sonics best of all).
Haven't heard those particular Goblin soundtracks, or other titles, but how bad could they be? Ditto those Lizzy Mercier Descloux titles, judging by the ZE reisses I do have.
Early 70s live Funkadelic, Bert Jansch, maybe This Heat, The Camberwell Now.

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"

we get Number Three

https://lightintheattic.net/releases/9228-pacific-breeze-volume-3-japanese-city-pop-aor-boogie-1975-1987

sweet. And it's available as a towel.

Someone's made a YouTube playlist. Love that last song by Chiemi Manabe. Heard it a mix one of the compilers did a while back.

its out now and it rules. on first listen I was able to pick out a ton of highlights. kinda blends the approach of the first two I think - lots of forward thinking stuff here but not in the "is this even City Pop" way you get on the first one. also the record sounds insanely good. gotta say LitA restores my faith in great sounding and clean vinyl. it is possible after all.

It's easily my favourite of the three volumes so far. Just a brilliant selection of songs and none that I want to skip in the slightest.

In an industry of absolute shit and constant disappointment I increasingly believe that it's important to acknowledge the few people and labels doing commendable work.

About a week ago, LITA had some big warehouse cleaning sale, and I impulse bought a few things, including the big Lee Hazlewood CD box. It was such a steal at $30, I actually thought it might have been a pricing glitch, and almost expected the order to get canceled. I didn't even know whether it was the deluxe version or the regular version (the website wasn't very clear about this), but given the very, very low price for this incredible multi-disc box with a flexi disc and book, I would have been happy either way.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be the deluxe box. At that price, which is over $70 less than the lowest priced copy on Discogs at the moment, I probably would have been OK if they'd just sent the damn thing in a pizza box. Instead, they sent it separate from the other records I ordered, and packaged it like it was a set of crystal champagne flutes. They included those little cardboard corner thingies to avoid dents, secured it in bubble wrap, and shipped it in a big, heavy box with cardboard fillers. The package probably could have survived a toss over an overpass.

I'm not even a big stickler about cosmetic damage and corner bends and stuff, but I really appreciated the care they put into shipping something that probably doesn't even cover their manufacturing costs, especially when I regularly receive exorbitantly priced LPs from overseas that are sent in what is little more than a manilla envelope. Anyway, just wanted to give LITA some props.

Don't know if they are still running the sale, but if they are, it's worth a look!

Damn I don’t even want to think about what I paid for that thing back in the day.

It's still on sale: https://lightintheattic.net/products/there-s-a-dream-i-ve-been-saving-lee-hazlewood-industries-1966-1971

I was stoked to find it used at Amoeba years ago (and paid a lot more than $30). Worth it for the book alone.

now out of stock

https://lightintheattic.net/products/alfa-yen-records-1980-1987-techno-pop-and-other-electronic-adventures-in-tokyo

looks amazing but I have a lot of these tracks already

same. with tespattern included, maybe that means their album will finally receive a reissue?

the instrumental for “beat the rap” is extremely dope, I made a vaporwave-y edit of it years ago

On a LITA tip, I dug the recent Emerson brothers biopic. Never really thought about what really happens when a long-forgotten and completely ignored record gets discovered and feted by hipsters some 30 years later.

haha see also: delta blues

yeah, that yen comp looks cool... but damn, vinyl is so expensive and I have a lot of that stuff already too...

speaking of things that are expensive, there's also a new-ish japanese "blu-spec CD" that collects all of the tamao koike yen stuff:
https://www.discogs.com/release/29252209-Tamao-Koike-Tamao-Complete-Yen-Years

oh that’s great, the stuff of hers I’ve heard on various YEN/Alfa comps is marvelous