England’s Guardian just ran a story detailing the story behind our East of Underground anthology. An excerpt from Ben Beaumont-Thomas’ piece:

“In 1971 the US was pulling troops out of Vietnam, and its bases in Germany were full of draftees at a loose end. “You were painting shovels, picking up cigarette butts – it was a lot of busy-work,” remembers former serviceman Lewis Hitt. “There was a longing by everyone, especially the draftees, to get home and go back to what you were doing before.” This was the crucible in which were formed scores of raucous funk bands made up of servicemen, four of which have just been compiled by Now-Again Records. Adoring crowd noise was crudely dubbed on top of their records, which were then distributed in recruitment centres. These bands were used by the army to present service as varied, even hip. But the songs they cover – the bitter, suspicious likes of Backstabbers and Smiling Faces Sometimes – undermine any potential propagandising.”

Read the full article: “Funk Songs From Vietname GIs” by Ben Beaumont-Thomas (Guardian UK, Friday, 12.16.11).
Buy: East of Underground: Hell Below.
Download: East Of Underground “Hell Below.”

Last year, American journalist Chris Smith journeyed to Zambia to interview WITCH’s Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda, Amanaz’s Keith Kabwe and the select few remaining Zamrock musicians he could find. He recently published his story in South Africa’s Mail & Guardian. An excerpt is below; follow the link to the full story. Fill yourself in as we ready our 4CD/6LP WITCH anthology – scheduled for release in May of 2012.

” Although sub-Saharan Africa isn’t much known for rock ‘n roll, for a brief period in the late 1960s and 1970s, young guys from Nigeria to South Africa picked up guitars and started playing like Deep Purple. The lion’s share of these groups hailed from Zambia. The biggest band was the Witch, and Jagari, an Africanisation of Mick Jagger’s name, was the lead singer. Fusing the pop sensibility of the Stones, the fuzzed-out guitars of Cream and homegrown kalindula rhythms, the Witch toured all over Southern Africa, from Botswana to Kenya, playing to thousands at stadium shows. ‘The Witch were the band,” says Errol Hickey, the Zambian entertainment impresario and former chairperson of Lusaka’s Radio Phoenix. “They blew people’s minds, eh?’ ”

Read the full article: “Up From The Underground” by Chris Smith (South Africa Mail & Guardian, Sunday, 11.25.11).
Download: WITCH: “Strange Dream.”
More info on our Zambian “Zamrock” reissues here.

Rare and unreleased late 70s and early 80s disco, soul and boogie recorded by the cult New England ensemble.

We’re happy to present New World Generation’s self-titled anthology, a collection of rare and unreleased soul, disco and boogie by the cult New England ensemble. Presented as a 2CD and as a 2LP; both formats contain extensive liner notes with rare photographs and ephemera. Note: songs from CD disc two are not contained on the 2LP version of this album.

We first got a taste of the New World Generation when Phil Morrison, bassist for avant-garde, Boston-based jazzers Stark Reality, sent us a copy of New World Generation’s solitary recorded document: a five song EP that the band privately released in 1982. We heard echoes of the Roy Ayers produced RAMP sessions and the precise yet sensual vibes of the foundation known as Earth, Wind and Fire. We were intrigued, so we put in a call to New World Generation’s bandleader, Lekan Parsons and found that he had recorded more music in the years leading up to the New World Generation EP. But he’d recorded with different ensembles; finding the first threads of his musical tapestry would take time.

He promised to dig out his masters and send them to us for our consideration. It took years for him to collate the various components of the first phase of his recording career – which stretched from New York to Boston over the course of a decade – but when he did send the music, we were thrilled. The songs he’d recorded with the Universal Rhythms and Orison ensembles were harbingers of the sophisticated soul he’d proffer with New World Generation. They were winsome, hopeful songs – and their existence offered us the chance to present this album.

New World Generation references the faith that carried Parsons through the difficult and demoralizing times accomplished musicians like he and his friends experienced in a post-disco world. Download an example of New World Generation’s music below – “One Of A Kind,” from their 1982 EP.

Buy: New World Generation: New World Generation
Download: New World Generation “One Of A Kind.”

We’d be surprised if you haven’t purchased Dimlite’s Grimm Reality already. But, just in case, we partnered up with AOL Spinner, who are hosting an album session on the eve of its release. Listen to this remarkable album in its entirety and if you like what you hear, well, do your part to support good music at your local shop or follow the links below.

Listen: Dimlite: Grimm Reality Album Session At AOL Spinner
Buy: Dimlite: Grimm Reality
Download: Dimlite “New, Better Pain.”

Egon just returned to Los Angeles from Madrid, where he spent two weeks hanging with the likes of WITCH’s “Jagari” Chanda, Brazilian legend Tom Zé and DOOM at 2011’s Red Bull Music Academy. In between interviewing Chanda, Zé and Erykah Badu – pictured above – he had time to sit down with Red Bull’s Spanish team to discuss future projects at Now-Again. Below, find a link to download his interview, which features exclusive tracks from forthcoming projects by the likes of the Heliocentrics and Dimlite, and music from forthcoming reissues by Indian 70s psych ensemble Atomic Forest and L.A. funk/soul combo Apple and The Three Oranges.

Download: Egon at Red Bull Music Academy Madrid

The Red Bull Music Academy brought WITCH’s bandleader Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda to Madrid, Spain to discuss the history of Zambia’s Zamrock scene with Egon. You can watch the entire two hour interview below – and stay tuned for a two part Zamrock special on Red Bull Music Academy radio. We’ll post the links – we promise!

Link: Egon and Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda at Red Bull Music Academy.

Buy it here.

This compilation produced and annotated by Eothen “Egon” Alapatt.
Original Atomic Forest sessions produced by Atomic Forest .
Original Madhukar Dhas sessions produced by Madhukar Dhas.
Liner notes by Eothen “Egon” Alapatt.
Project coordination by Henoch Moore.
Photos and ephemera courtesy Madhukar Chandra Dhas.
Restoration and remastering by Dave Cooley for Elysian Masters, Los Angeles
Art direction by Errol Richardson.

Tracklist:
1. Obsession ‘77 (Fast) 5:20
2. Locomotive Breath 3:34
3. Mary Long 3:17
4. Sunshine Day 4:28
5. I Saw Her Standing There 5:40
6. Obsession ‘77 (Slow) 3:17
7. Butterfly Version 1 3:28
8. Theme From The Godfather 4:35
9. .Windmills Of Your Mind 2:58
10. Theme From The Fox 4:50
11. Butterfly Version 2 3:30
Bonus Tracks:
12. Booboo Lullaby 6:38
13. Man, You’re Number One 4:15
14. Going Home To Nowhere 3:44
15. Jeff Beck Excerpt 1:59
16. Foxy Lady 7:02

2LP/CD. 2011. NA5087.

Download high res cover art here.

Presenting the Swiss producer/electronic musician’s remarkable third album in a 3×10-inch record set and CD.

Now Again Records is proud to present Grimm Reality, the third album from our favorite Swiss electronic musician. Dimlite incorporates the techniques and artistic attitude of two of his alter-egos (Misel Quitno, a fanatic in low-fidelity electro-acoustic composition; the Slapped Eyeballers, a two-headed, world-rock-folk combo) to color a progressive sonic vision.

Titling his third album Grimm Reality might seem to point to a new autobiographical streak in this Swiss musician, but that would be too simple. It’s up to the listener to piece together a version of Grimm’s reality from mere hints: the wistful romance of “XY,” the tension and release of “New, Better Pain” and soon through every perfectly poised moment on this record. Likewise, looking for the remains of a hip-hop influence, or a connection to what’s happening on modern-day dance floors, won’t yield much here. The precedents that spring to mind are all cherished outsiders – Neu, The Residents, Beefheart, Philip Glass – footnotes in mainstream music history but, in an altogether preferable parallel universe, titans of the recent past.

This isn’t the patchwork of a tasteful record collector though – Dimlite eschews samples entirely, imbuing his music with the spirit of his heroes but never once grabbing for their sound. In so doing, he creates music that is highly singular and – despite its relatively ancient influences – altogether new. The album is presented across two formats, a custom, matte-finished digipak and as a deluxe 3×10” slipcase with original artwork by Anneka Beatty. The vinyl edition also carries an exclusive 7” single and a digital download code.

Buy: Dimlite: Grimm Reality
Download: Dimlite “New, Better Pain.”

This anthology took root in a most unusual meeting of the minds: Christophe Lemaire, then creative director at French sportswear giant Lacoste, contacted Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, then general manager at L.A. indie Stones Throw Records, to inquire as to a collaboration between his eponymous clothing line and two of Stones Throw’s most well known talents – Madlib and J.Dilla. A collaboration did follow, and a friendship between the two was born – one stemming from a mutual respect for each other’s craft, and a conjoined goal to celebrate the classic while pushing forward into the future.

This anthology took form after one of many meetings at Lemaire’s boutique in the Marais district in Paris. The designer wondered if some of Egon’s Now-Again titles would be available for purchase, for sale in his shop? Egon – aware of Lemaire’s deep knowledge of the past forty-some-odd years of musical innovation and impeccable taste – proposed something more fitting: another collaboration, whereby Lemaire would pick songs from Now-Again’s vast catalog, which they could present as something unique… something new… as Lemaire puts it in his liner notes to this anthology – “a psychedelic journey of delicate perception.” While the worlds of fashion and music often meet, the missions of Christophe Lemaire and Now-Again – to break down the barriers that exist between genres; to entice those who might be interested not by force, but by subtle suggestion – mirror each other almost directly.

This project took some years to bloom. In the interim, Lemaire replaced Jean Paul Gaultier at the iconic French fashion house Hermès; Egon took Now-Again on a slightly different path than he’d originally envisioned for the label – obtaining the rights to catalogs from all over the world and releasing new music that addressed four decades of cultural and rhythmic change. This breadth gave Lemaire the room to maneuver as he selected tracks from the USA to Europe, from the Middle East to the African continent, which all included, as he wrote “influences that have traveled in the shape of a mysterious form that juggles space and time.”

And now: Where Are You From? “16 tracks of global psychedelic rock, funk and folk grooves from 1968 until the present day,” as procured by Now-Again, selected and annotated by Lemaire, and handsomely packaged for your enjoyment.

Buy: Christophe Lemaire Presents – Where Are You From? .

If you’re anything more than the most casual of visitors to this site, you’re aware of our role as stewards of the Kashmere Stage Band’s musical legacy – and that we’ve been heavily involved in the promotion of Mark Landsman’s documentary “Thunder Soul.”

Well – good news to all: It’s out in select theaters from coast to coast. A full list of theaters -and the film’s scheduled roll out in other cities can be found here. And, if you need more of a reason to go, check the film’s official trailer, above.

A few months back we announced that that we’d be releasing an anthology that centered around a mythical album by the US Army band East of Underground. Well, we’re now proud to announce Hell Below: faithful reissues of the three albums released by the winners of the US Army’s First and Second Annual Original Magnificent Special Services Entertainment Showband Contests. Packaged as LP and CD box sets, Hell Below presents nearly two hours of heavy funk and soul music played by United States Army soldiers enlisted during the politically turbulent early 1970s.

East of Underground, SOAP The Black Seeds and The Sound Trek were bands comprised of soldiers stationed in bases across Western Germany during the height of the Vietnam War. While little is known about the bands, 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 music to boot.

Each of the two double-billed albums contained in this box set is presented as an exact reproduction of the original United States Army issue. The extensive, full-color booklet features essays, annotation and a collection of Army ephemera from the creation of these albums. Also included is a full-color, exact reproduction of East Of Underground’s 1971 tour poster.

Buy: East of Underground: Hell Below.
Download: East Of Underground “Hell Below.”