The Whitefield Brothers are in the midst of a European tour; last night they played at La Bellevilloise. We received a series of rave reviews from friends in the city. We hope to get some audio. At the very least, we’ll get some live shots from Now-Again’s official French photog, Mr. Mass, who snapped this photo of Max and Jan Whitefield (left and right) before the gig.

Carry on boys!

We’re happy to announce that a few of our Zambian psych reissues have served as fodder for Madlib’s forthcoming Beat Konducta In Africa – entry three in his once-a-month album series, The Madlib Medicine Show. Madlib’s album is out in late March – right before our CD issue of WITCH’s first album, Introduction, sees release in conjunction with Germany’s Shadoks.

In the meantime, download the title track from WITCH’s garage-rock masterpiece and check the way Madlib flipped it for his “Raw Introduction.”

Link: The Madlib Medicine Show at Stones Throw
Download: WITCH “Introduction”
More on our Zambian Psych Reissues.

We told you about this last fall. And it’s finally here – this new entry into the Savath and Savalas book – etched by a new production entity we know only as “The Predicate.” Packaged as a “mini-LP” in a thick “tip on” cardboard sleeve, this limited edition CD is available now on Stones Throw’s webstore and is out everywhere on Tuesday.

Who woulda thunk it – “Catalan-folk-psych with minimalist-electronic-sensibilities” re-imagined as an excursion in neo-dub? Not us, but La Llama: The Predicate Dub Version is doing it right about now.

Download a track to give yourself a taste: “Pajaros En Caduques Shot.”
Buy it here.

If you haven’t copped the Brazilian Fuzz Guitar Bananas comp, here’s a good reason to do so: for a limited time, over at Intelligentsia, you can now buy a $30 set that pairs the CD with a pound of organic Serra do Bone Brazilian coffee. “Deep bass notes, dark chocolate tones… caramel silkiness….” Yeah, that’s how the coffee fiends describe this particular Brazilian blend, but, you know, they could be referring to the comp as well couldn’t they?

Link: Brazil Fuzz Guitar Bananas/Serra do Bone Coffee at Intelligentsia.

You can buy it here now!

Download: Whitefield Brothers “The Gift” (Oh No’s Ethiopium Remix)

Did we mention we signed Swiss producer (and now vocalist) Dimlite? We think we did. We’re releasing a rather-excellent long play that we’ll call an “extended play” in Spring.

But we wanted to give you a little something in the meantime and this lovely take on Gap Mangione’s “Diana In The Autumn Wind,” which he calls “Diana Won’t,” comes just in time to celebrate Dilla-month. So here we go. Expect to hear more from Dimlite soon, and, if you’re in the London-area, don’t miss him at Flying Lotus’s/Red Bull Music Academy’s Brainfeeder on Saturday March 10th at Fabric.

Download: Dimlite “Diana Won’t.”
Link to Fabric’s “Brief History Of Dimlite” if you need a primer….

Yeah, we bemoan the state of American journalism too often ’round here. But every once in a while we read some (ahem) complimentary pieces and we have to reassess our position.

This past week, both the LA Weekly and the LA Times ran pieces on our Black Man’s Cry anthology, released on 2/23. Well, the LA Weekly piece was an overall piece on the label, but we’re never that self-congratulatory. Here’s an excerpt from the LA Times piece:

“Perhaps seeking to provide further context to this ongoing Fela-palooza, the rare-groove and hip-hop label Now-Again explores Fela’s broad influence with “Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti,” coming out Tuesday. Sumptuously packaged like a hardcover book, the album collects rare and previously unreleased recordings by artists from Fela’s heyday and after who followed in his footsteps around the world.”

Read the LA Times piece by clicking here.
Read the LA Weekly piece by clicking here.

Today marks the worldwide release of our Fela anthology Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti. We threw a record release party this past Sunday at Palate Food and Wine in Los Angeles. We told you it would be worth the drive – Cut Chemist, J.Rocc and Egon played six hours of the deepest African music they could get their hands on, good Burgundy flowed all eve, interested passersby munched on goat tacos and an overwhelming feeling of funkiness abounded.

Check out photos here.
…. And if you haven’t bought the album yet, it’s in and shipping at Stones Throw’s webstore.

We told you it was coming… The Fuzz, the Guitar, the Bananas… Your long wait is over: you can now buy Egon and Brazilian fuzz archaeologist Joel Stones’ Brazil Fuzz Guitar Bananas over at Stones Throw’s webstore. We’ve been telling folks that this anthology is a follow up to Psych Funk 101 and if that was a primer course, this is master class. Thus, you really have to take in this album in its entirety – it’s not as if we can easily describe songs like Ton e Sergio’s “Vou Sair Do Cateveiro,” and it’s not as if that song can be separated from the other nuggets on the set. But we’re giving you a taste of Fabio’s “Lindo Sonho Delirante” (”LSD” – get it?) to get your trip started right.

Check out the details of the anthology, and see more pictures of our (insert pat on the back here) extraordinary packaging here.
Buy it here.
And download Fabio’s “Lindo Sohno Delirante” here.

If you’re in L.A. – or if you’re within driving distance – you’re sleeping if you’re not hanging out with us on Sunday. Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration Of Fela Kuti out everywhere good music is available on Tuesday, 2.23.

They’re available now – Now-Again and Shadoks are proud to present WITCH’s masterpiece Lazy Bones!! and Amanaz’s holy grail Africa. You can cop the CDs – which comes with Egon’s liner notes and photos of the bands – or buy the digital albums over at Stones Throw’s webstore.

Buy: WITCH’s Lazy Bones!!
Buy: Amanaz’s Africa

Don’t forget to download: WITCH: “Strange Dream.”
And: Amanaz: “Khala My Friend.”

More info on our Zambian Reissues here.

Do you understand German? If so, you’ll dig hearing the Whitefield Brothers’ expound on their musical lineage in this piece on Germany’s Bunch TV. If you’re like us, and you can barely muster an “Eine milchkaffee bitte” when you’re sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Munich after finding a priced-out-of-this-world original Schiesshaus press of Can’s Monster Movie, well, you’ll at least enjoy hearing the band rock “Sol Walk.”

Link: The Whitefield Brothers on Bunch TV

It’s been a long time coming – and we know you’ve been frustrated with the delays – but you can now buy the Whitefield Brothers’ monstrous follow up to their cult classic In The Raw on Stones Throw’s webstore in both CD and LP form! The CD comes packaged in a “mini LP” cardboard gatefold sleeve and comes with a fold out poster. The double LP comes packaged in a thick, cardboard “tip on” gatefold sleeve.

Earthology – an excercise in global-psychedelic-jazz that spans continents in the Brothers’ search for new sounds to be united by their trademark fierce funk – features Edan, Mr. Lif, Bajka, Percee P, MED, Quantic and members of Poets of Rhythm, Dap Kings, El Michels Affair and Antibalas.

Link: Buy Whitefield Brothers Earthology here.
(and don’t forget about “The Gift” – along with Oh No’s remix – available here – and in stores now as well…)

“We do this for fun/to imitate Whites/to let our children know/what others are like.” The Whitefield Brothers’ Earthology album is out in some places now, but, for the most part, we’re still figuring out where the hell the CDs and LPs are! We’ll update soon, and, in the meantime, you can groove on this.