Now-Again Records

From The Vaults: Heliocentrics “Joyride” (2005) EP

To us, life without the music of the Heliocentrics seems barely worth living, but we figured that not everyone who’s picked up on this label knows the breadth of this psychedelic UK ensemble. So, over the course of February, we’re presenting the Heliocentrics Now-Again catalog – and some unreleased gems – to our subscribers at Now-Again Deluxe.

There will be three installments, with the final issue being the “from the vaults” release pictured above: Joyride, which will only be available via Now-Again Deluxe. The four tracks from this EP that the Heliocentrics turned in in 2005 were recorded in the early part of the ’00s, and are alternate versions to the final versions that appeared on their Now-Again debut, Out There . The versions are all quite different – note the ending portion of “Distant Star,” omitted from the final album, the flute lead on “Haunted House” and the Middle-Eastern flavored psych – and the Jimmy Swaggart vocals! – from the original “Joyride.”

13 Degrees Of Reality is scheduled for an April 16th release date on CD and LP and to be made available at Now-Again Deluxe in March.

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Rhythm Machine – Rhythm Machine (Deluxe Edition)

Rhythm Machine’s mid 70s soul/funk opus is expanded here with previously unreleased tracks. This band sprung from Indianapolis funk legends (and Egon’s Funky 16 Corners impetus) The Highlighters’ proverbial ashes. James Boone and James Brantley, determined to make a go of it as a show band, assembled another high-energy group of musicians to record three singles and an LP over the course of a seven year span. This album is full of charm – featuring synth-lead ballads, danceable Kool & The Gang styled funk, and snappy soul music. It’s one of the highest regarded albums in the independently-issued soul/funk canon and we’re pleased to present the definitive version now.

Download: Rhythm Machine – Rhythm Machine (Deluxe Edition).

Various – Soul 7

In 2000, deep funk anthologies were of the shoddy, bootleg variety. Then came the first fully licensed album of its kind – The Funky 16 Corners anthology, released on Stones Throw Records in 2001 – and, for the funk heroes and heroines that had recorded in the wake of James Brown in the 60s and 70s, everything changed. It’s not too much of a reach to say that companies like Numero Group, Jazzman Records, Light In The Attic – and their marvellous reissues from the past decade – might not have been had it not been for The Funky 16 Corners’ success. In 2003, two years after The Funky 16 Corners’ release, Egon revisited the deal that sent him on the chase for licensing agreements in the first place: a box set of 7” singles. The result was Soul 7 – a 7” box set of seven seven inch singles from the 60s and 70s, as Egon wrote in his original liner notes, “a companion piece to The Funky 16 Corners… a chance to stretch out, and dig a lil’ deeper into the backgrounds and musical legacies of some of the pieces that define the genre that Keb Darge dubbed deep funk.”

Download: Various – Soul 7.

New World Generation – New World Generation

The New World Generation’s (NWG’s) self-titled anthology is a collection of rare and unreleased soul, disco and boogie by a cult New England ensemble. You’ll hear echoes of the Roy Ayers produced RAMP sessions and the precise yet sensual vibes of the foundation known as Earth, Wind and Fire in NWG’s music. The majority of work on this anthology is previously unreleased: NWG bandleader Lekan Parsons spent years collating 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 NWG: winsome, hopeful songs – and their existence offered us the chance to present this album.

Download: New World Generation – New World Generation.