While Egon and Madlib were in New York this past week for Madlib’s talk at the Red Bull Music Academy, they headed over to meet Joel Stones and peruse some of the records he’d staged at Revival Vintage Boutique in Hoboken, NJ. Caio Ferreira was there to document the proceedings. Even veteran collector Chairman Mao was overwhelmed. And though Madlib bought two crates, there was plenty left over to ship before Joel headed back to Brasil to buy more.

Joel Stones is bringing record store Tropicalia in Furs, from NYC to Los Angeles for a 2-day popup shop at Rappcats

Sat & Sun, May 21-22
Noon-6PM
5636 York Blvd,
Los Angeles CA 90042

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This post was first put up in July of 2012.

It’s a bit embarrassing for us to admit that it’s been nearly four years since we announced the collaborative Heliocentrics/Melvin Van Peebles collaboration that was supposed to appear on the band’s Sirius B EP.

And, now, the band has just completed their latest album – which we’ll release later this fall (more on that later). And nary a Van Peebles gasp, growl or grunt in sight.

Well, good news – last week, in the middle of one of the worst heat waves that New York has seen in recent memory, a pajama-clad (and still ripped) Van Peebles entered ex-Sun Ra bandmember Spaceman’s Harlem-based studio and recorded his last takes on the rambling poem he’s entitled “Methane Momma.” Those files are on the way to Malcolm Catto and co. at the moment – and we promise (seriously this time) that they will figure in to the Heliocentrics next album, for which we’re projecting an early 2013 release.

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Late last year, we announced that we were working on an expanded issue of Stephen David Heitkotter’s legendary album, known colloquially as Heitkotter. And we mentioned that we were “hot on the heels” of some unreleased material from the sessions – held at Heitkotter’s Old Fresno craftsman circa 1971. Well, the drummer on the album and those sessions – Ross Dwelle – found the two reels that he recorded with Heitkotter prior to the album’s creation, he traveled down to L.A. with the tapes, and we transferred them at History of Recorded Sound. Andrew Gura was there to document the proceedings. More news coming soon.

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Late last year we mentioned that WITCH’s Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda and Musi-O-Tunya founder Rikki Ililonga were readying to journey from Lusaka to Rennes to perform Zamrock live with Karl HEctor & The Malcouns at France’s Transmusicales Festival. Well the show went off – and it went off well. So well, in fact, that Jagari and Rikki are again traveling to France to perform at Espace Fraternite – Magic Mirror (Aubervilliers) – again with Karl Hector and crew.

So we’re showing you some rehearsal photos, shot by Denis Pernath at the Hector rehearsal space in Munich, and offering two downloads from the Transmusicales Festival below.

Download: Rikki Ililonga with Karl Hector & The Malcouns: Dark Sunrise (Live at Transmusicales 2013)
Download: Rikki Ililonga with Karl Hector & The Malcouns: Munzi Wa Kangwanda (Live at Transmusicales 2013)

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No, it’s not confirmed that there will be an Ed “Apple” Nelson gig in LA supported by The Breakestra. We’re just saying that, over the past thirteen years, stranger things have happened (as examples: the Funky 16 Corners live in 2001, featuring members of The Highlighters, Leroy and The Drivers, Co-Real Artists and Bernard “Spider” Harrison himself; the L.A. Carnival live in 2003, featuring leader Lester Abrams and lead vocalist Leslie Smith). We’re just saying that Apple can still beat out that Arthur Monday “What Comes Around Goes Around” beat pretty damn good – as proved at a three hour rehearsal that Breakestra leader Miles Tackett held at his Highland Park house this past Friday. And we have the pictures to prove it.

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