NOW AGAIN Archives - Guerssen Records

Africa

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:00:00 +0000

Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band member Keith Kabwe, “because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources stolen… all the atrocities slave drivers committed. ” Thus, their “Kale,” a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent’s arc from slavery to Zambia’s independence closes the album.
Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa’s vibe ranges from anxious (“Amanaz”) to escapist (“Easy Street”) to straight-up pissed-off. On the “History of Man,” his voice whiskey-burned, his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species.
There’s a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on Mpofu’s more restrained “Khala My Friend,” which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who mighthave been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised.
Then there’s the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic “Sunday Morning,” which, as Kabwe recalls, was the first song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Undergound and Nico was a new release – and the underground funk of “Making The Scene.” The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-’60s rock – punctuated, of course byKanyepa’s wah-wah and Mpofu’s fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. “Green Apple” is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa’s sighing guitar.

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Drug Story

GuerssenAdmin — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan’s legendary Ghetto Records.
The series concludes with Drug Story – Rare and unreleased material from JoeBataan and his Ghetto Records vaults, including an entire side of Bataan’s neve-rbefore-issued Latin Funk that spans the gamut from Salsa to Soul. Drug Story was inspired by true events and ranks highest among Bataan’s finest achievements as the poet laureate of El Barrio.
Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on “The Man” and out of the ‘hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel.
As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault.
Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print – until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.

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Dream Queen

GuerssenAdmin — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Bobby Hamilton founded the band Anubis in Syracuse, New York, and they put out their awesome ‘Ecology’ single on Charles Bazen’s Salt City imprint. It’s a highlight on the Soul-Cal anthology Now-Again issued in 2012, something akin to Terry Callier and Gil Scott Heron’s most soulful works.
Shortly after issuing that single, Bobby put together the Bobby Hamilton Quintet Unlimited and recorded and issued Dream Queen in 1972. The last clean copy Bobby Hamilton had, he sold to the musician Jamie XX in 2021 for a princely sum.
Few originals will ever surface again – its original run of 500 units having disappeared into the ether decades ago. This is your chance to hear a masterwork of deep, spiritual jazz lacquered directly from its original master tape in an all analog transfer by the legendary Bernie Grundman.
Dream Queen’s story is told for the first time in extensive liner notes by Torii McAdams. Dig deeper and expand.

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Palos De Fuego

GuerssenAdmin — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan’s legendary Ghetto Records.
Next up in the series – Joseph “Candido” Rodríguez – Candido was mentored by Tito Puente, and his debut features a fantastic mix of fiery Salsa, Latin Jazz and Sweet Latin Soul.
Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on “The Man” and out of the ‘hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel.
As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault.
Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print – until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.

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Comin’ At Yo Ass (Green)

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:00:00 +0000

The next release in Now Again’s Memphis Rap series is Comin At Yo Ass presented on vinyl for the first time ever. Slithering nightmare raps recorded between carjackings and robberies, the only album by Carmike.
This is part of Now Again Records multiple LP series on the History of Memphis Rap, which attempts to capture Memphis and its underground rap scene as it began to produce some of the most distinctive music of the 90s.
This was a unique hip-hop strain – visceral and often vicious. It was a local, low-fi, cassette-tape based movement – yet it went on to change the course of rap music. These albums have never been pressed on vinyl – until now. From Skinny Pimp and Carmike to Gangsta Blac and Shawty Pimp, these albums have been relegated to the proverbial bins of history and bootlegged, with unofficial copies still fetching top dollar on the secondary market. These albums were all licensed directly from their original creators, and come on limited edition colored vinyl with artist-approved imagery for their first LP iterations.
You can read the story of the Memphis Rap scene in a 12-page, oversized booklet with notes by Torii MacAdams. It captures the story of Memphis rap starting with the city’s founding and ending with an auto supply shop that sold these albums over the counter, with all points in between.

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No Matter The Season

GuerssenAdmin — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 23:00:00 +0000

A masterful mix of timeless American soul with vintage 1970s African samples in a most rewarding way – musical traveler Eamon teams with production duo Likeminds for No Matter The Season, his second album for Now-Again.
“I’ve been singing since I was a tike, promoters used to call me ‘the boy wonder’, but with this record it felt new, almost like I was singing every note as if my life depended on it,” says Eamon from his home in Southern California, a far cry from his native Staten Island, New York City. But you wouldn’t know his birthplace from the way he sings, especially on No Matter The Season, where Eamon put a new spin on vintage samples from the Now-Again catalog, crafting beats from various African rhythms such as Amanaz’s Zamrock, the Hygrades Nigerian funk, and Ayalew Mesfin’s Ethiopian tezetas.
Shortly after the release of his last Now-Again project, Captive Thoughts, he began working with the production duo on two original compositions that appear on No Matter The Season. But as time went on, he came upon the idea of completing the album by sending the duo samples from the Now-Again catalog to work with. Which were expanded upon with a multitude of live instruments.
“There was something special about combing through the African records at Now-Again,” Eamon reflects. “I had never heard the variety of funk and soul that existed in places like Lagos and Addis Ababa, it was like a history lesson in Rhythm & Blues. I was hearing the godfathers of the movement here in the US. I wanted to pay my respect to that lineage. Since singing in my father’s doo-wop group as a kid, I’ve always used music from the past to create and express something new in the present. But to be able to do that across continents and get back to the roots…that was really impactful for me.”
Likeminds, helmed by Chris Soper and Jesse Singer, two East Coast transplants to LA who are as comfortable chopping up samples on an MPC as they are playing classic instruments, using vintage microphones, or recording to tape, offer up what could be described as a West Coast spin on the revivalist soul sound championed by Daptone Records. “For sure, the album is soaked in an old school feel, but to still tap into the depths of my soul today is always the end goal,” Eamon states.
All but two tracks are based on Now-Again samples, using the classic rhythms as accompaniment to showcase Eamon’s emotional singing style that is still as honest and raw as when he was a 16, singing about heartbreak. The end result, No Matter the Season, is a celebration of the musical relationship between Africa and America and the thrilling soul music that relationship has spawned since the 60s and 70s.
“My hope is people know that I’m not leaving anything on the table in this chapter of my career,” Eamon reflects. “Only thing I can do is pour my heart out on every single line. Even though I’m writing and screaming to the heavens about my joy, my pain, my love…these are songs for everyone, everywhere, anytime. You’re gonna walk away feeling something. This is why I titled the album No Matter The Season.”

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East Of Underground

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:00:00 +0000

United States Army soldiers made the music contained on this album during the politically turbulent early 70s, towards the end of the Vietnam War. East of Underground was comprised of soldiers stationed in bases across Western Germany. While little is known about the band, 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 soul and funk music.

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From Ear To Ear

GuerssenAdmin — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan’s legendary Ghetto Records.
Next up in the series – La Fantastica. This brash, big band Latin orchestra from Brooklyn debuted on Ghetto Records with an underground Salsa album which also contains the beguiling, English-language Psychedelic Soul of “Latin Blues.” Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on “The Man” and out of the ‘hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel.
As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault.
Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print – until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.

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Breakin Da Law

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:00:00 +0000

This is Gangsta Blac’s first, a swaggering and drawling gangster rap outingfrom hot and humid South Memphis.
This is part of Now Again Records multiple LP series on the History of Memphis Rap, which attempts to capture Memphis and its underground rap scene as it began to produce some of the most distinctive music of the 90s.
This was a unique hip-hop strain – visceral and often vicious. It was a local, low-fi, cassette-tape based movement – yet it went on to change the course of rap music. These albums have never been pressed on vinyl – until now. From Skinny Pimp and Carmike to Gangsta Blac and Shawty Pimp, these albums have been relegated to the proverbial bins of history and bootlegged, with unofficial copies still fetching top dollar on thesecondary market. These albums were all licensed directly from their original creators, and come on limited edition colored vinyl with artist-approved imagery for their first LP iterations.
You can read the story of the Memphis Rap scene in a 12-page, oversized booklet withnotes by Torii MacAdams. It captures the story of Memphis rap starting with the city’s founding and ending with an auto supply shop that sold these albums over the counter, with all points in between.

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Ultra Super Dub Vol 1

GuerssenAdmin — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:00:00 +0000

The Lost Albums In Jamaican Bass Player, Bandleader, Songwriter, Singer And Producer Boris Gardiner’s Discography – First Official Issue Of These Impossibly Rare Albums. Contains Extensive Booklet, With Jeff Mao Detailing Gardiner’s Career And The 70s Jamaican Music Industry. Unpublished Photos And Ephemera.
1970s Jamaica suffered an unprecedented stretch of political turmoil and violence, and as the country’s economy and morale collapsed, reggae and its offshoots exploded worldwide. Boris Gardiner enjoyed great success leading bands, issuing albums that mixed reggae, ska, soul and funk, and collaborating with the likes of Lee (Scratch) Perry and Herman Chin-Loy in their legendary studios and playing on hundreds of records. So many that he lost count.
Sometime around the issue of his Boris Gardiner Happening Is What’s Happening album – a Loft classic, with David Mancuso favoring Gardiner’s take of Booker T. and the MG’s “Melting Pot” at his legendary gathering – and his soundtrack to Every N—-r Is A Star, famously sampled by Kendrick Lamar and used as the introduction to the film Moonlight, two albums – Ultra Super Dub Vols. 1 and 2 – credited to The Boris Gardiner Happening – two albums so obscure that for the longest time Boris wasn’t even aware that they existed.
Following classics such as King Tubby’s Dub From the Roots and Augustus Pablo’s King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, Miami-based Alty East’s Ultra Records took instrumentals Gardiner created for a run of 45s, and created and issued these compilations of dubbed out originals and JA renditions of songs by Otis Redding, Clarence Carter, Betty Wright, Jimmy “Bo” Horne and Ultra label-mate Frankie Zhivago Young.
Released in tiny runs in handmade, silkscreened, paste-on covers, they have become some of the most sought after Jamaican albums.
Now, issued under Boris’ guidance, and with a detailed booklet by Jeff Mao, which delves into the deep scene which birthed these remarkable records, we can finally consider the last, unheard portion of this landmark musician’s career.

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