Spain’s Pharaway Sounds is back with some more top shelf Irian jams. This time they are releasing a well-deserved compilation of Shahram Shabpareh best tracks. Shabpareh is the real thing. His music is chocked full of colorful arrangements of blurting horns, evil bass grooves, cheesy organs & thick strata of overlapping percussion instruments going off like microwave popcorn.
As the leader of an Iranian 60s garage band, the Rebels, and later a 70s solo singer, Shabpareh was never happy just tossing a few moves from Abba in front of whatever was on the local charts already. He wrote & recorded hard rock & funky piano riffs that were built bulldozer tough & would’ve stuck out in an American trailer park or a London pub just as easily as they did in Tehran. Not that he wasn’t afraid to put someone else’s idea to good use, as he certainly makes superb use of the Kinks’ chords from ‘You Really Got Me’. It’s more that Shahram’s rock cojones have caused him to make blistering music again & again over the years, with little regard for where it comes from.
Michael Chapman:Wrecked Again
LITA 101 (CD | LP) | PRE-ORDER NOW!
We are happy to announce our release of yet another outstanding album from British singer, songwriter and hugely talented psych, folk and rock guitarist Michael Chapman. Wrecked Again (1971), is Chapman’s final album for EMI’s seminal stoner imprint Harvest, home to Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett. Buried in EMI’s release schedule and afforded no promotional budget, Wrecked Again is his lost classic. Recorded at the noted Rockfield Studio, a residential complex-cum-working farm in Wales, Wrecked Again explores orchestration via Paul Buckmaster (Miles Davis, David Bowie) and The London Symphony Orchestra and production courtesy of Gus Dudgeon (Elton John, Bonzo Dog Band), but also explores a new sound influenced by Memphis soul. With a blend of electric and acoustic instruments, Chapman is found where he feels most comfortable: in-between folk and rock, contrasting soft with edgy.
Wrecked Again was made at a turbulent time in Chapman’s life. Still struggling for money despite being four albums into his career, the sessions were marred by arguments over his pay. Unloved as it was by his label, the album did little to rectify the situation. Afterwards, Chapman and bassist Rick Kemp – later of Steeleye Span – set off on their first tour of the USA. Chapman was stoney broke – initially refused a visa as a result – and received no money. And that was the least of his troubles. By the third week, manager Andrew King had quit the country, and Kemp had run off with a woman in a green Mustang. After being mugged in New York, Chapman gave up – before even reaching the West Coast. Back in the UK, he told his partner, Andru Chapman, “If that’s the big time then fuck it – I don’t want it.” Chapman did, of course, go on to record more than 30 albums and tour extensively, but Wrecked Again was a pivotal moment in his career; the tipping point between his earlier, folkier material and his later, rockier output on Deram.
Remastered from the original tapes
LP on 180-gram vinyl with tip-on gatefold jacket
Liner notes by Andru Chapman
Unseen photos
ON-LINE ONLY: First 150 pre-orders get limited pressing on RED wax! Don’t sleep!
LP SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: Limited pressing on BLUE wax!
You can catch Michael Chapman preform live at the Wrecked Again relaunch party July 4th at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, England. For additional information and tour dates visit MichaelChapman.co.uk.
Turkish Bar or Bengi folk dancing requires approximately 100 people to do properly, and it helps if a lot of them are eating wedding cake. You put your arms around the shoulders of the people on either side of you, and then stomp around in a circle, facing in and kicking the air, until everybody is exhausted and happy. Far away from any folklore festivals, Derdiyoklar hand-built the soundtrack to this dancing as it was drunkenly executed by luckless German-Turkish immigrants in the fashion-insensitive 80s. And though the band had only two members, they decided electric saz, synthesized drums, cimbalom, and sheep sound effects were all needed to get the job done. Who could argue? Derdiyoklar Iklisi’s Coban Mamosis a tinkly and psychoactive album, full of uniquely odd overdubs and buzzy, flanged-out guitar solos. This first ever reissue from Pharaway Sounds is taken from the original mastertapes and is pressed on 180 gram vinyl. The albums also includes an insert with in-depth liner notes.
It’s Free Basin’ Friday and this week we have a very special prize for ya’ll. We will be giving away a limited edition Lee Hazlewood screen print!! This is the same design used for the Lee Hazlewood tee-shirt and tote bag.
This multi-color print is designed and hand numbered by Light In The Attic’s very own Jess Rotter of Rotter and Friends. Scoring this sweet gem would be an awesome addition to any Hazlewood collection!
For your chance to win, come up with a name for Lee Hazlewood’s mustache. The most creative name will take home this rare Hazlewood prize. Please write your answer in the comment box below. Do not forget to included your email address in the box provided, all addresses will be visible to Light In The Attic employees ONLY. Winners will be announced next Friday via Twitter and Facebook.
The good people at Parachute Market have invited us to their “Psychedelic Summer” themed seasonal design fair. The fair will take place June 22nd & 23rd in the heart of the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. We will have a pop-up shop set up where you will be able to listen and buy all your favorite Light In The Attic release. The fair will also feature an array of venders selling new and vintage furniture, fashion wear, art and design! If you get hungry there will be market curated by Amelia Posada from Lindy and Grundy selling amazing food. So if your in the Southern California area this weekend definitely come by say hi and enjoy the festivities!
The Brooklyn based label Personal Injury Records has just reissued two albums from lo-fi legend R. Stevie Moore. The prolific singer, songwriter, and musician has self-released over 400 albums since 1968, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore Cassette Club, a home-based label. Moore has also worked on numerous collaborations with a wide array of artists including: Ariel Pink, Mike Watt, Dr. Dog, Eric Matthews, MGMT, The Vaccines, Tim Burgess and many more.
Moore’s classic 2nd album Delicate Tension was originally released by his uncle on HP Music in 1978. Delicate Tension is regarded as an absolute highlight of RSM’s massive discography. Reissued for the first time on vinyl in an exact-repro sleeve and mastered from a digital transfer off the original analog reels.
Glad Music, originally released on the French label New Rose in 1986, is regarded as one of the highlights of RSM’s 400+ album discography and was featured as one of his six most “essential” albums by The WIRE.
“Despite plaudits from the likes of Trouser Press and increasingly favourable treatment in the UK inkies, Moore was unable to convert his critical reputation into sales. Laid down in a professional recording studio, Glad Music feels like a last failed stab at connecting with an audience. It’s as though Moore suspects that, all along, that was the problem. Consequently, although it’s almost conventional, it is, thanks to glistening steel-string acoustic guitar, often beautiful.” – Matthew Ingram, The WIRE (2012)
Michael Hurley is a singularly unusual musician and artist. Born in 1941 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Hurley moved to New York in the early ‘60s, where he began making his name on the subversive Greenwich Village folk scene before contracting mono and spending years in and out of hospital. Back in health, he was discovered by blues and jazz historian Frederick Ramsey III and subsequently championed by boyhood friend Jesse Colin Young, he recorded his debut album, 1964’s First Songs for Folkways, on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Lead Belly’s Last Sessions. Its songs were borrowed by Holy Modal Rounders and The Youngbloods, the latter signing Hurley to their Raccoon imprint and releasing his next two albums. The singer-songwriter came into his own recording those warm, eccentric records, colored as they are by fantastic characters, charming Americana and homemade blues.
Hurley’s 1971 album Armchair Boggie was recorded with Jesse Colin Young and featured 14 songs about love and strange things – werewolves (‘Werewolf’), institutionalized English gentry (‘English Nobleman’) and aquatic birds (‘Penguin’). Credited to Michael Hurley and pals, Young is among the friends who appear. Largely acoustic, it features little more than the sound of Hurley’s guitar and voice and the occasional mouth trumpet.
Hi Fi Snock Uptown, produced by “Banana” and Joe Bauer, saw Hurley amplifying some of Armchair Boogie’s willfully esoteric qualities and delivering an album that explores the full range of his sound, from blues to country and folk to playful sounds – like his crow impressions on ‘Old Black Crow’. As ‘Twilight Zone’ neatly puts it, “everything is weird”. It also features some of his most loved songs such as ‘Water Train’, ‘Eyes, Eyes’ and the gorgeous traveling track ‘Blue Driver’.
Both Armchair Boggie andHi Fi Snock Uptown are highly sought-after albums sounding better than they ever have, complete with Hurley’s own, unmistakable sleeve art. The albums are housed in a deluxe, gatefold, tip-on jacket.
First ever CD reissue
Remastered by J.J. Golden (Golden Mastering) from the original master tapes
Deluxe Stoughton gatefold CD “tip-on” jacket
Includes 36 page reproduction of original cartoon book by Hurley (*Armchair Boggie only)
Light In The Attic Records would like to give a warm welcome to artist and publicist guru, Jess Rotter. As the newest member of the Light In The Attic family, she will be spearheading our PR department. Jess recently made the epic cross country move from New York to Los Angeles to join us here in our Southern California offices. As a way to acclimate Jess to her new surroundings we thought it befitting to bombard her with some questions. You can read our Q&A with Jess Rotter below.
So Jess now that your living here in Southern California, what’s has been the main difference between Los Angeles and New York – other than the pizza and bagels?
The avocados here are dreamy, palm trees make me beam, and the beachy breeze.
As some of you might already know Jess is a skilled artist and the owner of Rotter and Friends, a tee shirt design company, which is responsible for many of the awesome designs featured on Light In The Attic tee shirts. Jess, as an artist who has been your biggest influence and how has that influence manifested itself in your art?
I think my dad definitely was a big sole influence to push imagination and passion at a very early age-his records, comic books, and muppet show vhs recordings were definitely my first blocks of visual and inspirational magic.
This last question is something we ask everyone that we interview: What are you listening to these days?
Just got this amazing reissue from a 1973 Chicago band called “Athanor” at Mount Analog today which is so good! Check out the song “Graveyard”. I also can’t turn off lately the Sensations Fix record Music Is Painting In The Air which my friends at Rvng released last Fall and really happy Light In The Attic teamed up with Machu Picchu to distribute the Anonymous record Inside The Shadow, which has always been a favorite staple at Rotter Corner.
It’s time for another installment of Free Basin’ Friday. This week we’ve got an awesome prize for yah! We will be giving away copy of Strawberry Rain’s forthcoming release of Slaty Dog’s self-titled LP with non-album bonus 7” single!!!
Having formed during the height of the Zamrock period, Salty Dog was a three man band modled after the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Having wanted to base the band around the concept of the force of life, Salty Dog was chosen as a result of being slang for ‘sperm’. The 8th release on the Zambezi imprint, Salty Dog is one of the most obscure Zambian titles from the era having failed to achieve the success of some of their peers like WITCH. The self titled release is a combination of psychedelic rock, blues and folk, with all english songs. Really good from start to end, essential for collectors of African rock and insanely rare as an original. As a bonus for this release we’ve also managed to press up the non-lp single that was released before the album titled ‘Sunday Morning Sunshine’.
For your chance to win this weeks Free Basin’ Friday, please answer the following question: If you had a psychedelic zamrock band, what would name it? Please write your answer in the comment box below. Do not forget to included your email address in the box provided, all addresses will be visible to Light In The Attic employees ONLY. Winners will be announced next Friday via Twitter and Facebook.
Continuing the never-ending quest to remaster and repackage the greatest music you’ve never heard (but definitely should), our imprint Future Days Recordings is set to release a survey of Memphis singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist Bobby Whitlock. Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way collects the first two early 1970’s solo albums on CD with extensive liner notes. Additionally, we will be releasing both albums, Bobby Whitlock (1972) and Raw Velvet (also 1972), on 180 gram vinyl with the original artwork and liner notes. These soulful albums from one of rock music’s key unsung figures features star-studded line-ups that include George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Delaney & Bonnie.
Whitlock’s story is a remarkable one. Born to a hardscrabble existence, raised in abject poverty, abused by his preacher father and was sent out to pick cotton in the fields. Moving from one railroad town to another, Whitlock was quite literally from the wrong side of the tracks.
Yet thanks to his singing and piano playing, music was Whitlock’s escape. Winding up in Memphis, Whitlock hooked up with Stax Records, who signed him as the first white artist to their new pop label HIP. But it was soul music, not pop, that was in Whitlock’s heart – and his break came when Delaney & Bonnie asked him to join their band, The Friends.
Following Delaney & Bonnie from Stax to Elektra Records, Whitlock found his life starting to intertwine with ‘60s rock royalty. Delaney & Bonnie took him on tour with Blind Faith, where Eric Clapton was impressed with Whitlock’s playing and the camaraderie he saw in The Friends. Soon, Whitlock joined Clapton, Jim Gordon and Carl Radle in Derek & The Dominos, the crack unit that backed George Harrison on much of the seminal All Things Must Pass and recorded the classic rock album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.
During the recording of those albums, Whitlock tentatively made his first steps as a solo artist with his 1972 self-titled album. Though drugs were already beginning to tear Derek & The Dominoes apart, Whitlock was able to call on some high profile friends (and “Friends”) to play on his album, including Clapton, Harrison, session bassist Klaus Voorman (John Lennon, Carly Simon, et al), drummer Jim Gordon, Chris Wood (of Traffic) and others. “I really loved my first record and everything that was behind it,” says Whitlock now. “And for the love that was brought to the room by everyone each time we recorded. I know that you can hear it in Eric’s solo on “The Scenery Has Slowly Changed.”
When Bobby presented his album to Atlantic Records they rejected it, citing a different vision for his debut record. So Bobby bought himself out of his contract. Soon after, The Dominos split up following troubled second album sessions. Bobby just kept moving: first back to his rural home in England, then to France, where the Rolling Stones were recording Exile On Main Street. He found a deal for his debut album (via producer Jimmy Miller) and a follow-up too. That second album, Raw Velvet, featured the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the L.A. Symphony, Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon and Bobby’s new band members: Rick Vito on guitar, Keith Ellis on bass and Don Poncher on drums. Andy Johns co-produced the self-titled debut (with Whitlock) and Jimmy Miller produced the Raw Velvet LP. Andy was the recording engineer of Exile on Main Street and later produced Television’s Marquee Moon. Miller, of course, produced Exile On Main Street!
Pat Thomas, the reissue producer of this project, told Bobby Whitlock during their first conversation about reissuing these recordings: “Your first two solo albums are the missing link for all this seminal music that has been on CD for years; Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, All Things Must Pass, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Dave Mason’s Alone Together, and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends ’On Tour’ with Eric Clapton.”
Bobby paused for a moment, and said, “I never thought about it like that, but you’re absolutely right.”
