Hard to believe ten years have passed since Matt Sullivan and Josh Wright founded Light In The Attic, a label responsible for some of the sharpest looking and sounding reissues and new albums of recent years. To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Light In The Attic has put together some very special events and a series of exclusive singles.
In the ten years since its inception, Light In The Attic has launched The Black Angels to the world and released rare treasures from funk-rock maverick Betty Davis, proto-punk band The Monks, folk singers Karen Dalton, Jim Sullivan, and Michael Chapman, larger-than-life troubadours Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood, Korean rock hero Shin Joong Hyun, and Memphis soul heavyweights Wendy Rene and Charles “Packy” Axton.
Over the years, we also delved deep in to the history of our home town with vintage Seattle soul via the series Wheedle’s Groove, reissued classics from country stalwarts Kris Kristofferson and the Louvin Brothers, brought rock-n-roll farmers Donnie & Joe Emerson to the public, expanded minds with the deeply vibrant Jamaica to Toronto series, and played a key role in the rediscovery of legendary singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, recently celebrated in the Sony Pictures Classics critical smash film, Searching For Sugar Man. The list is long.
It’s only right, then, that we’re not letting an anniversary like this pass unmarked. Headlining two celebratory concerts is Rodriguez, a man for whom rediscovery via Light In The Attic has taken him from obscurity to long-deserved fame. Line-ups for the two shows – to be held in Los Angeles and Seattle – will include the third ever U.S. performance by South Korea’s 75-year old ‘Godfather of Rock’ Shin Joong Hyun, veteran Yorkshire finger-picking wizard Michael Chapman, and a very rare performance from rediscovered darlings of private press, Donnie & Joe Emerson.
In addition to the shows, we will be releasing a series of very special singles as colored vinyl 7”s and digital downloads. The series features contemporary artists covering a track reissued by Light In The Attic on the A-side, plus the original version on the B-side. The series begins with Iggy Pop & Zig Zags covering Betty Davis, and the standard remains equally high.
Sullivan conceived Light In The Attic having worked as an intern for Seattle’s Sub Pop and Loosegroove labels in the ‘90s. Spending a summer in Spain working for reissue label Munster Records, he hit on the idea of launching his own. In the decade in which the world went digital, Light In The Attic bucked the trend, focusing on creating beautiful, covetable, desirable discs. “That’s what gets us up in the morning – finding records, finding new ways to shed light on them and get them the respect they deserve,” says Matt. “The packaging, the album, it all has to be one inspiring experience.”
Light In The Attic 10 Year Anniversary Concert (Los Angeles):
Friday, September 28, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
The first 200 people through the door at both shows get a free 45 single, and the merch stall will be a Light In The Attic record store – heaven for label completists.
RODRIGUEZ (Detroit)
SHIN JOONG HYUN (South Korea)
MICHAEL CHAPMAN (U.K.)
STEPHEN JOHN KALINICH (Los Angeles)
DJ SIPREANO (Vancouver)
Tickets available via this link.
Light In The Attic 10 Year Anniversary Concert (Seattle):
Friday, October 12, The Showbox at The Market, Seattle
The first 200 people through the door at both shows get a free 45 single, and the merch stall will be a Light In The Attic record store – heaven for label completists.
RODRIGUEZ (Detroit)
MICHAEL CHAPMAN (U.K.)
DONNIE & JOE EMERSON (Fruitland, WA – first Seattle appearance)
DJ SUSPENCE (Seattle)
Tickets available via this link.
Light In The Attic Anniversary 7″ Series:
We’re only at liberty to unveil the first few, which are as follows…
Iggy Pop & Zig Zags – Pre-Order at this link.
“If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up” (2012) b/w Betty Davis, “If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up” (1973)
Sweet Tea featuring Alex Maas (The Black Angels) & Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards)
“After Laughter (Comes Tears)” (2012) b/w Wendy Rene, “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” (1964)
Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band
“I’ll Slip Away” (2012) b/w Rodriguez “I’ll Slip Away (1967)
Diana Darby’s I V (intravenous) is a brand new album of songs that have passed through seven years of fire in a real life, retaining what Pitchfork called “minimal, whispered rendition(s)” of “powerfully fatalistic evaluations of hope.”