Our issue of the full, 33-minute version of Isaac Hayes and the Bar Kays’ “Do Your Thing” will be for sale tonight at midnight; Rappcats will stock this and other rarities at a one-day pop up shop for Black Friday’s Record Store Day: Friday, November 25, Noon – 3PM.
5636 York Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90042
The Rappcats pop up Record Store Day shop features our unearthed full-length version of Isaac Hayes & The Bar Kay’s Do Your Thing, and a ton of items from the Rappcats warehouse – shirts, records, CDs, posters.
We’re also stocking a few other official Record Store Day releases: Rude Ray Moore’s XXX-Mas album, a project from Uchenna Ikonne (the man who helped us create the Nigerian rock anthologies Wake Up You!, and the force behind the lauded Who Is William Onyeabor) delving into the 70s sound of South Eastern Nigeria, and a rap record shaped like Texas (it’s UGK featuring Outkast).
And we’ve got more to come! But stop by and nurse that Thanksgiving hangover at Rappcats with us as we share some great offers with you: all Now-Again titles, for instance, are 25% off, in-store only.
December 3rd: Rappcats x Ubiquity: Boston Bob record sale January 14-15: “Cool” Chris Veltri and the Groove Merchant. San Francisco’s legendary record store in LA; one weekend only!
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Noon — 6PM
5636 York Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90042
Rappcats is bringing back Ubiquity Records founder Michael McFadin and key records from the peerless collection of “Boston” Bob Gibson for a one day pop up shop in Highland Park. The first installment, in August, focused on the breadth of Gibson’s collection, which is considered by collectors like DJ Shadow, the Groove Merchant’s Chris Veltri and Chairman Mao to be one of the best of its kind ever assembled. From one-off, uber-rare Northern Soul and Deep Funk 45s to rare groove classics to heavy psychedelic rock, the shop showcased but the tip of the iceberg of a collection that numbers in the tens of thousands LPs and 45s.
This installment focuses on Gibson’s rap records – and the records he collected, and often sold, that influenced every important New York hip hop producer of the 1990s and, by extent, the rap world in general. Gibson, as his name reflects, lived in Boston which, in the pre-Internet 80s, might as well have been in a different country than New York City. But Gibson was a preternatural collector and, while Lenny Roberts’ Ulitmate Breaks and Beats was the biggest direct influence on the 80s hip hop soundscape, Gibson was using Roberts’ template as a springboard, and going deep. Deeper than any collector had ever gone, at at time when the records he was buying were not fashionable. But they would become so. (more…)
For the first time ever, we’re issuing the full 33-minute, psychedelic funk jam session by Isaac Hayes and his Memphis rhythm kingpins the Bar-Kays, mixed directly from the original 2-inch tape. LP contains bonus rhythm section instrumental and booklet detailing the history of this never-before-heard version of one of Hayes’ most famous songs.
Isaac Hayes was already a cutting-edge funk master at Stax Records when he accepted the unprecedented assignment of creating a soundtrack for the 1971 action flick Shaft. At a time when R&B songs routinely timed out at three minutes and under, Hayes’ albums for Stax’s Enterprise imprint had been breaking new ground since 1969. His masterpiece Hot Buttered Soul consisted of only four tracks, two songs on The Isaac Hayes Movement clocked in at a hair under 12 minutes, and one selection on his …To Be Continued stretched to 15:33.
But his epic “Do Your Thing,” one of the cornerstones of the two-LP Shaft soundtrack, outdid them all. Occupying nearly the entire last side of the set, it concluded after 19-and-a-half grooving minutes with the overdubbed sound of a needle scratching violently across a piece of vinyl. No one knew that jarring ending masked the existence of another 13 minutes of “Do Your Thing.” Consigned to the vaults, those improvisatory extensions—somewhere in between free-jazz and psychedelic rock—were seemingly destined never to be heard. Until now. Listen to 22-minutes of part one, below. And prepare yourself for the fuzz to come.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Noon — 6PM
5636 York Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90042
On November 12th, Egon’s hosting his last record store of 2016 at Rappcats, selling records from his collection, one-day only. This event will continue in 2017, once every quarter, with unique records being made available at each event. For this event, he’s also selling rare jazz records from the 50s, 60s and 70s, all sourced from the well-maintained archives of a serious Pittsburgh collector: from first press, stellar copies of classics like John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” to Ian Carr’s 70s modal fusion. Of course, records from Island funk to West African highlife to Brasilian bossa-nova will also line the walls of the 1500 square foot Rappcats space in Highland Park.
We at Now-Again have recently issued the World Experience Orchestra’s two spiritual jazz masterworks as part of our Now-Again Reserve subscription series. A career-wide retrospective of Houston drummer Bubbha Thomas and his Lightmen Plus One group – including many unreleased tracks – has been in the works for the past decade, and is planned for issue in 2017.
Also available on site will be the entire Now-Again catalog — for a one day discount of 25% less than our normal retail prices. If you can’t make it to Highland Park, all online Now-Again orders from the Rappcats store placed on November 12th will receive a 25% discount as well.
November 25: Rappcats Record Store Day Sale! Stay tuned for info. December 03: Ubiquity Records/“Boston” Bob Gibson’s Collection Pt. 2. Focusing on rare hip hop throughout the decades as well as disco. January 14-15: “Cool” Chris Veltri and the Groove Merchant. San Francisco’s legendary record store in LA; one weekend only!
Berlin-based label owner, journalist and all-around music enthusiast Stephan Szillus, associate producer of our Paternoster reissue – the first issue in our Now-Again Reserve subscription series – has just issued a remix album of our favorite 70s, underground Austrian album, featuring some of Austria and Germany’s underground beat-making heroes. As he writes:
“In 2015 I embarked on a journey to find the remaining members of the short-lived Vienna underground band Paternoster, because my friend Eothen “Egon” Alapatt of Now-Again Records wanted to re-issue their first and only record, one of Euro prog rock’s holy grails. I met Franz Wippel, the band’s mastermind and songwriter, and Paternoster was re-released as part of the Now-Again Reserve subscription service in April 2016. Around the same time I sent the master files to a few of my beatmaking friends from Germany and Austria, resulting in this collection of remixes and versions. From underground trap to throwback boom-bap and afro house — Paternoster still sounds very much alive, even 44 years after its release.”
