New record pressing – Bob Azzam & The Great Expectation – Self Titled.
This 1969 oddity goes for big bucks if you can find it for a couple of obvious reasons. First, the drum break on the cover of Alvin Toussaint’s classic “Rain Rain (Go Away)” has become legend among crate diggers and samplers. The other is that the version of the Stones’ “The Last Time” is astonishingly psychedelic, a delirium of fuzz guitar, electric sitar, rumbling piano, and throbbing bass punctuated by soaring, Left Banke-esque vocal choruses. But, those highlights aside, this one-off album from Egyptian vocalist Wadie George “Bob” Azzam and his merry band of pranksters is a refreshingly eclectic and highly listenable affair leavened with a hint of electronic weirdness a la Lothar and the Hand People or Silver Apples. “Mon Amour” pays tribute to Azzam’s Middle Eastern roots with a jaunty Arabic melody, while he brings a Beatle-esque sensibility to the two Les Reed covers, “Mr. Lovin’ Luggage Man” and “One Little Packet of Cigarettes.” And “Berimbau” offers an unexpected outburst of Tropicalismo. In short, not just a rarity, but a record to appeal to anybody with a warped pop sensibility…and ain’t that all of us? Remastered and pressed in fire orange vinyl for its first reissue in any format!
Wax Mage Productions and Daptone Records Collab Edition!
Recorded live to tape at Penrose Recorders by Gabriel Roth, AMÉRICA! expands on the classic Mambo sounds that the band has become known for — blending Latin soul, boogaloo and salsa – all while staying true to their Cuban roots. On their fourth studio record, the band introduces an all-star line-up of new singers including Mariam Elhajli and Carolina Oliveros (of Combo Chimbita). Elhajli and Oliveros both tap into the raw energy of Celia and La Lupe, but turn the lens toward something more intimate: themes of loss, upheaval, and the weight of the immigrant experience.
(Please note: Variant photos are only artist renditions meant to represent the general look of the records – the exact colors and appearance of each copy will vary in an extremely random manner).
About Wax Mage Productions:
Wax Mage Productions (WMP) is a record label run by Heath Gmucs, Tyren Craemer, and the Gotta Groove Records. WMP is genre-agnostic, and releases both hand-picked new exclusive recordings as well as reissues. WMP seeks to push the limits of the phonograph record format from both an audio and visual perspective through three separate channels – Wax Mage Collabs, Wax Mage Exclusives, and Wax Mage Editions. Wax Mage Collabs are collaborative releases with another label/party, limited in quantity, handmade and unique in nature from the wide variants otherwise available. Wax Mage Exclusives are releases manufactured by Wax Mage and not available through any other label or source; sometimes new recordings and sometimes reissues; not necessarily limited quantities, but always with extreme handmade experimentation and design. Wax Mage Editions are the core of the Wax Mage brand – dating back to 2015, always limited to /25 copies worldwide, and manufactured exclusively by Wax Mage for third parties, or for WMP releases.
About Daptone Records:
Daptone Records: that little indie label that could, would and certainly should–continues to bring you the tastiest, most delectable nuggets of Soul, Funk, Gospel and Afrobeat to be found on a vinyl platter. Armed with recipes culled from a former life as Desco Records, Daptone earnestly strives to serve only the finest music analog tape can offer. Daptone labels include Penrose Records, Wick Records, Victor Axelrod Productions, Deena Records, and Daptone Recording Co.
About Gotta Groove Records:
Gotta Groove Records (GGR) is home to Wax Mage Productions, as well as being one of the highest regarded record pressing plants in the world, specializing in extreme color variants and audiophile sound quality pressings. GGR operates out of Cleveland, Ohio; making 7inch and 12inch records, as well as offering injection-molded PET “EcoRecords” as an alternative to traditional vinyl pressings. GGR also operates The Electromastering Lab, the record plating facility that makes stampers not only for GGR pressings, but for dozens of other pressing plants worldwide.
New record pressing – Elegant Weapons – Evolution.
This quartet of lifelong musicians — guitarist Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest), vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, MSG), bassist Dave Rimmer (Uriah Heep), and drummer Christopher Williams (Accept) — have rallied around a collective vision. Together they’ve forged a signature style built on unforgettable riffing, surgically precise solos, bold grooves, and skyscraping hooks.
Featuring “Evil Eyes,” “Generation Me,” and the lead single “Bridges Burn,” Evolution finds Elegant Weapons delivering their most dynamic and powerful work yet.
Side A is jazz infused House Music for the soulfully discerning dancefloor.
Side B harkens back to the 90s Trip Hop era with a DJ friendly cut, pressed loud for the listening lounge.
The debut release by Love from NYC Music is from Lady Flic, a veteran DJ from New Zealand residing in NYC via London and Bali. 30 years in the game as a wildly eclectic DJ, Lady Flic stays true to her House and Trip Hop roots with this beautiful release.
Vocals by City Hayes, who some may recognise from one or two Red Rack’em productions.
Written and Produced by Lady Flic. Co-Produced by Lorqa. Extra keys on Side A by L3ni. Mastering for vinyl by Coflo.
Vinyl only release. No digital release is available at launch. Select DJs have received advance copies.
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
New record pressing – Josaleigh Pollett – If I Let It Quiet
Available courtesy of Audio Antihero and Lavender Vinyl.
Salt Lake City-based singer-songwriter Josaleigh Pollett (any/all pronouns) has announced their fourth full-length album, ‘If I Let It Quiet.’ Produced by long-time collaborator Jordan Watko (Crowd Shy), the record will be released July 24th via Audio Antihero (Frog / Tiberius / Avery Friedman / CIAO MALZ) and Lavender Vinyl on digital and vinyl. It will be preceded by May 19th’s “The Witness” single.
The work of Pollett and Watko has received a slow burn of recognition over the years. Following Pollett’s warm and rootsy solo debut ‘Strangers,’ the duo initially found acclaim together in 2020 with their ‘No Woman Is the Sea’ album. They reached a broader audience with 2023’s electronics-infused ‘In the Garden, By the Weeds,’ thanks to support from notable outlets, including NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, as well as awards and end-of-year lists.
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
New record pressing – Eddie 9V – Little Black Flies on Orange Vinyl!
All his life, Eddie 9-volt has acted on instinct. Aged just 15, this old-soul artist turned away from the path of college and jobs to burst all guns blazing onto the blues club circuit of his native Atlanta, Georgia. Flash forward to 2019, and for his debut album, Left My Soul In Memphis, the prodigious multi-instrumentalist simply powered up the amps in his mobile trailer and with his brother/co-writer/producer, Lane Kelly, laid down one of the year’s breakout releases, acclaimed as “fresh and life-affirming” by Rock & Blues Muse. “Memphis was a total side project,” shrugs Eddie, “that ended up taking off.”Now, released in 2021 on Ruf Records, Little Black Flies is the 24-year-old’s most impulsive move to date. Tracked live in Atlanta’s Echo Deco Studios through November 2020, once again with Lane turning the knobs, plus a who’s who of the state’s best musicians (including guitar icon Cody Matlock), it’s an album that Eddie planned to feel like it’s unfolding right in front of you – right down to the clink of bottles and loose studio banter.
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
New record pressing — Chat Pile – Masks b/w Sifting.
Sub Pop and Oklahoma City noise-rock powerhouse Chat Pile present a limited-edition 7” single featuring two studio tracks: one brand new original, and the other a burly reimagining of the early Nirvana song “Sifting.”
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing, DMM and Lacquer cutting, plating, and printing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
New Record Pressing — Fela Kuti He Miss Road. Record pressing back in print on vinyl, courtesy of Partisan Records.
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
New record pressing – The Vindys: Trapdoor has been years in the making, with several singles already released along the way. This album has been an ever-evolving production, and we’re so excited to finally share the full thing with you! We hope you love Trapdoor as much as we do.
(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).
