Happy Record Store Day April 18, 2026!
Among the list of releases this year, be sure to check these new record pressings out, pressed at GGR:
U-Roy: Feel Jah Spirit: U-Roy Meets The Aggrovators
Son Volt – Sound Signal Serenades
Ghost Funk Orchestra – Live In Europe
(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 – Blue Ash – Dinner at Mr. Billy’s.
During 1971 and 1972, the classic Blue Ash line-up of David Evans, Jim Kendzor, Bill “Cupid” Bartolin and Frank Secich played more than quite a bit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It seemed like we were playing “The Burgh” 4-5 nights a week. At the time, we had two booking agencies in Pittsburgh, Go Attractions (Rich Engler and Paul St. John) and Fly By Night Productions owned by Joe Riccelli. One time back then we were driving on Rt. 51 south of Pittsburgh to a gig in Clarion. Cupid looked out the window of the car and saw a big sign for a restaurant called “Mr Billy’s”. He said to all of us as he pointed to the sign, “If we ever get to make an album, we should call it “Dinner At Mr. Billy’s”. We all laughed. I thought it was a hilarious idea. Cupid and I even wrote a song right after that called “Dinner At Mr. Billy’s”, then we promptly forgot about the whole idea. While going through the vaults recently at Peppermint Productions, we found the tape of the song “Dinner At Mr. Billy’s” and in honor of Cupid, Mr. Billy has now finally made it out of oblivion and on to an album.
Available courtesy of Peppermint 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).
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| The Gotta Groove 350 gram Advanced Audiophile™ Pressing We are extremely excited to announce our newest advancement in our pursuit to produce the most perfect vinyl record ever made – the 350 gram Advanced Audiophile™ pressing. What makes this record so advanced is, in spite of its nearly double* the weight of a traditional 180 gram audiophile pressing, the thickness and profile of the record is unchanged – it is the mass that makes the difference. In other words – the record takes up the same amount of space as our 180 gram pressings do; but the weight of the record is nearly double, which deadens the microvibrations that occur at the point of the stylus during playback, and produces a sound that is the closest possible reproduction of the original recording with zero background noise on a properly calibrated turntable. (*Records vary in weight +/- 5 grams. Incidentally, we attempted to make it truly double the weight of a 180 gram record – our initial goal was to make a 360 gram record. But, the mass caps out at an average 350 grams +/- 5 no matter the press setting). How it came about: Going back to 2012, Gotta Groove has collaborated with NASA engineers in various facets of its record pressing operation. We could not have developed the Advanced Audiophile™ pressing without NASA’s assistance…and a little luck. As widely reported on March 17, 2026, a massive meteor explosion occurred over Northeast Ohio. Our Cleveland pressing plant happened to have a truckload of vinyl gaylords being delivered at the very moment that explosion occurred. After the truck left, upon inspection of the gaylords, many small holes could be seen in the tops of the bags – almost as if something had burned through the lining. We did not think much of it, until the next day, after many employees had heard/read/seen the news about the meteor explosion. We immediately reached out to NASA to describe the burnt holes in the gaylords, and the timing of the delivery in relation to the explosion. Within hours, several of their engineers were on site to conduct tests, and determine if somehow fragments of that meteor landed in our delivery of vinyl. The following week, the suspicions were confirmed from NASA’s testing – we in fact had a “meteoric mix” of vinyl on our hands. While we did agree to part with one of the gaylords so NASA could conduct further tests, we kept the others – just to see what might happen if we pressed records with it. The first results, to our surprise, were well-pressed good looking records. However, upon playback, it seemed like the music was slowed down. But, in actuality, this was because the weight of the record was actually slowing the turntable. Once we put the record on our house Technics SP-10 MKIII, it spun correctly, and the sound quality was absolutely mind blowing. (So, the Advanced Audiophile™ pressings will require playback on a turntable with sufficient torque to spin at the correct speed, in spite of the increased weight of the record). Since there is an extremely finite amount of raw material with the meteor fragments mixed in, we are offering Advanced Audiophile™ records solely as a one-time auction. There is approximately 30,000 records’ worth of material, and order quantities are being limited to 500 copies per title. We will begin auctioning the material for pressing orders in August 2026 on our company’s 18th anniversary. To be kept in the loop for how to sign up for the auction, please click here. |
New Record Pressing — Colemine Records is excited to put out their first 45 with The Charities, a sweet-soul band out of sunny California. The group’s sound is a melting pot of cultures, exhibiting a mix of soul, r&b, rock, and funk.
The A-side of this 45, ‘Fatal Attraction,’ explores just that. In some relationships, the very qualities that draw you in can also lead to your destruction. She’s captivating—beautiful, intelligent, and charming—but beneath the surface, she’s narcissistic and self-centered, with no regard for the pain she causes. When you’re lost in the intensity of love, it’s easy to overlook these darker traits. But when the time comes for her to move on, she’ll strike without hesitation, delivering a blow that cuts deep. Her words, sharp as a knife, tear through your heart with cold precision. As you bleed out, she offers nothing but a final, indifferent goodbye….
“It’s Not Our Time,” on the B, tells the story of two lovers who find themselves at a crossroads, torn apart by the struggles they face in this chapter of their lives. Perhaps in the future, they’ll rekindle their love and spark a new flame—one that burns even brighter then before. It’s a bittersweet goodbye, with the belief that the distance and time apart will only strengthen their bond when the moment is right.
The tracks are produced by Anthony Masino and were recorded at Penrose Recordings in Riverside, CA.
Available courtesy of Colemine 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 – Charles Joseph Smith: Collected Works and War of the Martian Ghosts
Collected Works and War of the Martian Ghosts is the definitive recorded collection of living Chicago DIY legend, Dr. Charles Joseph Smith. Born on Chicago’s southside in 1970, Smith is a lifelong resident of the Beverly neighborhood who went on to earn 3 degrees in piano (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate) and perform as a concert pianist in 5 countries (USA, Italy, Germany, France and Hungary). The album also marks the first archival release from Chicago’s Sooper Records.
All of the music here is being made widely available for the first time. This 90-minute collection is compiled from 30 years of Charles’ self-released original music spanning concert piano, electroacoustic experimentation, electronic beats, free improvisation, and two instrumental sketches of his evolving sci-fi opera, War of the Martian Ghosts (a 2023 electronic realization, and a 2018 piano realization). This double Vinyl / Triple CD Collector’s Edition comes with an extensive Insert Booklet containing 9000 words including poetry, interviews, quotes, 30 archival photographs, and extensive liner notes on the life and work of Charles Joseph Smith written by Sooper co-founder Glenn Curran (edited by Sadie Dupuis). This is a piece of Chicago music history.
Dr. Charles Joseph Smith’s remarkable story begins with a mute child’s gift for music, and the purposeful way he nurtured this talent to become both life practice and raison d’être. Charles recounts this artistic journey in his autobiography, The 88 Keys that Opened Doors, a self-published book that chronicles a life in which music was (and still is) the primary key to overcoming immense challenges posed by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
His career as a musician starts in the church, reaches into the international concert piano circuit, and eventually settles to bear strange fruit in Chicago’s experimental underground. Along the way, Charles Joseph Smith’s compositional voice absorbed and metabolized popular music spanning pop to jazz, the gospel of the church, the canon of the classical conservatory, modern dance scores, and the rule-shattering experimentalism of his city’s DIY subculture, where he has been a mainstay for over 30 years. Since the mid-1990s, Charles has been performing, dancing, and selling his self-published musical and written works in person, often at the local shows he frequents. He is known around Chicago as a living symbol of the power of music, and of the beloved spirit of community at the heart of DIY. This is the definitive collection of his original recordings—though it would be impossible to ever encompass the galaxies of music, poetry, and prose penned by the prolific Dr. Charles Joseph Smith.
Available April 3, 2026 courtesy of Sooper Records.
New record pressing – Jalen Ngonda – All About Me b/w Dub 7inch 45 single.
Soul singer supreme, Jalen Ngonda and producer/veteran keyboardist, Victor Axelrod join forces to deliver the collaboration we all needed–the impossibly soulful, reggae banger “All About Me”. Having worked together on the sessions for Come Around and Love Me, Axelrod recalls being inspired by the similarities between Jalen’s voice and a young Bitty Mcclean. He had the beds to a track already recorded, but needed the right singer. With Jalen on board, the two wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocals in one night. Written from the perspective of an arrogant lover, the track’s party-forward swing and stellar vocal performance make for a pop-forward gem poised to be massive on both the soul and reggae scenes.
Available courtesy of Daptone 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 — Tomeka Reid – Dance! Skip! Hop!
Tomeka Reid – cello
Jason Roebke – bass, cassette
Mary Halvorson – guitar
Tomas Fujiwara – drums
All compositions by Tomeka Reid, Peoples Child Music, ASCAP, 2025.
Recorded by Curtis Fye at the Brink in Richmond, VA.
Mixed and mastered by Nick Lloyd at Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT.
Produced by Tomeka Reid.
Album art + design by TJ Huff (huffart.com).
Album available courtesy of Out Of Your Head 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).
Aaron Warren and Bjorn Copeland have been playing music together since 1999: nine years as Flaccid Mojo and twenty-six years as Black Dice. This partnership has been a ramble, a supply run through the wasted landscape of contemporary music. Stacking up the dumb, the muffled, and the used-up, the pair consistently create unbalanced, breathtaking mutant constructions. The latest example is Loose Jacks, Flaccid Mojo’s second full-length. Made from free phone apps, fractured youtube videos, and cracked-screen electronics—the scorched and crumpled sediment of the streaming-industrial complex—Loose Jacks is the wide, hysterical grin of finding treasure in the end days.
Flaccid Mojo’s songs are built for live performance, with a modular arsenal of rhythms, stabs, and payoffs all at the ready. It’s their way of centering the physical; of ensuring the bodily dictates of each song’s composition reassert these commands on everyone in the audience. The satisfaction of a loop that runs until it’s in your blood, the bassline sculpted into a shove, the snare hit as sharp as a stranger’s elbow. You can feel like a ghost passing through some other band’s record, but Loose Jacks is all brick wall, weighted blanket, strong hands launching you atop a pile of bodies. It’s a liberatory, unspiritual experience. A carnal one.
As with their debut LP, Flaccid Mojo (released 2022 by Castle Face), Loose Jacks was recorded by Chris Coady, whose been at Black Dice shows since the nineties. It’s good to work with people who get it, who aren’t going to argue about key or “the grid. ” Similarly, Loose Jacks was mastered by Sarah Register, whose band Talk Normal shared a wall with the Black Dice practice space.
For fans of Chrome, Men’s Recovery Project, and the Chemical Brothers.
(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 – Jupe Jupe – King Of Sorrows:
Releases February 27, 2026
Engineered by Evan Foster at No-Count Studios, Seattle, WA
Mixed by Matt Bayles at Red Room, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA
(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).
Our first Wax Mage Collab with Craft Recordings!
Country Music sees the legendary Willie Nelson interpret traditional country standards for an album The Washington Post hails “a calm, contemplative, and remarkably consistent album.” The 2010 GRAMMY®-nominated album features renditions of 14 country classics such as “Dark as a Dungeon,” and “Satisfied Mind,” along with a version of his 1959 single, “Man with the Blues.” This pressing is a 2-LP set. and is housed in a gatefold jacket.
/100 Limited Edition “Label Burst” Numbered Copies with Foil Stamped Wax Mage Collab J-Card OBI
“Golden Ticket” copies — Within the numbered 100 copies, there are /25 randomly placed Wax Mage Editions!
PRE-ORDER THIS LIMITED EDITION RELEASE HERE.
(The NON-Wax Mage Collab version of this record can be purchased from Craft Recordings directly, or from any independent record store worldwide).
THIS IS A PRE-SALE: Release date is Februrary 27, 2026.
(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 Craft Recordings:
Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most storied collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Craft’s repertoire includes iconic artists such as Joan Baez, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, Nine Inch Nails, Thelonious Monk, Otis Redding, R.E.M. and Traveling Wilburys, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Concord Records, Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Milestone, Musart, Nitro, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Sugar Hill, Vanguard, Vee-Jay and Victory Records, among many others. Craft is the catalog label team for Concord Recorded Music.
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.
