New Vinyl Pressing! Soul Step Records continues to support and highlight the music scene in Cincinnati, OH. Their latest release takes us back to Ohio to present to you the unbelievably talented Lauren Eylise and her album, This Is Personal.

Lauren Eylise’s genre-defying music can only be accurately categorized as eclectic-soul, as an array of influences make up her sound while each song is born from lessons of the soul. Her commanding vocals and acoustic stylings exude an indie-folk style with R&B overtones that easily appeal to the energy of Pop music. And when armed with her full band, The Part-Time Lovers, the soul singer’s sound fuses funkadelic rock and electric blues. She is unapologetic, autonomously sensual and vulnerably transparent in her music and presence. 

Her resume reflects more than six years of work under her belt. As such, she has opened stages for the likes of Patti Labelle, Erykah Badu, Jidenna, Tank, and The Bangas Yasiin Bey, Talib Kweli, Train, John Legend, Matt Kearney, Raheem Devaughn, Tank, and many more. 

Lauren Eylise is for fans of SZA, Jorja Smith, and Solange. This Is Personal is like getting an audiobook of Lauren’s diary. Straightforward and honest songwriting that’s perfectly paired with romantic and lush musical arrangements. Once you drop the needle on this LP, you will get punched with Lauren’s soulful vocals. Sit back and enjoy the ride as you hear songs about love, good whiskey, and finding yourself.

Soul Step Records will be releasing the LP This Is Personal by Lauren Eylise to Soul Step Subscribers on Saturday, December 4th. 

The general public sale will begin on Monday, December 6th. The tracks on this LP can be found on streaming on all services right now. 

Happy Holidays!

Wow…what a year!  As always, it is a blur to think back about all of the amazing records we have pressed in the past year.  Thanks to all of our customers, vendors, and colleagues for working with us in 2022!

Here is a list of some of our favorite projects in 2022 (not in any specific order) – please be sure to check out as many of these as you can.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Gotta Groove!

2022 GOTTA GROOVE YEAR IN REVIEW LIST:

Mike Burrows
 
Fela Kuti – Zombie (Knitting Factory Records)
Fela Kuti – Upside Down (Knitting Factory Records)
Fela Kuti – ITT (Knitting Factory Records)
Fabio Frizzi with Riccardo Rocchi – Dark Chamber (Cadabra Records)
Al Festa – Zombie 4: After Death (Empire of Tombs)
Jeff Carney – Live Electronic Music (Lion Productions)
Truth and Janey – No Rest for the Wicked (Lion Productions)
Midnight Xpander – Marcia Bassett (Yew Recordings)
Horace Tapscott – Tapscott & Winds (Nimbus West Records)
Max Roach – Members, Don’t Git Weary (Real Gone Records)
East Coast – East Coast (Real Gone Records)
Marty Robbins – The Gunfighter & Other Ballads (Real Gone Records)
Chuck Armstrong – Shackin’ Up (Real Gone Records)
George Scott – Find Someone to Love (Real Gone Records)
Don Julian & the Larks – Super Slick (Real Gone Records)
Brian Bennett – Voyage: A Journey Into Discoid Funk (Real Gone Records)
Kalapana – Kalapana (Aloha Got Soul)
Charlie Megira and the Hefker Girl (Secretly Group)
 
 
Matt Earley
 
Calvin Keys – Blue Keys
Catfish Keith – Land of the Sky
Chris Lujan & Electric Butter feat. Andre Cruz – The Real Thing
Club D’Elf – You Never Know
Darren Jessee – Central Bridge
Dillard & Clark – The Fantastic Expedition
Doctor Bionic – The Invisible Hand
Don Julian & The Larks – Super Slick
Drayton Farley – A Hard Up Life
The Du-Rites – Plug It In
Evolfo – The Changer
Fela Kuti – International Thief Thief
Fela Kuti – Upside Down
Florida Street – Anthology Vol. 1
Formula 400 – Heathens
Fountains of Wayne – Out of State Plates
Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather
Ghost Orchard – Rainbow Music
Glory Or Death Records – Friends & Family Vol. 2
Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks Vol. 33
Hanzolo – S/T
John Alair – Cleans House
Dickie Landry – Solos
Dave Liebman – Trust and Honesty
Jesus Lizard – Shot
Little Feat – Oh! Atlanta
The Lost Souls – S/T
Lu$id – Just A Taste
Marcus Machado – Aquarius Purple
Melvin Van Peebles – Watermelon Man
Midnight Syndicate – Legendary Truth
My Dad Is Dead – Peace, Love & Murder
Night Owls – Versions
The Rabbits – S/T
The Vindys – Bugs
Say She She – Prism
Snake Toys – Champions of the Dark
Stone Witch – Order of the Goat
Tropa Magica – Exitos
Tony Williams – Play Or Die
Wasafiri – Klearlight
 
 
 
Michael Fanos (Well Made Music)
 
Parquet Courts – Content Nausea
Nnamdi – Are You Happy
Husker Du – Live at Jay’s Longhorn’s
Ghost Funk Orchestra – A New Kind of Love
Wendy O. Williams – Fuck’N Roll Live
 
 
Ren Harcar
 
Charlie Megira & The Hefker Girl: S/T
Fela Kuti: Zombie
The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
Uno Lady: Single Rider
 
 
Dave Polster (Well Made Music)
 
Blasting Rod-Of Wild Hazel
Greensky Bluegrass- Stress Dreams B-Sides 7”
Team Bryce Foundation-A Season For A Smile Comp.
Powerman 5000-Tonight The Stars Revolt
Ghost Funk Orchestra-Nightwalker/Death Waltz
The Harlem Gospel Travelers-Look Up
V/A-Rat Race! (Peppermint Records Comp)
Trevor Something-Lost Love/Lost Memories
The Jive Turkeys-Bread & Butter
Melvin Van Peebles-Watermelon Man OST
The Vindys-Bugs
Max Roach-Members, Don’t Git Weary
Hearts Gone South-Mercy Of Your Tide
California Speedbag-Little Guns
 
 
Vince Slusarz (Sr)
 
As usual, limited to both what we shipped out this year to date and available listening time.  In no particular order:
 
Mary Gauthier- Dark Enough to See The Stars (30 Tigers)
Chas Cronk-Liberty (Renaissance)
Heavy Cat- The Return of Heavy Cat (Wax Mage)
GA 20-Crackdown (Colemine)
California Speedbag-Little Guns
Terrycloth Mother-S/T
Sweet Trip-Alura (Darla)
Booker T and the MGs- Complete Stax Singles Vol. 2 (Real Gone)
The Vindys-Bugs
Kalapana-S/T (Aloha Got Soul)
Brian Straw-Baby Stars/Dead Languages
Guided By Voices- Tremblers and Goggles by Rank (Rockathon)
Delvon Lamar Organ Trio-Cold as Weiss (Colemine)
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers-Nightroamer (30 Tigers)
Dillard and Clark-The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark (Intervention)
Red Dirt Boys-The Real Deal (Farm Team)
Gabbard Brothers-S/T (Karma Chief)
Bob Wills-Take It Away! – Best Of The Lost Transcriptions For Tiffany Music 1946-1947 (Real Gone)
Avett Brothers-6^th Avett Guild 45 (Ramseur)
Julianne Hatfield/Emma Swift-Lotta Love/Give Me Strength 7” (American Laundromat)
The Monkees-All of Your Toys/The Girl I Knew Somewhere 7” (Rhino)
 
 
Tim Thornton
 
Drew Daniel & John Wiese – Through Mazes Running
Front Line Assembly – Tactical Neural Implant
Jesus Lizard – Shot
Dickie Landry & Lawrence Weiner – Having Been Built On Sand
Lynyn – Lexicon
My Dad Is Dead – Peace Love & Murder / Pow!
Carl Stone – Wat Dong Moon Lek
Tall Dwarfs – Unravelled
Yeule – Glitch Princess

Lionlimb’s return delivers us singer-songwriter Stewart Bronaugh at the height of his artistic powers both visually and sonically. Angel Olsen describes “Spiral Groove” as an album about “what it means to endure your losses and the gift of being able to recognize the most real love in your life.” She speaks warmly of her former bandmate’s new album–a timeless, romantic collection of songs borne out of musician Stewart Bronaugh’s recovery from a neck surgery. Piano, cello, slide guitar and buzzing synth lines wind in and out comfortably over the course of this 31 minute album. Studded with stories of mortality, the challenges of addiction and sobriety, and the romance of a lifetime, “Spiral Groove” encapsulates all of our existential questions into tidy love songs. The name derives from a channel in the arm your nerves run through while simultaneously painting the picture of a needle dropping into a vinyl LP.

Written and conceived before covid-19, these songs were shaped by real-time feedback and the alchemy that happens when a group of well-seasoned musicians gather together. Bronaugh’s compositions found life in the hands of long-time collaborators Joshua Jaeger and Jonathan Sumner. Jaeger’s drumming is intuitive and full of care, creating space for the kind of cello and guitar riffs that flow like water. With Sumner’s rich bass playing following suit, they comprise a rhythm section that sets the stage for Bronaugh’s songwriting.

Available now from Bayonet Records.

New Vinyl Pressing: Merging the sounds of nature along with his resounding vibraphone, Arthur Lyman and producer Gordon Broad created Island Vibes, an ambient/jazz/field recording album that exhibits the pure weightlessness of Lyman’s music.

A lost gem from the exotica pioneer’s catalog — and his last recorded album — Island Vibes paints a meditative tropical canvas of the Hawaiian Islands’ natural beauty. A welcomed sonic transport to paradise, much needed in a (post-)pandemic world.

Originally recorded with Broad Records, who’s responsible for Phase 7’s Playtime and other important 1970s and 80s-era local records.

At eight years old, Arthur Lyman’s music was already being played in public spaces via a toy marimba performance on the radio. While Lyman laughed about the experience, he would continue performing and ultimately debuted professionally at 14 with a jazz group. His skills earned him a place as a vibraphonist alongside exotica pioneer Martin Denny, although Lyman would leave the Denny’s group soon after to pursue a solo career.

Island Vibes would become Lyman’s final recorded album, an embodiment of the term of “relaxation”, relying solely on Lyman’s instrumentation and the quaint lull of ocean waves to produce a picturesque atmosphere.

Available from Aloha Got Soul.

Recorded at the the famous Cleveland venue that once was right down the street from GGR! Live album from classic hard rockers Starz. Features “(She’s Just A) Fallen Angel”, “Cherry Baby”, “Hold On To The Night”. 180 gram deluxe gatefold vinyl. Package features trading cards, poster and lyric sheets. Available from Renaissance Records.

New Audiophile Vinyl Pressing: At a time in music where history and originality rarely go hand in hand, trumpeter Gabriel Mervine brings both together as never before.

From one of the best jazz quartets in town comes a spectacular Audiophile Master, Say Somethin’ from trumpeter Gabriel Mervine. Without question, one of the best jazz recordings yet made, this wonderful Octave Records release will help set the standard for how an intimate musical session can sound.

Gabriel Mervine’s Say Somethin’ is a musical conversation in the language of jazz. Octave Records and Gabe Mervine put together an extraordinary hour of music, beautifully captured as if the quartet were playing in the intimacy of your living room. Order direct from PS Audio.

In 1986, it seemed only fitting that Frank Yankovic won the first ever polka Grammy Award on Cleveland International Records(produced by Joey Miskulin and the mysterious Dragutin Razum)for it was he who had for so long bridged the ethnic gap between polka and the popular music forms which the Grammys represent.

It is Frank Yankovic who perfectly blends the ethnic roots of polka music with popular influences, presenting a package that all of America can enjoy. Songs Of the Polka King collects songs and artists fitting for the King. Weird Al Yankovic duets with Frank on Who Stole the Kishka while Drew Carey duets with Frank on the Too Fat Polka and Joey Miskulin, Yankovic’s protégé, does the moving, award-winning “For Old Time’s Sake Waltz”. Even now, as polka in America has evolved into many different regional, ethnic, and generational variants, it is Yankovic who remains the undisputed champion. And he did it all still with the same warm, regal smile which benefits the people’s king that he is and forever will be. This is an album all ages will enjoy singing and dancing to.

Order now from Cleveland International Records.

New Vinyl Pressing – Guided By Voices – It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them!

It’s been just a few months since Guided By Voice’s faux rock opera Earth Man Blues garnered four-star and five-star reviews, with Rolling Stone proclaiming that it “squarely hits all the marks that make Guided By Voices great—again and again and again.”

“Again and again and again”, is perhaps GBV’s credo, with Robert Pollard’s never-ending supply of fascinating and supremely catchy rock. Just when one thinks one’s got them pinned down, album number thirty-four opens with bizarre percussion, mariachi trumpets, strings and acoustic guitar. The adventurous spirit pervades yet another killer album from the greatest and most versatile GBV line-up. The golden boys (Doug Gillard, Bobby Bare Jr, Mark Shue, Kevin March) can do no wrong.

Hooky singles “My (Limited) Engagement”, “High In The Rain” and “Dance of Gurus” intermingle with occasionally dark lyrics and the oddest of GBV oddballs, the ridiculous “Razor Bug”, “Psycho House”, and the “Maintenance Man Of The Haunted House”. The horns and strings return intermittently, with “The Bells Get Out Of The Way” going full Burt Bacharach. It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! is a creative tour-de-force full of surprises from the most prolific and captivating band on the planet.

Preorder the Oct 22, 2021 release from Rockathon Records now!

New Vinyl Pressing: Dean & Britta’s 2020 album of covers, recorded in Echo Park during the pandemic, now re-mastered. SIDE 1 1. Neon Lights 2. Massachusetts 3. Sadness 4. He Dines Out On Death 5. Neon Licht (Holy Shit Remix) 6. I’m So Bored With the USA SIDE 2 7. The Carnival Is Over 8. Drive 9. Most of the Time 10. Indian Summer 11. 23 Minutes In Brussels. Grab it from the Dean Wareham website now!

New Vinyl Pressing: Take Over And Destroy – Fade Out. “TOAD” are described as an American rock & roll band from the 1970’s trapped inside of a Scandinavian metal band from the early 1990’s, scoring a John Carpenter film.

Their latest album is up for preorder now on wax – grab one of the variants today!