New vinyl pressing! Nine New Songs From Throttle Elevator Music writers Gregory Howe and Erik Jekabson in Collaboration with Henry Franklin AKA ‘The Skipper’ of (Black Jazz Records).

Taking off from Daggerboard’s Last Days of Studio A, Daggerboard and The Skipper lands solidly in a jazz with amazing strings, vibes, and Erik’s soaring trumpet all atop Henry’s driving stand-up bass and Mike Hughes rock solid beat. Also Featured are two compositions and outstanding guitar work by Ross Howe (Throttle Elevator Music Final Floor), Roger Glenn on Vibes (Donald Byrd) and a string section featuring Mads Tolling on first violin.

Available from Wide Hive Records.

Ahead of a string of performances bookending the US, Cleveland-based (and GGR employee) troubadour Brian Straw releases “Silent Partner.” The single is a bonus track from Straw’s debut full-length album, Baby Stars/Dead Languages, which was released in January to praise by new listeners, long-time fans, and critics alike.

A song about missed chances and making up for lost time, Straw wrote “Silent Partner” when he quit drinking and struggled to find himself. “This is a song of transition and the journey to becoming who I am. Moving away from pain and learning to embrace the now is a theme,” he says. “The range of emotions I was juggling is on display. Heartache and hope intertwine.” It also pays homage to one of his favorite artists. “‘At 42 I’m remembering what to do / gauge my worth to Earle’s Transcendental Blues’ is a nod to Steve Earle and my goals as a songwriter.”

STREAM BABY STARS/DEAD LANGUAGES. The album is also available on limited edition double vinyl. WATCH “OUT OF DOORS”.

The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band, formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar in the United States and across the world during the 1960s. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson (rhythm guitar), Bogle (initially lead guitar, switched to bass), Nokie Edwards(initially bass, switched to lead guitar), and Mel Taylor (drums). The Ventures enjoyed their greatest popularity and success in the US and Japan in the 1960s, but they continue to perform and record. With over 110 million albums sold worldwide, the group remains the best selling instrumental rock group of all time.

The Ventures NASA’s 25th Anniversary Commemorative Album was the official album of the L5 Society promoting Space Development and features many legendary themes used in films such as Star Wars, Close Encounters, Startrek, etc.

Available from Renaissance Records!

The Lost Souls never released any records, yet the meager recorded evidence that survives indicates that they were one of the finest unknown American groups of the mid-’60s, able to write both catchy British Invasion-type rockers and, in their latter days, experimental psychedelic pieces with unusual tempo changes and song structures. The band were also unusual in their occasional embellishment of the typical period guitar-bass-drums lineup with flute, sax, and mandolin. Although popular in their Cleveland hometown, they broke up in 1968 to attend college. Rhythm guitarist Denny Carleton, who wrote and sang some of their best material, went on to briefly join The Choir, their chief (and more successful) rivals.” —Richie Unterberger

The music scene in Cleveland in the mid to late 1960’s was ripe with talent: the James Gang with Joe Walsh and Glenn Schwartz, The Choir, Eric Carmen (pre-Raspberries), Glass Harp with Phil Keaggy, the Damnation of Adam Blessing… and the Lost Souls. Of all those bands, only the Lost Souls never released a record. Then again, they were in high school, trying to navigate dress codes and bullies—and playing in front of a couple thousand fans when not suspended. Sure, they lost a battle of the bands at Teen Fair 1968, but it was to the James Gang with Joe Walsh. And somehow it is the Lost Souls who emerge from that time and place with the greatest mystique and some of the most adventurous music, music which few have heard. Lost Souls main songwriter Denny Carleton released a cassette of the band’s original recordings in 1984. It received airplay on hundreds of college and public radio stations in the USA (and around the world), and garnered glowing reviews… and that was it, until now.

Not only is this the first time the music of the Lost Souls has been available since that cassette, our Lion Productions edition is the first release for many additional Lost Souls cuts, including alternate versions of key tracks like the insightful ‘Things That Are Important’ and ‘I’m Falling’ (the closest to a hit the band ever had), all taken from the original tapes and carefully mastered. Seven bonus tracks highlight the work of Lost Soul’s main songwriter Denny Carleton (one-time member of The Choir, and more surprisingly, punk legends the Pagans); selections by The Choir, Moses, Milk and Carleton, many in all possible low-fi glory, recorded on various 4-Track devices, ranging from power-pop to grimy garage.

Available now!

New vinyl pressing! Kalapana’s classic debut. Reissued on vinyl for the first time since the 1970s.

The paragon of 1970s pop paradise, Kalapana’s 1975 recording debut left an indelible mark on Hawaii. With its instantly recognizable cover art featuring the faces of the group’s four members — Mackey Feary, Malani Bilyeu, David John Pratt, and Kirk Thompson — the eponymous album presented 11 masterfully crafted songs, each purposefully poised to become a hit.

Following a successful concert tour of the Hawaiian Islands, the band moved to California in October 1975 to work on their first album, Kalapana. They already had an idea for what a great record should sound like. “We grew up listening to the Beatles, and every song on a Beatles record was a hit,” reflects keyboardist Thompson. “That was the standard, so we operated at that level.” And in the 1960s and 70s, the standard was incredibly high: groups like the Beatles, Tower of Power, Eric Clapton, Santana, Earth Wind & Fire, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Elton John filled the radio airwaves and record store bins. “In our heads, that’s who the competition was. We had to be just as good.” 

With nearly a dozen original compositions plus one cover song ready (Hall & Oates’ “When The Morning Comes”), the band laid tracks for guitar, bass, vocals, and keyboards. Their producer, LA-based Barry Alan Fasman, did the rest: arranging, conducting, hiring a bassist and drummer, adding strings and flutes and effects. His guidance and expertise helped the group create a musical masterpiece, both artistically and commercially. “The songs were all singles because the mindset was to be commercial and make them all good,” guitarist Pratt said. Released by the end of 1975, the album sold 125,000 copies in its first 16 months.

Kalapana’s success was not all positive, however. For decades, the band’s manager withheld royalties due to the band. It wasn’t until 2017 that Kalapana got its rights back, when Los Angeles-based music lawyer Evan Cohen served their former manager, Ed Guy, with a lawsuit on behalf of the band. Cohen succeeded, and the band’s newly formed partnership, Kalapana Music, finally owned its recordings and publishing rights.

As a band, Kalapana’s story is one of synergy, stardom, and naivety. Yet their legacy extends far beyond that, for they created a sound as unique as Hawai‘i itself. By blending soul, jazz, funk, pop, and rock into a singular expression inspired by modern Island life, their debut album helped shape stories and lives of Hawai‘i’s people in the 1970s and for generations to come. 

Available from Aloha Got Soul.

New Vinyl Pressing! Like some kind of time-hopping wizard with preternatural melodic sensibilities, M Ross Perkins is back with his sophomore full-length, E Pluribus M Ross. The album, his first for Colemine/Karma Chief Records, is another masterclass in home recording with 12 shimmering slices of purely perfect psychedelic pop.

In describing Perkins, it’s not wrong to namecheck Rhodes and Nilsson, but you have to expand that list of influences to include pop-rock visionaries like Brian Wilson, Colin Blunstone, and even John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Let’s also throw in the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Kinks as well. Perkins clearly learned plenty of helpful tips from these and other legends that made the late 1960s and early 1970s such a magical musical time, but he has charted his own singular path from the past and back again.

The hooks, arrangements, and overall sense of songcraft are as sophisticated as the work of Wilson and Nilsson, which is remarkable when you consider Perkins not only produced all of the musical arrangements but also played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocal parts on the album. Even more impressive, Perkins is able to evoke all of these iconic figures in his songs without resorting to psych-rock cliches or outright thievery. It’s an extraordinary balancing act, and what emerges is a shimmering tapestry of skillfully-woven musical threads, each harkening back to the past while simultaneously pointing toward the future.

So, take our advice and join Perkins on his magical mystery trip through time, E Pluribus M Ross, coming March 18th on Colemine/Karma Chief Records.