More Eccentricity

Numero just released Eccentric Breaks & Beats Vol.2, a followup to Vol.1 which was made using their outstanding (and astounding) catalog. Best of all, IT’S FREE! Below are some words from Numero’s chief officer, Ken Shipley, with whom we’ve spoken to before– read it here:

After we issued ‘Eccentric Breaks & Beats’ last year our inbox was suddenly flooded with junior producers looking to do something similar. A handful of sorta-okay-but-not-really-that-great entries were submitted, but none could touch the original Shoes boot. When Adam Calman from Parallel Thought dropped their entry into our lap a few days into the new year, we were eyeball-deep in royalties and couldn’t process how good the mix actually was.

It was played on computer screens, background to our Excel nightmare. Between ‘Pressed At Boddie’, the ‘Penny & the Quarters’ debacle, ‘Willie Wright’, ‘Salsa Boricua De Chicago’, ‘Father’s Children’, ‘Nickel & Penny’, and our looming Boddie box set, there seemed to be no room for another record. And rather than let EBB Volume 2 collect dust and play counts on our hard drives, we decided to let it live in the same manner that the original EBB had: unfettered. But perhaps best of all, we’ve decided to make it free.

If you bought Volume 1, you may’ve noticed our bite on the original ‘Ultimate Breaks & Beats’ cover concepts. We enlisted Eliza Childress, second runner-up in our Pressed At Boddie design contest to create another ridiculous/hideous cover, and we think she succeeded. That she turned it around in five days is perhaps more impressive. — Ken Shipley

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DOWNLOAD ECCENTRIC BREAKS & BEATS VOL. 2

Anonymous Exuberance (part 2): Interview with Ken Shipley

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Some re-issues are stunning discoveries, some certainly weren’t meant to be heard. And in this arena of labels and collectors elbowing their way towards the next big find, Numero has quietly released comps flooded with what would be called “lost masterpieces”. And the packaging, the photographs they use, the people they examine, are almost equally impressive as the music itself.

The Numero Group is founder Ken Shipley, and his partners Tom Lunt and Rob Sevier. They, along with a dedicated team scour the country for forgotten music, but more than that, they uncover intimate histories of labels, cities, weirdos, regular folks, and document them with astounding respect and detail. We’re big fans and are lucky to have Mr. Shipley show us his “terribly unglamorous” operation, explaining exactly how and why, he does what he does. You get the feeling these guys would be looking for records, even if it weren’t their jobs—maybe not to this extent—but obsessed and looking nonetheless. Here’s to Numero for sharing so much music and otherwise forgotten histories.

Please introduce yourself for fans wondering who you are and what you do?
Ken Shipley, the Numero Group’s minister of information. Continue reading “Anonymous Exuberance (part 2): Interview with Ken Shipley” →

Anonymous Exuberance (part 1): The Numero Group is Killing It

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By Nate LeBlanc

Chicago-based archival label The Numero Group has emerged as one of the most reliable record labels in the world in the past five years. This post will focus on their Eccentric Soul series, which is exactly what it sounds like; lovingly detailed reissues of below-the-radar soul sides that have never been widely available outside of their respective localities. My curiosity was initially piqued by their stark packaging (one picture on the front, a number, and a plain white back cover with no further info, track titles, or clues as to the contents) yet deterred by high price tags (generally $20 or so for CDs and around $25 for wax). However, now that I’ve had a taste, I feel like I’m addicted to these comps, scouring eBay for originals I can’t afford, re-reading liner notes, and finding things to like about the tracks that didn’t initially stand out. My personal history with the label goes a little something like this (hit it!):

Continue reading “Anonymous Exuberance (part 1): The Numero Group is Killing It” →