Stark Reality: Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop Vinyl 3LP

Digger's delight! Now-Again coming through with the first ever reissue of Stark Reality's mythical 1970 full length in deluxe triple LP format. This is one of those cult classic digger records that passes hands for exorbitant amounts (over a G last I checked) and has attained holy grail status over the years causing the record nerdus to freak out any time it surfaces. The music itself is on the out-there side of jazzy funk fusion, sounding something like a Sesame Street record on acid. In fact, the songs are actually all interpretations of children's songs by Hoagy Carmichael and were originally released on Ahmad Jamal's boutique label, AJP Records. Needless to say, they were seriously on one when they recorded these joints, and the vibe has stayed strong through the decades, being sampled by the likes of Madlib, Large Professor, J-Live, and others. Comes packaged with 56 page digital booklet including never before seen photos, extensive liner notes by Egon of Now Again with commentary by Ahmad Jamal and an interview with Stark Reality frontman Monty Stark. Recommended.

• 1st ever triple LP reissue
• digital download included
• includes 56 page digital booklet including rare photos, liner notes by Egon, commentary by Ahmad Jamal, and interview with Monty Stark
• music label: AJP 1970 / Now-Again Records 2015

reviewed by Dog Doughnut 06/2015