The Lijadu Sisters reissue differences (Knitting Factory & Soul Jazz)

macaca

As people probably know, Knitting Factory have reissued 2 of the 4 Lijadu Sister albums from the 70s (with plans on releasing the other 2 in the future)

Soul Jazz Records have also jumped on reissuing the Lijadu Sisters, but instead of releasing all 4 albums, they've decided to take their favorite tracks from the 4 lps and put them all on 1 album.

with that being said, does anyone know which versions (although im strongly leaning towards the knitting factory reissues) sound is more accurate?
thanks.

Amebo (Knitting Factory)
OR
Amebo (Soul Jazz)

Jonny_Paycheck

These are not the kind of insanely rare LPs (at least, as African records go) that you'll go a lifetime without having the opportunity to purchase. So if there's an issue of quality, I'd wait for clean (or at least, relatively clean) originals to come around. I can say with some certainty that they're all mastered off the original vinyl. So why not go to the source.

Legendary Strutteur Rape_Donkeys and I tracked down and visited the Lijadu Sisters what now must have been 6 years ago; they were living in a housing project in East Flatbush at the time, but were most gracious and hosted us for the better part of an afternoon, including a huge feast, wine, stories to fill a book and an acapella rendition of "Lord Have Mercy" from the Danger LP. At the time, nobody knew much about this record with the exception of a handful of record dealers, some of whom also did not consider it a big deal. It was about the same time that I sold Matthew Africa his copy that ended up on the Soul Boulders mix. All of which is to say that we thought this might be something the world needed to hear. At the time, however, the sisters were quite sour on the recording industry, having had their tracks compiled and bootlegged without a red cent making its way back to them, so even though we stayed in touch, the project quickly got tabled.

I'm really glad their music is getting attention now, although I wondered whether every single album of theirs deserved a reissue. The Danger album I feel really holds up as one of the best in its lane, so I think it's worth owning.... the rest, I've never filed. But there is worthwhile material on them. So maybe the comp is your best bet.

It's kind of ridiculous that this stuff is getting reissued twice by different companies. I've seen this happen with other records and can't imagine the market is big enough to support it all.

mannybolone

Darling Dears: another two label reissue curiosity.

macaca

i just saw a video with the sisters promoting the knitting factory reissues, so im going to assume that their sound is the most accurate (just some minor pitch differences)

Jonny_Paycheck said:

It was about the same time that I sold Matthew Africa his copy that ended up on the Soul Boulders mix.

to be honest, this was the first time i'd heard anything by them, so thanks.

macaca

mannybolone said:

Darling Dears: another two label reissue curiosity.

"Now-Again is happy to announce the inaugural release on Orivious Records: the official, from-the-master-tapes issue of the most sought after sweet-funk single ever recorded!"

i don't know who else is re-releasing it, but i'd go with the this one.

Frank

As far as I know, the Knitting Factory licensed from The Lijadu Sisters themselves. Soul Jazz did not sign with the artists but most probably with some bogus agency that told them they own the copyright.

I would not recommend to buy the Soul Jazz release.

mannybolone

macaca said:

mannybolone said:

Darling Dears: another two label reissue curiosity.

"Now-Again is happy to announce the inaugural release on Orivious Records: the official, from-the-master-tapes issue of the most sought after sweet-funk single ever recorded!"

i don't know who else is re-releasing it, but i'd go with the this one.

Culture of Sound is the other label. Both licensed it legitimately but thru two different channels.

edulus

mannybolone said:

macaca said:

mannybolone said:

Darling Dears: another two label reissue curiosity.

"Now-Again is happy to announce the inaugural release on Orivious Records: the official, from-the-master-tapes issue of the most sought after sweet-funk single ever recorded!"

i don't know who else is re-releasing it, but i'd go with the this one.

Culture of Sound is the other label. Both licensed it legitimately but thru two different channels.

Isn't the fact that this is legitimately happening so telling about why the music industry is all kinds of effed up? I mean talk about market inefficiencies.