groove inn

Name: groove inn
Address: Toronto, ON, CA
Telephone: +16472856465

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groove inn

Online record store retailer who buys and sells records. we live for the groove!

08/09/2024

Make sure you cap off the summer correct and hit us up for a limited run heavy weight cotton tee!

Available in M, L, XL, XXL while supplies last.

shout out to !

07/03/2024

Devil’s Gun ~ C. J. & Company (1977)

Debut album from C.J. & Company is an absolute heater, simple and plain. The group was backed by the notorious Funk Brothers, the notorious Motown in-house musicians, as well as former Parliament Funkadelic member and drummer Tiki Fulwood. Known for the most part by it’s 7+ minute title check, nonetheless - you gotta check this ‘sh*t out.

06/12/2024

Them Changes ~ Buddy Miles (1970)

Criminally underrated album by one of our favourite artists right here - Them Changes by Buddy Miles. This was his first solo release after the Buddy Miles Express disbanded in addition to the preceding Electric Flag and Jimi Hendrix work, released in June 1970. HItting most music charts when it came out, since this funk-rock album has the sprinklings of soul and r&b notes. Defining this multi-instrumentalist, as he was a chameleon that floated between genres his whole career. Quite simply, this album is a great lost treasure that’s worth a listen if you haven’t! A ton of great studio musicians on this thing...peep the fuzz-bass all over this it by none other than Billy Cox.

06/09/2024

some heat 12” singles on the market - HMU!

05/29/2024

Stairsteps ~ The Five Stairsteps (1970)

The pre-Jackson 5 “The First Family of Soul”, the Burke family, who hailed from Chicago, dropped their fourth album in 1970 through Buddha Records. This piece was arranged, produced and partially written by Stan Vincent. It yielded the larger than life hit “O-O-H Child”, which took it to the higher ranks on the R&B and pop charts. With a family, of course there are always some friction. There were phases of disbandment that the Stairsteps had to endure. Creative differences, money, business and spiritual journeys led most if not all of the siblings in different directions. Eventually being signed to George Harrisons label “Dark Horse” in the later 1970’s, it was only Keni Burke, the one sibling who had a lot more longevity in their careers as he would eventually release solo material. In the end Keni become an in-demand session bass player, contributing to quite the catalogue of artists, like Sly, Billy Preston, Les McCann, The Four Tops, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers and Gladys Knight to name a few.

05/22/2024

1988 ~ Knxwledge (2020)

Knxwledge’s second studio album dropped right when the pandemic kicked off through Stones Throw Records and definitely got a lot of us through the early social distancing. This album was a follow up to his first official album release way back in 2015. In between them, there were a flurry of mixtapes and beat tapes released, whether it be from the Hexual Sealing, Wrap Taype, Video Game Music series’ and various solo and collab EPs. Both new and casual listeners of his would praise this album and really dig the emotional themes of growth and mortality - but his die-hard fans would feel longing fora bit more, as at times leave distracted by the over-skitting and over sensationalism of vocals + redundant features to get it over the counter commercially. Nevertheless, everyone can’t help but enjoy the vibe and deep and dungy sound that the notorious KNX put together as an album release.

04/17/2024

S*x Education - Clint Eastwood (1980)

Influential deejay Clint Eastwood dropped this album in 1980 through Greensleeves Records. Nicknamed after the infamous spaghetti western character played by Clint Eastwood, he marched to his own drum in the early 80’s reggae-dancehall scene. Through this release in particular, he is one of the group of deejays who led the move from chant-like sound to dancehall, with some chat and slackness. This thing sways heavy, when we came across it - it was a must cop. Looking at the impressive list of people involved, it was engineered at King Tubby’s studio by Scientist and Prince Jammy. The backing band was Roots Radics Band with some backing vocals by none other than Barrington Levy!

03/13/2024

My Ancestors ~ Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family (1976)

Originally a drummer from the legendary Ngozi Family, Zebby dropped this Zamrock gem in 1976. For those who aren’t familiar, Zamrock is a fascinating sub-genre that emerged in Zambia during the early 1970s. To keep it simple, it can be described as a blend between traditional African music and patterns with psych/garage rock. You can most definitely hear the influence of hard rock, blues and funk, which would be due to juggernaut bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, the Stones, Deep Purple, and CREAM that reigned supreme in the US and the UK at the time.Ths genre is mostly referred to as aggressive in nature, while balancing an exuberant and joyous feel. This is mostly due to the fact that it was occurring during a period of social unrest, reflecting difficulties that people were facing, most notably addressing issues such as racism in Southern Africa and early stages of the AIDS epidemic.

03/06/2024

Zapp (S/T) ~ Zapp (1980)

The debut studio from the Dayton, Ohio based band Zapp, released in July of 1980. You might find Parliament-Funkadelic by the look and sound of this thing, which makes sense - since Zapp was working with Parliament-Funk members Bootsy Collins and George Clinton during the album’s production. Produced as a collaboration between Zapp’s frontman w/ Bootsy - Bootsy also blessed this release by playing guitar on it. Although defined as the niche genre “electro-funk”, you can credit this as one of the major influences in creation of the G-funk sound of hip hop, which became popular in the West Coast of the states during the early and mid 1990s gangsta rap era. The real standout to this album is definitely the hypnotizing yet face-scrunching “Be Alright”, sampled by 2pac for “Keep Ya head up”.

02/07/2024

Remain In Light ~ Talking Heads(1980)

To summarize the influence of the fourth album from Talking Heads in just a small paragraph is a challenge too daunting to consider. This critically acclaimed album was praised for many things as it is well regarded as the bands magnum opus. We can start with mentioning the sonic experimentation, rhythmic innovations, and cohesive merging of genres - specifically African funk inspired electronics and looping grooves - blended with rock structures, birthing a new wave/post punk sound that only this collective can create. Being the third album from the band that’s produced by Brian Eno, the third instalment of the collaboration only became more experimental and innovative. Lyrically, this album also had a frontman in Byrne who was dealing with some well-documented writer’s block, which can be the reason for a scattered, stream-of-consciousness lyrical style inspired by early rap and academic literature on Africa. Regardless of spawning monster singles “Once in a Lifetime” and “Houses in Motion”, it is still the album in it’s entirety that has been labeled in many books as one of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time.

01/31/2024

Chain Reaction ~ The Crusaders (1975)

The 1975 Blue Thumb record release from The Crusaders was indicative of a band - in my opinion - at their top form. It can be referred to as the textbook sound and feel from the mid-seventies jazz fusion era, influencing a ton of young music listeners of the rock and soul-variety over toward the more jazz influenced experimental sound. From top-to-bottom - as we hear from the title track “Creole” through to the last banger “Caravan” this thing is tight and loose all at the same time. You must check it out!

Address

Toronto, ON

Telephone

+16472856465

Website

https://bit.ly/grooveinnsite

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