The Good Thing Archive

2016 Repress of Zambia's premier garage, psych, prog, funk, Afro-rock ensemble Witch. Introduction is Witch's first album, restored and remastered from the master tapes. Zambian Psych rock is certainly African but it’ not Afro-Beat - more of a take on 70's American rock played through some strange, foreign, filter. Introduction, their first, is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in delving into the Witch band, or Zamrock in general.

—Joe Kievett - KMA

Curator: KMA

San Rafael : Cauca, Colombia

Witch : Introduction

"Ween is definitely one of our favorite bands here at Tandem and in honor of their recent reunion that is coming to Portland this month, it was very obvious that we should do a Ween album for this month’s Good Thing.

—Kathleen Pratt - Tandem Coffee Roasters

Curator: Tandem

Hunapu: Antigua, Guatemala

Ween: White Pepper

"Franco Falsini, (Born in Florence, Italy in 1948) moved with his American girlfriend to Virginia in the summer of 1969 and recorded his first material asSensations’ Fix, transforming their basement into a home recording studio that, along with traditional rock-n-roll instruments, employed a floor model MiniMoog and a tricked-out Teac 4-track machine.

—Joe Kievett - KMA

Curator:KMA

Finca Primavera: San Augustin, Colombia

Sensations' Fix: Music is Painting in the Air

"I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of this record for our shops since the day we opened. Sadly all I could ever find were $100 Japanese imports. You can imagine how excited I was to find out that it was being reissued in March of 2017 and available on vinyl for the first time in 15 years. We hemmed and hawed about making it a Good Thing because it is hard for me to separate Ben Folds from the dorkiness of my youth. But darn it, I'm still a dork and this album is undeniably great."

—Will Pratt - Tandem Coffee Roasters

Curator:Tandem

Buziraguhindwa : Kayanza, Burundi

Ben Folds Five : The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

"Chances are if you ever stepped foot into Espresso Royale on Comm Ave in Boston, MA between the years of 2001 and 2004, you would hear Dots + Loops getting regular air time. My obsession for this band grew and grew in my college years after seeing them at Avalon (R.I.P.) and quite possibly if a very boring and overly dramatic movie were made about my time at Boston University, this Stereolab album would certainly be able to serve as the soundtrack. Why you would ever watch that movie is beyond me, but you should definitely put this album on immediately and maybe imagine me making you a killer vanilla latte while you sink deeply into an overstuffed couch and let the sounds of Dots + Loops surround you."

—Kathleen Pratt - Tandem Coffee Roasters

Curator:Tandem

Puerto Limon : Tolima Colombia

Sterolab : Dots + Loops

"The thrill of listening to this masterpiece amalgamation of dusty-groovy-folk, peyote-vision-quest-mysticism and L.A. pop pathos (the band included Earl Campbell and much of the famed "Wrecking Crew" session players) turns to a campfire-tale chill when you learn that Jim Sullivan vanished, without a trace, in the New Mexico desert after the record's release."

—Peter Hale - Drifters Wife

Curator:Peter Hale, Drifters Wife

Aroresa : Sidamo, Ethiopia

UFO : Jim Sullivan

“Sunergy brings together synthesists Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Suzanne Ciani for the thirteenth installment of FRKWYS, RVNG Intl.’s intergenerational collaboration series...Setting up their synths side-by-side, Ciani and Smith took turns keeping time and freely improvising for the album sessions. As a complete piece, Sunergy is shaped by slow, pulsing forms and sinuous, melodic sequences that conjure both an oceanic world and the unlimited sound made possible by modular processing.”

—Joe Kievitt - KMA

Curator:KMA

El Placer:Tolima, Colombia

FRKWYS Vol 13: Sunergy

“This album was given to us by a regular in the way earlydays of Tandem. It has been on regular rotation at all Tandems ever since. One of those albums where you can’t really tell where one track ends and another begins which means you can listen forever.”

—Will Pratt, Tandem

Curator: Tandem

Aricha :Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia

Junior Kimbrough: You Better Run, The Essential Junior Kimbrough

The Good Thing is very excited to offer Kenya Special Volume Two: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & ‘80s, newly released by Soundway records out of the U.K. We were in love with Volume One so when we had the opportunity to present Volume Two for our November slot we couldn’t refuse.

Soundway dug deep to find the original, small run 45s and 7” singles for this remarkable compilation. As always with Soundway compilations, the mastering and cutting is fantastic. Kenya Special Volume Two is a beautifully presented 3xLP 180 gram vinyl album housed in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes, photos and artwork from each 45 and 7”.

Kenya Special Volume Two: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & ‘80s presents a cross section of Kenyan pop music that combined regional sounds with western influences of rock, funk and jazz of the time. Enjoy!

—Joe Kievitt, KMA

Curator : KMA

Marvin Rodriguez:West Valley, Costa Rica

Selected East African Recordings 1970s & 1980s:Kenya Volume II