Stories

On this latest installment of his monthly NTS 2 show, Roger Bong digs deep into his extensive collection to deliver rare archival oddities and uncovered gems direct from the islands, including a handful of forthcoming releases from the Aloha Got Soul label. “When piecing this month’s show together, I gravitated toward the song ‘Dreary Afternoon’ by John Ka‘imikaua. The sound and feel of ‘Dreary Afternoon’ informed the rest of my set.” This particular song comes from an early 2000s CD released by Hula Records that features several original compositions from the Moloka‘i musician and Kumu hula. The song is available...

We're back.  This latest VF Live set was recorded impromptu immediately following our third installment for the series. Pulling from our crates, we edge away from the previous set's pop and psych sounds to paint a vivid image of Hawaii's range of styles, from tongue-in-cheek Vangelis tributes (see: Doug Lindsay and Pegge Hopper) and out-of-print Seawind covers to the latest AGS 7" (FRNT BZNZZ) and surfer soundtrack gems (Honk). The resulting mix is a trip through the duo's signature ability to highlight Hawaii's music in a refreshing, unexpected manner. Learn more: https://thevinylfactory.com/live/vf-live-aloha-got-soul-4

Somewhere in this here blog I once wrote that I always knew that when launching Aloha Got Soul — first as a blog, and later as a label — that R&B, soul and funk would not serve as the sole genres we'd focus on. Initially, I was worried that we'd "run out of music" in those categories, especially if AGS were to only focus on the 1970s and 1980s, although I now know that that's not the case. There's still tons of music to dig up from that era, from those styles.  This sentiment has been with me from the...