Secret Stash Records

Wow! We had an amazing year in 2012 and things are only going to get even more funky in 2013. We are so excited about the avalanche of killing records we plan on unleashing to world this year we can barely contain ourselves.

It’s going to get so funky up in here we’ve had a tough time keeping this one under our hats for a while now..We were so happy to announce this morning with Jill and Steve at 89.3 The Current the return of the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars to the stage for the radio station’s upcoming 8th birthday throw down at First Avenue later this month!!

Tickets on sale Friday..and once their gone, their gone!!

We kicked off our series at Icehouse last month with our very own Afro-Peruvian band, Peña.

This month Secret Stash Records and KFAI Radio are proud to present  THE DÉROBÉ DANCE BAND!

The Dérobé Dance Band is a Minneapolis based group that plays West Africa music of the 1970s. Started by Secret Stash Records co-founders Eric Foss and Cory Wong, the catalyst for their founding was Secret Stash’s ongoing series of Ghanaian and Nigerian album reissues. During the reissue process they have spent hundreds of hours listening to and researching Afrobeat, Afro funk, and Highlife. Motivated by the music that has consumed their lives, Foss (drums) and Wong (guitar) called on a host of local Latin, Jazz, and R&B musicians to assemble their own West African dance band. Inspired by the works of K Frimpong, Peter King, Dr. K. Gyasi, Ebo Taylor, Fela Kuti, and many others, The Dérobé Dance Band delivers a heavy danceable mix of funk, rock, and African rhythms. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see live West African music in the Twin Cities.

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Heads Up! Secret Stash is proud to help present the magnificent “Soul Queen of New Orleans” Ms. Irma Thomas this Thursday night at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant where she will be performing two sets. We have pairs of tickets to giveaway to Ms. Thomas’ 9pm set. Check out our facebook page for more info!

In September we released Twin Cities Funk & Soul. It was by far our most ambitious release to date. We are thrilled to see how many people from around the world are digging into the compilation and truly enjoying the rich music history of our home town. This 45 is the first in a series of follow-up releases aimed at going deeper.

In 1974 The Prophets of Peace hit ASI studios with engineer David “Z” Rivkin (Prince, Lipps Inc). They recorded 4 songs. One of them, “You Can Be,” was released on the flip side of their 1975 single, “The Max.” The rest were held back for inclusion in a full length LP that was sadly never completed. In April of 2012 Secret Stash Records joined bandleader Anthony Scott at Essential Sessions Studios in St. Paul, MN to listen to the master tapes from the ASI sessions the first time in 38 years. In an effort to stick with the tracks most significant to the scene, we opted to include the previously released tunes on the Twin Cities Funk & Soul compilation. But, we never really stopped thinking about the rest of the material we heard that day.
This 45 includes two of those unreleased gems. The band’s theme song, “P.O.P.” is featured on side A and the instrumental jam, “46th Street Bump Time” is on the B side. The record its self looks like it just rolled off the press in ’74. Adorned with the band’s own Maxx Records logo, it is an exact replica of what it would have looked like had it been released in the ‘70s. This limited edition 500 unit pressing is available on November 23rd, 2012 (AKA Black Friday). It can only be purchased here or in Twin Cities based record shops on Black Friday. These babies are sure to sell out. When they’re gone they’re gone, so don’t miss your only chance to get one!

We have several titles back in stock! In addition, we are offering up to 33 1/3% off our records, beginning Black Friday and ending at the stroke of midnight on Cyber Monday (November 23-26). Now is a great time to fill in the gaps in your Secret Stash collection. We’ll have Persian Funk and Gospel Funk back in stock for the first time in a long time!

Hey, check it out!

We are partnering with KFAI for a special night at the awesome and fairly new, Icehouse here in Minneapolis. We have loved seeing a bunch of live music there and hearing DJ’s that we love spin some great stuff and are very excited to have our own monthly down there now.

Kicking things off this month will be our very own Peña. Peña is a Minneapolis based collective who perform traditional Afro-Peruvian music having studied and performed in Lima, Peru in 2010. Their self titled CD has long been a listener favorite from the Secret Stash catalog.

With Secret Stash DJ’s on hand playing funky cuts from all around the world this promises to be the perfect time to grab your dance shoes for a super groovy night at the Icehouse.

See you then!

The Icehouse is located at 2528 Nicollet Ave in South Minneapolis.

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