Some record labels release new music. The Numero Group digs up old music nobody heard the first time and makes it feel essential. Founded in 2003 by Rob Sevier and Ken Shipley, the label has spent more than two decades pulling forgotten soul singers, private-press folk, regional punk and cult new age out of basements and storage units, then packaging it with the kind of care most labels save for their biggest stars.
If you have seen a Numero record in a shop, you know the look. Clean sleeves, a catalog number on the spine and liner notes thick enough to read like a book. This guide picks 10 releases that show what the label does best, plus tips on where to start.
What makes Numero different
Numero calls itself an archival record label and rights management firm, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and London and more than 20,000 songs in its catalog. On its own about page, the label puts it this way: "There is no Numero sound, rather, Numero is an aesthetic."
That aesthetic comes from research. A typical Numero compilation starts with a lost local label or a forgotten scene, then tracks down the people who made it, the master tapes, the photos and the stories. The label says its team has been nominated for 12 Grammy awards and has helped rebuild the careers of artists including Duster, Laraaji, Unwound, Penny and the Quarters and Syl Johnson.
It also runs the Numero Factory Outlet in Chicago, which it says is the only record store in the world that carries the complete in-print Numero range, organized by catalog number.
The 10 essential releases
1. Eccentric Soul: Capitol City Soul
Numero's roots are in its Eccentric Soul series, which grew out of a collection devoted to Bill Moss and his Capsoul label in Columbus, Ohio. Capitol City Soul returns to that city with a trove of unissued and barely issued songs from groups like the Kool Blues, the Four Mints and Jupiter's Release. The liner notes work as a full history of Columbus soul. If you want to understand where Numero came from, start here.
2. Penny and the Quarters and Friends
This is the label's great detective story. The song "You and Me" by Penny and the Quarters sat silent in a box of reels for 40 years until Ryan Gosling picked it for the 2010 film Blue Valentine, which set off an international search for the singers. Penny and the Quarters and Friends collects 11 rehearsals recorded by engineer Clem Price in Columbus in 1970. Numero notes, with some humor, that its earlier Prix label compilation had been its worst seller.
3. Syl Johnson, Complete Mythology
Syl Johnson called himself the most sampled artist ever, and Complete Mythology makes the case for his catalog. It covers 1959 to 1972 with 81 songs remastered from the original tapes, every single he cut for labels like Federal and Twinight, and a large booklet with a 13,000-word biography and a full discography. It is a big box, and it is the label's archival approach at full strength.
4. Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
Named after the Belizean national dish, Belize City Boil Up mixes R&B (rhythm and blues), calypso, disco, funk, reggae and the local bruckdown style. Most of it comes from the catalog of the country's lone record label, run by Compton Fairweather. Highlights include the Harmonettes' fast take on "Shame, Shame, Shame" and Lord Rhaburn's electro-tinged "Disco Connection."
5. Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From the Canyon
The Wayfaring Strangers series explores private-press folk, records made outside the music business and sold at gigs or by hand. Ladies From the Canyon gathers 13 women songwriters from the years after the folk revival who played coffeehouses and church picnics in the shadow of Joni Mitchell. It is quiet, intimate and one of the best entry points for folk fans.
6. Ork Records: New York, New York
Numero calls Ork the world's first punk record label, born in August 1975. Ork Records: New York, New York tells the story of Terry Ork, who released early singles by Television and Richard Hell, along with landmark recordings by the Feelies and solo work by Big Star's Alex Chilton. The set comes with a hardback book of unseen photos from the Lower East Side scene where it all began.
7. Hüsker Dü, Savage Young Dü
Before they became one of the most important bands in American punk, Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton were three teenagers from St. Paul, Minnesota. Savage Young Dü follows them from their first gigs in 1979 to the start of their partnership with an influential West Coast label in 1983. Of its 69 songs, 47 were previously unissued, and it comes with a 108-page hardbound book.
8. Laraaji, Glimpses of Infinity
Numero calls Laraaji new age's most fabled artist. Glimpses of Infinity gathers selections from his 1978 debut, Celestial Vibration, and six more studio sessions from the period. It is a condensed version of the label's sold-out four-record box set, and a perfect late-night listen for anyone who loves ambient music.
9. Margo Guryan, 28 Demos
Margo Guryan wrote songs for singers like Bobbie Gentry, Jackie DeShannon and Julie London while writing at April Blackwood Music in Manhattan. 28 Demos collects her songwriting demos from the 1960s and 1970s. They sound sunny and fragile, and they have since soundtracked films and viral videos.
10. Unwound, Leaves Turn Inside You
Unwound's final album was recorded in a farmhouse basement at the turn of the century, and it is a sprawling, layered record with choppy guitars, thrift-store synths and chanting vocals. Numero's 25th anniversary edition is remastered from the original analog tapes and comes in a silver foil jacket with a poster. It shows how Numero now treats 1990s indie rock with the same care as 1960s soul.
Where to start
If you love soul, begin with Capitol City Soul and Penny and the Quarters, then move to Syl Johnson. Punk fans should go straight to Ork Records and Savage Young Dü. Folk and ambient listeners will find a home in Ladies From the Canyon and Laraaji. Many titles come in several formats, including vinyl, compact disc (CD), cassette and digital, and some colored vinyl editions are exclusive to the label's own store, so check the product page before you buy.
Once your shelf starts filling up, our guides to record cleaning and care gear and turntables for beginners will help keep it sounding right. For more label deep dives, try our starter guides to post-rock and shoegaze, or learn the ritual of Record Store Day. More in our vinyl hub.
