Stark Reality's Now 5/5 Stars in Mojo

Angus Batey Mojo September 01, 2003

5/5 Stars. Long-Awaited reissue of beat-digger's Holy Grail.

Seeing the words The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop on a record dealer's list gives some people palpitations. The breakbeat-laden 1970 double LP was rediscovered by rap producers in the mid-'90s, and the few extant copies change hands for ever-inflated sums. Your correspondent visibly blanches of asked to reveal what he paid for his. Bow now, thanks to the estimable Eothen 'Egon' Alapatt at Stones Throw, the manic majesty of this elusive album is yours for the price of a CD. Vibes virtuoso Monty Stark and his future-funk retinue taboggan through a selection of Carmichael-penned kids songs, sounding like The Meters on a drug trip covering early R.E.M. in an echo chamber. Even better, Egon has replaced some original tracks with newly discovered outtakes, meaning my stupidly expensive original should, if anything, only increase in value.

Stark Reality - Now Album
Stark Reality - 1969 Album
Stark Reality - Shooting Stars 7-inch
Stark Reality - Too Much Tenderness 7-inch