Second Pressing of Leo Nocentelli’s Classic Album 'Another Side' Due out May 20th on Light in the Attic
Available Now to Pre-order
First-ever Solo Album, Previously Never-before-heard,
By the Legendary Guitarist and Songwriter of the Meters
Has Received Worldwide Acclaim since Being Released Last Fall
Repressing Includes New Tricolor New Orleans Edition and Coincides With:
Album’s Nomination for “Best Americana Record” at This Year’s A2im Libera Awards
Nocentelli Debuting ‘Another Side’ Live in Front of Hometown Crowd at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 5th
Dunlop Honoring the Funk Master with Release of Leo Nocentelli Cry Baby Mardi Gras Wah Last February
Chicago’s Dark Matter Coffee Debuting Nocentelli Coffee on May 6th
More Tour Dates to Be Announced
cover art (photo by Michael P. Smith, © The Historic New Orleans Collection) and New Orleans tricolor pressing
Click here to watch release trailer
Click here to download cover art, product shots, and artist images
Click here to pre-order
“What you’re telling me is an amazing discovery. That’s a part of my life that I thought was gone forever.”
- Leo Nocentelli
Los Angeles, CA (May 3, 2022)─Celebrated archival reissue label Light in the Attic (LITA) is proud to announce a second pressing of Another Side, the previously unreleased, never-before-heard studio album by legendary guitarist and songwriter Leo Nocentelli of the pioneering New Orleans funk outfit, The Meters.
Coinciding with the repressing is the album’s recent nomination for "Best Americana Record" at the 2022 A2IM Libera Awards, along with Nocentelli debuting Another Side live in front of his hometown crowd this Thursday (5/5) when he performs the entire album at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In February, Dunlop paid tribute to the funk master and the magical city he was born and raised in with the release of their Leo Nocentelli Cry Baby Mardi Gras Wah. Plus, Chicago’s Dark Matter Coffee is honoring the musician this Friday (5/6) when they debut their Nocentelli coffee as part of their monthly Limited Blend Series.
Since being released in November, Another Side has garnered worldwide acclaim (including Pitchfork (8.2/10), Uncut (9/10), Mojo (4/5), and The Times (4/5)); profile features on Nocentelli by the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian, as well as appearances on the BBC and KCRW. Plus, Another Side made “best music of 2021” lists by Rolling Stone, Aquarium Drunkard, Vinyl Factory (UK), Soul Bag (France), Slate, and PopMatters, as well as Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
This repressing of Another Side (due out May 20th and available now to pre-order at LightInTheAttic.net) includes a new tricolor New Orleans edition pressed on purple, yellow, and green wax, in addition to the standard black wax. Pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (RTI), the vinyl configurations are accompanied by a 20-page booklet and feature the gold-foil treatment on cover and spine. The album’s incredible journey is documented in the liner notes by Sam Sweet (New York Times, Los Angeles Times), who spoke with Nocentelli about the recording process and re-discovery of the tapes. Sweet’s full notes appear in the release’s accompanying booklet, alongside hand-written lyrics by Nocentelli. Rounding out the package are original designs and layout by the multi-GRAMMY®-winning designer Masaki Koike. Additionally, the CD and cassette editions of Another Side are available now to purchase, as well as a t-shirt featuring a photo of Nocentelli performing with The Meters at Jazz Fest from photographer Michael P. Smith (courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection).
Recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s Jazz City Studio in New Orleans between 1970-72, the recently-unearthed album showcases a largely acoustic, more contemplative side of Nocentelli, who is best known for his hard-edged funk licks. Backing Nocentelli is an all-star line-up of New Orleans royalty, including Allen Toussaint (piano), James Black (drums), and both George Porter Jr. (bass) and Zigaboo Modeliste (drums) of The Meters.
Another Side finds a young Nocentelli channeling his contemporaries in the burgeoning singer-songwriter movement─think Bill Withers, James Taylor, and Toussaint meeting up at Link Wray’s 3-Track Shack. Deeply introspective, the warm and funky folk album features nine original songs by Nocentelli, plus a soulful rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song,” which had recently hit the American airwaves. Half a century later, these recordings sound just as fresh and engaging as the day they were recorded.
What makes Another Side even more extraordinary, however, is the fact that the album—which could have easily become a classic in the ‘70s singer-songwriter canon—sat untouched for decades; miraculously surviving the devastating blow of Hurricane Katrina, only to be found 2,000 miles away at a Southern California swap meet in 2018 by record collector Mike Nishita. For the full story on how this lost album was discovered 50 years later and given the spotlight it so rightly deserves, click here.
In conjunction with the album’s announcement last September, LITA released an album trailer, followed by three singles (“Thinking of the Day,” “Give Me Back My Loving,” and “Till I Get There”) leading up to the album’s release on November 19th.
Sample of praise here:
“One of the year’s most welcome surprises: a previously unreleased set of soulful, country-inflected songs from the legendary lead guitarist of The Meters. Buoyed by an effortless self-assured groove (you’ll be hard pressed to find anything this year as infectious as ‘Give Me Back Your Loving’) that elevates it above similar singer-songwriter fare from the early seventies, this unburied treasure is reflective, joyful, and an absolute thrill to listen to.”
- Aquarium Drunkard, 12/13/21
"…Nocentelli's ingenious style of playing qualifies him as 'The Groundbreaker Of Funk.' He is unparalleled as a musician, songwriter and producer!!!!"
- Dean Shapiro, Breakthru Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2022
“…Another Side [dropping] like mana from a time machine, showcasing not only Nocentelli’s unplugged chops but also his fine handle on the narrative lyrical style and melodic vocal delivery of a golden-era singer-songwriter, is nothing short of a revelation. The album’s folk-funk sound brings to mind Bill Withers, Paul Pena or perhaps a groovier Jim Croce or James Taylor. But none of these players have anything close to Nocentelli’s musical flair.”
- Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player, Feb. ‘22
“…the lost solo album by The Meters’ guitarist plays like a document of what happened, and also what could have happened—a heart-on-your-sleeve acoustic career from a funk icon whose feelings always seemed to be hidden in his riffs...excellent solo debut...Gorgeous...a remnant of a vital culture constantly in danger of slipping into the past, and a voice so powerful it must be part of what we remember in the future.”
- Daniel Felsenthal, Pitchfork, 11/21/21
“A jaw-dropping revelation.”
- Charles Waring, Record Collector Magazine (UK), Dec. ‘21
“...exquisite...Rediscovered at last, they cap a storied and sublime career…”
- Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian (UK), 11/22/21
“This is the kind of golden nugget that turns up in the record collectors’ world every decade or so and it is a delight.”
- Will Hodgkinson, The Times (UK), 11/25/21
…this lo-fi experiment serves as a fascinating glimpse into the musical mind of a largely unsung innovator.”
- Michael Gonzales, The Wire (UK), Dec. ‘21
“...every crate-digger dreams of such moments...a revelation...Another Side’s story finally achieves its own denouement and these words poignantly encapsulate its freshly unboxed, redemptive second life. If justification were needed for the loneliness of the crate-digger, here it is.”
- Wyndham Wallace, Uncut (UK), Dec. ‘21
“It’s a warm, youthful, openhearted album full of character songs about work and love, and on top of that, it’s a fascinating bit of alternate history. Turns out that one of the most influential and recognizable guitarists of his era could have also been another Bill Withers or Bobbie Gentry, mixing southern storytelling with indelible hooks and rich musicianship. It took a disaster in his hometown for this music to ever see the light of day, and now there’s a whole new side street in Leo Nocentelli’s already winding, fascinating career.”
- John Lingan, Washington Post, 11/19/21
About Leo Nocentelli:
Long before he was considered to be among the world’s greatest guitarists, four-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominated artist and GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Leo Nocentelli was a busy session musician, who had been working since his early teens—backing up Otis Redding and playing on hits for the Supremes, Lee Dorsey and the Temptations. In the mid-60s, the New Orleans native co-founded The Meters, the highly influential originators of funk music. Over the next decade, the group became one of the most in-demand backing bands—performing on records for Dr. John, LaBelle and Paul McCartney, among many others, and sharing the stage with the Rolling Stones. A generation later, The Meters’ tight riffs would be sampled by countless hip-hop acts, including A Tribe Called Quest, N.W.A., 2Pac, and Public Enemy. At the turn of the ‘70s, however, The Meters were enjoying their first big breaks on Billboard’s R&B chart: 1969’s “Look-Ka Py Py” and the now-iconic “Cissy Strut”—a Nocentelli original which landed in the Top 5 and, years later, was inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame. Nocentelli currently still makes music and resides in New Orleans.
About Light in the Attic:
Since rising to worldwide prominence off the grassroots success with reclusive singer-songwriter Rodriguez, whose unlikely story of personal triumph received long-overdue worldwide acclaim in the 2012 Academy Award®–winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, Light in the Attic (LITA) has gone onto earn GRAMMY®–nominations in multiple categories, including Best Historical Album for Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966–1985 in 2014 and Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 in 2019. Their exuberance and dedication to spreading joy through music has propelled LITA through the release of 200+ titles worldwide (from Nancy Sinatra to Donnie & Joe Emerson, Betty Davis to Haruomi Hosono, Karen Dalton to Serge Gainsbourg, and so many more), setting the pace for reissue labels and the archival process.
LITA is co-owned and operated by high school friends Matt Sullivan and Josh Wright. In addition to the label’s acclaimed output, the company also distributes for a 100+ record labels. In 2010, LITA expanded from their native Seattle, opening offices in Los Angeles, which includes a successful music house focused on licensing for film, television, and advertisements, along with music supervision. LITA also operates a thriving brick-and-mortar record store, Light in the Attic Record Shop, located in Seattle at KEXP’s Gathering Space. In 2021, the label celebrated its 20th anniversary. For more info, visit LightInTheAttic.net and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.
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