The Numero Group Soulection Picks

Design by Sophie Parrish

By Christian Jones

The Numero Group, founded in 2003 by Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier, and Ken Shipley, has been a musical archive and curator of exceptional quality since its inception. The record label’s original intention was to release the obscure picks that its founders were deeply invested in—unknown gems from local R&B, soul, and gospel labels that had risen and fallen to history—and though the breadth of their musical cache has grown to encompass indie and emo bands like Ira and Everyone Asked About You, they have still managed to preserve some of the finest and most criminally underrated soul picks in the game. The inaugural album in the Eccentric Soul reissuing series was the 2004 compilation, Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label, featuring 20 picks from the eponymous Capital City Soul label out of Columbus, OH. Described on their website as a journey of sorts—“Three guys in a purple Saturn station wagon drove down to Columbus, Ohio, and came back to Chicago with a lost label”—the Eccentric Soul series is an admirable blend of musical ethnography, historical archive, and music-nerd curation (exemplified by the extensive liner notes and stylish packaging). Since then, Numero has released more cross-compilations: the ultra-curated Eccentric 500 line series, the gargantuan Omnibus, and just about every now-shuttered bastion of local soul you can imagine. Like a free-diver, I have begun my recursive exploration into the depths of Numero’s Soul Atlantis, a lost world of musical ingenuity preserved in vintage sheen. To no one’s surprise, I’ve found some pearls. Compiled here are some of my favorite iridescent tracks. I would encourage you to go plumb the depths yourself—but after listening to these, I’m sure you will anyway.

Phyllis By Phyllis Bailey

“It’s Easy”

“Dance, Dance”

“Feeling of Love”