Procured from two reels belonging to Mike Kahikina, these songs were part of the sessions that Kahikina and his band Ka‘ala recorded some 40+ years ago. In 1983, two of the songs here released on Protea Records as a 7-inch single: "Ocean Rider" and "Show Me". When we restored the tapes with the help of audio engineer Jessica Thompson, we found three different versions of "Ocean Rider". There were also two versions of "I Am A Native", both of which could easily serve as long-lost anthems, speaking just as powerfully today as they did when Kahikina and Ka‘ala first committed it to tape. The voca ..read more

Few if any copies of The New World, Volume 1 have surfaced since I first became aware of the LP thanks to Oliver Seguin. Before the label took shape in 2015, I'd seen (heard, rather) Oliver play the cuts "Soul Catchers" and "Such A Lovely Garden" only a handful of times (they're not necessarily DJ-friendly tracks, but rather for deeper listening sessions, so it wasn't often that he'd bring his copy to a gig).  Looking through my notes and old emails, I had first reached out to one of the members of East Of Midnight, Liz Hahn (formerly Haberman), in 2014 — the year before w ..read more

Mark your calendars: Mike Lundy returns to the stage with his first live performance in six years, with a double headliner featuring Maryanne Ito. The event is free and family friendly — held on Friday, February 16th at the Capitol Modern in downtown Honolulu, from 6pm to 9pm. Yes—Mike Lundy, LIVE! ? And—with Maryanne Ito! ? Joining Mike Lundy's band is Joelene, whose latest release on AGS is a collab 7-inch with Your Song Is Good. She'll provide the backing vocals on several of Mike's standout originals. Maryanne Ito's backing band includes two musicians from her Live At The Atherton ..read more

The idea for this release came about when we started discussing plans for the 2023 edition of Soul Time in Tokyo. Back in 2018, we collaborated with Jun Saito, bandleader of the Tokyo-based group YOUR SONG IS GOOD, on a 12-inch release featuring their band and a local Hawaii singer, Nick Kurosawa. The idea then was to cover a "classic" Hawaii rare groove release — and what came to mind first was Babadu, one of the holy grails of Hawaiian soul.  The resulting 12-inch sold quickly. It featured a vocal version with Nick Kurosawa, and an instrumental version with Tokyo's VIDEOT ..read more

It feels as if it's been quite some time since we released a new music project. After reissuing two timelss albums from Kalapana's early days, followed by a collaboration with the legendary Brother Noland, we're decidedly taking a break from the spotlight-filled stage of classic local music to focus on our roots: bringing attention to lesser known, often under-represented artists in these islands.  Max High is a multi-instrumentalist of Japanese-Filipino-French descent, currently living and working on Oahu. He moved to the islands in 2021, and has since ..read more

Over the years, there's been a number of Aloha Got Soul events in Japan, the majority being held in Tokyo thanks to the help of our friends at Kakubarhythm. When we started thinking about what 2023 would look like for AGS in Japan, we reached out to Rush Production for assistance. The brothers behind Rush -- Yasushi and Fumi -- have for many years worked with Tommy Guerrero (we're big fans!), and after an introduction to Rush in early 2020 (pre-COVID) thanks to our friend Hashim Bharoocha, we felt we could count on Rush to create something special on behalf of Alo ..read more

AGS returns to Japan next weekend for a full tour from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Kicking off on Sunday, October 22nd with a stacked lineup at CITAN with live performances by Your Song Is Good and Max High. We'll make our way through Gifu, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kakogawa and Osaka with DJ bags in tow for a series of evenings packed with Hawaii vinyl gems and more. Plus, we've created a limited run of 2023 tour merch in collaboration with Tokyo Cultuart by Beams. Available at every gig (until it's sold out!). Sunday October 22 CITAN — Tokyo Tuesday October 24 green yang — Gifu Thursday October 26 芽楼 M ..read more

“Just like the song — mutli-dimensional, multi-generational — so are the stories.” Brother Noland reflects on Coconut Girl, its concept and creation, 40 years after its debut in 1983. Join us on Saturday, September 30th, 2023 at @waiwaicollective 5pm-9pm to celebrate 40 Years of Coconut Girl. Live music by Brother Noland and friends, and much more Watch now on YouTube: Filmed and edited by Roger Bong ..read more

Brother Noland and Aloha Got Soul are teaming up to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Coconut Girl”, Hawaii’s first Jamaican crossover hit, with an evening of live music and community gathering at Ka Waiwai in Mō‘ili‘ili on Saturday, September 30th, 2023. RSVP now on Eventbrite →  “Coconut Girl”, which introduced reggae music throughout the Hawaiian Islands upon its debut in 1983, has continued to speak to Hawai‘i’s people with an ever-evolving message that resonates with each generation. Even 40 years later, Brother Noland regards his first big hit as a way to move people. “As the song ..read more

Label founder Roger Bong recently hopped on the decks at London's My Analog Journal to share a 45-minute selection of soulful, groovy music from the Hawaiian Islands. The popular YouTube channel showcases the talents of its creator, Zag Erlat, and a global network of vinyl selectors and DJs. Fun fact: Zag's most-watched video to date, Japanese Funk and Soul on Vinyl (late 70's, early 80's), includes a cut from an Aloha Got Soul release: Aiko's uptempo city pop disco tune "Time Machine". As a tribute to Zag and his channel. Roger closes his set with the A-side of Aiko's 7-inch ..read more