Mandrill - Fat City Strut

ORIGINATION The Avalanches' Breezeblock Headline Set, 26/02/01
LAST LISTENED TO last week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT medium rare
RATING

Oh, this is a tricky one. For starters, i only know the intro from the tune. However, as far as intros go it is a cracker. Big and sassy in classic blaxploitation style. It is a 'strut' title, after all. Sadly, since i only know this tune from part of a mix set, i can't really say much about it. I know that i should know more about it, and probably acquire a copy, but i haven't. I do know (from amazon) that it changed course radically after the top intro, into a latinish direction. Whether or not it returns to the funk later is unknown me. Oh well.

Kiss - God Gave Rock And Roll To You

ORIGINATION Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
LAST LISTENED TO mayber once about seven years ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING

I've never been a fan of Kiss. Actually, to be more honest i've just never been too interested. Ok, to be fair there was a brief interest in my days of youth when they were doing their Crazy Nights guff, but that didn't last. Through the joys of the intarwub i have of late found some of their 'classic' works and there have been a few moments of okness. Nothing that has ever really done it for me though.

God Gave Rock And Roll To You i know purely from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and once in a while the song's pompous nonsense is moderately enjoyable. I guess pompous nonsense were really Kiss's bywords. At least they are in my head.

Track down a copy of this behemoth, listen to it a few times and then get rid of it. Heaven forbid anyone should think you're a Kiss fan. We all know about Kiss fans.

Further Kiss songs:
Crazy Nights



MEIN GOTT!
Having just looked through the archive, i have noticed that it was Kiss that got me started on this blog some time ago. And, after many months away, it's them that got me at it again. That's not right. What is it about Kiss that makes me want to tell the world i have them in my head. Oh dear hod. That has left a truly disgusting thought in my head of Kiss in my head. I feel sick. Got i hate them now.

It's a purging thing, isn't it? By sharing this crap with the world, it gets it out of my head and i can continue with my day in a normal fashion.

September

A bugger. It's gone already. It sucked. I may try this month to make an effort. Maybe. But only if you ask nicely.

Oscar Brown, Jr. - Dat Dere

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

It's a nice piece of vocal jazz, all about a wee boy asking his dad endless questions. Sometimes the questions get wild, like Daddy can i have that big elephant over there. It's a touching song by a father who wants to set his kid on a good path into life, with a main melody supplied by a piano. The supporting cast features a muted trumpet that underscores the vocal lines in a few sections, and some relaxed drumming and percussion. A simple song that, unusually for jazz, has vocals instead of solos, indeed they are a direct replacement here.

Fried Eggs

Ok. I know i wrote a while back that this wasn't the place for my own stuff, but rules are made to be broken and if there is one thing in life i can be sure of, it is never to say never to anything. Apart from having a mullet. I'll never do that, i am quiet certain. Quiet at the back! I have NEVER had one. Yes, i know when it grew in back in my teen metal days it looked a bit like i did, but i didn't. Really. Ok?

Ricky and I have been working on some new songs. It's been about ten years since we first worked together, although to be fair there was a fairly large gap when we were both doing other stuff. In fact, those ten years were probably more gap than music, but i digress. We're been making new stuff and this time it's mostly us playing. We're got kit and we're loving playing it.

This tune was started last friday and finished on monday. It's working title came from being started on a friday: friday, fried day, fried eggs, see? Words are really not our strong point. Which is also why we haven't got a name for ourselves (suggestions are welcome).

So, do let us know what you think.

Laura Lee - Crumbs Off My Table (again)

Look, it was only yesterday. No fair. Better tomorrow please.

Laura Lee - Crumbs Off My Table

ORIGINATION I'm A Good Woman - Funk Classics From Sassy Soul Sisters
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT screaming satellites
RATING

It's funky and it's about not getting it. You know: it. You do.

The song starts with a swelling brass and wah wah intro, which is always going to go down well. As is the great key change leading into the bridge before the first chorus. The chorus, like many of the lyrics, are suggestively colourful: You've got me hungry for your lovin' - you ain't able / All you want to give me is the crumbs off your table. Such is the manner of the song.

Sadly at a minute and a half it all unravels, when a drum and bass break cuts in. Admittedly, it does build back up over the next minute but it feels like time wasting and it's too much of a drop down, without enough of a build up either before it or after. It kills the heart of the song stone dead. Not only that, but it's also a wasted opportunity for the kind of mischievous groaning sounds that we know all funkers love to make in these breaks, especially considering the subject of the song. If you're going to make a song that is already well down the lewd path, why chicken out half way down it? The song has such promise, so it's quite a let down. Even the ever-pleasing peal of the wah wah isn't enough to rescue this.

If it was only two and a half minutes, it might've gotten an extra star. Sadly, it just goes on that minute too far.