Showing posts with label funk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funk. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Joyce Dunn - A New Change Of Address
ORIGINATION Sister Funk
RECORDED IN 1970
LAST LISTENED TO last night
RATING ★★★★★
This morning's ingredients: great brass, fine drums, slightly opaque lyrics that could be euphemistic but on closer inspection are all about being done wrong, burning sax and just a hint of organ. Of such fine things is good funk made. The world seems to know little about Joyce Dunn, other than she released this single on Mercury in 1970 and that's a damned shame. If she recorded other tunes as good as this, the world really needs to hear.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Speedometer - Am I Your Woman? (Featuring Ria Currie)
ORIGINATION Modern Funk: Stay On The Groove, Volume 3
RECORDED IN 2007
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★
Waking up to funk is always good. This fine selection is from one of the lights in the new funk movement in the UK. Performing now for more than a decade, Speedometer here cover a hit from 1970 by the Chi-lites. This version follows in the fine funk footsteps of an answer record: where once the Chi-lites sang Are You My Woman?, here the question is turned back on the men. Incidentally, that lovely brass riff that peppers both versions of the song, was sampled from the Chi-Lites on Beyoncé's Crazy In Love, which apparently was a big hit.
RECORDED IN 2007
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★
Waking up to funk is always good. This fine selection is from one of the lights in the new funk movement in the UK. Performing now for more than a decade, Speedometer here cover a hit from 1970 by the Chi-lites. This version follows in the fine funk footsteps of an answer record: where once the Chi-lites sang Are You My Woman?, here the question is turned back on the men. Incidentally, that lovely brass riff that peppers both versions of the song, was sampled from the Chi-Lites on Beyoncé's Crazy In Love, which apparently was a big hit.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The 5th Dimension - Puppet Man
ORIGINATION 45
RECORDED IN 1970
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday, briefly
RATING ★★★★★
Funk! Yes! Well, almost. This starts out with a certain kind of late '60s variant of funk, at least until the singing begins. Once that happens, it rapidly becomes funk filtered through an easy listening pop choir, which, not to put too fine a point on it, is exactly what this is. The 5th Dimension were (and appear in some guise still to be) a pop group of five vocailists. Their best-known singles back in the day were Up, Up And Away and Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In. Following only a few years after those, Puppet Man does have something of the flavour of those two tunes to it, with more than enough 'bah-bah-bah-bah's for any fan or their work to enjoy. However for those non-easy lovers, the music is where it's at. From the drum roll intro on into the strong lead guitar fills, this is some fairly heavy funk rock. It is taken at a moderate pace and it has plenty bite to it. On paper, the two elements seem rather disparate, yet here they mesh really rather well.
RECORDED IN 1970
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday, briefly
RATING ★★★★★
Funk! Yes! Well, almost. This starts out with a certain kind of late '60s variant of funk, at least until the singing begins. Once that happens, it rapidly becomes funk filtered through an easy listening pop choir, which, not to put too fine a point on it, is exactly what this is. The 5th Dimension were (and appear in some guise still to be) a pop group of five vocailists. Their best-known singles back in the day were Up, Up And Away and Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In. Following only a few years after those, Puppet Man does have something of the flavour of those two tunes to it, with more than enough 'bah-bah-bah-bah's for any fan or their work to enjoy. However for those non-easy lovers, the music is where it's at. From the drum roll intro on into the strong lead guitar fills, this is some fairly heavy funk rock. It is taken at a moderate pace and it has plenty bite to it. On paper, the two elements seem rather disparate, yet here they mesh really rather well.
Friday, March 04, 2011
[repetition]
As I fell asleep last night, yesterday's morning song was rattling around in my head. It wasn't much of a surprise, therefore, that it was still in there when I woke.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Laura Lee - Crumbs Off My Table
ORIGINATION I'm A Good Woman - Funk Classics From Sassy Soul Sisters (v/a) LP
RECORDED IN 1972
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★
Mm-mm. Here's some deep funk. That Laura Lee, her man's spending too long out of the house working. When he comes home, she ain't getting none and, man, she is not happy. Funk is the going to be the answer, so expect some fat bass, plenty of slick wah-wah guitar licks and a few truck-loads of brass. Oh yes. After a few verses, the track drops down for some bass and drum action and just a few groans. That low-down bump and grind is just what the song needs. Ms Lee is hungry and there is no doubting it here. A few years ago, I thought this section killed the song. These days, that drop down and build following it is hitting the spot hard. The arrangement here is particularly strong, with the whole band slotting tightly in together; bass, brass and guitar all winding in and out of each other as, we might surmise, Ms Lee finally gets it. Go get some!
RECORDED IN 1972
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★
Mm-mm. Here's some deep funk. That Laura Lee, her man's spending too long out of the house working. When he comes home, she ain't getting none and, man, she is not happy. Funk is the going to be the answer, so expect some fat bass, plenty of slick wah-wah guitar licks and a few truck-loads of brass. Oh yes. After a few verses, the track drops down for some bass and drum action and just a few groans. That low-down bump and grind is just what the song needs. Ms Lee is hungry and there is no doubting it here. A few years ago, I thought this section killed the song. These days, that drop down and build following it is hitting the spot hard. The arrangement here is particularly strong, with the whole band slotting tightly in together; bass, brass and guitar all winding in and out of each other as, we might surmise, Ms Lee finally gets it. Go get some!
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Baby Charles - Hard Man To Please
ORIGINATION Baby Charles CD
LAST LISTENED TO December 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT limited
RATING ★★★★★
Songs such as this morning's and yesterdays can be quite a tester for my memory. Yesterday was not so bad, because I had the intro and part of the melody, however this morning all I had was one riff. It was new funk and that was as much of a feeling as I had from it. Quite why it was stuck in my head was a mystery. Perhaps it my subconscious reminding me to Pay More Attention To Funk.
After some time spent tracking it down, I found the riff was by Baby Charles, who appeared in my life very early one Saturday morning on Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox radio show. Whatever track it was he played then, it caught my ears and the first thing I did after a night's sleep was to find their website and buy their album, a self-titled debut. It is a pretty fantastic slab of funk. Hard Man To Please, placed in the middle of that slab, has almost all of the things a top funk tune needs: whacka-whacka guitar, slip-sliding organ, brass stabs, some good repetitive lyrics and a change of chord last section. If the bass was not so often lost in the mix this would certainly be getting played more often, which would have made its tracking down this morning easier.
Even though this is not the best track by Baby Charles, it will give you a good taste of what they are like. Sadly, if you like that taste there will only ever be one album, as they split last year.
LAST LISTENED TO December 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT limited
RATING ★★★★★
Songs such as this morning's and yesterdays can be quite a tester for my memory. Yesterday was not so bad, because I had the intro and part of the melody, however this morning all I had was one riff. It was new funk and that was as much of a feeling as I had from it. Quite why it was stuck in my head was a mystery. Perhaps it my subconscious reminding me to Pay More Attention To Funk.
After some time spent tracking it down, I found the riff was by Baby Charles, who appeared in my life very early one Saturday morning on Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox radio show. Whatever track it was he played then, it caught my ears and the first thing I did after a night's sleep was to find their website and buy their album, a self-titled debut. It is a pretty fantastic slab of funk. Hard Man To Please, placed in the middle of that slab, has almost all of the things a top funk tune needs: whacka-whacka guitar, slip-sliding organ, brass stabs, some good repetitive lyrics and a change of chord last section. If the bass was not so often lost in the mix this would certainly be getting played more often, which would have made its tracking down this morning easier.
Even though this is not the best track by Baby Charles, it will give you a good taste of what they are like. Sadly, if you like that taste there will only ever be one album, as they split last year.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
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.
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.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Harlem River Drive - Harlem River Drive
ORIGINATION Harlem River Drive
LAST LISTENED TO october
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT duh, no much
RATING
A nice, laid back latin soul number. More laid back soul than latin, but none the less it's latin. Lovely organ. Nice sax. Too busy to be this relaxed today. Terribly sorry.
LAST LISTENED TO october
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT duh, no much
RATING
A nice, laid back latin soul number. More laid back soul than latin, but none the less it's latin. Lovely organ. Nice sax. Too busy to be this relaxed today. Terribly sorry.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
ORIGINATION 12"
LAST LISTENED TO i have no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much of one
RATING
Funkmeister and sartorial renegade George Clinton created Funkadelic in 1970 when he and his band got into some contractual bother and where unable to record under their then name Parliament. Essentially, the two bands were the same, although it came to pass that Parliament became their (mostly) funk brand and Funkadelic their wig-out funky rock one. More or less.
This binominal state continued for a good most of the '70s, with a good deal of bleed between the two platforms, forming a style that became known as P-Funk. Thus it was that in 1978 it was Funkadelic that recorded the funk-disco monster that is One Nation Under A Groove which, surely by now, you all know. Anthemic and seven and a half minutes long, it was a positive statement of unity. So good that it hit number one in the US R&B charts and has become their best-known tune. At times you can hear the influence of every big name in the field, from Sly Stone to Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Stick if on repeat and let the grins break out.
LAST LISTENED TO i have no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much of one
RATING
Funkmeister and sartorial renegade George Clinton created Funkadelic in 1970 when he and his band got into some contractual bother and where unable to record under their then name Parliament. Essentially, the two bands were the same, although it came to pass that Parliament became their (mostly) funk brand and Funkadelic their wig-out funky rock one. More or less.
This binominal state continued for a good most of the '70s, with a good deal of bleed between the two platforms, forming a style that became known as P-Funk. Thus it was that in 1978 it was Funkadelic that recorded the funk-disco monster that is One Nation Under A Groove which, surely by now, you all know. Anthemic and seven and a half minutes long, it was a positive statement of unity. So good that it hit number one in the US R&B charts and has become their best-known tune. At times you can hear the influence of every big name in the field, from Sly Stone to Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Stick if on repeat and let the grins break out.
Monday, July 10, 2006
More monday morning mess
This monday's weird mess was a bit more acceptable than some of the previous ones, but i don't have enough time today to tell you all about it. So, all i can do is tell you that it started with twists of the bloopy intro from The Prodigy's Everybody In The Place, before great steaming chunks of The Temptations classic Ball Of Confusion fell all over it. The bass part of this then evolved into Aretha Frankin's Rock Steady, which to be fair sounds quite similar. That tune occured here in the not too distant past, but sadly it was another of these days where time just runs out. So there's hardly any point clicking that link. You'll just be disappointed. Still, there's always tomorrow, although looking at my diary it seems unlikely i'll do any better then. But you never know. Never say never.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Lemuria - Hunk Of Heaven (again)
ORIGINATION Strange Games & Things
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rather high
RATING
Ah, what a lovely song. Especially on such a grey and yucky day as it it here this morning. You can find my original post here.
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rather high
RATING
Ah, what a lovely song. Especially on such a grey and yucky day as it it here this morning. You can find my original post here.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
ORIGINATION Blood Sugar Sex Magik
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not high
RATING
This is the last Chilis album that i bothered about. It was their funky prime and i've not heard any evidence that they've managed anything like it since. Give It Away is one of the funkiest tunes from what is a very funky album. Such lovely bass. and guitar! The backwards solo á la The Beatles! And those lovely rolled 'r's. Who'da thunk something so funky could've been made in the '90s.
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not high
RATING
This is the last Chilis album that i bothered about. It was their funky prime and i've not heard any evidence that they've managed anything like it since. Give It Away is one of the funkiest tunes from what is a very funky album. Such lovely bass. and guitar! The backwards solo á la The Beatles! And those lovely rolled 'r's. Who'da thunk something so funky could've been made in the '90s.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
James Brown - Hell
ORIGINATION Hell
LAST LISTENED TO some months back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT are not good
RATING
It seems unfair to give James Brown 2 stars, but it is a comparitive thing. If this track was by someone else, it would probably rate higher. But we all know that Mr. Brown can do much better than this. Even with the lovely solo by Maceo Parker, i can't in fairness raise this to 3 stars, because then i'd have to raise the ratings of the songs that are better than this and i dont go better than 5 out of 5.
In short, it is a consious-raising piece of mid-tempo funk from 1974. Choppy guitars. Horns. Female backing. "It's hell down here and we've got to make a change." Maceo's solo. James screams. Still can't go better than 2 stars, though. Shame.
LAST LISTENED TO some months back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT are not good
RATING
It seems unfair to give James Brown 2 stars, but it is a comparitive thing. If this track was by someone else, it would probably rate higher. But we all know that Mr. Brown can do much better than this. Even with the lovely solo by Maceo Parker, i can't in fairness raise this to 3 stars, because then i'd have to raise the ratings of the songs that are better than this and i dont go better than 5 out of 5.
In short, it is a consious-raising piece of mid-tempo funk from 1974. Choppy guitars. Horns. Female backing. "It's hell down here and we've got to make a change." Maceo's solo. James screams. Still can't go better than 2 stars, though. Shame.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Freak Power - Rush
ORIGINATION Drive-Thru Booty
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING
What a nice piece of mid-'90s funk. It comes on like an updated Sly & The Family Stone tune, but with some underlying dance elements that just weren't known back in Sly's heyday.
All of this is hardly a surprise when you realise one of the main hands behind Freak Power was the multi-pseudonymed Norman Cook (best known in his Fatboy Slim guise). However, don't make the mistake of thinking that this is solely a Norman Cook-style enterprise. There are others onboard this ship and it tempers things differently. It really is more funk than dance with not only a full vocal and backing vocals but other nice touches such as the live bass (Mr. Cook himself if i'm not mistaken) and the light and airy flute loop that drifts in and out throughout the track.
Happily, this fun little tune isn't even the best thing on offer on this CD. You really ought to get a copy.
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING
What a nice piece of mid-'90s funk. It comes on like an updated Sly & The Family Stone tune, but with some underlying dance elements that just weren't known back in Sly's heyday.
All of this is hardly a surprise when you realise one of the main hands behind Freak Power was the multi-pseudonymed Norman Cook (best known in his Fatboy Slim guise). However, don't make the mistake of thinking that this is solely a Norman Cook-style enterprise. There are others onboard this ship and it tempers things differently. It really is more funk than dance with not only a full vocal and backing vocals but other nice touches such as the live bass (Mr. Cook himself if i'm not mistaken) and the light and airy flute loop that drifts in and out throughout the track.
Happily, this fun little tune isn't even the best thing on offer on this CD. You really ought to get a copy.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
The Blackbyrds - Do It Fluid (again)
ORIGINATION Night Grooves
LAST LISTENED TO mid February
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING
This one popped up back here.
LAST LISTENED TO mid February
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING
This one popped up back here.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The 5th Dimension - Puppet Man
ORIGINATION 7" (b side)
LAST LISTENED TO january
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING
The 5th Dimension were a pop-soul outfit who reached their most popular with slightly hippy sounding tunes, scoring their biggest hit in '69 with Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, a medley of tunes from the musical Hair. By '72, when they recorded this tune, they were on a new label and a short while over the crest of their wave.
Puppet Man is the b side to a forgettable ballad (the name of which i have indeed forgotten). It is mostly vocal led, although there is a continual presence of both guitar and piano, which pulls along the melody. Small portions of brass help round things out and a load of 'ba ba bas' are just the icing on top.
LAST LISTENED TO january
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING
The 5th Dimension were a pop-soul outfit who reached their most popular with slightly hippy sounding tunes, scoring their biggest hit in '69 with Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, a medley of tunes from the musical Hair. By '72, when they recorded this tune, they were on a new label and a short while over the crest of their wave.
Puppet Man is the b side to a forgettable ballad (the name of which i have indeed forgotten). It is mostly vocal led, although there is a continual presence of both guitar and piano, which pulls along the melody. Small portions of brass help round things out and a load of 'ba ba bas' are just the icing on top.
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