ORIGINATION Jungle Exotica Volume 2
RECORDED IN 1964
LAST LISTENED TO January
RATING ★★★★★
Sneaky. From somewhere in the dark, it's coming to get you. Well, maybe until the organ starts. After that it all turns into one of those mid '60s Arabian things. That sound was all the range, in a certain set. A sort of groovy, post-exotica thing. It didn't last long but it did throw out some weird and lovely things.
Showing posts with label groovy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groovy. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Monday, August 21, 2006
Quiller - General Direction
ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT mighty high
RATING
This one appeared way back in January.
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT mighty high
RATING
This one appeared way back in January.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Babe Ruth - The Mexican
ORIGINATION Funkrock: Rock Breaks And Guitars For Funky People
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lowish, although there's been a lot of Morricone action since seeing the Spaghetti Western Orchestra
RATING
It's one of those tunes that turns up regularly on breaks compilations. The reason for this, however, is nothing to do with any break in this tune. It doesn't really have one. Instead it's all about its the second part.
The first part of the tune starts out with a little Spanish guitar, before things heat up in a Santana-y way, albeit with less percussion but with heaped tablespoons of funky, distorted guitar and electric piano. Has it something to do the the Mexico-US was? Hard to say and, frankly, who cares: once the second part gets going, you'll forget all about it. That's because the whole second part is, basically, a funk rock version of the Theme For A Few Dollars More.
It's every bit as good as can be hoped for. That funky, distorted guitar and electric piano play the main theme in tandem, with one the left channel and one in the right. The funky beats from the first part keep on rolling and, to top it off, there is even some wah-wah guitar down in the mix.
That's why it's always turning up on breaks comps. It's not because of any incredible break - there is none here. It's because if you were at a block party, who wouldn't want to dance to funky Morricone?
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lowish, although there's been a lot of Morricone action since seeing the Spaghetti Western Orchestra
RATING
It's one of those tunes that turns up regularly on breaks compilations. The reason for this, however, is nothing to do with any break in this tune. It doesn't really have one. Instead it's all about its the second part.
The first part of the tune starts out with a little Spanish guitar, before things heat up in a Santana-y way, albeit with less percussion but with heaped tablespoons of funky, distorted guitar and electric piano. Has it something to do the the Mexico-US was? Hard to say and, frankly, who cares: once the second part gets going, you'll forget all about it. That's because the whole second part is, basically, a funk rock version of the Theme For A Few Dollars More.
It's every bit as good as can be hoped for. That funky, distorted guitar and electric piano play the main theme in tandem, with one the left channel and one in the right. The funky beats from the first part keep on rolling and, to top it off, there is even some wah-wah guitar down in the mix.
That's why it's always turning up on breaks comps. It's not because of any incredible break - there is none here. It's because if you were at a block party, who wouldn't want to dance to funky Morricone?
Friday, August 04, 2006
Nick Ingman - Down Home
ORIGINATION Sound Book Part Two - De Wolfe Music Library & Background Sound
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite good
RATING
After yesterday's reminder of the joy of library grooves, it took over a large part of the day's playlist And so having another today comes as little surprise. This British one is just as funky as yesterday's and, as the title suggests, lurks in nearly the same area. I'm getting hints of pimps strutting and a very strong flavour of cop shows.
It begins with a lovely big of synth and brass action, before the drums kick in with a perfect dum-bum-dadum roll. Much like yesterday's wah guitar, the synth runs through the whole song providing some lovely texture, whilst over there is a mountain of brass, organ and, yes, more wah wah. The drummer's also having a great day and his funky beats are high in the mix. And to top things off, someone has got their hands on one of those percussion instruments beloved of all cop show themes, the name of which i have never discovered. It's the one that goes cr-r-r-r-r-r-r. You know it.
This really is just brilliant. Everything works exactly how you'd want it too. The synth is gritty and burbling. The drummer is hitting hard and groovy. The big brass comes in on long, slow building notes, but also has some great, hard hits. There's even more low-down brass playing along with the synth deep in the mix. The organ is blue and funky and the guitar that backs it up is wah wah'd to perfection. And the bass player, he's so far in the pocket, he's practically out the other side.
The whole tune just keep building layer on layer, each successive one adding more instruments to the mix and moving up a key. After three all-too-short minutes it stops dead on a snare. You can't ask for better funk than this.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite good
RATING
After yesterday's reminder of the joy of library grooves, it took over a large part of the day's playlist And so having another today comes as little surprise. This British one is just as funky as yesterday's and, as the title suggests, lurks in nearly the same area. I'm getting hints of pimps strutting and a very strong flavour of cop shows.
It begins with a lovely big of synth and brass action, before the drums kick in with a perfect dum-bum-dadum roll. Much like yesterday's wah guitar, the synth runs through the whole song providing some lovely texture, whilst over there is a mountain of brass, organ and, yes, more wah wah. The drummer's also having a great day and his funky beats are high in the mix. And to top things off, someone has got their hands on one of those percussion instruments beloved of all cop show themes, the name of which i have never discovered. It's the one that goes cr-r-r-r-r-r-r. You know it.
This really is just brilliant. Everything works exactly how you'd want it too. The synth is gritty and burbling. The drummer is hitting hard and groovy. The big brass comes in on long, slow building notes, but also has some great, hard hits. There's even more low-down brass playing along with the synth deep in the mix. The organ is blue and funky and the guitar that backs it up is wah wah'd to perfection. And the bass player, he's so far in the pocket, he's practically out the other side.
The whole tune just keep building layer on layer, each successive one adding more instruments to the mix and moving up a key. After three all-too-short minutes it stops dead on a snare. You can't ask for better funk than this.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
P. Cannizzo - Black California
ORIGINATION Vroommm: Funk Cinematique - High Performace 70s Turbo Sounds For Sprint-Exotic Movie Scenes
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING
Ah, back to funky library music. That's much better.
This one, about which i know so little, i don't even know the composer's first name, is another favourite. Little surprise that it's partly due, once again, to some hefty wah wah guitar. Here it runs the entire length of the tune and in so doing becomes part of the rhythm section, that comprises bass, drums and piano. The piano is notable, being proper left-hand style and real low-down. It is therefore perfectly suited to the down and groovy, make a funky ah-yes face mood of the track. It's got a kinda pimp strutting vibe.
The song opens with a fabulous combination of the wah guitar and funky bass, before being quickly joined by the drums. The piano comes in soon after, at the same time as a tenor sax, together playing some nice counter melodies.
Having established the opening melody, the sax takes off on a solo, taking up some way over half of the tune. The solo has a blues-based structure, which again is in keeping with the overall flavour and it's played with a very straight forward tone, that is both clean and punchy. It's a real archetypal bluesy tenor sax solo.
An electric piano takes over from the sax and keeps to the same formula. However, due to the nature of the instrument's sound, it has a lighter feel and is consequently less effective in this setting.
In the final moments the sax returns, bringing its main melody and the song sadly fades.
Italy's library music scene was not only one of the most vibrant in the world, but it also produced one of the most well known composers ever to have worked in the genre, in Ennio Morricone. So, whom ever Sig. Cannizzo is, he was in good company and he was also damned funky. It would do you no harm to spend a little time investigating the myriad sounds of him and his brethren from in the Italian library scene.
There's plenty more library music in the song for the day vaults, but you'll need to use search engine to get to it. I've got better things to do today than do it for you.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING
Ah, back to funky library music. That's much better.
This one, about which i know so little, i don't even know the composer's first name, is another favourite. Little surprise that it's partly due, once again, to some hefty wah wah guitar. Here it runs the entire length of the tune and in so doing becomes part of the rhythm section, that comprises bass, drums and piano. The piano is notable, being proper left-hand style and real low-down. It is therefore perfectly suited to the down and groovy, make a funky ah-yes face mood of the track. It's got a kinda pimp strutting vibe.
The song opens with a fabulous combination of the wah guitar and funky bass, before being quickly joined by the drums. The piano comes in soon after, at the same time as a tenor sax, together playing some nice counter melodies.
Having established the opening melody, the sax takes off on a solo, taking up some way over half of the tune. The solo has a blues-based structure, which again is in keeping with the overall flavour and it's played with a very straight forward tone, that is both clean and punchy. It's a real archetypal bluesy tenor sax solo.
An electric piano takes over from the sax and keeps to the same formula. However, due to the nature of the instrument's sound, it has a lighter feel and is consequently less effective in this setting.
In the final moments the sax returns, bringing its main melody and the song sadly fades.
Italy's library music scene was not only one of the most vibrant in the world, but it also produced one of the most well known composers ever to have worked in the genre, in Ennio Morricone. So, whom ever Sig. Cannizzo is, he was in good company and he was also damned funky. It would do you no harm to spend a little time investigating the myriad sounds of him and his brethren from in the Italian library scene.
There's plenty more library music in the song for the day vaults, but you'll need to use search engine to get to it. I've got better things to do today than do it for you.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Lulu - Feelin' Alright
ORIGINATION Right On! Break Beats And Grooves From The Atlantic And Warner Vaults 1967 - 1975
LAST LISTENED TO March
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much
RATING
Yes, yes, yes, that Lulu. You know, her voice is not bad, it's quite soulful. And the music, recorded in Muscle Shoals with musicians who had been involved in top-rate soul music for several years by this point, is pretty damned good too. But there are better versions of this track around (Traffic created it, before Joe Cocker went on to do the best known version), so reallly there is little reason to bother with this apart from sheer curiosity. Still, i could think of many worse ways to wake up on a grey summer sunday.
LAST LISTENED TO March
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much
RATING
Yes, yes, yes, that Lulu. You know, her voice is not bad, it's quite soulful. And the music, recorded in Muscle Shoals with musicians who had been involved in top-rate soul music for several years by this point, is pretty damned good too. But there are better versions of this track around (Traffic created it, before Joe Cocker went on to do the best known version), so reallly there is little reason to bother with this apart from sheer curiosity. Still, i could think of many worse ways to wake up on a grey summer sunday.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Mark Duval Big Band - The Race Machine
ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as vague as ever
RATING
A shot from the library vaults again this morning, which seems oddly appropriate given that i am reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, which features a library prominently. The book kind, in this case. Anyway, Duval & Co start out on The Race Machine with a great bass slide intro, before launching into a fine sound library funky groove. It is mostly sax-led, with a robust horn section underscoring. However, the solos are taken by first a trumpet and then by a hammond. Judging by the length of the organ's solo, it's a good bet that this is Mr. Duval himself. It's a fine solo, moving mostly around mid-tones. It's all over in just over a minute and a half, just like all good library music: short and sweet.
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as vague as ever
RATING
A shot from the library vaults again this morning, which seems oddly appropriate given that i am reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, which features a library prominently. The book kind, in this case. Anyway, Duval & Co start out on The Race Machine with a great bass slide intro, before launching into a fine sound library funky groove. It is mostly sax-led, with a robust horn section underscoring. However, the solos are taken by first a trumpet and then by a hammond. Judging by the length of the organ's solo, it's a good bet that this is Mr. Duval himself. It's a fine solo, moving mostly around mid-tones. It's all over in just over a minute and a half, just like all good library music: short and sweet.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Brentford All-Stars - Greedy G
ORIGINATION Studio One Rockers
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING
Destination: Jamaica again today! This is getting uncanny. I did spend all of last weekend listening to nothing but music from the island, but i have listened to other stuff since. Clearly it's backed up in my head. Which is fine by me.
The Brentford All-Stars where Studio One's house band (named after Brentford Road, the street upon which it stood). Studio One is one of the, if not the most important labels in Jamaican music. Its rolling cast of studio musicians included some of the best players on the island. They provided the music and rhythms for whoever was the singer on any given day. It was something akin to the factory-line inspired set up at Motown in the US, only more so, as often the music and rhythms were used many times over and in many versions. These Studio One musiciains, like their Motown brothers, worked endlessly and under different collective names, whilst only getting a handfull of releases of their own. Greedy G, under the Brentford All-Stars name, is one of their best known, or at least has become so with the rise of interest in Jamiacan music through the '90s.
It is a piece of mid-to-fast tempo funk, with a (naturally) Jamaican twist and is a good example of what could be done with primarily just these guy's rhythm tracks. The drums are clear funk, although with more echo on than you'd expect. There are also several places where they drop out, where a huge echo from them reverbarates off into the distance, in a dub style. The funky rhythm guitar is closer to its American cousin, but it just skanks too much to be regular funk. Over this rhythm section, however, things become more typically funky with nice southern-fried funky guitar picking and some tasty organ solo action.
It's not quite funk as you know it, but it still is damned funky and damned good.
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING
Destination: Jamaica again today! This is getting uncanny. I did spend all of last weekend listening to nothing but music from the island, but i have listened to other stuff since. Clearly it's backed up in my head. Which is fine by me.
The Brentford All-Stars where Studio One's house band (named after Brentford Road, the street upon which it stood). Studio One is one of the, if not the most important labels in Jamaican music. Its rolling cast of studio musicians included some of the best players on the island. They provided the music and rhythms for whoever was the singer on any given day. It was something akin to the factory-line inspired set up at Motown in the US, only more so, as often the music and rhythms were used many times over and in many versions. These Studio One musiciains, like their Motown brothers, worked endlessly and under different collective names, whilst only getting a handfull of releases of their own. Greedy G, under the Brentford All-Stars name, is one of their best known, or at least has become so with the rise of interest in Jamiacan music through the '90s.
It is a piece of mid-to-fast tempo funk, with a (naturally) Jamaican twist and is a good example of what could be done with primarily just these guy's rhythm tracks. The drums are clear funk, although with more echo on than you'd expect. There are also several places where they drop out, where a huge echo from them reverbarates off into the distance, in a dub style. The funky rhythm guitar is closer to its American cousin, but it just skanks too much to be regular funk. Over this rhythm section, however, things become more typically funky with nice southern-fried funky guitar picking and some tasty organ solo action.
It's not quite funk as you know it, but it still is damned funky and damned good.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Pierre Dutour et son orchestre - Following You
ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT better than yesterdays but not by much
RATING
Library music again! And this time one that really shows why i and so many others love library music: it's just so damned groovy. But then it's a funky hammond work-out with some killer brass lines and i am such a sucker for those. They don't get much better than this. I think today is going to be a hammond day. Again. Fantastic!
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT better than yesterdays but not by much
RATING
Library music again! And this time one that really shows why i and so many others love library music: it's just so damned groovy. But then it's a funky hammond work-out with some killer brass lines and i am such a sucker for those. They don't get much better than this. I think today is going to be a hammond day. Again. Fantastic!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
G Sorgini - Honda
ORIGINATION Vroommm: Funk Cinematique - High Performace 70s Turbo Sounds For Sprint-Exotic Movie Scenes (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teensyish weensyish
RATING
It's only three stars. It's pretty obscure Italian library music from the '70s. There is no way you're ever going to hear it unless you have the LP or come round and steal mine. And now i'm watching out for it, so you'll never get your crafty hands on it. I'm onto you. Just you watch.
So, what does it matter what it's like?
For appearance's sake: it is built around a funky soul bass, with boxy, mid-range drums with psyche-like guitar splashed all over the top. It's pretty catchy, i suppose. But, you know, you'll probably never hear it, so what do you care. Go now.
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teensyish weensyish
RATING
It's only three stars. It's pretty obscure Italian library music from the '70s. There is no way you're ever going to hear it unless you have the LP or come round and steal mine. And now i'm watching out for it, so you'll never get your crafty hands on it. I'm onto you. Just you watch.
So, what does it matter what it's like?
For appearance's sake: it is built around a funky soul bass, with boxy, mid-range drums with psyche-like guitar splashed all over the top. It's pretty catchy, i suppose. But, you know, you'll probably never hear it, so what do you care. Go now.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Bill Withers - Kissing My Love
ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO months ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING
Withers is best known for slightly soppier songs than this one. This funky number sports some rather groovy wah wah guitar. And we all know how i feel about that.
LAST LISTENED TO months ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING
Withers is best known for slightly soppier songs than this one. This funky number sports some rather groovy wah wah guitar. And we all know how i feel about that.
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