221 posts tagged with funk.
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DJ Set recorded on February, 2024 on the island of Florianópolis
"I was at a party in space with creatures of all kinds and shapes you can imagine, and this was the music playing, the vibe was unbelievable. Influenced by the 1970s space disco, with its synthesizers, funky grooves, and a certain psychedelia, the space DJs know what they're doing, it's time to listen to the voice that comes from beyond, or rather, from the infinite and beyond." COSMIC GROOVES - A Funky, Disco & House Grooves MIX from Outer Space [2h]
Detroit's Music Scene
Motor City's Burning: Detroit from Motown to the Stooges [1h, 2008, BBC] Is a look at the history of Detroit through the lens of music, from John Lee Hooker to Eminem. It's a really interesting scope through which to view this city.
Good Times
If you haven't already seen the Nile Rodgers & CHIC: Tiny Desk Concert, it's well worth half an hour of your time! [SLYT]
You Got to Hold On
Since their earliest days playing record store gigs, the Alabama Shakes have been an absolutely holy-shit powerhouse of rock'n'roll soul.
But for all their collective skill, the true genius of the band was always frontwoman Brittany Howard -- a former cashier and postal worker-turned-generational talent whose electrifying voice, lyrical verve, eclectic tastes, and directorial eye drove the band's rapid musical evolution, from the anthemic southern roots rock of 2012's Boys & Girls to the cinematic groove, kaleidoscopic funk and eerie psychedelia (bordering on spiritual experience) that was 2015's Sound & Color.
And beyond: after a hiatus, Howard went solo to work on her debut effort Jaime (2019), a heartbreaking and deeply personal record inspired by her late sister and her own experience growing up as a queer, mixed-race woman in the Deep South.
Now, after brief forays into multiple side projects, jamming with Prince [audio] and Paul McCartney, an immaculate piano duet with Herbie Hancock at the Kennedy Center, and a delightful music video (starring pal Terry Crews, her dad, and a whole swath of her hometown), Howard has surprised fans with a second solo album, starting with the lead single: "What Now." Haven't heard enough about these fantastic albums? Well, bless your heart, there's [more inside]
The Mothership Landed in Houston, October 31st, 1976
"It was Halloween night and Parliament Funkadelic was about to tear the roof off the Houston Summit, ready to bless the crowd with their cosmic brew of interplanetary funk." Enjoy the concert and spend 1h22m blowing the cobwebs out of your mind, this fine fall Sunday. [more inside]
Dennis Chambers hears "Schism" for the first time
Legendary funk/jazz fusion drummer Dennis Chambers hears Tool's "Schism" for the first time. Then plays it.
A companion piece to Larnell Lewis Hears "Enter Sandman" for the first time.
When we get together, well then, who knows?
A year after their surprise reveal at Glastonbury, Radiohead pandemic spinoff project The Smile have finally dropped their much-anticipated debut album: A Light for Attracting Attention [full album on YouTube].
Featuring Yorke, Greenwood, Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, longtime RH producer Nigel Godrich, and an assist from the London Contemporary Orchestra, the album's heady mixture of funk, post-punk, math rock, soaring ballads, and themes of passion, alienation, and melancholy make it (perhaps) a worthy successor to 2016's elegant A Moon Shaped Pool.
Music videos:
angry #MeToo rocker "You Will Never Work in Television Again" [lyrics] -
abstract animation for orchestral odyssey "Pana-Vision" [lyrics] -
subliminal lyrics for swanky groove "The Smoke" [lyrics] -
trippy stop-motion nightmare "Thin Thing" [lyrics] -
an occult ritual framed by hopeful elegy "Free in the Knowledge" [lyrics] -
Thom ventures into a coal mine for the beautifully ethereal "Skrting on the Surface" [lyrics], a fan favorite 20+ years in the making. Full tracklist (including a complete live set list!) inside. [more inside]
What’s It Like Drumming For Prince? (The true story…)
Drummer Hannah Welton was recruited by Prince to drum for 3rdeyegirl and she played on his last four tours with a band before he died. Spend 1h learning about What’s It Like Drumming For Prince? (The true story…) with drumming tips like how much the space matters, how funky can be simple, and stories about Prince being Prince. She's charming and delightful and so f'n talented!
Game Was Her Middle Name
RIP Betty Davis, the Trailblazing Queen of Funk and former wife of trumpeter Miles Davis. They said she was different, and they weren't lying. You can learn more by watching the 2017 documentary (Betty: They Say I'm Different), or maybe just playing some of her tunes (a lot of which really are NSFW). More here, here, and hear the last song she wrote here.
Son of y2funkysoultrainlive ( or... at least, lip synced ) 'n Stuff
Marvin Gaye -- Got to Give It Up
The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child
Al Green -- I'm So Tired of Being Alone (10/30/71) 1st Soul Train Appearance: Yikes!!!
The Second Time Around due to link rot in the Previously
[more inside]
The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child
Al Green -- I'm So Tired of Being Alone (10/30/71) 1st Soul Train Appearance: Yikes!!!
The Second Time Around due to link rot in the Previously
[more inside]
Organic Grooves on Vinyl from High and Low, Near and Far
My Analog Journal's Youtube channel features guest mixes by DJs as well as those by its host Zag Erlat, a London based music producer. Usually shot from above to showcase the turntables and the record albums, Season 2's guests include Krishna Villar's set of Psychedelic Cumbia, Norsicaa's mix of Latin-influenced Southeast Asian singers, Westside MuzeeQ's exploration of 70s Indonesian Psych, Funk & Disco, Poly-Ritmo's deep dive into music from Guadeloupe, Martinique and Haiti, and Dona Carla's selection of funky Brazilian samba grooves from 1969 to 1984. All tracks time-stamped and labeled. Or if you prefer, go to the Soundcloud for just the audio. Submissions for guest mix slots are open at My Analog Journal.
This shit's gonna kill me but I wont let it.
Lawrence, a New York-based band founded by siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, with an acoustic version of their song Don't Lose Sight. [SLYT]
45 minutes of Funky Old Japanese Soundtracks to chill out to
I don't believe you wanna get up and dance...
Oops Upside Your Head is a disco funk song recorded by The Gap Band in 1979, which became an international hit. It is notable for being one of the first funk songs to use hip-hop style monologues.
In Britain it's notable for something else. The traditional way to dance to this song over here is to sit on the floor in ranks and perform a rowing motion. [more inside]
RIP Humpty Hump
Greg “Shock G” Jacobs, founder of 90s rap group Digital Underground, passed away aged 57 in a hotel room in Tampa, Florida. Digital Underground started in the late 80s; their sound leaned heavily on P-Funk, while their lyrics often dealt with fanciful themes, such as Sex Packets, a concept album about a drug that induces sexual hallucinations. [more inside]
Danny Ray
In what became an iconic part of Brown’s concerts, Ray would walk onstage mid-“Please, Please, Please” and drape Brown with a cape, only for the singer to explode out of the cape with a second wind.Danny Ray, 'cape man' and emmcee for James Brown, has died at 85. [more inside]
Data from "Star Trek" has a rip on the Hammond B3 organ
Ike White, a combination of lies and truths, held together by his music
Ike White had the kind of life that sounds too outrageous to be true. Given a life sentence for murder at the age of 19, he spent his time writing songs with his fellow prisoners and was soon discovered by Jerry Goldstein, a record producer and affiliate of Jimi Hendrix. They managed to record Ike’s debut album, Changin’ Times (YouTube playlist), from a mobile studio in prison in California in 1974. By 1978, Stevie Wonder had caught wind of the socially conscious, funky record and secured a new attorney for White, who petitioned for his release that year. Set free, White was poised for stardom and had just had a child with his new wife – Goldstein’s secretary. Then he disappeared. Murder, mystery and a hit record: the unbelievable story of Ike White (Ammar Kalia for The Guardian) [more inside]
Mory Kante rip
Legendary world music superstar and one of the most influential died at 70. Seriously how could anyone vote this as the worst, not the best, song of the 80's? However, his 70's career as the vocalist of Super Rail Band made his name. 2020 is bad for world music so far.
How about some Afro-Cuban dance mixed with 1970s funk-and-soul?
Cimafunk has no wikipedia entry yet! (But not for long).
They played NPR's Tiny Desk concert last week.
Their YouTube channel has only 21 tracks at the moment.
the guitar is a tambourine with a ton of different pitches
The holy trinity of tambourine according to musician Jack Stratton of funk band Vulfpeck
1. Sandra Crouch (tambourine solo queued up)
2. Jack Ashford
3. Norman Whitfield
Also in the Holy Trinities series:
Minimalist Funk Arrangers
(Rhythm) Guitar [more inside]
1. Sandra Crouch (tambourine solo queued up)
2. Jack Ashford
3. Norman Whitfield
Also in the Holy Trinities series:
Minimalist Funk Arrangers
(Rhythm) Guitar [more inside]
Kutiman dream jams
Remember Kutiman?
His new #KutimanComeTogether Instagram micro-format features brief, subtly edited dream collaborations between musical greats. [more inside]
The funkiest alumni association in the world?
Tower of Power is a funk and soul band from Oakland, CA that's been around since 1968. The current version of the group still is led by founding members Emilio Castillo and Stephen "Doc" Kupka, but as you might expect for a band with a half-century of history, they've had quite a few members over the years.
With such a large number of alumni, they recently did something that's hard to imagine too many other bands pulling off. Last week, they released a video featuring SIX of their former lead singers - Tom Bowes, Larry Braggs, Brent Carter, Ray Greene, Ellis Hall, and Hubert Tubbs - who collectively span more than 40 years of their history, collaborating on what they're calling a "socially distanced" version of TOP's signature song "What Is Hip?"
Makossa Man
Manu Dibango, the acclaimed Cameroonian saxophonist whose 1972 hit, “Soul Makossa,” would later be sampled by Michael Jackson, Kanye West, and dozens of other musicians, died Tuesday at the age of 86. [Rolling Stone] [more inside]
It Gets Funkier
Last September, funk group Vulfpeck [bandcamp, previously on the blue] became one of the (very) few bands to sell out Madison Square Garden without the support of manager or music label.
You can watch the whole concert here.
You can watch the whole concert here.
Coffee Break Sessions
Why not enjoy your coffee with some vinyl in the morning? Brazilian grooves • Japanese city pop and jazz-funk • Jazz from the USSR [more inside]
Sorry, this is what you think it is.
Andy Gill, guitarist and founding member of legendary post-punk band Gang of Four, has died today following a short respiratory illness. I'm sorry, it's true. Andy Gill has left this plane for points further afield.
You can dig into the gory details here. I remember the first time I saw the cover of The Gang of Four's Entertainment album. I was shocked by the naked truth of the text that promised hard biting commentary, vicious satire, and a musical attack that would match it. I did not expect it to be danceable as well. [more inside]
Corporate Music - How to Compose with no Soul
In this video I explore how corporatism produces soulless music, some of which is amusingly awful! I also explore how tech and oil companies with dubious business practices use music as part of propaganda campaigns to convince the public that they support ecological activism. With some music theory thrown in along the way, I also compose a few kinds of different corporate styles to show the various tropes that exist. Some of it is blundering nonsense. Some of it is a little more sinister. All of it is garbage. Enjoy! [more inside]
Analog Africa's journey through Somali cassette and radio archives
In 2007 John Beadle, digitized a cassette and uploaded MP3s of 'Mystery Somali Funk' (previously) to his Likembe blog. He had been given the tape twenty years earlier by a Somalian student, and Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb take the reverse path, heading to travel to in Mogadishu in November of 2016 to track down the original music. This lead to his meeting Dur-Dur and hearing the stories behind their fusion of traditional Somali music with whatever rhythms would make people dance (Bandcamp): funk, reggae, soul, disco and New Wave were mixed effortlessly with Banaadiri beats, Daantho and spiritual Saar music. Samy also went through the archives of Radio Muqdisho (Somali and English news), now compiled in Mogadisco: Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972-1991) (Bandcamp). [more inside]
Prince, but not Prince... The Time!
The Time is a strange beast. After two albums of being nearly but not quite noticed, they were suddenly blew up on the music scene as the antagonist band up against Prince + The Revolution in the film Purple Rain. Actually being Prince playing most instruments with Morris Day following a Prince vocal track for recording, they were suddenly huge. But they'd already disbanded (for the time being). This third album [38m], Ice Cream Castle, is a minor masterpiece of soft-R-rated funk/rock. Side A: Ice Cream Castles, My Drawers, Chili Sauce [more inside]
Sudan Archives: North African style violin + West Coast RnB, funk, soul
Sudan Archives (stage name of Brittney Denise Parks) is a self-taught musician, who blends North African inspired violin (naming Asim Gorashi and Francis Bebey as notable influences) with wonky and experimental R'n'B. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her musical career, where she signed to Stones Throw, who put out her two EPs, and now her debut album, all of which is up on her Bandcamp account. Sudan Archives talked with Stereogum and shared the story behind every song on her new album Athena, an autobiography documenting her tribulations and her successes. [more inside]
parti' karamu' fiesta and Bm11/C#9
Musical polymath, multi-instrumentalist, harmonic badass, and all around cool dude Jacob Collier's insanely impressive cover of All Night Long. [more inside]
this post is full of neon
How Youtube’s Algorithm Turned an Obscure 1980s Japanese Song Into an Enormously Popular Hit Building on the video essay by Stevem ("What Is Plastic Love?"; 10m SLYT), a short explainer on the song that was probably cropping up in your Youtube recommendations for most of 2018. But an unusual copyright claim took it off the internet (10:40m SLYT), further amplifying its Streisand Effect popularity, though an amicable agreement was soon reached (6:39m SLYT), restoring the song that's now become the face of the City Pop genre. [more inside]
RIP Art Neville
Please take a moment to pay respects to the patriarch of New Orleans's first family of funk, Poppa Funk, Art Neville, who passed away today. [more inside]
เครื่องบิน: It Means Airplane
On Friday Khruangbin released their latest record Hasta El Cielo, a dub/remix version of their 2018 release Con Todo El Mundo. The trio from Houston, Texas, draws from a wide range of influences including (but not limited to) Thai funk, gospel, surf rock, psychedelic rock, classic soul, and other music from around the world. The result is "dreamy, instrumental music." [more inside]
Music for a rainy Sunday
If you read enough reviews of the music of Bibio one thing you'll come across is repeated use of the word "gauzy". [more inside]
"Green Balloons is every version of myself that I've been so far" -Tank
New Orleans' Tank and the Bangas (previously) are back to NPR with a first listen of their sophmore album, Green Balloons. NPR's summary is that this is "music without boundary on instruments ranging from sax, flute, cello, vocal scratches, keyboards, synths, real drums, fake drums, a djembe and, of course, the poetry, philosophy, comedy and voice that is Tarriona "Tank" Ball," who called the new album the older sister to the prior album, Think Tank (YouTube playlist; official links to other platforms).
Somali Night Fever: the little-known story of Somalia's disco era
In the 1970s and 80s, Mogadishu's airwaves were filled with Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae, but after the brutal civil war began, musicians fled to all corners of the world, and the scene came to an end. This short Guardian video tells the story of some of the original musicians keeping Somali music alive today.
More than J-Pop: Ongaku 70-90, Kankyō Ongaku compilations
Four (plus Four) for Friday: the trio of decade and genre-focused "Ongaku" (音楽, music) compilations from the dubious French label, Hiruko Records: Ongaku 70 (YouTube playlist; Discogs), subtitled "Vintage Psychedelia in Japan" / Ongaku 80 (YT album; Discogs), subtitled "Alternative Waves from Japan" / Ongaku 90 (Discogs with some YouTube clips embedded), subtitled "Underground Music from Japan," (Discogs lists styles as New Wave, electro, experimental, and ambient) // If you want more experimental, ambient music from this period, Light in the Attic recently released Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990, and a YouTuber made a playlist of some of the clips that are already online. [more inside]
The Baghdaddies: Balkan melodies, Latin grooves, elements of English ska
The Baghdaddies (official site) are purveyors of Baltics-via-Britain party-starting off-beat gypsy-ska-blues-funk, and have been going strong for more than two decades (Narc Magazine interview). Their official blurb is that their "exuberant and rampant brand of world music is an exhilarating cocktail of Balkan melodies, ska and latin grooves and sizzling brass played with furious energy and theatrical humour, making them as unforgettable on stage as they are when performing as wandering brass troubadours." Sounds good, but don't take their word for it. Enjoy their music on Bandcamp and Soundcloud, and check out five short videos from them on YouTube. [more inside]
The Soulful Strings deliver a groovy Christmas
Led by the talented Richard Evans and comprised of members of the Chess/Cadet label house band, the Soulful Strings brought skilled musicianship to their distinctive blend of soul, jazz, funk, exotica and sleazy listening. Their fourth album, The Magic of Christmas, was released in 1968: [more inside]
Pookey Blow never made it big.
Pookey Blow - Get Up (And Go To School) [12" single] By 1983, the musical career of 15-year-old Pookey Blow, born Jerry Pearson, was over. A couple of the teenage rapper's cuts earned regional recognition, but fame and profits that his uncle/producer envisioned never materialized. [more inside]
Black Grooves
Black Grooves is a monthly online music magazine highlighting the latest releases - often reissues of classic, underground, lost or simply underrated albums - by black musicians. It is edited by the staff at Indiana University's Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC). [more inside]
LOUIS COLE LIVE SESH
Artificial Robot Funk
Pocket pieces by Nahre Sol
Classical pianist and composer, Nahre Sol has produced a series of videos in which she reacts to music from various other genres and users them as a starting point for her own "pocket piece" compositions: the blues, funk, retro game music, bossa nova, minimalism [more inside]
"Funk Fillets From Iceland’s Groovy Side"
Breaking the Ice is an 87-minute long mixtape of rare Icelandic funk- and soul-inspired music from the 60s, 70s and 80s, made by Iceland-born, Oakland-based DJ Platurn, with the crate-digging assistance of his cousin Sveimhugi, and his father's extensive record collection. Released by Needle to the Groove Records, the project started life as a three-part series on the webzine Nerdtorious (parts 1, 2, 3). For more about Breaking the Ice, you can read an article by Brandon Roos, an interview with DJ Platurn by Marke B, a short introduction by DJ Platurn to eight of the seventy records in the mix, or watch a six-minute mini-documentary before diving into the mix. [via RÚV]
Fear of a Brown Planet
Fear of a Brown Planet is an album of psychedelic Latin funk...covers? interpretations? celebrations! of classic Public Enemy joints by Austin's Brownout, previously noted for their Black Sabbath covers. It goes hard. [more inside]
They Feel Good
Delightful funk covers by Scary Pockets: The Scientist, All the Small Things, Love Yourself, Since You've Been Gone, Shape of You, Toxic, Humble.
Funk Plus One
Join Chris Funk of the Decemberists as he tours the country with us looking for the newest sounds of American music. • Keeping Hawaii’s Slack Key Guitar Music Alive
• Portland’s Godfather of Soul
• A Rock Star’s Unlikely Renaissance
• The Lost Art of Playing Glass
• A Master of Forgotten Music
• Enchanting the Internet With Funk and a Fiddle