Barry asked us to 'bring the funk'! So we did.... (kinda)
TIM
As
a white, married, suburban, middle-aged father of two very little funk
runs through my veins, so I made two funk-lite choices. Both were from
the early 90s,
a time when as a tweenage boy my musical consciousness was just
beginning to emerge. My first song choice I had actually heard at the
time, when it made no sense to me in the context of the heavy diet of
classic rock I enjoyed courtesy of my father's musical
taste. Every now and again he would bring something a little different
home, such as the
New Groove collection of acid jazz numbers, just to confuse us. I chose Nathan Haines'
Lady J from this collection, mostly because it is inherently amusing hearing kiwi-accented rapping.
Lady J
Lady J
Jettin'
CHRISTIAN
Funk is the insidious infection that has pervaded nearly every genre known to man. What the hell mankind did before its inception, goodness only knows. I assume the world was a slowly rotating mass of introspection and gloom (which we have already covered) with the odd soaring ode and inflected melody that merely hinted at happiness (tierce di picardie being an unsatisfactory case in point). Funk brings happiness and joy with such confident force that even when it only raises its head for a brief down stroke it invokes involuntary glee and merry movement. Funk is a key ingredient of soul, afrobeat, hip hop, break beat, quite a bit of 70's psychedelia, is abundant in the hallowed halls of acid jazz, and we even have to acknowledge its use in 90's rock, for historical completeness. So, it is with unrestrained excitement that I selected the following fellas from the UK who carry the eternal flame of funk forever forwards:
Smoove and Turrell are a duo on their third platter that knock out un-flappably consistent funky content. They hail from the North East and move between deep funk and up-beat soul revue with ease. Mr Turrell has a fantastic, powerful, velvet voice that confidently handles range, depth and pace that complements Smoove's knowledge of how to execute a deep groove. The song, Slow Down from the second album, Eccentric Audio, is a real barn-stormer. Opening with a jaunty statement of intent; introducing a groovy verse, an energetic bridge and a rousing chorus. Release. Build. Cut. Copy. Repeat.
Slow Down
The Sound Stylistics provide a serious workout - hailing from the traditionalist side of the funky tracks. They comprise members that have been around the traps with other UK based funk infused outfits (JTQ, New Master Sounds, Galliano, Brand New Heavies, Incognito etc) so know there way around the perfectly positioned Amen break; A fully syncopated beat; Using flutes, organs, horns, and a full range of funky instrumentation to deliver some killer tunes. Knucklehead, from their 2009 offering Greasin' The Wheels has cool brass crescendo's and blasts, with a guitar and keys dual doing the most of the hard yards. Get your strut on!
Knucklehead
BARRY
The
topic of 'Funk' is and was pretty wide. I focused on New Orleans just
to keep things sane, NoLa being one of the funkiest places on the
planet. This includes the fabulous (Funky) Meters, of course, but goes
back to a series of Caribbean migrations and the slave trade of two
centuries ago, and continues today with bounce and its distinctive take
on hip-hop. "Gumbo' really just means 'stew', and the musical stew from
New Orleans is really funky. I chose instrumentals, not that vocals
can't be funky (The Godfather!) but lack of vocals means you need a
stronger groove to stay engaged. The funk isn't the groove... but it
does demand a groove, and a toe-tapping listen.
Warm-up music:
Robert Walter's 20th Congress - 'Shemp Time' from 'Money Shot'
Classic
B3 organ as rhythmic driver. Smooth but not Muzak(tm) at all. Trio
(keys+drums+guitar) with heavy rhythm, strong beats, and changing
melodies. Really crisp production as a bonus. He was also one part of
the Greyboy Allstars, a socal funk group that continues to perform
today.
Galactic - 'Ha Di Ka' from 'Carnivale Electricos'
Theme
of the album is Mardi Gras a/k/a Carnival. This song features a classic
call-and-response, a strong guest vocalist, and groove to burn. They've
been true to their roots as a party band (Galactic Prophylactic) but
have honoured their NoLa history as well as being open to new musical
styles.
KEN
Guest tuneage from Barry's brother:
Stanton Moore Trio. Stanton
is Galactic's drummer, who has also played with Robert Walter over the
years. : Stanton plays funk
Primus, Tommy the cat. Les Claypool of Primus might be the world's funkiest bass player: and Tommy is one funky cat
KIRSTY
What the funk? Being new to this I decided to play it safe.
Keep it simple and all that. So I thought I’d stick to the dictionary
definition of funk: ‘a strong offensive smell’ or ‘a state of
paralysing fear’ or ‘music that combines elements of rhythm and blues and soul
music and that is characterized by a percussive vocal style, static harmonies,
and a strong bass line with heavy downbeats’. I chose the latter. Or rather, my
first song saw me choosing the latter - on speed! (‘a related stimulant drug
and especially an amphetamine’). The second track from The Time’s album, ‘What
Time Is it?’ and first single release, it’s a song written by Prince, produced
by Prince and every instrument is performed by Prince, (not at the same time,
silly), and debates abound as to whether the impossible drum beat is man or
machine. The shoulder jiggling bass however, is real.
My second choice officially outed me as a
Prince fan and for that I blame my brother. In other news, I chose what any
true purple pixie fan should, ‘Let’s work’.
The sixth track from Prince’s fourth album treats the polite listener to
a plucky- randomised and low down dirty bass line, guaranteeing shoulder and
hip jiggles (an improvement on my first selection..). You could argue that most
of Prince’s stuff deals in some kind of oversharing of bass. You’d be right.
But how delightful it is when the bassline can leave the rest of the
instrumentation redundant. Here’s a live version in place of an unavailable
album clip:
LIAM
This theme had me thinking the lyrics "slam dunk the funk, put it up, if you got that feelin'" way too much over the last week. Luckily I got past that to select...
While not the most talented song writer or singer in the world, Charles definitely personifies "the funk"
through his on-stage presence, and veracious love of intimate love with
a lady or ladies. He performed here in Wellington as part of the NZ
Arts Festival a year or so ago and everyone left smiling and feeling
loved. Discovered by a Daptone Records producer in 2003
while performing as a James Brown tribute singer, the gravel-voiced star
has since recorded two albums and his against-all-odds success has been
documented in the film Soul of America. This is from his second album,
Victim of Love, released in 2013 to generally positive reviews.
This track is taken from the second Even Better Than The Real Thing compilation compiled from Irish radio station Today FM's Ray D'arcy morning show. The albums feature Irish musicians covering well-known tracks. This is the most funky I reckon.
Having
been managed by U2's management company and supporting U2 and REM,
Paddy Casey has had mixed but generally good success in Ireland without
breaking into the international scene. This medley of Granma's Hands and
No Diggity is souled up nicely with the Dublin Gospel Choir.
Grandma's hands
OLLIE
Donald Byrd: The cerebral musicality of jazz mixed with the visceral groove of funk.
"Dominoes" by Donald Bird delves into one of the many sub-genres of funk –
Jazz funk. It’s a fusion that induces delight or despair in most
listeners, as this Mighty Boosh clip humorously illustrates. The song
itself is sunny, groovesome and understated, and never fails to put me
in a good mood.
MALCOLM
The Story of the Funk
In a rather funkalicious coincidence, I, too, came bearing Mighty
Booshian gifts, blind as I was in a funk trance. In the Story of the Funk, Old
Gregg (he who lives on the bottom of the sea and has a Mangina), treats us to a rousing tale of The Funk, ‘a living creature
about the size of a medicine ball but covered in teats which came from another
planet and landed on Boostsy Collins' house’. To relive this wholesome story,
in which finding the Funk – that ‘funky ball of tits from outer space’ – raises
Collins up from a simple farmer to a high priest of slap base, and back again,
watch on … Mighty Boosh funk clip 2
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