Funky Friday Is Chavin' It
From the Wikipedia page - Chav is a slang term which has been in wide use throughout the United Kingdom since the early 21st Century. It refers to a subcultural stereotype of a person with fashions such as flashy "bling" jewellery and counterfeit designer clothes, an uneducated, impoverished background, a tendency to congregate around places such as fast-food outlets or other shopping areas, and a culture of antisocial behaviour. It is an insult to be called a chav.

Tom Dinsdale & Simon Frank, aka Audio Bullys, released their sophomore LP Generation last week in the US. The follow up to 2003's so-so Ego War, it sees them picking up where they left off - grime-y hip-house and electronica ring with the echos of dub and ska, and over it all is Simon's distinctively British vocals, telling distinctly British tales. They will always draw comparisons to Mike Skinner AKA The Streets' tales of chav life, and it's rightly so - they cover a lot of the same ground musically and lyrically. Earlier I referred to their debut as so-so, and I'm left feeling about the same with Generation. There are a handful of really choice tracks - I like the Steely Dan sample on Keep On Moving, the funky keyboard sound on All Sing Along, and the guest vocals of Roots Manuva and Madness' Suggs. The track that has me bumping on this funky Friday is Take You There, an uptempo jam with a funky beat, a plaintive melody, disco strings, horns and a scratchy guitar sample. It isn't neccessarily one of the better tunes on the album - I just like it's laid back feel and it's hook-y melody.

Bizarre Music News Story of the Week
Are you ready for Devo 2.0? The original line-up, in conjunction with Disney - yes, Disney, close that gaping jaw - have put together a new band - Devo 2.0 (Kidz Bop Devo!). Jerry Casale cast the band - all pre-teen kids, rehearsed them, and recorded an album of remakes of old Devo songs and two new songs - with the original line up playing the music. The band have since learned their parts and can play the songs live. Jerry is quoted as saying "it's benignly subversive. Some of the more controversial politics and irony of the adult Devo is left out - because that is the Disney mandate, but we enjoyed it. We think it's great." Insanity indeed, yet I feel I need to hear this record when it does come out on March 17th...