Funky Friday Fourpack

It's time for another round of assorted, funky grooves to get your weekend off to a good start...


ESG - Keep On Moving
The Scroggin sisters of NYC have been playing since the late '70s and early '80s, and have just released a new album of typically spartan funk on the excellent Soul Jazz label. Leftfield goodness from some pioneers of the No Wave scene.

Cut Copy - Saturdays
A standout track from a record that came out in 2004 and still gets played at least once a month at casa SIART. This is a sunny, blissed out electro-tinged disco gem with oodles of delcious synth squiggles. Where is the follow-up?!?

Brand New Heavies featuring Main Source - Bonafide Funk
From 1992's Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol.1 comes this smokin' funk jam with vocals courtesy of Main Source. This LP is a set of collabos, with the Heavies providing the funktastic backing tracks for a slew of rappers including The Pharcyde, Black Sheep, Grand Puba, Gang Starr and several others. This was obviously meant to be the first of several albums but unfortunately no more came. Too bad, because this is a pretty good set, ranging from hip-hop beats to James Brown funk with stops in Jamaica for a bit of toasting.

Chic - Everybody Dance
From an excellent 2 disc set of digitally remastered tunes called The Definitive Groove Collection that was just released. Chic are the cream of the disco crop. Nile Rodgers' trademark rhythm guitar and Bernard Edwards' most spectacular bass lines have been copied and sampled, and at their peak in the late '70s you couldn't escape them. The music was everywhere, and still sounds fantastic today. Just listen to that hi-hat hiss, that bass line dancing all over the groove, the lush orchestration and those fab vocals. Classic shit.