Funky Friday Is Coming Out Of Leftfield

This funky Friday is a step away from the usual sources...

Of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit
Kevin Barnes' latest offering as Of Montreal is another mind warping trip through a genre blender. It's funky, it's twee, it rocks and then it doesn't, it's a bit new wave-y, there is a song that goes on way too long, and then there is this lovely bit of Krautrock along the lines of Fujiya & Miyagi. The vocals are as insane as ev-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...

K-OS - Black Ice - Hymn 4 Disco
From his forthcoming (February 20th) album Atlantis - Hymns To Disco. Canadian (via Trinidad) rapper K-OS is a hard one to pigeonhole. He is musically all over the place, incorporating garage rock, reggae, folk, r'n'b and more into his hip hop brew. I only got this advance copy yesterday so I have no strong opinions yet. It is an incredibly broad sonic palette, with contributions from a couple of Broken Social Scene-sters as well as Buck 65 and Kamau. It took quite a few listens for me to get accustomed to 2004's Joyful Rebellion, so I expect the same here.

Yppah - I'll Hit The Breaks
Fresh from NinjaTune comes Texan Joe Corrales, AKA Yppah (say Yippah). His debut album is called You Are Beautiful At All Times. It takes Joe's rocker roots and pits them against keys and beats and loops. What emerges is a beautiful slab of moody post-rock-tronica, full of organic instruments put through arrays of effects. It is reminiscent of Ulrich Schnauss and Boards of Canada and MBV, yet it has it's own voice too. Probably because he's from Texas. This tune has some great beats and guitar.

Tim Fite - I've Been Shot
Tim Fite is a Brooklyn based singer/songwriter who records for Anti- Records. Armed with his deep love of hip hop as well as a great distaste for the state of hip hop today, he has recorded a hip hop record called Over The Counter Culture. The clincher is that he will be giving the album away for free on his website (Tim Fite.com) beginning February 20th. He has made what he calls "an overtly political hip hop record... free from the paradox of art reconciling with commerce." The result is a pretty entertaining underground hip hop album, full of wit and bite. This tune is a hilarious poke at rappers like 50 Cent.