Funky Friday - Therapy? vs. Photek



What's this, you say? How can it be that Irish metal rock trio Therapy? is being featured on a funky Friday? A few years back - 1995 to be precise, the glory days of the jungle scene - they allowed ultra talented junglist Rupert Parkes, AKA Photek to remix their tune Loose. Photek's style is super minimalist, and his beats and textures ring like samurai swords clashing. He keeps the lovely melody provided by the guitar riffs and some vocals from the original and constructs a fierce, razor sharp track with crisply pounding beats to back it all up. This mash up of rock and jungle works surprisingly well, and the result is a BIG tune.

A Handful Of Covers v2.0

TV On The Radio do a smashing job with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs tune Modern Romance. They add that TVOTR crunk to it, all dirge-y beats and mournful chants. They make it sound just like one of their own. One of my fave new bands of 2004.

Lizzy Mercier Descloux's version of the Bob Marley classic Sun Is Shining is from the Ze Records reissue of Mambo Nassau that came out last year. It's still based on a reggae beat, but it's much sparser - just drums, her chunky bass, her lovely French accent and some simple accordion. I love the original, and this is another unique and cool take on the song.

Placebo turn up the guitars on their version of Robert Palmer's Johnny And Mary. This was the first tune I ever heard from Robert, and I have always loved it and the album it comes from, Looking For Clues. It has a great melody and hook. Placebo play it pretty straight, but definitely punch it up - harder hitting drums and guitars, and Brian's unique voice all make this one work for me too.

Yesterday I got tickets to see Duran Duran's Astronaut tour in March. I saw them at the House Of Blues in Chicago in November of 2003 on their first go-round, and they were pretty good. I've since seen footage of them playing Wembley Arena earlier this year and they were even better - much tighter. Anyway, I'm psyched to see them in the big arena setting! Here's their version of David Bowie's Fame, the b-side of the Careless Memories single from 1981. It's another pretty faithful rendition.

A Pleasant Surprise In My Mailbox



I got an email today from Chris Price. He's an electronic musician out of Virginia, and here's a bit of his bio -

"Inspired by the forward-thinking artists and producers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, his latest offering combines 1980’s electronic and new wave with elements of modern pop. Synth layers and driving beats provide a showcase for Price’s unique vocal styling."

The "latest offering" mentioned is the tune Charge Me Up, and it's a mellow, mid tempo track built around some basic drum machine patterns and synth washes, and topped off with Chris' plaintive vocals. Being a big fan of '80s music (and particularly synth pop), this tune struck the right chord with me - it's got a bit of the Brit synthpop/new wave thing going, mixed with some of the same era's r'n'b flavor. Very nice, and I look forward to hearing more of his music.

Hip Hop And Rock Hybrids
     
A couple of albums that have come out this year have attempted to weld hip hop with rock. It's not the rap rock of Linkin Biscuit, but a blend of rhymes and beats with some big time indie rock stylings. Automato's self titled debut dropped in the spring of this year, and got my attention for having been produced by the lads of The DFA. I'm amazed that the album didn't make a bigger splash as a result of that union, because it's definitely worth investigating. It's a pretty nice mix of beats, electro influences and some big rock guitars, with the DFA adding their dense sonic sheen to the proceedings. Hope has big, propulsive electro beats with a bit of stutter in them, crusty synth washes, and some seriously skronking guitar squall that just keeps getting bigger - the last half of the tune essentially. I love this album, and think more people need to hear it!

Mel Gibson & The Pants are a Minneapolis act that does the same kind of genre mixing, although their album rocks a lot harder than the Automato. Crosby Steals Nash And Runs (good title, eh?) starts off in a mellow fashion, beats slowly building up until it hits the break at the half way point and turns into a quirky, spaced out jam. This track is not as hard hitting as a lot of the rest of the record is, but is still fairly indicative of their sound. Another record that deserves your attention. More on the band HERE, where you can buy the album for $8 - it's a steal!

Some More Remastered CAN

     

Last week brought the release of a couple more remastered reissues from seminal Krautrockers Can. 1971's Tago Mago saw the arrival of new vocalist Damo Suzuki, and a lighter, groovier (i.e. less proggy) sound from the band. Bring Me Coffee Or Tea starts as a delicate folk rock groover, all spindly guitars and keyboards. The beat starts out as a slight shuffle and grows louder in the mix as the band's parts intensify, until about the halfway point when it explodes into a spazzed out space jazz rock jam. 1972's Ege Bamyasi shows the band continuing it's bold experimentation, and saw the band adding hints of "world music" into the mix. Spoon was the hit single from the LP. It starts out with a rudimentary drum machine beat and builds into a polyrhytmic groove with multi layered vocals. It's amazing listening to these records and seeing how much they have influenced rock and dance music over the last 30 years, and how well they hold up today!

Funky Friday - A Little Bit Of Luther


The first time I heard Luther Vandross' Never Too Much I was floored. The thumb poppingly funky bass riff, the big orchestration, the jazzy piano riffing and the sweeter than sweet vocals of Luther made this a must have. His partnership with bassist Marcus Miller created some great, soulful music, and the 1981 LP that this track shares it's title with is filled with lush r'n'b - half aimed at the dancefloor, the other filled with those awesome "quiet storm" ballads that Luther is so good at. Nobody hits those high notes like he does, and his vocal riffing at the end of this song gives me shivers every time. A classic that should have you struttin' in no time!

John McGeoch - After Magazine

When he left Magazine in 1980, guitarist John Mc Geoch was a hot commodity. One of the first projects he did was Steve Strange's New Romantic supergroup Visage, along with both Barry Adamson and Dave Formula, as well as the lads from Ultravox, Midge Ure and Billy Currie. It's blend of arty electronics, dance beats and rock are both evident on Visage, with John's guitar riffs loud in the mix. He then joined Siouxsie & The Banshees for their most creatively inspired output, and where his big guitar sound dominated. Happy House shows his immediate impact, riding that ultra catchy, psychedelic twangy riff. He played with The Banshees for 3 albums (Kaleidoscope (1980), JuJu (1981) and A Kiss In The Dreamhouse (1982)) and then he moved on again. He hooked up with former Skids singer Richard Jobson in a new band, The Armoury Show. After a couple of unsuccessful years of trying their brand of anthmemic rock they were done, and McGeoch joined John Lydon in the final incarnation of PIL. The death disco era was over - PIL was now a sleek, shiny pop outfit. I'll admit that musically these years are a lot less interesting than the old stuff, but there are a few crackin' good tunes on those records too. Seattle (from 1987's Happy?) is definitely one of those - huge guitars, Lydon's sneer, the over all grooviness of the tune and the chanted outro still sound good today.

John McGeoch died March 4th, 2004.

Magazine...Where The Power Is


When Howard Devoto left The Buzzcocks in 1977, he made this announcment in reference to his old band and the punk scene in general - "what was once unhealthily fresh is now a clean old hat". Unimpressed by new wave, Magazine was his bid to try something else. Featuring Barry Adamson on bass, John McGeoch on guitar, Dave Formula on keys and John Doyle on drums, they created six albums of spooky, dramatic, arty, spy theme filled post-punk rock. I missed out on these records the first time around - too busy buying ABC and Human League records - and over the last few years have picked up about half of them. I love their sound, anchored by Barry Adamson's big bass riffs and McGeoch's searing guitar - such big talents around Howard Devoto's unique voice. This week I finally got my hands on the remastered "greatest hits" compilation Magazine...(Where The Power Is), and it's so nice to hear these songs loud and clear! Here are three of my faves...

Shot By Both Sides

The Light Pours Out Of Me

About The Weather

Some Classic Future Sound Of London

                 

Ah, the good old days. Future Sound Of London had a good run during the '90s, creating mesmerizing, ambient electronica. They let their experimental side rule, and often the results were smoking, although it could get a bit pretentious. They went from their early days of straight up electro house to crazy, noise filled ambience mixed with fat breakbeats. Then they decided to go off of their rockers and become a hippy prog rock band. For me the magic was gone. These are some of my fave FSOL moments.

Papua New Guinea (Original 12" Version) (from the Papua New Guinea CD single issued in 1996). An absloute classic dance tune.

The Far Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman (from 1995's ISDN).

Snake Hips (from 1995's ISDN)

We Have Explosive (Radio Edit) (from 1997's We Have Explosive CD single). Crushingly huge.

An Iffy Three Pack



Minneapolis trio Iffy were born out of the ashes of long time local favorite band Run Westy Run. Where Run Westy was indie rock, Iffy are a slick pop-rock-funk act. They released their debut LP Biota Bonda back in 2001, and I was instantly snagged by it. I found it's combination of super catchy, melodic songs, fat beats of both the hip hop and disco kind and rockin' guitars to be irresistible, and felt like they would make a splash with it. It reminded be a bit of Beck, albeit less "arty" and more soulful. The record barely made an impression on most people and I was very disappointed that the band's label didn't do a better job of promoting it. The band have been working on a follow up for a couple of years now, but there is no release scheduled yet - maybe sometime next year.

Some of you who live in the US may have heard the tune Superbad Girl coming out of your TV recently - it's being used in a K-Mart commercial. A supremely funky bass riff, bumpin' disco beats, wacka-wacka guitars and a sweet melody made this tune an instant standout on the album - guaranteed to get you moving.

Double Dutch is a great pop song. It's got a sunny chorus, funky vibes, and is full of all kinds of little psychedelic details - listen to it on your headphones for full effect. This song should've been a hit.

Orignal Green Light is a killer '70s funk flavored slow jam. Deep bass, lots of watery keys and guitars, and a bit of cool trumpet towards the end. Sweet and soulful.

Funky Friday - We Wanna Talk To You



No time to write much today, so simply enjoy this extremely funky tune from 2003's Later That Day... by Lyrics Born - Cold Call. A laid back groover with a sense of humor.

Swell Maps




A couple of weeks ago I picked up the Swell Maps career retrospective International Rescue. I had never heard any of it before - it was an impulse buy. Formed in the early '70s by Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks, they created a shambolic rock music that has been described as post punk, but is really pre-punk punk, if that makes any sense. It really reminds me a lot of the Buzzcocks - as writer Paul Morley commented in the NME in 1979, they "play restless, relentless music which, in attack if not in sound, comes close to that irregularly economic and parched Buzzcocks period just after Devoto's departure." It's pretty spot on, and you can hear their influence on bands like The Libertines today. I am really enjoying this record - it rocks and it's sharp and catchy, and it makes me want to hear the albums proper. Enjoy these...

Real Shocks

New York

More on the band here and here.