Defunkt-y Friday


Last Friday London Lee over at Number One Songs In Heaven posted Defunkt's Make Them Dance. As you can read in his brief bio, they were a NYC jazz funk band formed in the late '70s by Joe Bowie. I know, as soon as you see those words "jazz funk" you think Level 42, or Shakatak, or something equally bland and soulless and you're ready to surf away to something hipper. Hang on. Defunkt were part of the famed "No Wave" set of bands that exploded out of New York - bands that combined the frantic, scratchy edge of punk with art rock and dance beats and funk. They are a funk band in the tradition of James Brown - the tightest of rhythm sections, lots of skronking horns, and lyrics that reflected the wild scene they were a part of. There's also a boatload of great post punk guitar all over their songs. All in all, a very unique band with a sound of their own. Critics loved 'em, but the people weren't buying. They made a couple of albums, split and then reformed again in the mid '80s. They are still in business today. Anyway, Rykodisc/Hannibal has done everyone a huge favor and reissued their first two albums, Defunkt and Themonuclear Sweat (which features the guitar playing of Vernon Reid, later of Living Color), as a 2 disc set. While the second album is good, the first one is great - a classic. It's punchy and hard and edgy, all the while maintaining one mutha-wumping-hell of a groove. In The Good Times hijacks the bass line from the Chic classic Good Times, then drags it kicking and screaming from the coke snorting disco clubs uptown to the back-alley smack junkie shooting up in an empty building doorway. It's fierce. The album has also been expanded with a few live tracks and, in the words of London Lee (this one is for you), the rare 12" of Razor's Edge. Its another hard ass track, a midtempo jam that features seriously soulful vocals and some intense, blazing guitar - both solos and rhythm. It is as lyrically hard as In The Good Times too, and predates gangsta rap's tales of hard times in the hood. I cannot recommend this set highly enough - it's a must have for fans of jazz, funk and rock.

My '80s Remastered - Hysteria


The Human League faced a daunting challenge in 1984 - how to follow up their chart busting world wide smash Dare. That album is pretty much pop perfection, with a handful of huge hits and a lot of other good tunes - pretty much no filler. In the years following Dare the band grew, adding musicians Jo Callis (one time member of The Rezillos) and Ian Burden. These two brought a new dimension to the band that had prided itself on using only synths to create music - real guitar and bass. The follow up album was called Hysteria. It was no Dare. It has it's moments of greatness - Louise, The Sign and Life On Your Own, but to me it just felt more labored, like they were trying too hard. Of course this is all in retrospect, because at the time I though it was the tits. Last week Caroline Records reissued it, remastered and expanded, and of course I had to have it. Johnny over at Lost In The '80s will tell you that it's lacking the songs from the Fascination EP - stuff that's never been on CD before - and he's right. But I'll get over it. In the meantime enjoy this version of James Brown's Rock Me Again And Again And Again And Again And Again And Again (Six Times). Sure, it doesn't hold a candle to the original, and a lot of people will say that it really sucks, but I have always dug it - something about Phil's yelling and straining to hit the notes gets me every time. I mentioned The Sign as another of my fave moments, and one of the bonus tracks is the remix - The Sign (Extended Version). I dig the chunky bass, the cool scratchy guitar bits and the prototypical League melody, as well as the vocal interplay with Phil and the girls. Sure, none of it is as good as Love Action or Don't You Want Me, but it remains dear to my heart.

Price Of Gasoline


A bunch of noteworthy new music hit US record shop shelves this week, forcing me to part with my $$$. I've had a chance to listen to most of them once. There's the Dandy Warhols' Odditorium, which drops the "wannabe Duran Duran" thing and returns to the VU stoner rock thing. One spin tells me I like it. There's the Super Furry Animals' Love Kraft, which after one spin sounded very interesting - it's going to take a few more! Brakes are a British indie "supergroup" who I posted about a while back. Their debut Give Blood is a really fun record - a mix of Neil Young-ish alt-country stuff with Brit-rock post punk. They do a couple of great cover tunes too - Jesus And Mary Chains' Sometimes Always and Jackson which many people, including Johnny Cash, have covered. Also out this week but not fully listened to - Stellastarr's Harmonies For The Haunted, Sigur Ros' Takk, the Polyphonic Spree and Elliott Smith's score for the new Mike Mills movie Thumbsucker, the two disc set of Defunkt reissues of Defunkt & Thermonuclear Sweat, and Minneapolis natives Halloween Alaska's sophomore release Too Tall To Hide.

The album that's gotten the most play the last two days though is Silent Alarm Remixed by Bloc Party. The music of this band lends itself to remixing, and their choices of mixers are interesting too, from Ladytron to Mogwai, M83, Four Tet, Erol Alkan and Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The one remix that really jumped out at me is Price Of Gasoline (Automato Remix). I was a big fan of Automato's album from a year or so ago. Produced by The DFA, it was a cool mix of indie hip hop and indie rock, with lots of nice electro touches. Much the same can be said for this remix - it's bumping, with a nice and chunky synth bass riff added. I love it - and it's so very topical these days too.

Flesh + Blood


In the comments from yesterday's post, reader philT said he thought that Manifesto was Roxy Music's "last great album". Another regular reader, Paulo X, said that he didn't agree, citing their next album Flesh + Blood as the last great album. I fall squarely into that camp too. In fact I might even go as far as to say that this one is my personal favorite. It's got a beautiful cover, and I like all of the songs on it, originals and covers. There are two cover versions on it - one is a very groovy take on Eight Miles High, the other a typically Roxy-fied version of The Midnight Hour. It's true that this album marks the spot where Roxy's edge began to wear off. By the next album Avalon, slickness had prevailed and all the edge was gone - not that I minded, because I enjoy that album too. But back to Flesh + Blood.
Same Old Scene picks up the dance factor considerably. I love this tune, from the opening's simple drum machine to it's fanstastically spongy bass lines, the guitar riffs, the slick vocal performance from Ferry and the sax solos. This tune still gives me gooseflesh today. So does Over You. The big twangy guitar breaks are super cool, and I dig the cheesy new wave keyboards. I also love the melody, and the sense of space in the instrumental passages that lead to the end of the song. It was really hard for me to pick tunes from this album because I like all of them. And much like Manifesto, I'm amazed at how good this record still sounds, where so many of it's peers sound dated.

Manifesto


A few weeks back I picked up some of the Roxy Music remastered resissues that came out a few years back - I have vinyl, but only a greatest hits set on CD. Today's post is all about their 1979 album Manifesto. I was unaware of Roxy Music when I moved to the UK that same year, and this album was my introduction to the band. It was the single for Angel Eyes, a slick, syncopated disco track with Bryan Ferry's distinctive croon that caught my attention. I bought a copy of the album, and was hooked by the bands mix of stylish art rock, new wave and dance-ability. Their music straddled a fine line between commerciality and art, rocking hard and gentle heartbreak, real instruments and electronic experimentation. All of this should come as no surprise considering that experimental pioneer Brian Eno was once a very flamboyant member of the band. Thus began my love affair with Roxy Music and Ferry's solo stuff. So imagine my surprise when, upon popping the remastered Manifesto into the car's CD player, a completely different version of Angel Eyes poured out of my speakers. This is not the version from my vinyl copy! Instead of the slick disco beats is a harder rocking, sax driven beast. I assume that when the rerecorded version became a hit the record company pressed copies of the album with the remake instead of this version - I haven't been able to find any info about it. It was a pretty cool moment for me, hearing this "new" and very different take. The previous single from the record was Dance Away. This tune is one of the more danceable numbers, especially when that disco high hat kicks in down the home stretch. I love the clean crispness of this track - you can hear everything so clearly from the beats to the gorgeous piano. I am amazed at how well this album holds up after some 25 years - the production is sharp, and the distinctive sounds of new wave that they mixed into their unique brew still excites me today.

Classic 12"s - Penthouse And Pavement


One of my all time favorite electronic records is the Human League's 1980 LP Travelogue, so when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left the band soon after it's release I was disappointed - and eager to see what they would do. Everyone knows what happened to their old band after they left - world chart domination for a couple of years. Ian and Martyn hooked up with singer Glenn Gregory and launched Heaven 17. Their debut LP was called Penthouse And Pavement and was released the same year as the Human League's breakthrough album "Dare". I snapped up both records and loved them equally. Unfortunately for Heaven 17, the general public preferred the Human League records. Heaven 17 didn't completely flop out in the charts - several of the singles were hits, and they also had a few more minor hits over the years. I always felt that they got the raw deal, because IMO their album is just as catchy, although in a much more sophisticated way. It's divided into two sides defined by the album title. It features a lot of the same synth sounds as it's peer, but stepped it up even further by incorporating the brilliant playing skills of a young unknown guitarist by the name of John Wilson. It's his tremendously funky bass popping that makes the songs on the A (Pavement) side of the record, and particularly the title track Penthouse And Pavement (12" Version), so freaking good. It's fluid and rubbery and brilliant. Also prominent here are the supremely soulful vocals of American r'n'b singer Josie James - she can actually sing, something those two lovely ladies in the League could never be accused of. Don't get me wrong, I love those girls, but Josie carries a tune with no bum notes. A seriously funky slab of classic synth pop.

Classic 12"s - Party Fears Two


The Associates were the early '80s Scottish duo comprised of musician and studio man Alan Rankine and vocalist Billy Mackenzie. Billy had one of the most amazing voices - his soaring, diva-esque histrionics sounded like no-one else, one minute controlled and the next soaring & spiralling into the wild blue yonder. His choice of words as a lyricist often strayed from the pop norm too. It was all beautifully matched with Alan's arty dance rock, capable of pop chart brilliance and left field obscurity. The first time I heard their music was this single from their "masterwork" album Sulk called Party Fears Two (12" Version). I was flabbergasted by what I heard - lush, insanely catchy melodies paired with this voice that was so over the top that you either loved it or you didn't - there's no in between with Billy's voice. I was too compelled by it, couldn't ignore it, and promptly bought the single, the next single and then the album. To this day I still get a weird rush from this song's dramatics - it still sounds so totally unique. This was their second album, and their biggest chart success. I tried to follow them for the next couple of years but none of it matched Sulk for me. Sadly Billy committed suicide in 1997, having had great critical but not commercial success.

Classic 12"s - We Don't Need This Pressure On


Yesterday I wrote a bit about the "New Romantics" scene in the UK that flourished for a few years in the early '80s - the synths and makeup and funny outfits. One of the bands at the forefront of that scene was Spandau Ballet. Fronted by deep voiced crooner Tony Hadley, their early records were a blend of funk, disco, synths and art rock. They wore kilts with their frilly shirts, and had big floppy fringed hairdos. They sounded like nobody else though, and I loved the early stuff - it rode a fine line between artsy fartsy and pop, and the band was tight and funky. By the time they released 3rd album, the global smash True, they had undergone a bit of a makeover, and were now peddling a softer, blue-eyed soul version of the band. It was at this point that I began to lose interest, although I still own a copy of that album. Chant No.1 (We Don't Need This Pressure On) - 12" Version is from the second LP Diamond, which has some good tunes on it but it's not as consistent as their debut. This track exemplifies what I like about these guys - funky ass guitar riffs, nice chunky bass, some great horns, the shout-along chorus and that distinctive croon, so smooth.

Classic 12"s - It Came From The '80s


I'm returning to the 'classic 12"s' theme this week and it's all about the eighties. I lived in the UK from 1979 to 1985 - they were the formative years of my music taste. I arrived at the end of punk and the beginning of the "New Romatics" era. I loved the music, all synths and drum machines. The look was interesting for a while - a lot of blokes in frilly shirts and make up. I owned a baggy suit of which I tucked the pant legs into a sharp pair of burgundy pixie boots, and I might even admit to owning a lamé flecked scarf that I wrapped around the shoulder and neck - thankfully there are no photos that I know of to prove it! Several of this week's picks will be of the "new romantic" variety. Today, however, is all about the Tom Tom Club and their legendary hit Genius Of Love. The husband and wife team of Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth were already known in the world of music for their day jobs as the rhythm section from Talking Heads. While that band was on hiatus these two crept off to the Caribbean, hooked up with a bunch of funky locals, and recorded a breezy, summer-y party record. Goofy, fun and very funky, Genius Of Love (12" Version) was the second single from the LP, and over the years has been sample fodder for so many, from Mariah Carey to Annie. It's a warm groove that is given a nice, dubby makeover on this 12". You probably know it, might even own it, but I don't care - I love it. The Annie record has been a big hit at my house this summer - my almost 6 year old daughter loves the single Chewing Gum - listen to the beat and you will recognize it from this song.

A Handful Of Covers


Lizzy Mercier Descloux does a lovely rendition of Marvin Gaye's classic - Let's Get It On - it's warm, quirky island soul.


Chicks On Speed cover the song that was written and recorded by Daniel Miller as The Normal, which was then covered most brilliantly by Miss Grace Jones, and now COS bring their sass to it - Warm Leatherette. I love the big crunky beat.

Funky Friday Has Magic Love


Today is the final day of my Bentathon. Their third LP The Everlasting Blink has what is probably my favorite Bent song on it, Magic Love. It's a smooth as silk disco tune that cops the vocals from Love On A Shoestring by '70s cheesy listening legends The Captain & Tenille. It's sounds like it would be horrendous, but it's pure bliss. The vocals match the tune perfectly. The version I give you today is the wickedly funky 12" remix, Magic Love (Ashley Beedle's Black Magic Vocal Mix). Ashley Beedle extends the track, spacing it out and punching up the rhythm and bass. It's fantastic.


Big Ups
I'd like to "big up" Ampari, a Finnish mp3 blogger kind of like Totally Fuzzy - he points you in the direction of interesting tunes other bloggers have put up. I don't have a clue what he's talking about - I don't speak Finnish, but he links to me occasionally so I try and check him out. This week he had a link up (via Aquarium Drunk) to what was referred to as "Steely Dan - The Lost Gaucho". Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the Dan and all of their albums - except maybe that last one - so my curiousity was tweaked in a BIG way. I clicked on the link and was taken to this crazy Singaporean blogazine called Big O Magazine. It's a combination of humor, music, leftfield politics, and more music. And amid it all was this "lost album" by one of my all time favorite bands. I was blown away, because I'd never heard anything about it. There is an accompanying story (it could be the original version of Gaucho) and even album artwork to download. It's a good read, and I can't wait to spend this long Labor Day weekend soaking up some new(old) Steely Dan!

Newsworthy
Human League fans living in the US rejoice! Next week Astralwerks is releasing the remastered and expanded Hysteria - with 5 bonus cuts. Out the same day is the new Black Dice LP Broken Ear Record. Astralwerks are reissuing the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis helmed Human League album Crash on October 4th. Hardcore fans should also be interested in checking out the Sept.27 release of the League's The Original Remixes, which features 14 of the original 12" versions. This is a Euro only release. I need me one of those too.

Stay The Same


Day 4 of the cliff notes version of Bent continues with the second single released from their brilliant 3rd album The Everlasting Blink. Stay The Same is a gorgeous, psychedelic pop song that lifts great chunks of vocals from an oldie by '70s British rock idol David Essex (1974's There's Something About You). It features a basic electro beat, a lovely melody, some big, spongy bass, strummy guitars, a choir, and the multitracked and processed vocals are very trippy. It's a classic moment on the LP. Today I give you a cool remix of it by Italo house act Planet Funk. Stay The Same (Planet Funk Radio Version) is a very different beast from the original, with a much thicker, harder rocking vibe to it. Gone is all of the delicacy, replaced by a hard beat, a gritty bass part, some big riffs, and a much bigger emphasis on the vocals. It reminds me a bit of Cut Copy, with it's tight blend of indie rock and dance beats. It's a lot funkier than the original too.