vinyl

James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”

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I’m feeling honored and humbled to discover that I’ve been linked on the blog roll of the terrific Soul Sides, one of the pioneers of the mp3 blogging game. Naturally, it got me digging through some vinyl, mostly the 45 stash, where I’ve collected a bit of James Brown.

Chances are, if you’ve listened to even a scant bit of hip-hop, you’ve heard James Brown’s Funky Drummer in some form or fashion. I’m not going out on a limb by saying it’s probably the most-sampled drum loop. The Wikipedia entry for Funky Drummer has a listing of some (but not all) of the hip-hop songs that copped this beat. Most notable are Eric B. and Rakim’s Lyrics of Fury and four tracks apiece by Public Enemy and Run-DMC. Hell, LL Cool J used it (at least) twice for two tracks on Mama Said Knock You Out.

I was surprised to see some tracks that I didn’t know used the loop or was just too dense to put two and two together. Others simply frightened me (Exhibit A: Vanilla Ice, Stop That Train).

For the record, that funky drummer is Clyde Stubblefield. Get a few clips of him playing at Drummer World.


James Brown | Funky Drummer (Part 1)
James Brown | Funky Drummer (Part 2)
From King Records 45.
(note: These were likely meant to be played as a continuous track, hence the abrupt fadeouts.)
James Brown | Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise)
From In the Jungle Groove, PolyGram Records, 1986.

Sampled by (among others) …
LL Cool J | Mama Said Knock You Out
Nas | Get Down

hip-hop, remix

Michael Franti and Spearhead

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I was excited to browse local concert listings and see Michael Franti and Spearhead are due for a Feb. 3 date in Tempe. Sadly, I fell out of love with Spearhead when I (probably immaturely) wrote off their second LP, Chocolate Supa Highway. Their debut, Home, was so stunning – in its musical breadth and social commentary – that Chocolate left me a little flat; although, looking back, I can’t quite recall why.

What I do remember is seeing Spearhead in concert for the first time, opening for the Digable Planets in 1995. Coming to that show, I couldn’t have imagined anyone squashing my enthusiasm for seeing Digable, but, quite honestly, Spearhead proved to be (pardon the cliche) a tough act to follow.

Peep the one-time local DJ in fine print.
Whatever the case, Franti (formerly of Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) is an important voice in hip-hop – and music, in general. When there seems to be a lot of mindless lyrics out there, Franti always seems to have something to say.

Spearhead | Hole in the Bucket (live)
Spearhead | People in Da Middle (the Angel Re-Mix)
Michael Franti | Positive
(taken from Disposable Heroes 12″ of Famous and Dandy / Charlie Hunter on bass, guitar, harmonica; Rono Tse on percussion)

radio rips

Rob Dickinson on WXPN’s World Cafe

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Everyone have a good New Year’s Eve/Day? Gotta say, it’s nice to have the holidays behind us. Looking forward to the new year.


The first post of 2006 has me going back to an album from 2005 that I’m spending more time with lately: Rob Dickinson’s Fresh Wine for the Horses. I realize I’m doubling up here, having posted on Dickinson in October. But Fresh Wine is making headway in my iPod. I think the first few times around I wanted something more in the vein of Catherine Wheel; now that I’ve let go of that expectation, I’m able to better enjoy Dickinson on his own.

These are songs he performed for NPR member station WXPN’s World Cafe program in December.

Rob Dickinson, on WXPN’s World Cafe:
1. Oceans
2. My Name is Love
3. Bathe Away

general

Richard Buckner and Jon Langford

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Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord is an album I purchased this year, listened to once, then put it off. I rediscovered it this week, and though it wouldn’t have found a spot in my favorite albums of the year, I have been attached to it the past few days.

The collaboration of Richard Buckner and Jon Langford (Waco Brothers, The Mekons) apparently was a one-shot deal, recorded in the apartment of Mekons member Sally Timms. It was released on Langford’s Buried Treasure label.

I’ve been a huge fan of Buckner, but Langford was new to me. The difference in styles is apparent: Buckner’s husky growl vs. Langford’s grainier high-pitched tone. I was skeptical, but I like how Langford takes a bit of the edge off Buckner’s usual somber temperament.

Pick up Sir Dark Invader at eMusic.


Richard Buckner-Jon Langford | Rolling of the Eyes (highly recommended)
Richard Buckner-Jon Langford | Do You Wanna Go Somewhere?

covers

Lazy covers post

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(Experimenting with a new wide-angle lens I got for X-mas.)
I spent the evening with my fine friend John and his wife watching a couple of episodes of the Twilight Zone Season 1 (Definitive Edition), which I, uh, sorta bought myself for Christmas. What a great show, yes?

Anyway, I chased my 2-year-old niece around all day, too. So what I’m saying is I’m too lazy for a cutting-edge post, but if I’m going to keep up with the joneses, I needed something new. And I realized I haven’t ever really done a covers post. So these are a couple of my favorites in my collection.

(p.s. – I did find time to go vinyl shopping Wednesday. And if anyone wants me to convert the Extended Subway Mix of Milli Vanilli’s Baby Don’t Forget My Number into an mp3, all you have to do is ask.)

Catherine Wheel | Spirit of Radio (Rush cover … you like Rush. Admit it.)
(This is part of a “hidden” 10-minute montage on Like Cats and Dogs.)
Quicksand | How Soon is Now? (Smiths cover)

hip-hop

“Does rivalry rewire the rapping web?”: 2.9 Degrees of Snoop Dogg

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The last place I’d expect to find a music article would be Nature, a weekly science journal. But that’s exactly where my best friend John, a grad student at UCLA, pointed out a story to me about the social networks of rappers.

In short, Reginald Smith of the Sloan School of Management at MIT “mapped out the network of the rapping community by processing data from online rap and hip-hop archives.” From a collection of 6,552 rappers and over 30,000 songs, Smith discovered that rappers – because of their collaborative nature – are separated by 2.9 degrees of separation. “In this respect, rap exhibits the same spirit as early jazz, where musicians had on average less than two degrees of separation,” the story states.

Also worth noting is that well-to-do rappers tend not to associate or collaborate with those similar to themselves, a trend unlike other human networks. “Smith suggests that this might be partly due to commercial competition between successful artists, who are reluctant to lend their cachet to a rival.”

Smith’s study is filled with frightening equations and algorithms that my pea brain just can’t grasp. But in layman’s terms, Snoop Dogg (natch) claims the crown as most-connected rapper.

Whatever the case, I think we’re on to a new Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game here: 2.9 Degrees of Snoop Dogg. In the spirit of this article, I’m going to toss out quite the appropriate song – Leaders of the New School: Spontaneous (13 MCs Deep!).

How many degrees will it take to connect to Snoop? It’s helpful to know that the most recognizable emcee on this track is Busta Rhymes. (Get the rest here.) … Game on!

Leaders of the New School | Spontaneous (13 MCs Deep!)

general

“The robots eat me song”

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This post is dedicated to my awesome 2-year-old niece Quinn, who astounded me on Christmas with her indie prowess.

My wife and I bought Quinn an iZ toy for Christmas. iZ is a robot that plays music with rhythms and beats that you can change by turning his ears and pressing various buttons. Plus, you can hook an iPod up to iZ then add sound effects to the song selection; sometimes iZ talks, too. Pretty neat. Anyway, we hook the iPod up and play Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, an apropos song for a robot toy, I’d say. To my astonishment, Quinn starts singing along with Wayne Coyne; she calls it the “robots eat me song.” She even gave a little “hey, hey!” right after the line, “she’s a black belt in karate.”

We promptly decided that iZ would be renamed to Yoshimi. So here’s a live version of Yoshimi from the Future Soundtrack for America compilation.

The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (live on BBC)

general

Battle: Player-hatin’ the Strokes?

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Did everyone have a good Christmas? (Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish readers; I’m half-Jewish, for those who didn’t know.) Anyway, my wife got me one of these. Sweet! We are an iPod-friendly home.
On with the music … Admittedly, I know nothing about Battle. In fact, I’m not even sure how I came across this band from London. But, I did take notice of their tentative title to their album due for release in 2006: Our First Impressions of Earth Were Before Yours. So, maybe I’m a dummy, but this seems like a direct knock at the Strokes’ album First Impressions of Earth. Even Battle’s Web site says: “… Then it’s all about finishing our record (provisionally titled ‘Our First Impressions Of Earth Were Before Yours’ – pending lawsuits).”

Anyone know anything about this? Nevertheless, here’s a single Battle made available for download on its site.

Battle | Wicked Owl

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

Flashback Friday: The Nonce

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a flashback, and this one is special. The Nonce was probably one of the most criminally overlooked hip-hop acts of the ’90s. For proof, check out All Music’s two-sentence bio on the LA-based duo that also lists the genre as rock.

Plus, there’s a scarcity of information about The Nonce on the net. The Broke BBoys had a nice post about ’em in January, including the hazy details of member Yusef Afloat’s death in May 2000.

The Nonce opened for the Roots in Phoenix in 1995.
I ate up everything The Nonce put out; sadly their only full-length was World Ultimate, on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. Comparisons to A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets aren’t entirely off, but not totally accurate either. I think The Nonce’s style was a little more streetwise, evidenced in the single Mix Tapes, about sellin’ mixes on the street corner. That song has one of the deepest, dopest basslines … and that chorus: “I used to sell mix tapes, but now I’m an emcee / I got the rhymes and beats / I used to rock them tapes.”

Found this promo single in Tucson; trust me, I’m not an “A-list DJ.”
The Nonce | Mix Tapes
The Nonce | Bus Stops
The Nonce | Mix Tapes (1926 Sunday Night Remix)
(From Mix Tapes The Remixes blue vinyl 12″)
The Nonce | Turnin’ It Out

radio rips

Shout Out Louds on The Current

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By popular demand (OK, like, seven of you, but I was moved by commenter Lori’s request in verse!), here are the three tracks the Shout Out Louds performed on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current in June.

These versions are pretty much stripped down, acoustic beauty. The version of Shut Your Eyes they said was the “November recording,” so a bit different from the album version, which is uptempo and energetic.

Also of note, the band said The Comeback was the first song they wrote, which makes it all the more impressive.

Shout Out Louds, in-studio on The Current, June 3, 2005:

1. Shut Your Eyes (November recording)
2. Please, Please, Please
3. The Comeback
Question: Anybody have these earphones? I’ve been looking at them for months and I can’t decide if it’s worth the scratch. Those in-ear phones never seem to fit me right, but I hear good things about those suckers.

Roll call: