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The native terrain of funk is undoubtedly the 7" single. Now don't get me wrong, there are stacks of great funk LPs out there, albums by original dons like James Brown and The Meters through seventies purveyors like Parliament, Cymande and The Beginning Of The End, and running right up through Zapp and Mtume in … Continue reading Sir Mack Rice – Dark Skin Woman
Tonto's Expanding Head Band: Machine Soul Pioneers In a year that's taken many of the greats from us, we've lost a true innovator of electronic music, Malcolm Cecil. Along with partner-in-crime Robert Margouleff, he formed Tonto's Expanding Head Band, the duo that did as much as anyone to bring electronic music crashing into the mainstream, … Continue reading Tonto’s Expanding Head Band
Clark Lofthouse (Planet E: 1995) The further the mid-nineties get to be in the proverbial rear view mirror, the more it seems like a golden era for a particular type of techno record, a type of record tucked away in a certain corner of the genre, a corner that's quite possibly my absolute favorite sliver … Continue reading Clark – Lofthouse
This list came about naturally enough a couple months back, when my sister-in-law Leah decided that she'd like to do a 'top 45 of the '70s' list for her 45th birthday. Although she's Gen X to the core, the 1970s were crucial in shaping her musical tastes — which roughly put center primarily on canyon, country, and … Continue reading 45 From The 70s
With the sun hanging like heavy metal fruit in the afternoon sky, there’s no question that summer has finally arrived. With the dawning of summer’s heat, the time has come for planting new shoots into the desert tropical, fractal rows of banana trees, palms, ferns, and cacti playing off one another from north to southwest … Continue reading Garden Grooves 008
Little Richard, piano man Sunrise plane to Chicago back in 1997, Dirty Guitar playing across the headphones, flying back with my brother to visit the glory days. I remember Grandma telling me about how my Grandfather used to listen to Little Richard on the car radio back when they were first dating, picking up the … Continue reading A Tribute To The Late Great Little Richard
Quazar This Is MusicSeven Stars 1997 On that very particular day within a month that perfectly mirrors the month within a year, it seemed only natural to return to a certain oddball house 12" that's always held a special place in my heart. I can still remember the first time I heard it, downloaded from … Continue reading Quazar – This Is Music
Motion 004: Infoworld Motion 004 happens at the axis of electronics and rhythm. Taking its name from Juan Atkins' key track in the transition from the Model 500 eighties to the Infiniti nineties, this mix draws its inspiration from the lost highway sound of Infoworld (Magic Juan's R-Theme?). Conceived just as the heaviest rainstorm of … Continue reading Motion 004
DJ Code Money & Schoolly D Emerging from the ice-cold wastelands of the mid-1980s with partner-in-crime DJ Code Money on the wheels of steel, Schoolly D was larger than life. Spiking his rhymes with casual violence and more than a little criminal intent, he often gets the credit for inventing gangsta rap. Indeed, no less … Continue reading Schoolly D
Let the transmission commence! A few weeks ago I promised to touch on a couple key links in the proto-punk funk story, both of whom seemed to possess wholly self-contained visions of new wave disco years before the fact. As was the case with Suicide's debut, the cockney disco of Ian Dury And The Blockheads … Continue reading Terminal Vibration: Back To Get Ya!