Funkier Than A Mosquito’s Tweeter
[This week's Sunday Supplement has been very kindly written by perhaps my oldest (and oldest) reader, Campfires & Battlefields. C&B has emailed me more good music suggestions than pretty much anyone, being the first to alert me to Samamidon, O'Death, Fleet Foxes (okay, we'll forgive him that one) The Felice Brothers and quite a few more, so hopefully we can persuade him to do a monthly column - sort of a Letter From America sort of thing. Thanks C&B.]
A few weeks back these hallowed pages were given over to iniquity in the form of The Funkcast, where Callum from Meursault faced the unenviable task of persuading Matthew to relax and shake his clenched boo-tay, if only for an hour or so. I, for one, was inspired, because I really like funk. I’m not an expert or anything, but I have listened to a lot of this type of music, and I’ve been listening to it a great deal lately. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to explore the genre a little bit, with an eye to spreading the word about some of the newer stuff that’s out there.
There’s actually quite a global neo-funk “movement” going on at present, and its purveyors have been coming out with some remarkable stuff over the last few years. In my opinion some of these records tread dangerously close to Acid Jazz or Trip-Hop. But at its best, the funk renaissance hearkens back to the Afro-beat assault of Fela Kuti, the dark heavy funk of Miles Davis’ early ‘70s output, or the Ethio Jazz arrangements of Mulatu Astatqe, whose recordings from the late 1960s and early 1970s have recently come to prominence after being featured on the brilliant Ethiopiques series from Buda Musique.
It seems like the center of the universe for modern funk is in New York City, where Daptone Records has its headquarters. Daptone is home to Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, who even some of you poor pallid Scotsmen might have heard of, as well as other great groups like Budos Band, Sugarman 3, and the Menahan Street Band , whose tune Make the Road by Walking was heavily sampled by Jay-Z on Roc Boys (And the Winner Is) from the American Gangster album.
The movement extends far beyond New York, though, and far beyond the States for that matter. The UK’s Freestyle Records produces solid funk by artists from as far afield as New Zealand (Nathan Haines), Australia (Cookin’ On 3 Burners), and Israel (The Apples), while also providing a home for good English groups like Lack of Afro. Actually, some of my favorite neo-funk records have been made in Germany by outfits like The Poets of Rhythm and Karl Hector & The Malcouns, and Holland has also made a great deal of noise with the Lefties Soul Connection.
It’s not indie rock, that’s for damn sure, and it’s not folk rock. Actually, it’s not really the sort of thing that I hear on music blogs very often at all, although I haven’t done much digging to be honest, so there may well be good blogs out there that feature this stuff. But I thought it might be a nice change of pace, and I think there’s a rich seam of mucis being made in this style right now. So explore if you want to. Here’s a couple of new tunes that I particularly like, and also a couple of old tunes that show where this music gets its roots.
Budos Band – Chicago Falcon
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Karl Hector & The Malcouns – Sahara Swing
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The Apples — Kol Hayom Bahalal
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“A rich seam of mucis”? Eew. Did I write that? Sort of changes the whole tone of the piece, doesn’t it? Was my Freudian slip showing? Should be “music” I think.
That’s funk for you – a rich seam of mucus.
May I also point you in the direction of: Uptown Funk Empire, Cookin’ On 3 Burners, (early) Kylie Auldist & The Sound Stylistics.
(oops entirely missed the fact you already put up Co3B Cf&Bf)
While I like Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings/Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens (funky gospel? Neo-soul?) the above is just too funky for me.
But I found the supplement very informative.
This is great stuff.
I often feel with stuff like funk or soul the heavier rock that the reason I don’t like it is because no one with respectable musical taste has ever pointed me in the right direction. It seems that assumption was corrects.
Cheers Ben. Now return the favor and hit us with a classical postie?
Definitely Ben, because otherwise you’re basically left with the Radio1 version of any genre. Which would leave indie beginners thinking that we all like Kasabian and Muse and The View and Coldplay and shit like that.
Cheers C&B, top postage.
Well C&B this is quite an unexpected assortment! I haven’t heard any of it before and it’s great. My idea of funk music is totally radio friendly, mainstream stuff from my childhood and I’ve not heard anything modern that holds a candle to that in my estimation. But that’s largely due toe not seeking it out, I’ll admit.
This Phenomenal Handclap Band is treading the line between indie and some incarnation of funk but I’m honestly not convinced yet. I do have a new find myspace that is looking pretty good tho, so I’ll tease you with that
I guess there’s music that is funky and then there’s FUNK which is a time and a place in my life that can’t be gone back to. That’s what it’s about, for me. Southern rock is another genre that might be like that. What kids do today in that vein almost makes the grade, but not quite. I totally accept the fact that this is my own personal shortsightedness. It’s nonsensical!
So thanks for this post! Food for thought. And yeah, it sure as hell ain’t indie! Indie is the farthest thing from sexy you can get, haha! That’s why indie kids can’t dance … There’s no groove to it. xoxo
Hiya Tart. Glad you liked it. Yeah, for many people funk is about the Ohio Players, Prince, and Rick James, and this stuff doesn’t bear much resemblance to that. No oversexed guys in funny suits for one thing, and not as many radio-friendly melodies. The African funk that was being made back in the 70s (and there are some great compilation CDs out there), particularly in Lagos, tended to have a “political” edge to it (like Fela) and had more in common with James Brown, the Meters, Lee Fields, and Miles Davis. That’s the stuff that gets me.
And Tart, I always knew you were a superfreak. The kind you don’t take home to mutha.
This stuff is the absolute shit! The Best of Ethiopiques is one of my favourite compilations. Ever. Good to see it on Toad!
You should check out Kings Go Forth, on the luaka bop record label. A great release from 2010 of funk and soul.