Get Off Your Ass and JAM with The Rolling ILX Funk Listening Club: New Selections Weekly! Updated Mondays and Fridays! All ILXors and Lurkers Welcome!

Same principle as Mordy's Metal Listening Club Volume #2: April 19 thru 25, 2010 - Fates Warning, Cradle of Filth and HIM... All ILXors and Lurkers welcome!

It's like a book club except for funk albums obviously.
Each wednesday 3 albums will be posted (no illegal d/l links, you will have to find albums yourself if you want to do it that way *cough*

You may be able to find albums on Spotify,lala.com,grooveshark etc or you can buy from itunes or those 2nd hand record shops or bargain bins or from your own collection,slsk, whatever suits you.

Everyone is free to post their thoughts on those albums in whatever way you want to, liveblogging is fine if you wish. Just discuss away!
Even when that week ends it doesn't mean discussion has to stop on those albums. ilx0rs can join in anytime.

Everyone can have a turn choosing their albums if they so wish, if noone wants a shot, shakey mo & I can do it.

Week one - Wednesday 21/4.
Album #1
Funkadelic - Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On
http://soulfunkjazz.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/front3.jpg
Spotify link

Album #2
Ohio Players - Pleasure
http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/t/the-ohio-players/album-pleasure.jpg
Spotify link

Album #3
Mandrill - Is
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/04/bc/28ea228348a09cc06b948110.L.jpg
No spotify link unfortunately, but please do try finding it somewhere!

Went for a Funkadelic classic that's not quite the obvious choice. Chose a Westbound era Ohio Players album just to please shakey..
And Mandrill are awesome.

So listen away and post your thoughts!

Shakey is doing next weeks choices, any volunteers for after that?

pleasure is one of the greatest albums ever. it's kinda perfect. so is IS actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr55GRDYpkg

i haven't played standing on the verge in years. um, it's great too. i should play it. if i can find it at home.

(the whole Mandrill album is on youtube)

yay the skot seal of approval!
(ps skot when are you choosing your albums for the metal club?)

Awesome, great work, will listen and compare to footballers.

i... i CAN'T free my ass... I CAN'T FREE MY ASS...

don't think I've ever heard that particular Mandrill album before in its entirety, will obtain shortly...

It's not hard to find .

i was just playing pleasure last week and it is like some sort of ideal for me as far as music goes. or music in album form anyway. album as art form. it is right up there with any of my fave p-funk records. it is definitely an album that lives up to its title.

thread bookmarked. :)

Turangalila says he will do a classical listening club.

jon lewis free your ass!

imho "Pleasure" is probably the best Ohio Players album. It synthesizes a lot of the then-current funk hallmarks really well: the tight, punchy horn section that you just know is composed of guys who would rather be ripping their way through complex jazz standards but instead are gettin down and dirty for the paycheck/girls/good drugs (the arrangements here are particularly reminiscent of their contemporaries Kool & the Gang); forward-thinking (for the time) adoption of new technologies (i.e., synthesizers) to of often sleazy or comical ends; Sly & The Family Stone-ish vocal tics; an amazing rhythm section. I don't think they ever topped "Funky Worm", which is definitive funk cartoon silliness wedded to some very creative synths and a super-heavy beat (the single and album versions differ significantly fwiw, not sure which I prefer, really).

Also, this album is just DIRTY. A lot of funk made sly allusions to sexuality and its rhythms were deliberately constructed to facilitate bumpin and grindin but you have to hand it to the Players' for being just a little more ballsy and up-front about it than others. the covers of these albums tell you exactly what yr getting, and the music never really takes any detours into more "serious" territory. entire discography is more or less exclusively about fucking.

the filthy bastards

Walter "Junie" Morrison is on the Westbound albums before he jumped ship to join Parliament/Funkadelic.

the ohio players album on Spotify has loads of bonus tracks btw

step one, not going to make it through tonight.

sold right off the bat on funkadelic album thx to red hot momma. sooooooo tight, wish they still recorded albums this way, dense and spacious at the same time, guitar is fucking burning it up.

feeling stupid for never digging further than the core p/funk albums (maggot brain etc.) its late, so im going to get a little loose in my reactions here, but there is legit heavyness here, and there was a point in alice in my fantasies where i KNEW that the bad brains had spent some time with this song. complete w/a little taste of proto-H.R. insano vocal psycho.

yeah this shit is incredible. dumb me for not already owning it.

not really coming up with the words to describe how thick and soupy this album is, even wrt old tech recording. can def see the crossover potential between doom and some of this kerm!

ok prob just going to sit back and listen, because my only real live blogging at this point would be OH YES YES YES.

This sounds like a cool idea, I'll definitely join in!

Shakey is doing next weeks choices, any volunteers for after that?

If we can have a special jazz-funk theme week, I'll volunteer to do that.

density less prevalent on trk 6 (jimmy etc) but this song is all zappa-ey (and yeah i get that this is the origin, and his is the interpretation). guitar on 7 is just fucking perfect. buying this as we speak, thx dudes, will be listening to this in constant loop for a while!

eMusic has the Funkadelic and Ohio Players albums...maybe I'll get them when my new downloads roll over this weekend.

I've got a few albums I'm desperate to acquire, I'll do the noms one week and we can get it down together

i'd like to join. can someone send me a spotify invite? email : 09001✧✧✧@studentm✧✧✧.u✧.i✧

Shakey is doing next weeks choices, any volunteers for after that?

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 22:48 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i can if you want.

Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On - Went through this on Best 70s FUNK Album aka ilx helps Sam discover funk but I think this may be my fav Funkadelic. In terms of P-Funk alone, this is a Freddie Ljungberg (gives me a goofy fucking smile when its/hes ON even if you know there isn't any real substance most of the time, I am still :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD)

Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On is the Eddie Hazel pfunk album, he co-wrote or wrote all of it. It's many fans fave funkadelic album. It should not be ignored.
Tuomas sure you can do jazz funk, just make sure the funk outweighs the jazz as I believe there may be a jazz club in the future. (perhaps you want to start that instead of me?)

Great idea, I'm in. Just queued up the two Spotifiable albums...

the mandrill is on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr55GRDYpkg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSXutf3Pm_Q&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9FI_ZoGFAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU7I01UDNA&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2f3TesOQmI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tugbouTNc7g&feature=related

^ one of those is unavaiable in the UK so its posted twice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcJPjCm-GZI&feature=PlayList&p=BDC3639A36845F62&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4PU1cg1DV0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ike-PYmESKs

I think thats almost all of it

Sam's Funk's Great Samples Week 1-

Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fg2NRCB9Sc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cztHw1QD6_E (actually full of great funk samples)

sam just tell us what you think of the albums

i <3 the album. listening to one record a day so will check the other 2 out fri&sat.

Tuomas sure you can do jazz funk, just make sure the funk outweighs the jazz as I believe there may be a jazz club in the future. (perhaps you want to start that instead of me?)

Yeah, I have a few jazz-funk albums in mind that lean heavy on the funk side, and it looks like they're all available on Spotify. So I can do the week after Shakey, if no one else wants it?

As for the jazz club, I think it's better if someone else starts it, at the moment I don't have enough time to be responsible for a long-running thing like that.

oh ok these are going to be the kinds of threads that murder my browser with a billion youtubes? nevermind.

like 'Witch Doctor' or 'They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!', Ohio Players 'Funky Worm' is one of those songs that busted my little brain wide open as a kid. one of my friend's sisters had the 45 and we listened to it over and over and over and...

some dude, no they wont be, it's just that the Mandrill album wasn't available elsewhere and I was worried no one would check it out.

Someone's started a jazz club, hurrah
ILX0RS - JAZZ IS THE TEACHER . YEAH IT'S A JAZZ THING >> THE ILM JAZZ LISTENING CLUB!

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas

Anyone else want to book a week?

Is "Standing on the Verge of Getting It on" really a 'funk album'?

of course

there's many facets of funk . it rocks, it kicks ass, it makes your ass move, you dance, you get down and dirty, you feel it.

Hmmmmm, I've obviously got a narrower definition of funk than you. I wouldn't call it a funk album per se.

I think a pretty good definition of funk is THAT IT IS BY FUNKADELIC. Also, it contains funk music.

Some funk music. Funkadelic did a lot of stuff that wasn't funk.

"Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"

oh its definitely a funk album. but this was always the "problem" with Funkadelic - they always went a little too far in a bunch of different directions (be it rock/heavy metal or fried doo-wop or whatever). The Mandrill album goes in a lot of different directions too, but Funkadelic always went FARTHER than other bands. That being said, the rhythms/beats in Red Hot Momma, the title track, Sexy Ways (omg this song, my favorite of the batch definitely) are funk standards.

rest assured I will be posting more stuff that blurs the line between acid rock and blues and funk

Can't beat "I'll Stay"!

^^^yes!
though listening to this earlier today for the first time in a while, i can't believe I forgot how great Hazel is on the last track.

Can't think of a track where he isn't great... on like, anything, ever

take, for example, the Universal Rhythms track on Mandrill Is - I love it cuz I have a soft-spot for proto-hippie mystic goofiness but the track itself isn't FUNKY per se. However, tons of funk bands (including Funkadelic, who, again, took this kind of track to extremes with stuff like Eulogy and Light or the intro to Clones of Dr. Funkenstein) had these kind of interludes on their albums, enough that you could say it's something of a hallmark of the genre. So having a track that isn't funky in and of itself doesn't really disqualify an album from being a "funk" album, because funk as a genre was actually really ridiculously wide-ranging, especially when you look at it from the album level like we are here.

I mentioned this on the thread that inspired this one, but this is part of the problem with taking an album approach to funk. Invariably we're gonna be hearing a lot of stuff that isn't particularly funky - albums by funk bands were often filled with all kinds of digressions - into jazz solos, or syrupy ballads, or spoken word bits, or straight-up rock tracks, or silly covers of standards. You're gonna see this a lot on this thread, I imagine. If you wanna cut straight to nothing but dancefloor filling FUNK tracks then we would need to take more of a singles/45s approach to the genre, cuz that's where that kind of stuff was heavily concentrated. When it came time to release albums, funk bands tended to let things sprawl (there are exceptions to this, but they're pretty rare - Mothership Connection, for example, was highly distinctive at the time for being the first r&b album to contain NO ballads, which was unheard of at the time).

Ron Bykowski's also on Standing iirc...?

Token White Devil?

I'll take a week, but it'll have to be at the end of May. Say 26/5?

rest assured I will be posting more stuff that blurs the line between acid rock and blues and funk

me too

much to my surprise I'm enjoying the ballads on Pleasure more than the other tracks. I really like the falsetto singing.

Ohio Players "Pleasure" is great, also agree with the ballads comment xpost - like "Pride & Vanity" a lot.

remember the version of Pleasure on Spotify is a 2cd set with bonus tracks the original lp only had 9 tracks I think.

yup
http://www.discogs.com/Ohio-Players-Pleasure/release/2233227

"Walt's First Trip" is a fuckin' jam

ohio players play on play on!

I generally hate ballads yet I like Ohio Players ballads. The post-Westbound/Junie era has a lot of harder rocking songs btw. There was no end to their talents.

The Ohio Players Best 1970's Album (Album Covers pics contained maybe NSFW)

the original lp only had 9 tracks

ah, that makes sense, ending w/Our Love Has Died. Allmusic led me astray.

Im guessing the other tracks are outtakes. I only have the old cds so I cant check.

for what it's worth, a list of samples used from these albums:

Mandrill "Children of the Sun": Shawty Lo "Dey Know"
Mandrill "Universal Rhythms": Beck "Hot Wax"
Ohio Players "Funky Worm": NWA "Dopeman", "Gangsta Gangsta", De La Soul "Me, Myself and I", Kriss Kross "Jump", Ice Cube "Wicked", AMG "Vertical Joyride", MC Breed "No Future in Ya Frontin", Dr. Dre "Chronic Intro", Snoop "Serial Killer", DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince "Boom Shake the Room", Masta Ace "Born to Roll", Too $hort "Sample the Funk", Above the Law "Black Superman", X-Clan "Xodus", Beastie Boys "Funky Boss", Masta Ace "Born to Roll", Redman "Cosmic Sloop"
Funkadelic "I'll Stay": De La Soul "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa", Crucial Conflict "Hay"
Funkadelic "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On": Ice Cube "Endangered Species"

Ohio Players "Funky Worm": NWA "Dopeman", "Gangsta Gangsta", De La Soul "Me, Myself and I", Kriss Kross "Jump", Ice Cube "Wicked", AMG "Vertical Joyride", MC Breed "No

classic sample

The Funkadelic album reminds me of this: http://www.discogs.com/Tranquility-Bass-Let-The-Freak-Flag-Fly/release/30239

good excuse to to revisit that funkadelic; "jimmy's got a little bit of bitch in him" is the jam

^^^^love pretty much every line in that song too

Listening to Standing on the Verge of Getting It On, I agree with whoever said that this sounds kinda more "rock" than "funk", but it's really nice anyway (and I say this is a person who hates 99% of rock, so it's a big compliment). Could've done with some horns and more synths though - the guitar dominates it a bit too much for my taste. On the positive side, the vocals sound more versatile and deep than on some other Funkadelic stuff I've heard.

Can someone explain wtf the intro of "Red Hot Momma" is about?

read the liner notes

(honestly I'm surprised there are not high-quality scans of the various Funkadelic LP sleeves on the internets anywhere, because they are awesome and really frame what the albums are about)

It's definitely the most funkrock Funkadelic album, but there's more to it than just rock.

Whoa, I'm just listening "Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him", it's pretty deep! Didn't expect to hear sentiments like these in a song made in 1974! Awesome!

in short - intro is about humanity being the greedy, egotistical, ungrateful spawn of mother nature

xp

even the sun goes down = lolz

I never understood why parliament/funkadelic got dismissed as a novelty band by some. They have always tackled awkward subjects in their lyrics as well as the funny stuff. Pfunk could do it all.

they dressed silly.

I never understood why parliament/funkadelic got dismissed as a novelty band by some.

I agree with you, but have you ever seen the movie PCU? see also 90s college-age hippies in general

Nope, i havent.

P-Funk is Super Stupid. it's a pearls before swine thang

Someone (not me) made a playlist of all the tracks of the original Pleasure album (no bonus tracks) on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=ACE351A24AC085D5

nice.

Unfortunately, the sound on Youtube is little too tinny for my tastes. Obviously, this album would sound tons better with may more bass to it.

yup

I really hope everyone will make the effort to listen to the Mandrill. If you check the cough in the 1st post you might get a nice surprise..

you might find your way to somewhere that has goodies on the menu on the right hand side

It's quite easy. If you know what you're doing.

listened to the Mandrill this morning. Pretty good, altho I can't say anything leapt out at me (well, apart from the nuttiness of Universal Rhythms). The songs are almost proggy in terms of how restless the arrangements are - they rarely settle into a groove for long, and they eagerly hop around from fuzz-rock to latin percussion breakdown to horn-centered jazz riffing to slippery soul. Even so, the playing is pretty insane, especially the bass and gutiar work, and you can hear them getting fairly loose here and there which is nice.

but I dunno, hooks are not their strong suit. or something.

you cant say that about Ape Is High

I hope the mandrill youtubes didn't scare some dude off

"Golden Baboon" of the Mandrill album sounds like theme music to a Kung-Fu actioner.

Found the Mandrill to be Wuite jazz-fusion in places, and a couple tracks heavy with rock/psych-rock guitar, and in between some spirituality vibes and flutes ish.

'salrigt but def glad to have come across The Ohio Players.

Gonna listen to Funkadelic again tomorrow.

By "wuite" I mean "quite"

(Honkey on the Baboon) Tannenbaum Schmidt | 00:36 23 April 2010

Ape is High is probably the best track on there (no wonder they lead off with it), just saying that catchiness/hooks was not what this band was about.

The Funkadelic album flies all over the shop, it's awesome! More varied than the other Funkadelic albums I've heard "Jimmy's..." sounds exactly like Zappa, "Sexy Ways" is somewhere between Stax and Al Green on lots of acid, Alice in my Fantasies is all garage punk funk. Only a couple of tracks have the typical "like early RHCP, but funky and good" sound I associate with Funkadelic - "Standing...", "Red Hot Momma"...

It confirms this feeling I've had for a while that Funkadelic was more *interesting* than Parliament, which is not entirely the same thing as "better".

I wouldn't mind participating - hopefully I can think of something halfway interesting to say. Listening to Mandrill right now (and watching hockey with the sound off)...

in short - "Red Hot Momma" intro is about humanity being the greedy, egotistical, ungrateful spawn of mother nature

Weird thing: that spoken bit was also used in "America Eats Its Young" 2 years earlier, slowed wa-a-a-y down

remember that red hot mama is an old Parliament song from the Osmium days before Clinton lost the rights to the name Parliament so had to form Funkadelic. Clinton re-used old tracks many times for Funkadelic & Parliament.

the parliament version is much rawer

Indeed. Actually I think Parliament may have recorded two versions themselves - one version with a noisy feedback intro, the other without.

There's probably other versions somewhere in the vaults.

I think many of you might be interested in Sam's Hi dere welcome to Planet Rock, this is the real hip-hop (listening club.)

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas

Anyone else want to book a week? Otherwise Its back to myself and shakey.

Any kind of funk is ok. That includes the borderline jazz-funk/black acid rock,funk-disco etc. If its funky its in!

You can put me on the list

i'll do a week, altough my funk choices would be mainly 80's electro-slap-bass stuff

I'll take a week.

raises hand

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - pfunkboy

it's in my google calendar

The Mandrills youtubes were pretty much the most perfect way I could have spent the past hour. I heartily recommend. (Alex Song.)

You could have heard it via the cough

or ILX0RS - FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR ASS WILL FOLLOW.... TO THE ILM FUNK LISTENING CLUB! (This Weeks Albums are Funkadelic , Ohio Players and Mandrill.)

did you have any fave tracks on it sam?

i dunno, i wasn't really paying attention to individual tracks. will def. listen again later in the week and report back but for now i just want a pre-work nap. :D

you working the streets again?

I want in too! Can I can I?

yup

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - pfunkboy
16/6 - moka

I don't like to listen to stuff via Yotube, but I finally managed to find a 320kb version of the Mandrill album, will report back once I've listened to it.

lol, sometimes ppl dont notice things under their nose

the *cough* led me to things that had file extensions that I don't have time to figure out what to do with (.bad, .flp). I need some good old-fashioned mp3s.

FAQ
Q: What is a BAD file?

A: I rename my files to BAD. Change the extension from .bad to .rar.

Q: How do I change the file extension?

A: Go to Tools, then Folder Options, then click the View tab, and lastly uncheck the "hide all file extensions" box.

Okay, I've listened to the Ohio Players maybe six times and Mandrill not quite once - initial impression is that these guys cover a hell of a lot of bases! The veering between genres takes a bit of getting used to - there's rock, funk, jazz, Crosby Stills & Nash or Chicago-style harmonies, even some straight G-Funk, in very short order. It's a bit like listening to a compilation.

They're both really good though. I like the straighter song structures best, probably just because that makes them more memorable to me, whereas the others seem to spiral off a bit too easily, maybe because they lacked the hooks to start with. All of Mandrill has been like that so far, except that it just hangs together a bit better somehow - it's really lovely.

The individual tracks haven't really jumped out at me either, except the closer on Pleasure, which is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever heard.

the 9 track album closer? or the spotigy 16 track closer?

btw the 1st mandrill album is more experimental and, dare i even say it, prog funk, than is they did get more poppier as they went on, always a very underrated band though. getting a bunch of their albums from FOPP in about 1996/1997 is one of the best things i ever did. FOPP used to get licenses to reissue vinyl so brand new pressings of funk albums were really easy to find in Glasgow. Dont think they do it now sadly.

speaking of first albums, i still need a copy of observations in time, the first ohio players album. don't really want to pay ebay prices though.

though i haven't looked on ebay in a long time. maybe the prices aren't that bad.

Mandrill is my favorite of these three first albums. Love the latin vibe on some songs. Kind of cheesy... something I could imagine playing in some sort of tiki lounge... not necessarily a bad kind of cheesy.

The nine-track closer xp, the slow one with the long horn phrase - beautiful. That's another thing, the arrangements are all over the place - other than the horns, which are fairly constant, it could quite easily be nine different bands.

I just love how so many of the funk bands that were more than accomplished at doing other styles within the same albums. Going from jazz to heavy acid rock to soulful to dance-y all within a few songs. Mandrill is what Santana should have sounded like.

santana sounded fine!

i only care for his 1st 2 albums myself

if you don't think that santana could get crazy then you don't own enough santana albums. one thing santana didn't really have were good songwriters.

the 70's is where santana goes nuts!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/SantanaLotusAlbum.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Borboletta.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/MoonflowerAlbum.jpg

all worth hearing. (along with other albums, but i ain't got all day.)

one thing santana didn't really have were good songwriters.

^^^yeah this was the real problem.

could say the same about Mandrill haw

I suppose writing 3 min pop songs wasn't either of their things

I wonder if geir wants to do a week

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - pfunkboy
16/6 - moka
23/6 - the rev

Anyone can have a week. All welcome.

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - pfunkboy
16/6 - moka
23/6 - Abbott
30/6 - The Rev

I'm amazed so many want a week, but this is great!

I'll do a week but can't commit to any time in July. Anyone want to swap an earlier slot?

yeah no problem, I can swap my 2nd go. If anyone earlier wants to swap I can change it.

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - Seandalai
16/6 - moka
23/6 - Abbott
30/6 - The Rev
7/7 - pfunkboy

Geir do you want a week?

Turangalila wants week 14/7

Anyone else checked out the Mandrill? Sam?

I listened to the Mandrill yessirday, was slammin'. May even look at an *illegal download* if prices are too steep, because Mandrill records seem worth having in some capacity.

they are

Sam if you live near a FOPP, then they might carry some Mandrill.

closest fopp closed. will be london over the weekend though, if anyone wants to point me in the direction of a decent one.

I thought you lived in London, heh.

Nah, had to move back in with parents due to poverty.

sounds like you need a cough remedy then

could this cough remedy make me rich?

No but it could funkify you

follow the yellow brick cough

What the Motherpage has to say about Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On

this thread inspired me to inhale and play cosmic slop for the first time in a long time. jeez louise did that ever sound good to me. not hearing it for a long time was a bonus, actually. i had new ears. still makes my jaw drop. that SOUND! (pristine early vinyl pressing, of course) man, you could write a book simply about the production of that one album. or any of their albums, i suppose, but....oh i could go on.

late 80's/early 90's i almost p-funked myself to death. i was rabid. so i had to go away from the records for awhile. well, it wasn't like a conscious thing, i just did it. same thing happened with me and the lovely Can. not their fault, of course! i just played their records to death and beyond. now i hear a can record and it's like holy moly all over again! like a new band or something.

I've spent many an hour and pound in the Fopp at the corner of Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue. Can't think of any others off the top of my head - used to be one in Chiswick but I doubt it's survived.

FOPP of course named after the Ohio Players song!

Scott are you wanting a week curating this?

am gonna try to follow this one as know lamentably little about funk.

ohio players - there's a version of this album w/7 bonus tracks, are they particularly necessary?

not really. 1st 9 tracks are the proper album.

Been listening to the Funkadelic this afternoon. It feels very bitty again - there are lovely moments but I'll just be settling into one when it changes into something else entirely. The vocals are taking some getting used to, any beauty in the harmony parts is not immediately obvious.

So far, I like The Ohio Players album best - can see myself coming back to that often.

The Mandrill was great but like some one said upthread, there's often so much going on but often no big hook. Highlight for me was "Git It All" - especially the second half of the track, from when the harmonica comes in.

Need to listen to that Funkadelic some more.

It's funny seeing comments that the Funkadelic album covers too many styles as this is the most stylistically consistent of the Funkadelic albums!

28/4 - Shakey Mo
5/5 - Tuomas
12/5 - a hoy hoy
19/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
26/5 - Ismael Klata
2/6 - forksclovetu
9/6 - Seandalai
16/6 - moka
23/6 - Abbott
30/6 - The Rev
7/7 - pfunkboy
14/7 - Turangalila

Anyone else listened to any of the albums?

listening to the Funkadelic now, will liveblog RONG first impressions

Red Hot Momma: fun skit, then Jane's Addiction
Alice In My Fantasies : Led Zep meets the Sweet

I'll Stay : (intro) Death Of a Disco Dancer vs While My guitar gently weeps.

also there was a 90's trip-hop song - underwater love?? - did it sample this?

or maybe sneaker pimps or morcheeba, I can't remember.

Standing on the Verge of Getting it On: (Westbound 1974)
* “Standing on the Verge of Getting it On”
Ice Cube’s “Endangered Species”
Sons of Bazerk’s “Part One”
* “I'll Stay”
Atmosphere’s “Millie Fell off the Fire Escape”
M.O.P. ft Busta Rhymes’s “Brooklyn”
Crucial Conflict’s “Hay”
De la Soul’s “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa”
K-Solo’s “Long Live the Fugitive”
* “Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him”
Rays’s “I Don't Want to Be Alone”
* “Sexy Ways”
Fu-Schnickens’s “Props”

still need to check ohio players, spent all of last night jamming to this while at work on my earphones

http://www.plong.com/MusicCatalog%5CP%5CParliament%20-%20Gold%5CParliament%20-%20Gold.jpg

sexy ways: ford capri jam

Standing On The Verge : THIS is what I was expecting the whole album to sound like.

Jimmy's got a bit... : Electric Ladyland doo-wop

Good Thoughts - proto-Purple Rain guitar, more Ladyland, hypnotism tape

Listened to Mandrill the other day...I'm going to write a long post on the Jazz Listening Club thread and then I'll get back to the funk.

OK, here's a half-baked analogy: Mandrill are to War what Funkadelic was to Ohio Players

that's short-selling War imho

War were really good, but they're not in the same league as Mandrill IMO, but they are far more well known than Mandrill. It's so sad they get ignored by the music press.

I wonder if any of these funk bands got coverage in Rolling Stone at the time. Other than a token 3 star review.

dunno, but I kinda doubt RS had much love for/understanding of funk (outside of Sly, obviously). xhuxh probably knows.

the Mandrill's good, I just don't hear anything there as strong as the best stuff in War's catalog like "Low Rider" or "Spill the Wine" or "Me and Baby Brother". There's a ton of filler on War's albums, but they knew how to make a single.

listening to the war double live album last week. man, that thing is all kinds of cool.

i need this. don't have one. i never see it anywhere. i should look harder.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/War_album.jpg

I've never heard that one either

I've been listening to Mandrill Is, and I'm not quite sure what to think of it... On the one hand it has some inspired grooves, the sound is nice, and I like how they're doing a variety of styles on one record, from straight funk to latin jazz to blues rock to hippie freakout moments. But on the other hand the arrangements are often too busy, and at times it feels like the band are overplaying just to show off their skills. Like, is it really necessary to do so many drum rolls on "Here Today Gone Tomorrow"? With tighter arrangements and less showmanship this might've been a really good album. But I agree that "Ape Is High" a banger, and "Central Park" is a lovely piece of breezy 60s pop in the middle of a funk album - it's the one song here that actually benefits from the "full" arrangement.

shakey did you send a webmail? You have my email! I'll reply to the email i have for you ok?

sent to the email i have for you that you never check

lol gotcha

Tuesday will now be the day new albums are posted on funk club. So shakey you can post the weeks albums in an hour or 2 if you want.

Of course, anyone can still talk about previous weeks albums anytime they want to.

Shakey's picks are awesome btw. So I hope you all enjoy them once he's posted them!

excited and hoping that Shakey, Tumoas and A Hoy don't choose what I have lined up, else I'm gonna have to pass on my week!

if they are agreeable to to swap with you it's fine by me.

wait what I thought new albums went up Wednesday (it's still Monday here!)

I'm pretty sure my choices are not gonna overlap with anyone else's

fwiwi

Naw Tuesdays now, gives everyone an extra work day to post about it. Plus all the other clubs are at the end of the week so more might give this one a shot. It will be tuesday in 75 mins here!

One of the shakey picks is an album that most of you have never heard (by a band you know hit singles by) but i can tell you, it's one of the greatest albums ever made. A stone cold 10/10 classic.

So you can post it anytime after an hour from now

Tannenbaum, send me an email via ILX usermail and tell me what albums you had lined up, if we happen to have chosen the same album(s) I can always change my picks.

I'll just post this now...

Chairmen of the Board - Skin I'm In (1974)
http://www.akuma.de/images/ccover/dri000/i012/i01282zo58z.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/5zKiTlGl3QQBZZWowNwN5I

The Chairmen's final LP is a lost gem that's light years away from their previous smooth r&b crooning. Arranged by Jeffrey Bowen, who, from what I can tell, is the common link between Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & the Family Stone, and several projects that drew on members of both bands to provide backing material for other artists (including the Temptations' LPs "Wings of Love" and "A Song For You"). I am not sure who all from P-Funk shows up on this record, apart from Bill "Bass" Nelson and Bernie Worrell, whose contributions are both readily identifiable. I am also unclear as to how the trilogy that closes side A (Life and Death in G &A Pt 1/White Rose (Freedom Flower)/Life and Death Pt 2) and is credited to Sly Stone made it from Sly's hands into those of P-Funk and the Chairmen of the Board, but I would guess that Bowen was involved. George and Sly both being absent here, this album is proof that the lesser-known guys in both the Family Stone and P-Funk were capable of some seriously amazing and hard-hitting stuff. I love this record.

James Brown - The Payback (1973)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/40/Jb-the-payback.jpg/200px-Jb-the-payback.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/7mMYTdDQ1UOw9j4vG3tCPs

The rejected soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem (because it wasn't "being James Brown enough" o_0). I consider this the apex of James Brown's studio LP output. Prior to the early 70s the majority of James Brown's LPs are an incoherent mess, slapped together affairs often taken from different sessions with entirely different bands, with no consideration given to consistency of tone or content, but nevertheless containing tons of amazing material. But around about 1970, Brown began something of a melodramatic 180, and proceeded to issue a series of "concept" records that were built around specific themes, complete with interludes, monologues, and long, seemingly endless grooves. The Payback is the best of these by a wide margin - even the two ballads are good - and the band (under the direction of Fred Wesley) was on fire throughout. Everybody knows the opening track and can quote favorite lines ("I don't know karate/but I know ka-razy!") but the real standout here to me is the final song, "Mind Power", which synthesizes everything that was ever great about James Brown into a delirious, hypnotic, zen-buddhist-by-way-of-the-Deep-South meditation on the nature of consciousness and reality.

Dr. John - Desitively Bonaroo (1974)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/Doctorjohn.jpg/200px-Doctorjohn.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/4sdOFqfNcL5ge657ScJDXn

The lesser known "sequel" to his huge hit "In the Right Place" album and using pretty much the same exact formula and band, except that this time around I think the songs are actually better. No funk thread would be complete without acknowledging the contributions of New Orleans and specifically the axis of the Meters/Allen Toussaint, who provide most of the tunes and backing here, perfectly complimented by Dr. John's bizarro croak-n-drawl. This is pretty far from the way out sonics of "Dr. John the Night Tripper", but it marks the end of his "golden age" transition from psych-swamp-blues guru to Rolling Stones-confidante to party-funk frontman. After this his music gradually became more and more alternately conservative and jazzy, as he came to be a kind of standard-bearer for preserving New Orleans' musical heritage.

Chairmen Of The Board were the band I was talking about earlier btw

Got your mail, Tannenbaum, we haven't picked any of the same albums. Both of your choices are albums I've been meaning to check out for a long time though, so it'll be nice if you'll introduce them here, as it'll give me an excuse to listen to them.

And yes i know all 3. Classics all of them.

and the trilogy shakey talks about is the greatest trilogy in all music

dude I think you broke my hyperbolemeter

skin i'm in is a fabulous record

I have the 2xCD with Bittersweet on it (its also on Spotify) and its desert island discs stuff. I recommend you listen to both.

may I suggest editing the title of this thread to make it more generic...

i like the payback a lot.

that's short-selling War imho

Wasn't my intention at all: I think "War's Greatest Hits" is one of the most enjoyable LPs imaginable! And War are probably the band most similar to Mandrill that i can think of. But Mandrill were a bit more eccentric/eclectic/experimental/erratic/whatever than War. Similar to Funkadelic doing weird experiments while the Ohio Players achieved actual hit singles.

I have a fair bit of James Brown, but had assumed he'd gone off the boil by '73. NOT SO, THIS IS AWESOME! A+ album, dancing around my spreadsheets of a Tuesday morning.

the payback is all-time classic

Indeed, most people would say it is his best album.

best studio album perhaps, though part of me prefers hot pants - certainly the cd reissue with the full take of 'escape-ism'

Yep, it's a good'un. All-original too, unlike a lot of his '70s doubles.

"I don't know karate but I know ka-raaaaazy!"

Klassik

Desitively Bonnaroo is dope, my go-to/most-played Dr. John.

certainly the cd reissue with the full take of 'escape-ism'

haha I was listening to this last night and marvelling at my inability to grasp like 90% of what James Brown is talking/rambling about on that song. would love to see a transcription

Trying to get down, yeah, yeah
well, you know
look here, we can't help it
that's right
[incomprehensible], yeah
It ain't no alocohol, man I don't dig it
what you say Jason?
I say, don't be soe mean
you know I'm clean
yeah
[incomprehensible]

It's about the birth of a norwegian dude

don't think I'm gonna bother trying to compile a list of songs sampling "The Payback". I'm unaware of any Chairmen of the Board samples... there are some interesting Dr. John ones though (Marley Marl's "Cheatin' Days Are Over" samples "Stealin'" iirc)

Sam is in charge of samples

War are probably the band most similar to Mandrill that i can think of. But Mandrill were a bit more eccentric/eclectic/experimental/erratic/whatever than War. Similar to Funkadelic doing weird experiments while the Ohio Players achieved actual hit singles.

ah yeah I can see that. War and Mandrill do both favor those latin/jazz shadings, it was just that War had the hits.

Chairmen of the Board - it's alright. I like the ?electric organ (i think)? sound on a couple of the songs but nothing is really standing out.

not sure what yr thinking of specifically - Bernie plays a lot of Mellotron on this album iirc

Maybe thats what I'm thinking of, sorry. I'm not very good at picking out instruments, even kinda loathed specific instrument pieces (hi dere maggot brain) so it all just kinda blends in for me until i should actually think about whatever.

The complaint people were making about Mandrills - i.e. no hooks - I would apply here. I v. much enjoyed it while listening to it but I don't really remember it and nothing really hooked me to go back. Slowburner.gif I guess.

have always wondered what those 'steel drum'-sounding melodic percussion parts in 'life & death pt 2', around the 1 minute mark, actually were...

Sounds like a kalimba or a mbira or some other form of thumb piano to me.

Bt, I'm really digging the Chairmen of the Board album, thanks to Shakey for introducing it! I remember seeing that album in a local record store years ago, but the cover pic made me think it was something completely different, so I never gave it a try. I'll try to writer a lengthier analysis later on.

What I'd like to know, though, is what is that odd, slightly metallic rhythmic sound playing throughout "Let's Have Some Fun"? You know what I'm talking about if you listen to the song, it really stands out. Is that just an electric guitar played through a filter, or some odd percussion instrument?

Sounds like a kalimba or a mbira or some other form of thumb piano to me.

^^^yep, that is definitely not a mellotron lolz

will have to listen to Let's Have Some Fun hang on a second

even kinda loathed specific instrument pieces (hi dere maggot brain)

you are dead to me

oh that's an electric gtr+wah wah for sure

xp

he's doing a chicken scratch pattern while rapidly opening and closing the wah-wah pedal's filter

"I don't know karate but I know ka-raaaaazy!"

Ka-razor. JB is gonna cut you.

Ok, I kinda thought it might be, but it sounds somewhat different than any other wah wah I've heard.

(xx-post)

Ah, I see, thanks for the info Shakey!

And I have to say I completely disagree with Sam - the instrumental bits are what make Skin I'm In sound so good to me. Even if there's some superficial similarity to the Mandrill album, the playing here is definitely tighter and the sound more innovative.

What's the deal with the endings to the songs on The Payback? (the strings thing) Not sure if this is making sense, and I'm not opposed to their existence, just wondering what their reason for being is...?

James Brown never had an idea he didn't enjoy repeating ad nauseam

on the vinyl they're just interludes between the songs on each side, like aural dividers. fairly pointless but hey when James Brown gets an idea he doesn't let go of it

thanks Shakey--the vinyl explains it. My problem is I'm listening on Lala, so they just sound kind of bizarre.

also, "Mind Power" is amazing. And I just saw the documentary "Soul Power" which I recommend to any JB fan. there's not enough footage of the performances (especially by Franco and Tabu Ley Rochereau), but it's still pretty great.

Spotify doesnt have the dr john title track because the artist/label wanted it removed. wtf?

I'll just need to borrow my mates cd then

that's odd. I do know Dr. John has one of those "my manager(s) screwed me and released stuff against my will and I had to sue them" kinda debacles in his past, maybe it's related.

its quite common on Spotify though

some people dont like their most famous songs being available for free but dr john has way more known songs available on Spotify. Maybe someone collaborated with him on it and they object?

for the future on these album listening threads, can we link both spotify and lala for the amurricuns among us?

Shakey is amurricun, And im guessing non americans cant provide links to it. Shakey only got spotify links because he asked me for them.

I'm just lazy

btw Spotify has Bittersweet/Skin I'm In... Plus

2009 two CD set. This release contains the third and fourth albums by Chairmen Of The Board: Bittersweet (1972) features the hits 'Working On A Building Of Love', 'Elmo James' and 'I'm On My Way To A Better Place' while Skin I'm In (1974) features 'Finders Keepers'. The bonus album is the ultra-rare Aries (1972) by group member Danny Woods, while the bonus tracks are the Chairmen singles issued after the release of Skin I'm In. All these albums have been unavailable for many years. The booklet is fully annotated by Tony Rounce, and features many rare singles labels. Edsel.

I just have the original 2in1 cd, so im really looking forward to hear that Aries album.

Elmo James is my fave Chairmen Of The Board track btw. Bittersweet is as good as Skin I'm In, so please everyone check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLTBDbsrUk4&feature=PlayList&p=1D6B783AF48C1572&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=6

I upgraded to Spotify Premium because of all this listening club stuff, figured it was worth it for this month.

The Chairman of the Board album is really ace, I'm surprised I never came across it before. "Morning Glory" blows me away.

Can a mod change my 1st post to TUESDAY instead of Wednesday please?

Oh and I need to change the dates on this:

It's now

4/5 - Tuomas
11/5 - a hoy hoy
18/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
25/5 - Ismael Klata
1/6 - forksclovetu
8/6 - Seandalai
15/6 - moka
22/6 - Abbott
32/6 - The Rev
6/7 - pfunkboy
13/7 - Turangalila

xp pfunkboy - did you go Premium for the quality upgrade, or just to get rid of the ads? I remember at the beginning, they were only upping some of the library to 320kbs, have they now got everything in high quality?

I've been thinking about upgrading for a few months now, but I'm not yet convinced it's worth it.

partly to be adfree and partly because im using it a lot more due to the listening club. I'm sure I heard an advert the other days saying everything is 320 for premium users. But I dont know.

Following up on last week's albums: Mandrill was okay but nothing special, and I was so bored by the Ohio Players record I didn't get all the way through it. Still haven't listened to the Funkadelic yet. Maybe I should stick to the jazz listening club.

nooooo. Stick with us. You can do both! You got bored of a 9 track album or did you listen to the 2xCD version?

I didn't even make it through the first 9 tracks.

I will listen to the Funkadelic and the week 2 records.

I was gonna do a later Ohio Players album but I knew shakey would moan I didn't pick a Westbound/Junie era album.

I think you're the 1st dissenter for Pleasure though. So not bad going.

kinda like metal, this stuff really has to be listened to loud, fwiw

I went Funkadelic > Mandrill > Ohio Players, they're all good albums though.

Week 1: Ohio Players > Funkadelic > Mandrill
Week 2: James Brown > Chairmen Of The Board > Dr John

With Chairmen, I found most of the tracks to be more upfront with their funk conviction - like a great party album - but sometimes something was lacking, possibly too many chants. James is just potent through and through. I liked about 50% of the Dr John - but maybe listening while working is not the best place to fully appreciate it; there where times when I thought "this would be great BBQ music with beers and a baggy shirt"

Keeprs: Ohio Players, James Brown (which I already knew) and gonna give the Funkadelic one more listen.

xpost: i was comparing Chairmen Of The Board "Skin I'm In" to James Brown "The Payback"

To my ears it's just as good!

I think quite a few of the posters on here have a preference for different branches of funk. Some prefer the jazzy stuff some like it hard edged and freaky and some just want to dance. I wonder if Tuomas will pick anything hard edged/freaky that rocks.

and no, Prince doesn't count ;)

Prince defies classification in a lot of ways

Im just pre-empting someone shouting Prince

It is ILM

maybe listening while working is not the best place to fully appreciate it; there where times when I thought "this would be great BBQ music with beers and a baggy shirt"

yeah I was thinking some more about this and funk is basically best-suited to open communal environments - parties, dancefloors, cars with the windows down, etc. was blasting "Let's Take it to the Stage" the other day while driving around and just marvelling at how amazingly heavy that track is, for ex., something that wouldn't be readily apparent in a different listening situation

Had The Payback on earlier - that band is tight. Geir must've finally worn me down - I was half-expecting an industrial funk nightmare of a record. Actually it's quite melodic, would go down well in Norway I think.

Gotta confess I've never been particularly crazy for that Ohio Players album, even tho I've owned the vinyl for years. Limited tolerance for the ballads, which is my problem. Also, "Walt's First Trip" isn't as out-there as the title would suggest. So, I guess it's Funkadelic > Mandrill > Ohio Players for me, as far as the first week goes. On to JB and co.

(All this stuff makes a fine soundtrack for watching the NHL playoffs, thanks for asking)

I wonder if Tuomas will pick anything hard edged/freaky that rocks.

I've actually half-discarded my original idea of a jazz-funk theme, and at least one of the albums I'm gonna introduce is as hard and rocking as it gets.

I checked out Dr. John album and I have to agree with whoever said that you'd have to play it loud at a barbecue or something to really appreciate the music. Listening to it on my computer via headphones, it sounds like a nice enough piece of greasy New Orleans funk, but there's nothing that stands out really.

Hey tuomas you can choose as you please! But I think that funk played by jazz guys might be better on the jazz thread BUT if it's more funk than jazz then I say it's welcome here. Like, I was gonna pick donald byrd - blackbyrd, but , no matter what jazz purists say, is a jazz album, however The Blackbyrds albums should be posted here.

there's plenty of funk stuff that gets cordoned off as "jazz" for some inexplicable reason (Eugene McDaniels springs to mind)

funk is seen as a bad word for some people, too tied in with 'fusion' maybe?

Just out of interest, how many here have heard Ohio Players or Mandrill before?

I'd heard of but not heard either.

Had only heard Ohio Players guest on other tracks. Never even heard of Mandrill.

had heard of, but never listened to Mandrill before - seen plenty of their LPs in second hand shops; never heard of or listened to Ohio Players before; same goes for Chairmen Of The Board.

I had only heard "Skin Tight," "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster," and liked all three. I think 4-minute bursts, blowing out a little transistor radio, without warning, in the 1970s, is how I enjoy them the best.

So what you're saying is you need a time machine to enjoy them now?

possibly

The Blackbyrds are on my shortlist, we'll see whether anyone posts them before I do (the tension!).

Listening to the Funkadelic now, and having a NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT kinda time. I've loved "Alice in My Fantasies" for years from the Blind Idiot God version.

Not heard that cover actually. Glad you liked something though!

WmC what did you think of the rest of the album?
How is everyone else getting on with the albums?

Find the vocals really offputting with Funkadelic, they could've used a straight-up singer who wasn't in on the joke I reckon.

Which vocals/songs?

Personnel:

Spaced Viking; Keyboards & Vocals: Bernard (Bernie) Worrell
Tenor Vocals, Congas and Suave Personality: Calvin Simon
A Prototype Werewolf; Berserker Octave Vocals: Clarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins
World's Only Black Leprechaun; Bass & Vocals: Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson
Maggoteer Lead/Solo Guitar & Vocals: Eddie 'Smedley Smorganoff' Hazel
Rhythm/Lead Guitar, Doowop Vocals, Sinister Grin: Gary Shider
Supreme Maggot Minister of Funkadelia; Vocals, Maniac Froth and Spit;
Behaviour Illegal In Several States: George Clinton
Percussion & Vocals; Equipped with stereo armpits: Ramon 'Tiki' Fulwood
Rhythm/Lead Guitar; polyester soul-powered token white devil: Ron Bykowski
Registered and Licensced Genie; Vocals: 'Shady' Grady Thomas
Subterranean Bass Vocals, Supercool and Stinky Fingers: Ray (Stingray) Davis

Additional Personnel:

Drums: Gary Bronson
Bass: Jimmy Calhoun
Piano: Leon Patillo
Percussion: Ty Lampkin

Song-Specific Personnel:

"Red Hot Mama"
Lead Vocals: George Clinton, Eddie Hazel
Guitars: Eddie Hazel, Ron Bykowski

"Alice In My Fantasies"
Lead Vocals: George Clinton

"Sexy Ways"
Lead Vocals: Garry Shider

"Standing On the Verge..."
Lead Vocals: Parliament, Gary Shider
Guitar: Eddie Hazel, Ron Bykowski

"Jimmy's Got A Little..."
Lead Vocals: George Clinton

"Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts"
Lead Vocals: George Clinton

Not sure I could pick anything out yet, but pretty much all of it tbh - it's kind of hard to get into it when it's hard to tell it's an album by one band rather than a compilation. Pretty sure this'd be ridiculous in reality, but my thought when I had it on last was for the band to hold back a bit and let Tina Turner loose on it

you rangers fans just cant let go of that tina turner song!

take that back

but you are a rangers fan!

What have I done to deserve this? I need to stop saying whatever it was I was saying.

you need to listen to more funk

also answer your webmail

and again mr klata

(i was gonna answer yr webmail but i thought it would be petty just to send you 600 c&p of roxannes revenge for a fucking kid sister article)

sam have you listened to all of shakeys picks yet?

Also you got that article for what you said about Maggot brain.

:DDDDDDDDDD

Nah, I got a couple hours to kill atm, was gonna do the JB, Pete Rock, and whatever the Brazilian one is. Maybe an R&B one as well.

and whatever the Brazilian one is

Jorge Ben's A Tabua De Eesmerelda!

So I don't have to go into the 'show all messages' hellhole, what jbeezy we checking this week? also dr. john...

JB = The Payback
Dr John = Desitively Bonnaroo

and the other one was Chairmen of the Board's Skin I'm In

the big payback!

why i went like six months without listening to this album i have no idea.
actually, why i go each day without etc.

i was thinking of doing a jb week w/ this in it, gonna have to find a 3rd record now. maybe one of his crackhead christmas albums ;)

I kinda feel we should avoid having multiple albums by the same artist week until the 1st round of shots are done. So much funk to pick until we have to go down that road.

yeah I'm in favor of some diversity

I always liked to pretend that James was singing about
http://alicehyatt.com/cast/images/tayback.jpg

like, this genre has a lot of weird tangents, let's not get caught up in going over the canon

xp

okokokok i'll do just one jbeezy

of course there's nothing stopping you from doing a james brown,jb's, bootsy collins 3pick

Looks like you guys want be using lala.com for listening to albums since Apple are closing it.

yeah, I'm afraid that is going to seriously affect my ability to participate in these threads.

Nowhere else you guys can use? You need to ask the north american spotify users how they do it.

I don't have any qualms about dl'ing old shit from wherever, but understand we can't post those links here...

also not much of an issue for me since I already own tons of this stuff haah

The problem is that I'm doing my listening at work. I know I could plan ahead, d-l anything I don't have, and bring it in on my ipod, but I'm lazy and the world needs to accommodate that imho.

I'm lazy and the world needs to accommodate that imho.

^^^new board description

last updated 2 minutes ago by i never promised you a whinegarten (forksclovetofu)] 162 new answers

yet no post. Is ilx playing tricks?

So what was everyones fave album of this weeks picks then?

anyone?

I've only checked out The Payback - fabulous, the best thing so far. The band is tight, the frontmanning assured. Lots of little stylistic things, nice horns, a couple of terrific runs where it almost goes hard bop - but always kept in the frame of it being a James Brown album, which makes it much more coherent than the three from last week. Those string things are strange, though, but I like 'em.

I doubt this'll be an original observation, but JB's basically a preacher, isn't he? I feel like I've spent an hour-and-a-half in church.

Just a wee reminder
4/5 - Tuomas
11/5 - a hoy hoy
18/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
25/5 - Ismael Klata
1/6 - forksclovetu
8/6 - Seandalai
15/6 - moka
22/6 - Abbott
32/6 - The Rev
6/7 - pfunkboy
13/7 - Turangalila

If anyone can commit to a week after Turangalila just shout out.

i killed my post, it was just a "hey did you guys know how to find these albums easily on the internet?" dumbass thing.

Spotify, Lala.com and the cough ^

That Chairmen of the Board album is fucking incredible. "Love at First Sight" does not stop at whatever it does to me.

I've made a SPOTIFY PLAYLIST with the albums of both weeks (minus the Mandrill which isn't available)

Will add to it as each week goes by.

Brad, I recommend you check out the album Bittersweet

everybody's got something to hide except for...

http://i43.tinypic.com/i71ssz.jpg

Nice, I have it on vinyl too along with 3 or 4 others. Where did you get it?

brick lane.

my hand looks fucked up in that pic.

Enjoying the Chairmen of the Board a lot more than I thought I would. Really love the Mellotron in "Life & Death part 1" and "White Rose" (should cross-ref this record with the prog listening thread maybe) and how the keyboard parts shift to more traditional soul/funk organ sounds in "Life & Death pt 2".

The keyboard parts all through this are delightfully fucked up -- super-choppy organs in "Let's Have Some Fun"...

I told you all it was a fantastic record! Please check out Bittersweet too, less weird more song-y but no less great. I cant really listen to one without another.

Sam, what Arsenal players are this weeks albums?

Payback- van Persie
CotB- Diaby
not yet heard the dr. john

hmmmm. Are you familiar with any dr john?

apart from the track cop shoot cop

btw sam subscribe to my playlists on spotify for these threads. Will make things easier for you.

sign me up for 7/20 or 20/7 or whatever date style u wish

Ok!

4/5 - Tuomas
11/5 - a hoy hoy
18/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
25/5 - Ismael Klata
1/6 - forksclovetu
8/6 - Seandalai
15/6 - moka
22/6 - Abbott
32/6 - The Rev
6/7 - pfunkboy
13/7 - Turangalila
20/7 - mbison

Tuomas should be choosing his albums to be ready for tuesday. Look forward to seeing what he picks, but lets see what everyone else thought of last weeks albums first!

I've become very fond of "I'll Stay" off week 1's Funkadelic, and also digging the album a whole lot more than my first listen. "Good Thought, Bad Thought"'s smooth rock guitars also very lovely (reminds me of Lethal Weapon soundtrack, but im my world that's a good thing).

Been enjoying this week's choices, though the Chairmen of the Board album was the only one that really made an big impression me. J. Brown and Dr. John both were enjoyable to listen, but they both sounded exactly as I imagined they would - solid stuff, but not much surprises there.

Is it okay if I post my choices and introduction texts tonight already? I'm kinda busy tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I have that much time to write then.

Yeah, Im up for moving funk club to mondays, as it gives everyone a full working week to listen and post.
I'll just rearrange the dates.

Post now if you want Tuomas.

Funk club is now Monday start.

3/5 - Tuomas
10/5 - a hoy hoy
17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata
31/5 - forksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai
14/6 - moka
21/6 - Abbott
28/6 - The Rev
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila
19/7 - mbison

sign me up for another date wouldja

OK, done!

3/5 - Tuomas
10/5 - a hoy hoy
17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata
31/5 - forksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai
14/6 - moka
21/6 - Abbott
28/6 - The Rev
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila
19/7 - mbison
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier

I cant help feeling that the thread runs out of steam by the end of the week.

Would people object If 1 extra album was posted (by me) on say a Friday??

Cuz I have a lot of classic funk to share

and i cant wait 2 months for another go

plus Pfunkboys Friday Funk Bonus Album has a great ring to it

No objection as such, but I can't really keep up as it is.

I'm doing it anyway, funk is timeless so you can always listen later and post. But you know you want to hear Pfunkboys Friday Funk Bonus Album! It's an optional extra that will funkify your fridays!

My selection of albums coming up soon!

Ok! Remember to ask a mod to change the title too

Should we have the person picking the albums name in the title too?

Leon Thomas - Blues and the Soulful Truth (1972)
http://www.ifmusic.co.uk/images/product_images/Leon%20Thomas%20-%20Blues%20And%20The%20Soulful%20Truth%20book-1.jpg

Leon Thomas was best known for his collaboration with Pharoah Sanders, especially on the epic “The Creator Has a Master Plan”. But in the late 60s and early 70s he also released four fine solo albums, which unfortunately have gotten much less attention than the Pharoah collabs. Thomas’ first two solo albums were pretty much in the same free/soul jazz mold as his work with Pharoah, but on Blues and the Soulful Truth he took a turn to a funkier direction. The album begins with a greasy southern funk piece called “Let’s Go Down to Lucy”, and ends with a reworking of the blues classic “C.C. Rider”, and between the two you have a microcosm of what was going in funk/soul/fusion in the early 70s: from hippie psychedelia to apocalyptic political imagery to pure sex. All of Thomas’ four albums are well worth checking out, but this is probably the best (and the only one available on Spotify), a slept on masterpiece.

Spotify link

Betty Davis - Betty Davis (1973)
http://www.weirdorecords.com/cpCommerce/images/products/fullimages/BETTY-DAVIS-400_3346.jpg

Betty Davis’ titular solo recording is a rarity among funk albums, in that it was lead by a woman, and all the tunes are also written and produced by her. However, as compositions the tunes here are hardly memorable - there isn’t a single catchy chorus or pop hook to be heard. Nor is Davis a good singer by any definion: her register and technical capabilities are limited. What makes her songs special, though, are the lyrics, and especially her rather unique vocal style. Pretty much all her tunes are about sex, from the point of view of a liberated woman who’s out there for pleasure, not for romance. And she doesn’t sing them like a stereotypical sex kitten, but instead bends and twists and drawls her voice in ways few other female singers have done before or after. What makes the album truly funky, besides her voice, is the brilliant backing band that includes musicians like former Sly and the Family Stone members Larry Graham and Gregg Errico. Even if the record is lacking in the songwriting department, the grooves here are undeniably deep and fat. I’m not sure whether I could call Betty Davis a great album, but it certainly is a memorable one.

Unfortunately this one isn’t available on Spotify, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find elsewhere. My copy of the album has 8 tracks and ends with “In the Meantime”, but apparently there’s also a newer reissue with some bonus tracks added to the end.

Herbie Hancock - Perfect Machine (1988)
http://soulfunkjazz.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/hh-perfect-machine-del1.jpg

This is a controversial choice, as it’s by no means a pure funk album. But 80s electro-funk was obviously built on the foundation of 70s funk, and Perfect Machine is one of the funkiest examples of the genre. The first track is probably more electro than funk, and the last one (not counting the two bonus remixes on the CD reissue) is an odd experimental piece, but it’d be pretty hard not to call the tunes between them “funk”. How could you not, when you have Bootsy Collins on bass, Sugarfoot (of Ohio Players, featured here two weeks ago) on vocals and Herbie Hancock on keys? Perfect Machine is also the best among the three electronic albums by Herbie that resulted from his collaboration with Bill Laswell, even though Future Shock is better known due to the hit status of “Rockit”. Basically, I chose this album because I don’t think the listening club should limit itself only to classic 70s funk, and Perfect Machine is a good example of funk’s evolution and fusion with more electronic styles. Also, it’s lots of fun!

Spotify link

One question that came to my mind when writing about Betty Davis: why are there so many well-known female soul singers but so few in funk? I guess funk is inherently a more masculine genre than soul, but what makes it so?

those are some cool fucking album covers.

Yeah, the Leon Thomas cover especially is one of my favourites of all time.

why are there so many well-known female soul singers but so few in funk?

There's Ruth Copeland.

Interesting choices. Tuomas. Betty White album rules, Dunno the Leon Thomas at all, and an interesting Herbie Hancock, and my friday funk bonus pick will be a companion to it!

I would call Betty Davis a great album, though I think I prefer They Say I'm Different. It's possible that the novelty of a female funk performer is a factor, but that album is simply badass. There's a real cognitive dissonance to something like "If I'm In Luck, I Might Get Picked Up" when it's clear that Davis doesn't need to wait around for some fairly limp-sounding dude to pick her up.

I'm sure most of you have heard the infamous line from Betty's former husband, Miles Davis, that "Betty was too wild for me."

Updated funk club Spotify playlist http://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/3MgBpnaCdBMRHwXbeVFMb9

Oh yeah, I guess I should warn that even though Blues and the Soulful Truth is much less jazzy than the previous two Leon Thomas albums, there is some jazz on it, especially on "Gypsy Queen". But I can't imagine anyone on this thread being afraid of jazz.

"Gypsy Queen" also has one my favourite record sleeve credits of all time: Firecrackers by Leon Thomas, Pee Wee Ellis, Lillian Seyfert and Tony May. You can actually hear the firecrackers on that track!

I would call Betty Davis a great album, though I think I prefer They Say I'm Different. It's possible that the novelty of a female funk performer is a factor, but that album is simply badass.

Oh yeah, They Say I'm Different is nice too. I think that album has better lyrics (and more obviously feminist lyrics too, like you said "If I'm In Luck, I Might Get Picked Up" is an odd choice of phrase on the first album), and somewhat better songs too. But I think the backing band on it is weaker and kinda less funky, which is why I chose the debut album here.

huh never even heard of the Leon Thomas, very curious. Great cover. (and Pee Wee Ellis is a JB sideman, no?)

don't know that particular Herbie album either but am in general a big fan of his electro/funk stuff.

Betty Davis is classic but agree with elephant that "They Say I'm Different" probably woulda been my pick. Lyrics are classic obviously, but yeah the grooves are monster. And this one has the Journey dude on it too, right? lolz. never heard the bonus tracks, are they on a par with the rest of the album...?

as far as women in funk goes there are some greats, but most of them were ensemble/groups (Labelle, Parlet, the Brides of Funkenstein) or fronting other people's bands (Lynn Collins) - Betty stands out as a bandleader/songwriter/producer, which is a fairly unique combo in the genre.

funk wasn't nearly as retrograde sexist as reggae, for example

Also, They Say I'm Different has pretty awesome title/cover image combination:

http://lamortdudisque.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/betty-theysay.jpg

Cant beat a bit of Parlet or Brides Of Funkenstein.

Tuomas you can change your album pick if you want

I think it makes sense to hear her albums in order, so I think starting with Betty Davis is wise (and my wording was unclear: I actually meant "Betty Davis" is badass--I kind of enjoy that cognitive dissonance). "They Say" is definitely less tight than BD, but "They Say"'s title track is my favorite song of hers.

IIRC, the bonus tracks on BD are superb, maybe even rivaling the album proper (the reissue is on Lala btw).

(and Pee Wee Ellis is a JB sideman, no?)

I think so, yeah. The album features some other well-known instrumentalists too: "Pretty" Purdie, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Cornell Dupree, Larry Coryell...

betty's 'dedicated to the press' off Nasty Gal is immense

hey funkateers ILX R&B LISTENING CLUB week two: The Isley Brothers, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke has the isley brothers classic funk album 3+3 this week.

Pretty interesting that everyone here seems to know Betty Davis, but no one is familiar with the Leon Thomas - I kinda expected it to be the other way around. Has there been some sort of rise in her profile recently? When I came across her first two albums years ago in a local record store, I had no idea who she was, I just liked the album covers and song titles, and decided to give them a listen. I had read the Miles Davis autobiography in my youth, but I had no idea it was the same Betty who was married to Miles. Does Miles even mention Betty's funk career in the book? It's been so long since I read it that I can't remember.

her records have been rereleased several times of late, and am sure i've read pieces in MOJO on her. love leon's stuff w/pharoah sanders, must check out his solo stuff.

^^^exactly what I was about to say

wasn't she on the biggest record of the past 5 years or was it betty *somethingelse* on the carter iii?

betty swallocks?

xp
That was Betty Wright.

Speaking of rap and Betty Davis, there's a nice rap version of "Anti Love Song" called "The Anti-Love Movement" (featuring Talib Kweli) on this album.

In September 2009 Light in the Attic Records reissued Nasty Gal and her unreleased 4th studio album recorded in 1976, re-titled as Is It Love or Desire? (the original title was Crashin' From Passion). Both reissues contained extensive liner notes and shed some light on the mystery of why her 4th album, considered possibly to be her best work by many members of her band, was shelved by the record label and remained unreleased for 33 years.

Great picks - I think! I don't know the Leon Thomas and Herbie Hancock albums but I'm looking forward to checking them out.

the HH felt more electro to me. Felt very late 80s too.

Leon Thomas was very good, but it did feel more jazzy. I did enjoy it though, thanks for turning me on to such a good album , Tuomas!

Has anyone heard that previously unreleased 4th betty davis album?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419mZK-oTAL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I think it's great!

wtf that's not her on the cover (is it?)

the HH felt more electro to me. Felt very late 80s too.

Yeah, I know it's kind of a borderline case, but I felt that Bootsy's basslines and Sugarfoot's vocals made it more funk than some other electro records with synth bass and fully vocoderized vocals. At least it should raise some questions about the definition of "funk"... Should an album be played with "proper" instruments (drums, guitar, bass, keyboards + optional horns) for it to count as funk, or is enough if it sounds "funky"? (Of course, even if you find the latter definition better, it can't be stretched too far, otherwise you'd have to count lots of rap/house/breakbeat/etc records as "funk" too.) With Perfect Machine, you have Bootsy on "proper" bass, a combination of "proper" funk vocals and vocoders, and Herbie playing some "proper" keyboards, but everything else is done with synths, drum machines, and turntables. Is that enough for funk?

Leon Thomas was very good, but it did feel more jazzy. I did enjoy it though, thanks for turning me on to such a good album , Tuomas!

No prob! BatST is such a little known gem (as is Leon Thomas' whole solo career) that it's always nice to introduce it to new people. I did consider choosing Full Circle, Thomas' next studio album which is a straight soul/funk with little jazz on it, rather than BatST... But Full Circle is the weakest of his studio albums (though it's still pretty good), and it isn't on Spotify, plus it's kinda hard to find even a physical copy of it. That said, I think the only real jazz piece on BatST is "Gypsy Queen". All the other tunes fall into a funk/soul/blues continuum, at least according to my ears.

Yeah, a lot of blues on it too (not surprising considering there's covers of 2 very well known blues tracks)

Really not a fan of Betty Davis' voice

What about the music?

It's fine, I'm surprised at Tuomas liking it as it's very rock in places, more so even than Funkadelic in some ways

Maybe cuz it's a female singer? That makes a difference round here to some.

okay, I'm sold on Funkadelic /Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On - offically essential in my book now!

yes!! It's many pfunk fans fave Funkadelic. Definitely the Eddie Hazel fans fave.

It's fine, I'm surprised at Tuomas liking it as it's very rock in places, more so even than Funkadelic in some ways

Doesn't Tuomas like early Funkadelic though? it's just that he prefers Parliament more.

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7610/bdfront.jpg

...the woman too wild for Miles!

TBH, in my blurb I specifically didn't want to make any references to Miles, as I thought Betty should be judged by her own merits. When I first heard the first two Betty Davis albums I had no idea she was Miles' ex, in fact I knew nothing of her backstory, I just liked the music. I think it's pretty crass that at this day and age an album by a female musician needs to be marketed by referencing her famous boyfriend, and by quoting another famous male musician about her looks on the album cover. Can you imagine a similar marketing strategy with any male singer?

Checking out Chairmen Of The Board just now - some nice bits, especially early on, but it's not sticking as anything special

You dont even like the trilogy??

I just find the trilogy as exciting as anything in music

Tuomas, I hear you; I thought the blurbs were amusing as they don't even reference the musical strengths of the album.

I've listened to all 3 of your choices now.

I like quite a bit of Herbie's stuff from his lates 70s/early 80s period, but imo Perfect Machine has 3 pretty good tracks - which largely fail to transcend the period in which they were made (they sound less appealing as time passes) and the rest is interesting but not successful. Those 3 tracks being the title track, Vibe Alive and Maiden Voyage/P.Bop.

Herbie was the only one that I had heard before.

Listened to Betty Davis on my lunch hour - enjoyed it! ansd gonna listen to it again - there was a run of great tracks towards the end but I didn't look at the track titles when they came on - basically everything after the "I. Miller Shoes" song made me prick up my ears. So, I think a second listen to the album will be even more rewarding/enjoyable.

One listen yesterday afternoon of Leon - was a bit bored tbh - didn't excite me.

This date suit you , tom?

10/5 - a hoy hoy Winston
17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata (Not a rangers fan honestly)
31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D

If there are any funk albums left for me to recommend, yes!

Tuomas, I hear you; I thought the blurbs were amusing as they don't even reference the musical strengths of the album.

I think the weirdest thing in the cover sticker is "first official reissue". I checked my CD copy of Betty Davis and it was published in 2000, I guess it it isn't official then? But the sound quality on it is fine, it doesn't sound like it was mastered from vinyl or anything. And according to Discogs there was an even earlier reissue by another label that came out in 1993.

Betty sounding super seductive on the last track, "I will take that ride" - makes me wish more of this album was like this.

Pfunk, wish you'd funkafied my name in that schedule reminder up above

i couldnt think of one other than Tannenfunkybum Schmidt.

Yo! Tannenbaum more apt for the Hip Hop thread

he doesnt need a krautrock name either, tom does though.

I think the weirdest thing in the cover sticker is "first official reissue". I checked my CD copy of Betty Davis and it was published in 2000, I guess it it isn't official then? But the sound quality on it is fine, it doesn't sound like it was mastered from vinyl or anything. And according to Discogs there was an even earlier reissue by another label that came out in 1993.

I'm trying find a source for this, but I remember when the Light in the Attic reissues came out reading that all previous reissues had been bootlegs and Davis hadn't seen a dime from them. In fact, iirc, she was living in very poor circumstances in Philly.

Oh, and I agree on the objectification stuff--I only brought up that Miles quote because it relates to the frankness of her lyrics. Her shows were picketed by Christian groups for advocating S&M, I heard.

FWIW: http://www.xlr8r.com/news/2007/04/betty-davis-gets-reissued

did the same Christian groups picket the ohio players?

I have no idea! I'm sure they weren't pleased about the OP, but the fact that a woman was singing about S&M was surely worse in their eyes.

those covers were S&M pervtastic too though!

have you seen the fold out for Honey? Pure filth.
The Ohio Players Best 1970's Album (Album Covers pics contained maybe NSFW)

and

The Ohio Players Best 1970's Album (Album Covers pics contained maybe NSFW)

nsfw btw

maybe elephant rob is waiting until he gets home to look?

I listened to the newly released Betty Davis and I'm liking it. One of the tracks really stood out but I forgot to take note of the title. I dont think anyone who likes the 1st 3 albums will be disappointed.

Sam put it on while you drink your beers!

ha maybe. let me drop a gem on 'em first.

a what?

OK, I guess I'll volunteer to do the week after Tom, if these are still going in August. Can't provide Spotify links but I won't choose anything impossibly rare. Pfunkboy can call me Von Bootee!

Throwing on Leon Thomas now, looking forward to the yodeling...

Unfortunately the fact that BatST is a more straightforward funk/soul effort means that there's yodeling only on one or two tracks. If yodeling is what you want, check out the first two Leon Thomas albums (Spirits Known and Unknown and The Leon Thomas Album).

10/5 - a hoy hoy Winston
17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata (Not a rangers fan honestly)
31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!

there we go. At this point we have more volunteers for picking albums than listeners/posters!
Post your thoughts on the albums folks!

I'll be posting my friday bonus funk pick at midnight.

finally settled on my three choices for when I'm due to choose.

pfunk, what should I listen to next by Funkadelic/Parliment after seriously getting into "Standing On The Verge...." - shamefully know little by them

Prob. "Maggot Brain" for Eddie Hazel in full effect. "Let's Take It to the Stage" is quite similar to "Standing On The Verge" in some ways.

yeah the 1st 3 probably. Standing... is from the classic middle period.

pfunk, what should I listen to next by Funkadelic/Parliment after seriously getting into "Standing On The Verge...." - shamefully know little by them

dude be patient these guys are bound to take up a fair chunk of recommendations on this thread

have a read at

http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/motherpage/discog-funkadelic.html

then http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/motherpage/discog-top.html

the thing is their catalog is deep AND wide - there's a lot in there, and not all of it is of a piece. the first couple Funkadelic albums bear little to no resemblance to, say, late-period Parliament.

xpost: yeah, I've heard Maggot Brain and didn't like/understand it. But those links, pfunk, help in placing their mid-period so I'll check albums immediately before and after "Standing On The Verge"

So, anybody have anything more to say about this week's albums? I thought they would raise a little more discussion.

I think the mid-period stuff is wildly underrated - the run from Cosmic Slop through Tales of Kidd Funkadelic is remarkably consistent and probably the most deeply rewarding. The period often gets overlooked by the rock fans on the one hand who prefer the earliest, fuzzed out/prot-metal material and also by the dance fans who like the later bubbly, synth-heavy, hit-laden stuff (i.e., One Nation Under a Groove and on). But the middle period stuff is FULL of amazing sounds, its where Clinton hit his stride as a producer, and where Bernie Worrell comes to the for, but there's still plenty of guitar heroics, great riffs, Temptations-style group vocals, and loopy concepts. Honestly this is the stuff I pull out most often.

My recommendation for where to go after Standing would be Cosmic Slop, tbh.

xp

sorry Tuomas I haven't gotten to the Herbie yet, been a busy week for me!

Unfortunately the fact that BatST is a more straightforward funk/soul effort means that there's yodeling only on one or two tracks.

Oh don't worry, I know where to find the yodeling if I need it, thanks! Pretty enjoyable LP overall, nice variety in vocal approaches and instrumentation. Didn't care much for the two blues standards, I've heard enough cover versions over the years.

The Betty Davis album slams hard - all her albums do - and the woman herself makes for stunning album cover art. But yeah, her screech can be a little hard to take after listening awhile. (Approaches sheer white noise at times, practically!) Still, I'm glad these records were made, and glad that they're all available again.

thread full of lols + me defending Betty's catalog against some jerks

the mid period is a lot of pfunk fans fave because its the funk-rock period where eddie hazel writes most of it, after that he was incarcerated I think.

Drunk rather than incarcerated, I fear

no, i believe he was in and out of jail, possibly due to addiction

It was the booze that killed him though

20 years later!

no, i believe he was in and out of jail, possibly due to addiction

smoking angel dust on a plane, is the legend

maybe elephant rob is waiting until he gets home to look?

Sorry pfunkboy! I did indeed leave work for the day right after posting (though there actually isn't a lot that isn't safe where I work...now you probably all think I work in pr0n, ha). Those OP covers are pretty shocking and I'm sure they pissed somebody off here in the land of the free. I wish I could find a credible source for these stories I dimly recal, but my understanding is some Xtian group actually got Davis's tour canceled/shut down?

They shock now, so just imagine how shocking they were then. So you're the 2nd ilxor to work in pr0n then? ;)

Well, I do work in (book) publishing...

God, that old Betty Davis thread is not a fun read. I have a shitty ear, and I don't want to reopen this "debate" but I always thought she had a pretty nice voice. I can't think of anyone else who could sing "They Say I'm Different" the way she does.

Heh, I made a coupla fairly obnoxious (intentionally) full-o-shit remarks on that thread! (Didn't say anything bad about Betty, mind.)

Pfunkboy's Friday Funk Bonus Pick

This one will compliment Tuomas' picks.

Herbie Hancock - Manchild
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/h/hancoc_herb_manchild~_101b.jpg
Spotify Link

Herbie's funkiest album IMO. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

AMG review

Perhaps the funkiest album of Herbie Hancock's early- to mid-'70s jazz/funk/fusion era, Man-Child starts off with the unforgettable "Hang Up Your Hang Ups," and the beat just keeps coming until the album's end. "Sun Touch" and "Bubbles" are slower, but funky nonetheless. Hancock is the star on his arsenal of keyboards, but guitarist Wah Wah Watson's presence is what puts a new sheen on this recording, distinguishing it from its predecessors, Head Hunters and Thrust. Others among the all-star cast of soloists and accompanists include Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica, and longtime Hancock cohort Bennie Maupin on an arsenal of woodwinds.

Please still discuss the other album, this is just a bonus pick, which I think compliments the album Tuomas picked, which you can also discuss.

And if a mod is reading this , could they please perhaps add the bonus to the thread title, it might entice in others who had already finished with the weeks pics.

friday funk bonus bump

I'm sure Tuomas will approve of this album

late pass but that dr. john is... well it reminds me of that 30 rock joke- (kenneth: do you not remember your wedding vows? tracy: to be honest I could barely understand a word rick james was saying.) funky but my mind ain't clear enough and my booty not in the mood for shaking.

Hungover?

Today, sam is tony adams

nah, tory hate instead of booze.

Go listen to Chocolate City then

Tuomas are you a fan of this Herbie Hancock album?

I am. dl'd it recently but I'd heard bits of it before. definitely peak prot-electro funk period for him.

I bought it in a 3cd box I think it was back in the 90s. Loved it from the moment I heard it. It is really funky.

And funnily enough, it doesnt sound dated at all unlike the 80s stuff.

Yup, its a 3xCD box of Headhunters,Man-Child and Future Shock. It's even on Spotify in this form.

that's an odd combo - Thrust seems like a more logical match for the others than Future Shock

Probably 2 well known albums in with a less well known one so it still sells.

me hungover earlier today with my signed! copy of HH; also enjoyed listening to Man-Child again this afternoon.

http://img263.imageshack.us/i/herbie.jpg/

http://www.chromogenik.com/misc/herbie.jpg

I blame Sam for this trend

cheers jj

Hmm, for some reason I've never acquired a copy of Man-Child, even though I like it and I own all the other Herbie albums between Mwandhishi and Sunlight. I agree with Herman that it is very good, but I'm not sure if it's Herbie's funkiest... I'd say that title goes to Secrets ("Spider" off that album sounds like a theme to some lost blaxploitation flick), though Man-Child isn't far, and it's probably better as a whole than Secrets.

Secrets is that the disco one? or is that feets dont fail me now? I have both (got very cheap) but cant say I've played them in over 10 years

i dont have sunlight

heh

Feets Don't Fail Me Now (1979)

Herbie Hancock's electric records up until this point were marked by intelligence and adventure, even at their most earthy. But no, this one doesn't have an ounce of either. Herbie falls hook, line and sinker for the disco fad and submerges his personality underneath the plastic vocals and four-on-the-floor disco beat. Hancock's own gauzy vocals through a Sennheiser vocoder are embarrassing, and even his synthesizer work sounds coarse and gimmicky. This time, even the purists were right; this is of no interest to jazz listeners and it isn't even good disco. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Yeah, Feets Don't Fail Me is the disco one. It has a couple of awesome stompers on it. The reason I feel Secrets is the funkiest Herbie album is cause it puts so much weigth on the bass and rhythm guitar - basically it's a showcase for Wah Wah Watson.

Sunlight, alongside Lite Me Up and a couple of others, has been reissued by the French branch of Columbia, they're not part of Columbia/Sony's "Legends" series, that's why they're harder to find than most Herbie reissues. You should definitely check it out though, it has some lovely pieces of breezy vocoder disco, plus a weird, angular fusion piece with Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius.

wah wah watson is on manchild though!

Yeah, but he's more prominent on Secrets.

They're all on Spotify, Tuomas. I might give them a go but I cant see me liking it. Not a big disco fan, it killed off a lot of funk, and I find that unforgivable! (i do like some early stuff, and next weeks bonus pick will be one of those, its smoking hot, funky as shit and an all-time classic, but that's all i'm gonna say)

Well, Sunlight is less disco than Feets, it's not that far from Man-Child except that it has a softer, sweeter sound and vocoder vocals.

xpost: Really? I've seen "Sunlight" around quite often over the last few years. I guess Sony's last bunch of CDs pressed went.

I love "I Thought It Was You" offa Sunlight. Agree with Tumoas, its worth checking (its on Spotfiy) - the disco/electro/vocoder/funk of "I Thought It Was You" and the closing "Good Question" which is like a improv-jazz jam on all the cool new funk and electro instruments Herbie was toying with. Basically everyone goes crazy and its great.

yeah I'm giving Sunlight a listen now, but I'm not a fan of vocoder really.

Not a big disco fan, it killed off a lot of funk, and I find that unforgivable! (i do like some early stuff, and next weeks bonus pick will be one of those, its smoking hot, funky as shit and an all-time classic, but that's all i'm gonna say)

hmmmm.... hope it's not something that 2 Live Crew sampled from.... I got that lined up.

but I'm not a fan of vocoder really.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 7 May 2010 22:37 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

you're probably not gonna like my picks for when I'm due!

pm me with your picks funkybum! I'll let you know.

or email me at my username @ g mail
(not herman)

argh you didnt include email to reply to

oh i'll pm you that now!

got it (but i already had pm'd you here but i emailed you it too)

yeah got it. will think include the one I wasn't gonna if I can get a Friday bonus for the other one.

agree, the one I wasn't should be here!

friday bonus is all me me me! (its cuz i cant wait 2 months for another shot haha)

but feel free to email me suggestions for friday bonus, i might agree with you.

anyway email me back with what you plan.

Sunlight just washed all over me..

tannenbaum email me

gotcha, a swap is on

Sunlight didn't really do anything for me, i didn't hate it or anything, it just wasnt as good as what preceded it. It's no man-child.

Dare I listen to Feets again?

Sam you need to say which player Man-Child is.

What's Man Child again? Sorry, I'm running behind on all these polls this week. I blame ilx's own Clint Dempsey.

ew also called it a poll instead of a lc.

It's THE ILM FUNK LISTENING CLUB! Vol #3: May 3 - May 9 with Leon Thomas, Betty Davis and Herbie Hancock... (NOW WITH BONUS FRIDAY HERBIE HANCOCK - MANCHILD CONTENT) All ILXors and lurkers welcome.

What age Herbie is it? Because I've not really liked anything post-Sextant that I've heard so far.

you dont like Headhunters??

Man-Child is from 75

We've gone through this before- not really, no. It's all a bit too wanky souljazzcompilation for me.

you mentalist. You are fabianski

Not even denying it!

Anyway Man-Child is thoroughly funky and if you dont like it you are Sir Winston D'Voidoffunk

And be ready to post your albums at midnight
10/5 - a hoy hoy Winston
17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata (Not a rangers fan honestly)
31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!

ha, i'm at work at midnight. can i email you my picks and you post them?

sure, I would imagine you will be sleeping all day and not exactly wanting to post them when you get home.

username@ g mail dot com

i just did it over the ilx webmail

you get it?

yup. cant reply to you though as you didnt give me a reply address

if you want you can just post them just now along with any blurbs you provide. Makes more sense really.

samuel pooley @ gmail . com

nah, too busy loving the yooouuutuuube vid thread.

lol you lazy you you you (tell me who a lazy arsenal player is quick)

hah, I just realised i have your email anyway

I'm surprised you went for a modern pick, but I dont think a 90s RHCP album will go down well.

Sir Winston Samuel A-Hoy-D'Voidoffunk's picks (as emailed to me, but with added amg reviews)

#1
Parliament - Motor Booty Affair
http://newmind666.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/parliament-motor-booty-affair1.jpg
AMG Review:

By this point Parliament was one of the most accomplished and intelligent bands in music. With albums like Mothership Connection and The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein,
George Clinton's druggy and patently eccentric humor often obscured the enviable musicianship throughout. Motor Booty Affair is no doubt another classic album
and the perfect follow-up to 1977's Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome. On Motor Booty Affair, Clinton decides to yuck it up more with a great underwater concept
and a few of his stronger alter egos, including the rhythmically challenged Sir Nose D' Void of Funk and his friend Rumpofsteelskin.
The deft and airy "Mr. Wiggles" has Clinton taking on the persona of Wiggles, the "DJ of the affair" as he says: "Mr. Wiggles here on roller skates
and a yo-yo/Acting a fool." The hypnotic "Rumpofsteelskin" has a great bassline and inventive and infectious background vocals. The closest thing to a ballad here
is the astrologically savvy "(You're a Fish and I'm A) Water Sign." The well-produced "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)" with its handclaps
and high-pitched basslines basically set the standards for the sound of R&B in the coming decade. The sleeper of the album, "One of Those Funky Things,"
is filled with timbales, congas, and Bernie Worrell's great synth signatures. The last track, "Deep," has great, understated riffs from the Horny Horns.
Although many Parliament efforts can't be fully appreciated unless the whole catalogue is nearby, Motor Booty Affair
stands on its own merits and sustains the laugh throughout.

#2
James Brown - Hell
http://www.thefunkstore.com/CurrentCDs/StartUp/JamesBrown-Hell-CD-Cover.jpg

AMG Review:

Brown's early-'70s run of classic singles and good-to-great albums is still impressive. Hell was the double album released a year after the gold selling The Payback.
To some, the title might put this effort in the realm of kitsch, but in many ways Hell was one of Brown's strongest albums. The album was the pinnacle of his work
as the Minister of the Super New New Heavy Funk. From the tough and nimble Latin rhythms of "Coldblooded," and "Sayin' It and Doin' It" to the title track,
all are prime pre-disco Brown. "My Thang" is probably as hard and unrelenting as he got without spontaneously combusting. The biggest surprise of Hell is that
no matter how odd the song choices seemed, practically everything worked, excluding a few key songs of course. Both "When the Saints Go Marching In"
and "Stormy Monday" don't belong in James Brown's catalogue, let alone the same album. Ballad-wise, Brown fares better. "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You"
has him getting all warm and fuzzy as he inexplicably throws in an "I'm hurt, I'm hurt" for good measure. That song, as well as the weepers "A Man Has to Go to
the Cross Road Before He Finds Himself" and "Sometime," were produced by David Matthews who could always get good ragged yet poised vocals from Brown.
Although Brown did roll snake eyes on all of side three, he did leave Hell on a good note. "Papa Don't Take No Mess" is laid-back, funky jazz that's worth each of
its 13-plus minutes. Despite a few detours, Hell is worth listening to.

Spotify Link

#3
E.S.G.- Come Away With ESG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DA6F63mYW-Y/SmZqZqXbf_I/AAAAAAAAAYs/WGimKtVLeJA/s400/esg~~~~~~~~_comeawayw_101b.jpg

Dustygroove said

The only reall full length album that ESG ever cut back in the day -- and a great little set that's filled with tightly-snapping funk all the way through! The vibe here is one that strongly continues the groove laid down by the first ESG EP -- a hypnotic blend of simple basslines, vocal chants, and punchy percussion -- often produced with a bit of darkness in the mix, so that the music comes off sounding a lot colder than typical small combo funk! There's almost an arty post-punk sensibility to the music here -- a sound that got ESG an audience in places most other funk groups could never reach, and which still stands up tremendously over the years! Titles include "Moody (Spaced Out)", "The Beat", "Tiny Sticks", "Parking Lot Blues", "You Make No Sense", "My Love For You", "Chistelle", "Dance", "Come Away", and "It's Alright".

Spotify Link

Sam will tell us what Arsenal players they are when he gets home

Henry; Lehmann; that one season Wiltord was awesome, honest, I remember seeing it.

Naw, that was a dream.

off the cuff thoughts:

- Classic Parliament, was actually just listening to it yesterday in the car on the way to the park. Title track's bassline is probably my favorite moment, altho the whole album never lets up and is packed to the gills (sorry) with great bits. Wish I had the comic book that came with this originally. Inner photo of Clinton riding two dolphins in a cowboy suit with a boombox is such a great WTF image.
- Don't think I've ever listened to the entirety of Hell, altho I know some of the tunes (including Papa Don't Take No Mess, which is prime stuff). will listen. Think I've always been suspicious of this one because of the weird-o song selection
- Been aware of ESG for years (thx to back-in-the-day shoutouts from Luscious Jackson, lol) but never heard anything. this stuff used to be impossible to find. will dig in

I love the souljazz ESG comp, so I'm looking forward to that one. Definitely more of a Funkadelic fan than Parliament, but I do like Funkentelechy.

Funkentelechy is awesome. No doubt that will be picked by someone soon enough.

I'm weeks behind on these, but I'll chime in on the ESG -- excellent choice! I actually own that one already (in digital form, but still).

well you can comment on any of the albums at any time.

ESG album is awesome! Deserves to place in all essential album lists - there is NOTHING to find fault with about it. heard a bunch of the tracks before, and seen them live at least twice - so, so great and fun live with their daughters in tow.

Not yet heard the other two. Distracted by Ambient and HipHop club at the mo'

the ambient club has brilliant albums this week so I cant really blame you i suppose but you gotta play the Parliament.

Sam, got anything to say to tempt people reading this, to listen to your choices?

funk music is awesome and made by awesome musicians.

also you suck if you dont like these records.

The ESG is great and while a lot of it is on that souljazz comp, I actually preferred the brevity and focus of this. I'm struggling in some of these clubs to find anything worth saying about stuff like James Brown (he's pretty good?). Not that I'm saying people shouldn't pick major albums or anything, just explaining my own lack of commenting.

what ESG album is "Six Pack" off?

I think that was just a single? Though it's on souljazz's sequel comp A South Bronx Story 2.

Tannenbaum has traded me a friday bonus jazz pick for a funk one, so it will be interesting to see what he chooses, will find out in a few days! But please keep commenting on Sam's picks!

motor booty affair is for real og's only

James Brown never had an idea he didn't enjoy repeating ad nauseam

― the sound of a norwegian guy being wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, April 27, 2010 3:40 PM (2 weeks ago)

Heh, was gonna answer "Yeah, howbout JB's Hell album, on which every single track is preceded by the sound of a gong?" And there it is! JB trying for a piece of the Kung Fu/Bruce Lee zeitgeist of '73-4, probably.

Haha, I need to check that out

It's a bit patchy, but you just know that everyone has different favourite tracks they wouldn't leave out to make a single cd.

listening now - lol this version of Cold Blooded is totally different from the original

also, who's the band on this...? I'm guessing that this is post-Maceo/Fred Wesley departure, the arrangements seem a little busier than what they would do. Drumming doesn't really sound like Jabo or Clyde either.

James Brown never had an idea he didn't enjoy repeating ad nauseam

speaking of which, jesus christ how many versions of Please Please Please did this guy record?!?

lol wait I think I was mixing up Coldblooded with Cold Sweat before

speaking of which, jesus christ how many versions of Please Please Please did this guy record?!?

about 3 million?

That's a lot of Pleases

i wonder if anyone got any royalties they were due from it

oh please

naw, just bullshittin.
Douglas is the right guy to ask JB q's to; I think he's the board expert.

It wasn't really a serious question..

who is in the band on Hell was a serious question!

hmm Wesley left in '75 so he's probably on this, not sure about Maceo or the drummers though

I dont own the cd so i cant check

in general I'd say the album's uneven - I'm partial to the trance-inducing epics so obviously my favorite here is Papa Don't Take No Mess, and there's plenty of other nice, muscular workouts on it but on the whole it's a little too busy. JB works best as a minimalist in a lot of ways, the showier the arrangements, the less interesting he becomes.

My James Brown jam is 'Lost Someone.' It's one of his rare moments of going into deep soul. I wish he had explored that kind of soul more.

Sorry pfunk to come late to this listening party, Thanks for making me listening to The Ohio Players again. I love the slow jam on that album. They still had moments of a soul vocal group on that album. By far my favorite of theirs. The Parliament and Funkadelic on this thread was fun listening to, but for me they start treading close to jamming land. I know that's my fault as a listening and not their fault. I love the Dr John Album! There needs to be more louisiana on this funk thread. Some Of the songs on that record remind me of Willie Tee.

Echoing a thanks for the Dr. John mention on this thread. I got 'Destively Bonaroo' because of this thread and wound up getting a bunch of other Dr. John albums as a result. So good! I was put off because it seems he has worked to become, like Wynton Marsalis, a conservative guardian of NO music and has been pilloried for it (whenever I hear him it reminds me of Patton Oswalt's crack about Dr. John wearing a hat made of meat!) But listening to his early stuff and knowing he had worked with Spiritualized made me think that getting these early albums would be worth it and they have.

I have a lot of funk stuff, but when I see you guys dropping obscure stuff like Mandrill, Chairmen of the Board, or letting me know that, yes, before they picked up one of his songs for that stupid Helen Hunt/Paul Reiser sitcom, Dr. John was funky -- all I have to say is thank you for this thread!

heh, that stuff isnt obscure, we went for established classics first! you wait until we go obscure on your funky butt!

everything Dr. John did between like 1968 and 1975 is pretty awesome btw

ESG is definitely my fave this week, I'm going to listen to it again now and try to come up with something interesting to say about it. The Parliament and JB are fine, but they just kind of sound like yet another Parliament or JB album (though admittedly WITH GONGS).

It's not the best Parliament album by any means I'd rank about 5 ahead of it, but it's still great, Parliament just set very high standards!

I'd rank about 5 ahead of it

?? really? that seems like a lot

I mean Mothership Connection is obviously THE Parliament album, but I'd put Chocolate City, Funkentelechy and Motorbooty Affair right behind it

Osmium, Mothership Collection,Funkentelechy vs the placebo syndrome,The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, Chocolate City.

In fact up for the down stroke I prefer too

Like I said, Parliament had high standards (til the final 2 albums)

And many people have a different favourite. Always going to happen when a band has such an amazing catalog

yeah I dunno I don't rate Clones and Up for the Down Stroke as highly (the production on Clones is oddly thin to my ears, and UFTDS is just inconsistent). I always feel weird considering Osmium as part of Parliament's main catalog - I know it was released under that name, but everything else released as Parliament is almost an entirely different band. I know there's overlapping personnel and a lot of times who released what under which name was kinda arbitrary, I just associate Osmium more as a Funkadelic thing. It has the original Funkadelic line-up on it, and it bears way more resemblance to, like, America Eats Its Young than anything else released with the Parliament moniker.

As I said, we all have different favourites. But Osmium IS Parliament.

Friday Funk Bonus Album will be chosen by funkybum schmidt this week after the swap.

and here it is!

Friday Funk Bonus

Eugene McDaniels: Headless Heros Of The Apocalypse (1971)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mdkT1niqL._SS500_.jpg

Spotfiy

When this album was first released in 1971, so the legend goes, Nixon's vice-president Spiro Agnew himself called Atlantic Records to complain about the album's incendiary lyrics. Once again available on CD, McDaniels' funky social critique is wrapped up in an appealing stew that draws from rock, R&B, folk, soul, and even free jazz.

Dustygroove: A monster album that's gone onto influence a generation - but which was barely recognized at the time! Singer Eugene McDaniels had scored big with some pop hits in the 60s under the name Gene McDaniels - but here, he steps out in a righteous batch of offbeat funk tunes - filled with politics, offbeat rhythms, and some very weird instrumentation. The whole thing's awash in moody, jazzy changes - of the style that showed up often in samples by Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, and other artists who drew keen inspiration from this record.

Here's a detailed blog entry that could also help non-Spotify , from which:

Depending on which story you read, either the (then) supremely despicable (Nixon administration) Vice President Spiro Agnew or the equally contemptible Chief of Staff Harry Haldeman contacted Atlantic Records and demanded that the label stop recording the singer after the album was released in 1971.

AMG review: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3vfpxqekld6e

Seriously, you NEED to hear this record

ah shit, mispelt Heroes

Excellent choice!

That's a super album indeed. And about time too - all this happy funk was making me happy.

lol

Sam has to give you an Arsenal player verdict too

great album - was on my prospective list of things for this thread btw

A good bit of listening down today:

1. I tracked down a thing I'd read about and planned on nominating myself - pretty good, but obviously I can't reveal what it is now.

2. ESG - really excellent, I want to know more about it, where it came from, what's the lineage, etc. I wouldn't actually have put this down as funk had it not come up in the club. Not sure what i'd've called it, maybe big beat or some kind of punk house. It kept reminding me of 'Pump Up The Volume' more than anything else.

3. I had Betty Davis on briefly too. Really like it. I took a bit of abuse upthread for suggesting that Funkadelic should scrub the vocal tracks and get someone like Tina Turner in - this is the kind of thing I had in mind.

ESG - really excellent, I want to know more about it, where it came from, what's the lineage, etc. I wouldn't actually have put this down as funk had it not come up in the club. Not sure what i'd've called it, maybe big beat or some kind of punk house.

"Punk house" isn't far off; they're usually considered part of the Mutant Disco/post-punk/dance-punk scene like Konk and Liquid Liquid. The AMG bio is good on a lot of your questions; if you don't know their origin story, it's quite charming: http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:39fwxqr5ld6e~T1.

it's ilm's idea of funk

That sounded disparaging , I meant the kind ILM in general would like. You know what I mean anyway.

I like the way ESG (apparently) came up with their sound on their own and had no idea what was going on in the whole post-punk/No Wave scene.

They remind me of a minimalist Tom Tom Club quite a bit.

I like the way ESG (apparently) came up with their sound on their own and had no idea what was going on in the whole post-punk/No Wave scene.

i can believe it since most people had no idea that was going on.

no one got any thoughts on tannenbaums friday funk bonus?

xp - Yeah, but compare to clued-in art school kids like the Bush Tetras who ended up in kind of the same musical place...

17/5 - Tannenbaum Schmidt
24/5 - Ismael Klata (Not a rangers fan honestly)
31/5 - funksclovetu
7/6 - Seandalai Funkify
14/6 - moka Funka
21/6 - Abbott The Bricklayer
28/6 - The Rev Funkenstein
5/7 - pfunkboy
12/7 - Turangalila Funkapus
19/7 - mbison the texan funkateer
26/7 - Shakey Mo Funkier
2/8 - Tom "Funkybutt" D
9/8 - Von Bootee!

ready to go funkybaum schmidt?

This week, we look back at the Titans of Talkbox Electro Funk: ZAPP AND ROGER!! (pay attention, Chromeo fans!)

Zapp was formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Tony Troutman and Terry "Zapp" Troutman. Known for hits such as "More Bounce to the Ounce", "Dance Floor" and "Computer Love", the group was a partial source of inspiration to West Coast hip-hop and G-funk, which came out of the hand clapped-drum beat styled funk of Zapp's records, with Roger's use of the talk box becoming another reason for the group's impact and its success.

All Music Guide artist bio

Zapp - Zapp I(1980)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J5NPZM0RL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Spotify