Last albums you bought/received

[Bartleby]

If replacing old tapes counts, most recently The White Album.
If not, then I'm not sure...I think Rodrigo y Gabriela

 

[Rambuchan]

This is why I don't post in music threads too often. If I did, I'd never stop!

Heh. "Eclectic" is a funny word. People almost only use it nowadays to describe their music collection &/or musical tastes, and hardly ever use it in any other connection. And at least 75% of the people I've discussed music with are sure that their musical tastes are indeed "eclectic"...

True. But this shouldn't stop us using the word to describe our taste in wines, films or indeed clothing.

Dunno why, but funk & soul have always left me cold. Not even sure I'd be able to distinguish between the two, to be honest. Do you want to have a go at explaining their appeal, preferably using words outside the funk canon ? (By that I mean, using terms such as "a crucial record label", "slammin' funkin' hip-hop", "crucial piece of sonic history", and "mathematical funk" probably communicates clearly to the funk afficianados to whom you are mostly speaking, but as I just speak white boy music, it doesn't mean a lot to me.)

Well yes, that post was for people I have email exchanges with and those seemingly meaningless descriptions mean plenty to funk fanatics.

Here's your soul / funk breakdown:

Soul Music predates Funk. In fact, one might describe funk as "a bastardisation of soul music". English folk have probably heard of "Northern Soul". Well that is a movement populated by people who are all too aware of the distinction between the two musical forms. When soul music started to evolve further in the 60s and 70s, basically this meant funk started coming out, it specifically meant a new path for soul music. Well soul nuts in England didn't like it one bit. So "Northern Soul" is really just soul music, but a more telling description would be "soul that refused to go funky".

But what is that distinction? Music nuts argue over it ad nauseum. I would say that soul music is: "the result of a synthesising of southern blues, cotton field songs, romantic sentiment & church music, but has been popularised for a multi-ethnic market".

If you watched the film "Ray" you might recall a scene when he is heckled in a club for "playing the devil's music". Well that's because he was bringing the gospel sounds of the church, into the nightclubs of America. It was audacious, like James Dean telling teenagers around the world to tell their parents where to go. It was a liberation of a great deal of creative energy and we've had a plethora of cultural consequences.

Now Funk is the product of that process taken even further. Funk is soul music at its core but even more raunchy, audacious and glitzy. The ectatic gospel sounds can be heard in the lyrics, in the vocal styles, in the wailing Hammond B3 organs. But it's more.

It's about "The Breakbeat", which is why I mentioned the James Brown record upon which you can hear him giving his drummer instructions. That breakbeat is the foundation stone upon which modern dance music is built. Hip-hop, jungle, drum'n'bass, garage, many rock beats, and so on - these all use the breakbeat as their core building block. It's also the beat that makes funk, funky. What makes it danceable. That missed / broken beat is what puts the dip in your hip and a glide in your stride. It's quite literally a mathematical groove, which musicians count to and dancers groove over.

Also, funk has a heavy jazz influence. The improvisation of the jazz world is very much present in funk. This is why, as a genre, you can find some of the most talented and avante garde musicians in this funk / jazz field. Sly Stone (of the Family Stone), is another such man. He massively inspired the music of Miles Davis (in particular his sense of rhythm). And if you know anything about music, you'll know what a colossal innovator Miles Davis was and is.

Another reason why I like funk so much is it is feel good music. That's why it jump starts a party so often. It can also take quite radical political messages and metamorph them into something danceable, something feel good, something that can act as a catchphrase for a nation's people. A good example here was James Brown's "(Say it out loud) I'm Black And I'm Proud." Taken to its furthest extreme, in the music of Parliament and Funkadelic, this musical form can be some of the finest absurdist material out there. Consider Monty Python's messages and then put Bootsy Collins and George Clinton in the place of John Clese and say Michael Palin.

PS Anyway - can a record label really be "crucial" ? As long as one keeps it in the right CD case, one should be able to remember what music it is, and playing the thing is always there as a last resort.

A record label can certainly be crucial; politically, socially, culturally and so on. As crucial as say the Dutch or British East India Company or Nike or Corus Steel or Sky. They are companies, often very large ones, that can have serious influence on the shape of our society.

eg. Staxx Records in Memphis, Tennessee, was a crucial record label in more ways than one.

It was a serious political player in the Civil Rights movement. It's artists (like Isaac Hayes) were campaigners, it's buildings were used as refuge and / or organisational centres, its concerts were political rallies. It's multi-ethnic staff was a pre-Civil Rights demonstration of a post-Apartheid America.

Musically and cultural, Staxx's artists synthesised blues music of all varieties, merged it with jazz, merged it with soul and created altogether new musical forms. Many of the more popular musical forms we have in the charts these days can be considered evolutionary descendants of the music Staxx put out.

And think of Tamla Motown Records and Berry Gordy. This is the label and the man that arguably gave us the boy/girl band format. Think of Diana Ross and The Supremes. The Beatles were heavily and openly influenced by the music, marketing and general savvy shown by Berry Gordy. So I reckon it's safe to say that Tamla Motown has had a crucial influence on the cultural landscape of our modern societies.

 

[Perfection]

The last piece of music I recieved was Milestones IIRC.

I recieved from a friend I think (could've been a relative), and that was either 2 or 3 years ago.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

at least 75% of the people I've discussed music with are sure that their musical tastes are indeed "eclectic"...

True. But this shouldn't stop us using the word to describe our taste in wines, films or indeed clothing.

I was suggesting that the word had become devalued, almost meaningless, in the context of (at least) music. And one person's "eclectic set" is another's "hey, isn't all funk & soul stuff ?"

I have a friend who steadfastly reserves the right to use the word "eclectic" for his musical tastes, though he never plays anything but classical music. A wide variety of classical music, to be sure, but only classical. Then again, he is strange.

No matter. If you want to be eclectic, Ram, you be eclectic. I'm just saying it doesn't tell us anything.

Here's your soul / funk breakdown:

Interesting, thanks. So what would you recommend as an introduction ? (And is there any point if I'm only going to listen to it on my iPod on the deeply unfunky 7.24 from Marks Tey to Stratford (strictly no dancing...) ?)

A record label can certainly be crucial; politically, socially, culturally and so on.

You take me too seriously. It was a joke. You know - record label, in the sense of the sticky bit in the middle of your 12" (ooh, err, madam...), and "crucial" as in "essential". You were using both terms in a funky music speak sense. Ah well; jokes are never worth trying to explain or apologising for....

Anyhow, thanks for the explanation.

 

[soul_warrior]

jazzanova - remixes 2002-2005
great nu-jazz works from those german geniuses.

Let's Boogaloo 3
more (it is vol 3, after all) classic and new latin-funk-groove-soul gems.

and finally:
Fat freddy's drop - based on a true story
dubby, jazzed out, soul mixed with a very heavy dose of hiphop from New Zealand.

 

[jonatas]

Dunno why, but funk & soul have always left me cold. Not even sure I'd be able to distinguish between the two, to be honest. Do you want to have a go at explaining their appeal, preferably using words outside the funk canon ? (By that I mean, using terms such as "a crucial record label", "slammin' funkin' hip-hop", "crucial piece of sonic history", and "mathematical funk" probably communicates clearly to the funk afficianados to whom you are mostly speaking, but as I just speak white boy music, it doesn't mean a lot to me.)

I'm going to have a go at this too from my perspective. Funk and soul are different genres which are easily distinguishable once you're familiar with the sound. Soul predates Funk and is a much broader category which encompasses artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations. Soul is basically the popular black music you could hear on the radio in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the classic songs we all have heard. You know, Respect, When a Man Loves a Woman, Dancing in the Street etc...

Funk is a much smaller subgenre which grew out of Soul and became its own thing, probably best exemplified in James Brown. You can see in James Brown how he is a soul man early on in his career, singing in the more traditional type of Soul music. But he definitely moves out of that and starts to create his own high energy sound, which is Funk as we know it. It becomes the sound of the 70s.

How do I classify the Funk sound? Well it is a very definite, to begin with. You can't mistake it for anything else. It is high energy, features a repetitive beat which I would classify as overtly sexual, often features guitars on wah-wah pedals, and horns too of course. The tempo can be fast or slow. It often has a feel good, positive, happy sound, but can also have a darker, more prowling sound as well (think of a cat on the stalk). Funk is like a wild cat, dangerous and beautiful, independent, intelligent, true to itself... Hah I bet you're think what is he talking about. The message of funk is all inclusive. It brings people together and unites them, especially everyday people. It speaks to people in a way that no other medium could. There's a truthfulness to Funk, like you would find in the Blues as well. Also, Funk is in its essence creative. It's about people getting into a groove and staying in it.

PS Anyway - can a record label really be "crucial" ? As long as one keeps it in the right CD case, one should be able to remember what music it is, and playing the thing is always there as a last resort.

Yes, a record label can be crucial. That's how music reaches the masses. Unfortunately, a lot of the very best and most innovative music does not seem to have been seriously picked up by record labels initially and consequently became "underground". Eg. Miles Davis post fusion '74/75 period, which was released in Japan originally, and only in America a couple of decades later. Everyone drools over *****es Brew but generally has no clue of the superior dark polyrythmic funk which followed. Sure, these sounds are known to connoisseurs, but record labels were usually too conservative to market such wild and truly innovative sounds. So the brave souls who were open to this kind of music and put it out there were crucial.

edit: looks like I crossposted with you.. anyway that's my take.

 

[jonatas]

Btw I would probably recommend Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" album for anyone who's interested in getting something funky.

 

[skadistic]

The last album I purchesed was by "Black 47" and that was in the early 90s.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Thanks, Jonatas. Just a clarification, to eliminate a worry induced by your mention of "the sound of the 70s" - we're absolutely not talking Earth, Wind and Fire, or the Commodores here, are we ? My elder brother made my life hell with those soft sappy songs.

Interesting the comment about bringing ordinary peope together, uniting them - I think many if not most popular music genres would also make this claim. Even those which try to make a big play in individualism and "the rest of the world hates us" is still essentially viewed by its advocates as bringing together the believers, the cognoscenti.

Same question to you as to Ram - what would be a suitable introduction to this "funk" of which you speak ? And does it really speak to middle aged white Scotsmen who, in their heart of hearts, see Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" as the height of funkiness ?

Edit : my turn to cross-post.....

 

[GoldEagle]

I bought Live at Budokan by Dream Theater about a month ago (I'm assuming by Album you also mean CD). I don't buy many, because I have Yahoo music.

 

[~Corsair#01~]

Last album I bought would probably be "...And They Shall Take Up Serpents" by Byzantine, sometime in September/October 2005 iirc.

Last album I "received", would be "From Me To You" by YUI, this morning.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Last albums I bought at the same time, so I have no idea which one was 'technically' the last one I bought

The Boy Lacks Patience Ill Advised
Jo Mccafferty Papercuts and Lies

Been buying a lot of music these past few weeks, getting into all sorts of new stuff.

 

[jonatas]

Lambert, real Funk isn't soft or sappy And I can tell you that the aforementioned 1974 album Dark Magus is as innovative, wild and refined as Le Sacre du Printemps. No joke. Whether it's to your taste, I don't know In fact the sound is extremely experimental. I don't think I could recommend it to everyone. I would just go with Mayfield's Superfly, which is a pretty classic Funk/soul album. Ram generally knows this stuff a lot better than I do.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Went to Amazon to have a quick look at Dark Magus (the advantage of "working from home") - I loved the review of it which included the line:

I was alternative my headphone listening in my office this week between 'Dark Magus' and 'Best of Motorhead' and the perceived mood was much the same (I have what could best be described as 'eclectic' tastes).

Eclectic, eh ? :rofl:

The cover art for this Super Fly thing is very offputting. The picture of Mayfield is fine, but the guy with the gun and the funky writing ? Bleurgh.

I'll wait to see what Ram suggests before firing in an order.

 

[jonatas]

Lambert

Lol Superfly is the soundtrack to a blaxploitation film. It's a classic though.

As for eclectic, well we can call Le Sacre du Printemps eclectic too. Doesn't mean anything. I never used the term anyway, as I'm not fond of it I'm not recommending Dark Magus to you in any case. I'm just saying the range of expression within the genre is extensive and the music can be taken quite seriously.

 

[Rambuchan]

I was suggesting that the word had become devalued, almost meaningless, in the context of (at least) music. And one person's "eclectic set" is another's "hey, isn't all funk & soul stuff ?"

Yeah, and it would be my "hey, you didn't read the post properly"

Interesting, thanks. So what would you recommend as an introduction ? (And is there any point if I'm only going to listen to it on my iPod on the deeply unfunky 7.24 from Marks Tey to Stratford (strictly no dancing...) ?)

Here's a good recommendation for an introduction to both Soul and Funk. It contains many classics from both genres, many which someone getting into the gneres would most likely not have themselves but are certainly familiar with. It's by no means getting into classic record territory but it's a wideranging, high quality intro:

The Dead President's Soundtrack ~ featuring James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, The Supremes, Barry White, Diana Ross.

Actually, finding the link has made me remember that I've written a fair few reviews on Amazon. Seems I rattled out a quick one for this alubm that I totally forgot about!

You take me too seriously. It was a joke. You know - record label, in the sense of the sticky bit in the middle of your 12" (ooh, err, madam...), and "crucial" as in "essential". You were using both terms in a funky music speak sense. Ah well; jokes are never worth trying to explain or apologising for....

I told you man, I'm way too serious about my music to not take the opportunity to burst into lecture mode.

Anyhow, thanks for the explanation.

Thanks for the label gag

 

[Rambuchan]

How do I classify the Funk sound? Well it is a very definite, to begin with. You can't mistake it for anything else. It is high energy, features a repetitive beat which I would classify as overtly sexual, often features guitars on wah-wah pedals, and horns too of course. The tempo can be fast or slow. It often has a feel good, positive, happy sound, but can also have a darker, more prowling sound as well (think of a cat on the stalk). Funk is like a wild cat, dangerous and beautiful, independent, intelligent, true to itself... Hah I bet you're think what is he talking about. The message of funk is all inclusive. It brings people together and unites them, especially everyday people. It speaks to people in a way that no other medium could. There's a truthfulness to Funk, like you would find in the Blues as well. Also, Funk is in its essence creative. It's about people getting into a groove and staying in it.

You've certainly described it well enough for me! This is very much how I see it.

 

[Goonie]

Bang Bang by Dispatch.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Yeah, and it would be my "hey, you didn't read the post properly"

Eh ? You're not going to quiz me on it now, are you ?

I'm happy to call you "His Eclecticness, the Crucially Funky Rambuchan" from now on if you're that bothered about the description. (Don't thank me - it's honestly quite a small sacrifice).

OK, I'll give the Dead Presidents one a try, and maybe the "unrecommended" Dark Magus (on the basis I already have some Miles Davis lying around). Thanks to both you and Jonatas for the suggestions and taking the time.

(PS You didn't mention whether funk really reaches out to the average middle aged commuter on his average middle aged train, however. Probably best if I order some more Nanci Griffith and Takacs Quartet at the same time, I guess....)

 

[Goonie]

FUNK, JAZZ & SOUL

~ The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band & Charles Wright - "Together" Album [Warner] (This man is from the early frontier of funk, he makes mathematical funk.)

Big fan !