Dating back to 1996, this mix sees PC and Strictly Kev from the Ninja Tune label mixing up tunes from the all mighty Warp catalog. Featuring daring mixing and blending, this is truly some next-level DJing that continues to impress here in the 21st century!
Tim Maia was a Rio de Janiero based singer-songwriter known informally as the James Brown of Brazil. The majority of his musical life was devoted to marrying US funk and soul with Brazilian music. In this early tune he even writes and sings in English. While the lyrics may not be an exact replica of what rock ‘n’ roll songs sounded like at the time, the music mimics what was popping off in the dancehalls for teens in the States during the early 60s.
Anthony Johnson achieved great fame in Jamaica and beyond with his dancehall hit, “Gunshot”. Before that he spent time with Rastas on Selassie Drive in Kingston. Him, Les Clarke and Balvin Fials sang songs of righteousness as the Mystics Eyes. They recorded an album worth of songs for Linval Thompson and this golden nugget at the Black Ark for Lee ‘Scratch” Perry. Happy tax season, one and all. Oh, and burn down babylon while you’re at it!
Here’s a slice of audio alchemy courtesy of US electronic wizards Phoenecia. In addition to running the Schematic Music Company, Joshua Kay and Romulo Del Castillo make beats that seem to depict an alternate version of the swamplands of their native Florida. While deploying very digital techniques, they manage to create natural sounding transitions between sounds and grooves. Every layer sounds filtered, adding to the murkiness as well as adding a sense of mystery. Get in the boat and get lost in the abstract tones!
Alabaster dePlume is a saxophonist, guitarist, bandleader, poet, activist and all around good person. He is a true advocate for inclusion and kindness. Amongst many nuggets of wisdom he can lay on you, this piece has some of the best.
Laetitia Sadier has always made her Marxist mentality obvious. Her lyrics for McCarthy and Stereolab never shied away from anti-Capitalist messaging. Stereolab songs like “Ping Pong” would occasionally provide a tonal counterbalance with a poppy arrangement. Here, in a song from her second solo album, she opts for a lush and more somber tone for her pleas to humanity to ride on. The result is even more emotionally engaging and beautiful.
The 90s were a great time for women in Rock music. The alternative rock scene saw several all female groups emerge: Luscious Jackson, L7, Bikini Kill and the supergroup The Breeders all came about in the original Lollapalooza days. After achieving great success with their second album “Last Splash”, The Breeders needed a break. However, Kim Deal had an itch to record more songs. She changed her nom de plum to Tammy Ampersand and recorded an album with a different group of musicians called The Amps. “Pacer” has all the unhinged drive of any other Kim Deal record and provides further proof of her musical prowess. As off-the-rails as Kim’s version of rock can veer, she can also write some pretty and sweet stuff too, as “Dedicated” illustrates well. Long live Rock ‘n’ Roll and Kim Deal!
No other footwork artist has done as much to expand the possiblities of the genre as Jlin. On top being one of a handful (at best) producers in a male dominated field, her music has been incorporated into other modern dance performances than that which the form is named after. In addition to the above example, she has also collaborated with British choreographer Wayne McGregor. The Metropolitan Museum of Art chose her for their Sonic Cloisters series, as well:
Finally, the modern string ensemble Kronos Quartet chose one of her tunes to interpret in their unique way:
Big up Jlin! Taking footwork into more and more cultural spaces!
Here is Otis Redding and his band hipping the 1967 hippy crowd onto some serious funk. Closing out the second night of the Monterey Pop Festival, the Stax Records crew proceed to wreck shop. Otis closes the set out with a fiery version of one of his best songs. D.A. Pennebaker catches the sentiment of the song and wraps up the flim about the festival with a montage of tender moments, and then rolls credits. There is no way to follow a perfomance that soulful! Indeed, the performance ended up being one of Otis’ biggest. Six months later he would tragically die in a plane crash.
Sly and the Family Stone provided a soundtrack to the societal changes happening in the late 60s. They achieved stardom with a balance of good time tunes and politically charged songs. The turn of the decade into the 70s brought lethargy, cynicism and decadence into a musical scene that had been charged with hope for a better tomorrow just a few years prior. Sly Stone was no exemption to this trend. He stopped recording and began abusing cocaine and PCP. What recording he would do involved very few other people. Early drum machines replaced drummers. He was said to have recorded his vocals lying in bed with a wireless microphone. Taken from the resulting album “There’s A Riot Goin’ On”, “Space Cowboy” does seem to be evidence of this methodology. Where his previous songs were brimming with life and energy, this sounds sludgy and mired in a downward inertia. Apparently these unconventional techniques resonated with the public sentiment as the album went on to be a smash hit. What may have seemed paranoid and gratuitous was actually quite contemporary, and it’s vibe still manages to resonate today.
As far as I’m concerned, if Madlb produces a whole album for you, you must be a badass. Georgia Anne Muldrow is certainly proof positive. She is as brash and funky as they come. She also is quite the producer herself. Witness the heavy, otherworldly vibes she crafts below. Big up Georgia! Keep the funk flag flying!
Sam Cooke was an incendiary singer and perfomer. No further evidence is necessary for that argument than this recording of him doing his classic, “Bring It On Home To Me” in front of a very receptive audience at the Harlem Square Club in 1963. The interplay between the band and Sam leads to an amazing crescendo of SOUL.
On top of inventing the reggae subgenre of Lover’s Rock, Neil Fraser aka Mad Professor created one of the classic “come down” albums of all time. Taking the multitrack recordings from Massive Attack’s album “Protection”, Fraser crafts long dubwise jams that take you on a psychedelic journey. This was definitely the soundtrack to many after rave or club sessions in the mid to late 90s and still stands as an electronic classic. Spark one up and feel the groove!
Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band are a German act that brings steel band culture into modern times. Steel bands are known for interpreting others’ compositions. Classical, blues, soul and Cuban are all well-worn territory for the steel drum band repertoire. After visiting Trinidad and Tobago and studying steel drum bands, Bjorn Wagner had a drum made for himself and started working the steel drum sound into his hard funk. For his interpretations, Wagner chooses Hip Hop and R’n’B of more recent memory. Here is his take on a Erykah Badu ode to Hip Hop, “The Healer”, orginally produced by Madlib in the 00s.
Here’s some more Sharkula aka Dirty Gilligan for your MLK Day festivities. The whit and audacity of the album title “Martin Luther King Jr. Whopper with Cheese” is genius. Funky-ass beats from Roburt Reynoldsrap and lazer cuts by Chuck Sunshine aka Chuckters. This is very representative of a Sharkula session, It’s better recorded and there’s less beer and weed, but still pretty close.
In more of a tribute to Dr. King and his contributions to society at large, watch the credit sequence to “Do The Right Thing”. It is pretty much perfect. FIGHT THE POWERS THAT BE!
It doesn’t take much digging around to realize how much influence Syndey Poirtier had on the island of Jamaica during the 60s and 70s. This was undoubtably due to his gravitas onscreen as well as his political activism. However, the proof is there in the hits:
Whilst inventing the style known as Rocksteady, Lynn Taitt scored big with this cover of “To Sir, With Love” in 1967.
Black Uhuru had one of their breakout hits with a riff on another Portier starring film, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?”. The German kids certainly are eating this one up with a spoon. RIP Robbie Shakespeare.
A personal favorite here at Spacey King HQ is this one by I Roy from 1973. It opens on a scene with I Roy on his way to the local movie house to take in the film “Buck and the Preacher”, Portier’s directing debut. Poirtier teaming up with Harry Belafonte was probably doubly impactful for black communities at the time. It would be great to make a series of songs inspired by screenings of films. Right now this on a list of one.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a Liverpool based pop band that continues to bewilder. After creating a buzz with two BBC sessions they signed to Trevor Horn’s fledgling label Zang Tumb Tuum. Horn threw everything (and the kitchen sink) into their initial productions. Their first single, and biggest hit, was the synth-pop monster “Relax”. Powered by Horn’s electronic rig of drum machine, synthesizer and sequencer one could wonder how a five member band could really have been that intimately involved in its creation. Ditto for their second single, “Two Tribes”. When it came time to make a full length album, Horn and the lads made a requisite bold move: make a double LP. For a group that seemed to be a flash in the pan, the production of “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” is remarkable. The entire first side is a suite of sound pieces that culiminates in the title track. Horn makes use of every resource available to him at this point, including members of the prog-rock group Yes. The way the music surges and retreats is simply masterful. While they did not last much past their initial fame, FGTH’s legacy as having made some of the best 80s music from the UK lives on. Frankie say LISTEN.
Kwanzaa is a seriously underrated holiday season. Falling directly on the heals of Christmas, it focuses on the seven principles of African heritage with a heavy emphasis on community and self determination. Gone away are any oppressive myths or consumerism, replaced by community, relationship and self building.
In the mid-70s in Jamaica Rastafarians were also concerned with celebrating their African heritage. Here singer Johnny Clarke epitomizes the theme of roots music. In the spirit of reggae versioning, here also is a take on the riddim by MC great I Roy celebrating another aspect of life on the island:
Phil Spector was, without question, a problematic character in the world of music. He did define the sound of teenage pop music in the early 60s. His arrangements for love songs were larger than life, reflecting the emotional weight of such juvenile revelations. His productions definitely took on a “more is more” approach, taking on the moniker of the “Wall of Sound”. After achieving a string of hits, in 1963 Spector turned his studio efforts towards an album of Christmas songs done in his unique production style. Released the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the album flopped. it has prospered in the long run as a welcome upbeat entry in the holiday album market. Filled with traditional Christmas songs, this original number stands as the emotional apex of the album. Darlene Love really lets it all out with a great vocal performance against the lush backing track. Catch some holiday vibes while you can!
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have been a large part of the engine running the sound of reggae for decades. They have both played, apart and together, on innumerable songs. As producers they have amassed an amazing amount of hit singles. They are a core component of the sub-genre dub. Deft at the studio and electronics, they have crossed over into pop, hiphop, art rock and electronic music. Here’s a clip from when they were the rhythm section for Black Uhuru and traveling around the world. RIP Robbie Shakespeare: a part of the heart of reggae.