Last Orders for the warmup

Thanks all for the feedback - for those that missed it, here's the mix in full again, now that the bandwidth has eased up a bit...

Fresh music coming at the end of the week...

Mix ?

So, 60 of you downloaded the mix, and yet not one piece of feedback ?

Monkeyfunk : The Warmup album

All Gone


Thanks for your patience. Thought I'd try a little something for you, it's a warmup CD I did for a friend. Easy, langurous soul, a bit of lazy jazz, and some other aural goodness.

In order to stave off bandwidth detonation, it's on a first come first served basis, so help yourself. Feedback is important on this, as i'll only do this again if you all want it, so let me know.

Enjoy. And oh, I put the wrong version of "Sneaking Up on You" on - it should have been Elaine Delmar's.

Wilson Pickett - Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 & RIP

Wilson Pickett - Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 (Pts.1&2) mp3

Wilson Pickett sadly died of a heart attack last Thursday, January 19th, aged 64.

This giant of the soul scene was born in Alabama. Raised in gospel, he picked up early work with the Falcons, before signing as a solo artist with Atlantic Records in 1965. Nicknamed "Wicked" Pickett by Jerry Wexler, he moved to detroit, and then Memphis, where he was one of the foremost front men for the Stax sound, backed by the MG's. Co-writing "In The Midnight Hour" with Steve Cropper brought him overnight fame, and his sessions with both the Stax and Muscle Shoals studios developed a roster of gritty, sweaty out-and-out soul shouters that blazed a trail for contemporaries and those who tried to follow.

Live performances garnered equal fame for the same level of intensity and hord working showmanship. With a catalogue that now included "Land of 1000 Dances," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway", Pickett soared, until an ill-advised signing with RCA started a dwindling of hits, and consequently fortunes.

Before that happened, Pickett worked with Gamble & Huff at Sigma Sound Studios, where Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 was laid down in all it's sweat-drenched, dirty glory in 1970.

RIP.

Serge Gainsbourg - Requiem Pour Un Con Video

link removed

Bit of a treat for you, and for a limited time only, it's from the Serge Gainsbourg DVD that's out at the moment - little more than a collection of his music videos, or at least disc 1 is. This is a clip taken from the 1968 movie Le Pacha, and it is magfuckinificent.

The Blues Busters - I Won't Let You Go

Blues Busters / Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - I Won't Let You Go mp3

Phillip “Boasy” James and Lloyd “Lloydie” Campbell started their careers duetting on the showboats that anchored in the harbours of Jamaica. Working up a brassy style that owed more to the blues shouters than the Inkspots-style doowop, it was inevitable that such talent caught the ears of one C.S. Dodd Esq.

Linked up with Byron Lee and his super-tight Dragonaires, massive hits lit up the dancefloor : "Behold", "Wings of A Dove", but it was the Dragonaires' journey to the International World Fair in New York that really created it all. While there, they laid down the tracks for their debut LP in Atlantic Studios, engineered by the legendary Tom Dowd.

And this session is where our track comes from. Magnificent, strident soul that starts off like a theme for a lost Western, and then breaks into glorious harmonies, utterly crafted arrangement and a loping rhythm. Truly the moment when ska met R&B and created a whole new level of soul.

(The MP3 is taken from the original vinyl. I wouldn't have it any other way, to be honest - as the WFMU byline states, "surface noise runs deep", but if you're an ADD DDD kid, then hoist yourself off to go and score the venerable Trojan Record's "Behold! The Blues Busters Anthology". You will not regret it.)

RIP RP 2...

mp3 removed

Photo © David Strick, all rights reserved www.davidstrick.com

RIP RP

Tim "Love" Lee - Wack Wack

Tim "Love" Lee - Wack Wack mp3

One of the UK's most prodigious producers, and head honcho of Tummy Touch Records, Tim Lee has long tampered with the aural unexpected.

One of the greatest advocates for facial hair in the UK, Tim Lee released Confessions of A Selector in 1997, on an otherwise unsuspecting public. One-time hammond player with Katrina & The Waves, Lee soared to fame with his killer "Again Son" track that featured on the Coldcut & Chemical Bros mix cd's, topped off with the Peace Feast releases, his three LP releases, and now extensive fame and international status with the Tummy Touch nights and label.

His name has become a byword for musical unpredictability - as this track amply illustrates...

Tummy Touch Record Label

Benn Loxo Du Taccu / Jorge Ben

Benn Loxo Du Taccu is currently hosting one of Jorge Ben's greatest songs - Ponta de Lança Africano.

As a little show of solidarity, here's another :MP3 link removed

Keep up the great work Matt.

The Three Degrees - You're The Fool

MP3 link removed


Time to get some more of that sweet Sisterfunk. The term was coined by the venerable Ian Wright, scourge of Essex, and evil sniper-supreme of eBay, on his excellent eponymous compilation from a few years ago.Unavailable now, but worth scouring for, not least for the fact that it has the unbelievable rare "Chauffeur" by Monica.

This I don't think was on the comp, but it deserves to be on the sequel. The Three Degrees' "You're The Fool"is a masterpiece. Sassy attitude, heaps of front, killer harmonies, backed by sharp horns, underpinned by one giant bassline...

All together now..."HAH !"

Sheila Ferguson, one of the Three Degrees, and now resident in England, wrote a great cookbook, "Soul Food", available here

Rumours persist of a Sisterfunk 2 soon - lobby BBE intensively now

Donny Hathaway - I Believe To My Soul

MP3 link removed


The album "Everything Is Everything" by Donny Hathaway is one contentious album : those who have it, treasure it, and get fairly righteous on those that don't.

It's a $7 album, you can score it easily, and many have, simply to own the soulful conciousness, and utter groove of "The Ghetto". But every track, and I mean every, is a stonecold bonafide beauty. It was hard fidgeting over which to pick, and I've chosen "I believe", as it captures the...

...ahh fuckit. Have two. I can't leave either of them off. Just do me a favour - snap up the album, and everything you can find by this prodigious talent.

Donny Hathaway - Voices Inside (Everything is Everything) mp3


Two facts : King Curtis tried to poach Hathaway for his crack session band over at Atlantic, that he was assembling to back Aretha and everybody else ; Hathaway turned him down to maintain focus on his solo output.

And on January the 13th, 1979, Hathaway carefully removed the pane of glass from his window, and jumped. He was 33.

Percy Mayfield & Crescent City All-Dayer in London

MP3 link removed

Well, as Rita looks like she's going to veer East and take a part of Texas, a small recap on the NO situation over here. The Funk45 auctions have raised nearly $1600 for Eddie Bo, Irma Thomas and others.

And the same organisers (Fin, Liam, and also Nick) are organising an allday shindig, featuring the very best of the UK soul and funk heads. Full details on the eflyer above. Pass it on.

And to set this all off, enjoy some mean-ass country blues for Mr Mayfield.

Donate to the Salvation Army

Marvin Gaye - It's A Desperate Situation

MP3 link removed

Marvin Gaye had soul, and I mean that in the sense that his colossal heart bled for thousands, a sense of altruism heightened by Motown conflict, weed and finally triggered by seventies riots and homefront unease about the state of the US in the world.

So much for what you already know. Now listen this - a once-lost gem, now thankfully reissued on the excellent "Lost & Found- Love Starved Heart" compilation...

Buy Lost & Found- Love Starved Heart

Funk45 NOLA Auctions

There's a bunch of very, very good records up for sale over here...all proceeds to Eddie Bo, Irma Thomas and other artists now deprived of their homes, clubs, and livelihoods...dig deep.

Frankly, where else should you be buying records from, if not from this auction, or the Soulstrut Hotrocks ?



Donate to the Salvation Army, USA

Soulstrut's Katrina Fund

Soulstrut are currently running auctions where all proceeds go to New Orleans charities. Sell your record through them, donate a favourite, or over-bid on purpose to raise the best price for the very best of causes...



Soulstrut's Heatrock Auctions

Empress Antoinette K. Doe update

Just heard last night that Antoinette is currently in the Mother-In-Law lounge, awaiting the arrival of a generator. Fantastic news. I'll update once I hear any more..

Donate to the Salvation Army, USA

Empress Antoinette K. Doe

Ernie K. Doe - Don't Kill My Groove MP3

Antoinette, the widow of Ernie K. Doe and runner of the Mother In Law Lounge in New Orleans, is still unaccounted for. Knowing how strong, good hearted and brave she is, we hope and expect that she is safe. If you have any news please get in contact. Our thoughts are with you all.


Donate to the Salvation Army, USA

Thinking of New Orleans

MP3 link removed
...
UPDATE : Irma Thomas is safe with her family.

Donate to the Salvation Army

Buddy Miles - Train

MP3 link removed

If acid-rinsed bluesfunk with a side order of solid rock is to your taste, then sup it up.

Buddy Miles has drummed for Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, formed the Band of Gypsies with Jimi Hendrix (and played with him at Monterey), wrote "Them Changes", played with Funkadelic, The Electric Flag, Muddy Waters, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Bowie..the list goes on. And on.

This starts with a solid drum break, tripped out vocal samples, supertight horns, and a snarling wah wah. And that's all before the vocal starts.

You should be able to pick this up for $10 or so on the Mercury label, but I'd recommend taking a potshot on one of his albums, or a best of CD if you're that way inclined...

Legend.

Buddy Miles' Website