Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 – Zombie
From: Zombie [Celluloid, 1977]

Fela Kuti & Afrika 70 – Sorrow, Tears, & Blood
From: Sorrow, Tears & Blood [Kalakuta, 1977]

Fela on Broadway Official Site

A few months ago, I received a PR email asking if I wanted to receive some “cool stuff” that might, perhaps, inspire Earfuzz to help spread the word about a new musical coming to town. The show was vaguely described as “an energetic mix of Afrobeat music and African dance, following the life of a famous musician.” Hmm, I thought, sounds Earfuzzy… who could this famous musician possibly be?… of course, it’s Fela Kuti. While I expected it to be Fela, I did harbor a fear it might be a half-baked off off off Broadway production about a fictional composite character based roughly on the life of Fela. Nope. It appears they are going large here and doing their best to channel the spirit of Fela Kuti- the man, the myth, the legend-through the lens of a Broadway musical production. For many reasons, I’m optimistic it will be a killer show… Why?…

Exhibit A - PR mystery box actually contained some “cool stuff”

The contents of the box and more, after the jump.

Contents:
- Fela: This Bitch of  Life – Biography
- Nigerian flag
- percussion instrument
- white face paint
- rolling papers
- promo DVD
- promo booklet

As far as PR packages go, this one definitely tops my list. Artsy. Thoughtful. Highlights include: the book (which is a fine read ((though I would have liked more passages about the music/musicians)) and the rolling papers (which function quite well as rolling papers). As well, it’s always nice to have a Nigerian flag.

Exhibit B - Antibalas is the house band!

I’ll be honest, my Broadway experience is very minimal. I generally find myself checking my watch every few minutes; counting down to my freedom. I have very little patience for the literal lyrics and over-dramatic narrative singing often prevalent in musicals. Seeing has how this production is telling the story of a musician with a massively excellent songbook, one expects to hear a healthy dose of the classics; and, Antibalas is as fine a band as any to perform those classics. Excellent band. And, if the show is light on original Fela Kuti material, you at least get an Antibalas concert of sorts (which is always a good thing).

Exhibit C - the preview clips look great

- Fela! On Broadway [Trailer]
- Interview with Director/Choreographer Bill T Jones
- Fela’s Sound

Exhibit D - Fela! On Broadway is ?uestlove approved

its uncut.
its true to the vision.
its amazing!

there is no option. i expect death to be the only reason why you did NOT see this production.

Read the full glowing review here.

——

This Friday (11/6) my friend Deji Olukotun, creator/author of FictionThatMatters.org will be heading in to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre to see Fela!. He’s going to put together a review for us which I’ll post here on Earfuzz.

In the meantime, fire up your favorite Fela jam and remember just how incredible this music is.

Squarepusher:  Don’t Go Plastic, Ill Descent and Shin Triad
From: Music is Rotted One Note [Warp, 1998]

Before I dive into the subject matter of this week’s post, I would like to personally thank Junior and Chuck for making the switch over to Wordpress without any major issues occurring.   I apologize that I have been missing in action lately, but life has been smacking me around like a red-headed step child.  I hope to get my bearings and post on a more regular basis, but I am unable to commit to any sort of schedule at this point.  Thanks go out to the rest of the crew for bringing the serious funk while I was gone.  Here’s to continuing the legacy of Ear Fuzz on Wordpress.

Today’s post focuses on electro-jazz, a style of music that juxtaposes elements of jazz fusion, funk and soul.  In the late 90’s, electronic acts and jazz musicians began marching to the same drummer, as numerous like-minded acts started  releasing records all over the globe.  I know the name electro-jazz or nu-jazz makes a lot of people cringe, but aside from a few big names like St. Germain and Jazzanova, there is an abundance of great stuff to be found in this genre.

One of my first discoveries of Electro-jazz was the album Music is Rotted One Note by UK electronic act Squarepusher.   This  is essentially the brainchild of Tom Jenkinson who combined vintage  samplers and sequencers with organic intrumentation to achieve a fascinating reinterpretation of the sound Miles Davis mastered on Bitches Brew.  Even though I was merely a jazz novice when I first discovered this record, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Squarepusher and most of the 70’s fusion like Miles, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc.  The entire album is not in the jazz-fusion vein however, as it incorporates musique concrete, ambient electronic passages and aural  transmissions from another world.

I am featuring three songs from the album that encapsulate the feel of it as a whole, with two of them sounding like they could have easily been on any Miles Davis album from the fusion era.  Keep in mind that the only instruments used on this record are sequencers, synthesizers, percussion and rhodes piano.

The second track on the record “Don’t Go Plastic” starts out with cymbal splashes and the sound of rhodes piano bubbling under the surface like molten lava.  It slowly builds with percussion that seems to be spliced from different takes, while the rhodes glides through the song like it has wings.  At about the two minute mark, their is a percussive break that is seemingly computer-generated, and then a sinister piano melody plays for a couple bars.  After a brief but impressive drum solo,  a solo kicks in that is like no other.  It is hard to tell whether this solo was achieved through the various sequencers and pedals that are the usual M.O. for Squarepusher, but it sounds to me like a piano is being played underwater while the rest of the band is riding the groove.

“Ill Descent” captures the essence of ambient rock bands like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze while simultaneously managing to experiment with textures and sound that pull from jazz and avant garde music.  If I had thought of this song when I was compiling my triumvirate of space music comps, it would have fit like a glove.

The last track is a short burst of creative energy that opens with scattershot drumming and electronic sound waves only to switch gears completely into a cacophonous, funky slab of goodness that is just too good to pass up.  The rumbling bassline from Digital Underground’s classic hip-hop track “The Humpty Dance” is the most obvious influence on this track.

This concludes my overview of Squarepusher’s 1998 classic Music For Rotted One Note.  I welcome any comments about other Electro-jazz bands that you guys are digging right now.

Mombasa: Nairobi and Shango
From: African Rhythm & Blues [Spiegelei, 1975]

What with all the toing and froing over trying to get the site back up and running in a state you can actually access I’ve taken my eyes off the all important actual posting of music. I can only once again apologise and hopefully will go some way to rectifying this sorry state over the next week with a couple of great music posts.

In with bang we have the first Mombasa album, African Rhythm & Blues. When I first encountered the album I, kind of understandably I think, assumed that the album was of African origin. It was only on paying closer attention that the slow whirring gears clicked in and I realised that the band was led by swing trombonist Lou Blackburn and the whole shebang was recorded in Germany.

A few simple searches revealed that Lou moved to Germany in 1970 and spent his time from then on working with the band Mombosa and releasing a number of albums in this series. Having come across other titles by the group since I’m still confident that, while they’re all pretty fantastic, the first release is the pinnacle of their achievements.

Once the background story is in place the tracks actually make more sense, combining as they do a mixture of afro funk grooves with a more western approach to the brass section and overall track construction.

Nairobi is a proper little groove burner as the bass leads the way through the percussion, the track slipping between something on a jazz tip, to something more funk and back again.

Shango is a more out and out funk track and I can see why it’s become a bit of a cult dancefloor favourite. It kicks off with a simple trumpet line before the percussion picks up a few minutes in and the track becomes all about the rhythm and groove going into ultimate overdrive when the wah wah bass enters the scene at five minutes in.

I believe the album has had limited CD reissues over the years so keep your eyes open, you never know…..

Hey Everybody, we’re gettin’ ready for the comeback. Any lackadaisical posting will be heretofore remedied as we and by we I mean Chuck and Junior mostly were fixing things up, making the switch and just generally making things happen and hopefully Ear Fuzz will now be more user friendly as well as work a little better.

I got a little something for you all this Halloween, its something I’ve been posting over at The Ghost Town. Just like the last 4 years I’ve been posting a spooky supernatural song a day and recently completed a mix. It’s called There Goes Your Corpse and has some classics, some remixes, some out of print stuff and a little bit of everything. It’s over at Divshare so you can download it there. And Later tonight I’ll put it on our FTP. Let me know what you think.

Here’s it is.

There Goes Your Corpse Again Mix

So after having endless trouble with Blogger posting and updates we’ve finally made the switch over to Wordpress. Over the coming weeks we should be adding new features to the site and also sorting out the various technical glitches that are currently floating around like the early christmas gifts that keep on giving.

If you spot anything that looks particularly wrong or have some knowledge of wordpress wonders that you think we can use please drop us a line or leave a comment.

Thanks for your patience and welcome to the new dawn…….

Buddy Miles – Rockin and Rollin on the Streets of Hollywood
Buddy Miles – Nasty Disposition (with Stevie Wonder)

Sorry folks, I was held up in Hollywood. Ergo, that’s why I haven’t been keeping up with sharing the funk! But we’re still posting links over at the Facebook fan page -

The experience really made me think of Buddy Miles’ song ‘Rockin and Rollin in Hollywood’.

Earlier this Spring, I posted up about Buddy Miles (RIP) and his post Hendrix / funk years. I think you’ll find Part 1 of my look at Buddy Miles funk years informative, but let’s share some more of his funk.

One my favorite albums from this period is More Miles Per Gallon (notice the pun, he used his name as a pun a lot in titles). Came out in 1975 on Casablanca Records, also the label home to Parliament.

The lead track, the one I mention is the jam – ‘Rockin and Rollin on the Streets of Hollywood’. The credits for Miles’ ‘Hollywood‘ really say he plays most of the parts here, and from what I remember of his live show, the lines here are indicative of his guitar style, which is one of my favorites of all time – almost to me a little more sound a like to Eddie Hazel than Hendrix. Now Buddy Miles did guest on a Funkadelic album, ‘Hardcore Jollies’, so maybe he picked up some Funkadelic’s flavor there.

I love how Buddy evokes the drama of Hollywood – ‘I was trying to figure out I wanted to live or die’ he laments and he then lists the major landmarks, ‘The Roxy’, ‘The Whiskey’ … it just paints a total picture.

Don’t forget Buddy Miles first and foremost is a drummer of unparalleled skill. Buddy just locks in on the bigfoot on ‘Hollywood’, so listen for these beats behind his meaty bass and spider like guitar webs of sound. This is a vinyl rip so the beats are a bit buried / muddied in the mix.

Also on this album, ‘More Miles Per Gallon’, Buddy goes in on some raw funk with Steve Wonder on the clavinet on the amazing ‘Nasty Dispostion’. The jam screams like with lyrics, ‘I’ve got my six gun loaded and I’m ready to ride’. Buddy, regarding your Hollywood song, I so feel you like Buddy, this was my week ..

Moneypenny at Cinespace, Hollwyood

Steed Lord at Cinespace, Hollwyood

Andy Caldwell at Club Ecco, Hollwyood

Kaos: Crank Up The Bass and What Have You Done Lately
From: Court’s In Session [Bad Boy Records, 1987]

Hello there. Been a while since I checked in so apologies for my tardiness and thanks again to the rest of the crew for keeping things on track with some great posts. You may also have noticed that we’ve been having some issues with our index page resetting to August posts. This is thanks to some awesomely welcome hackers continuously inserting very useful links to hentai in our directories. Hopefully this has now been cured so fingers crossed things should be more plain sailing from now on.

So what have I been up to? Well, apart from real world moves leaving less time than I’d like for digging I’ve also been putting together some non commercial compilations which I may load up soonish depending on how much I feel like putting myself out there. Oh yeah I also finally came across a copy of Kaos Court’s In Session – a long time want and an outstanding album.

In my experience, album’s tend to be sold for big money if they’re (in order of importance) rare, good music, and if they feature lesser known work by a well known musician. Funnily enough Court’s In Session ticks all three boxes as not only is it hard to find and damn good but production on the record is shared between a certain Kenny Gonzalez, displaying an early flair for big beats before he became the House legend he is today and “The Human Beat Machine” Todd Terry who you might have heard has released a few dance records over the years.

So, quite a line up then but what’s the music like? Well it’s more than likely that the first thing that will hit you is the beats. These hit hard.

Crank Up The Bass kicks off with the kind of chopped up scratching and drums combination that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Kid Koala record before settling into a boom baptastic beat. It’s worth noting that, while the intense scratching on offer from Gonzalez on this track is undoubtedly the star, MC King Grand is by no means the weak link in this group, always doing a fine job to keep up with the manic production behind him. This track is just fantastic and worth the price of the album alone.

What Have You Done Lately is a more straightforward upbeat old school rap track but is another dancerfloor winner. The relentless samples and programmed drums keep the track rolling at full speed as Grand delivers his lines. A slimmed down and raw track of beats and rhymes, it’s a great example of the kind of music that was out there just before the new school took over. It’s a real shame that the group didn’t ever release a follow up as they blend perfectly through the playing time.

As luck would have it, after popping in I’m now off again for two weeks of lounging in a far off place away from the records and the internet but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of the guys and look forward to getting back rested and relaxed and ready to drop killer tracks…

Famous L. Renfroe: Introduction, Children, Believe, It’s So
From: Children [Fat Possum, 2008]

Last week while chatting with a friend after a concert, he asked me and another friend if we’d heard of a blues-gospel artist named Famous L. Renfroe. The answer to his question was undoubtedly written all over our faces. He started to wax poetic about how great this artist was, and that it was the “holy grail” of gospel music. He even started to sing various parts of one of the songs, illustrating his point that the backup singers on this record were definitely the real deal. While I am only a casual acquaintance with this person, I couldn’t help but notice his boundless enthusiasm for the music. I figured that locating a copy of this record would definitely be in my best interest, so I began my search online to see if I could possibly find some sample mp3’s out there.

After searching for an hour, I decided to call it a night and start fresh the next day with an uncluttered brain. While I believe that it’s more about the journey than the destination, I was eager to hear this music that was so highly praised by my friend. I started exploring different avenues, like going to blogs that focus on gospel and funk records, but I eventually scored when I performed a random search on Soulseek and found a person who had the entire Famous L. Renfroe album available to download. Good things definitely come to those who wait!

I was already familiar with the Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal compilation that was released on Numero Group in 2006, but I could never be prepared for the magical gospel sounds of Famous L. Renfroe’s Children. Legend has it that these songs were first recorded in 1969, and they were shelved for unknown reasons. I can only guess that it was something to do with its lack of commercial potential, but all it takes is one listen to these gems for you to realize that Famous L. Renfore could have been bigger than Al Green or Sam Cooke.

“Introduction” gets the proceedings started on the right foot with a funky guitar riff, and then the tempo of the track steadily builds as the call and response backup vocals add weight to the unstoppable groove established by the rhythm section. The slow rhythm of “Children” features more of a classic gospel sound with soulful vocals that remind you of classic singers like Otis Redding or Percy Sledge. One of the most amazing things about this song is that the vocals are only accompanied by bass and guitar, and they are placed prominently up front so the listener can hear every nuance of the voices.

On”Believe,” Renfroe and the band effortlessly move into the gritty funk sound that has been showcased on countless Now Again compilations like Texas Funk and Numero Group’s Local Custom’s: Downriver Revival. This song really locks into a low-down groove with fantastic finger-snappin’ chicken-scratch guitar backing up Renfroe’s laid-back but soulful vocal delivery. I believe that “It’s So” is the sole instrumental featured on this record, but it still packs a powerful punch by laying inventive guitar licks over the top of a funky rhythm section.
Whether or not Famous L. Renfroe recorded this album in 1969 seems to be irrelevant. What is important to remember is that the music contained within is pure, unadulterated gospel-funk that keeps you coming back for more.
As far as I can tell this album is available through the Fat Possum website, so make sure to purchase a copy if you are truly into this.

Blancmange – Game Above My Head (Extended Mix – faster)

Blancmange – Game Above My Head (Razormaid! Mix – slower)

Blancmange – Blind Vision (Razormaid! Mix)

Blancmange – Blind Vision (Live in Holland, 1984)

Blancmange – Kind (Live in Holland, 1984)

Blancmange – My Baby (Live in Holland, 1984)

West India Company – Ave Maria

West India Company – Thieves of Our Lovers Lives

Prologue

Sorry I’ve been so busy and haven’t posted along with the rest of the Earfuzz mates in a bit, I promise I’m out there doing thangs like with my group fONKSQUISh or learning about digital music and stuff on the job.

In the meantime, you know the Earfuzz crew are pulling the best funkiest parts of the blogosphere, and putting them over at our Earfuzz Facebook fan page.

I would love to maybe re-syndicate the Facebook stuff back on to this page, but I think the actual Earfuzz.com site is more *editorial* and less *curatorial*, like the fan page which you should sign up for right here if you haven’t already – http://bit.ly/earfuzz .

We have a Twitter too, but many I’m always locking myself out of the account.

Let us know what you think in the comments – more content curation, or more deep introspection on the jams?? I’m at least one who is curious about this CURATE vs EDIT debate when I try to write thangs.

Blancmange + ‘Game Above My Head’

So I recently have been just jamming over and over again a song that seems as relevant to me as it did in 1984, both lyrically and musically. It’s Blancmange’s ‘Game Above My Head’.

I’ll spare you all the nostalgia I feel with Blancmange, but I have been listening to this song since it came out. Sure the angsty lyrics like -

’someone touched me late last night, someone tried to tie me down / cut me down let me sleep – there’s a promise I’ll never never keep’

- not likely appropriate for a 13 year old (when I first fell in love with it), but man the vocals of Neil Arthur and slink synth of Steven Luscombe hit me like a ton of bricks back then and still do. Get up with their wikipedia page here for all the info – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blancmange_(band). I think also the clever album artwork was extremely appealing to my young self. It wasn’t like Blancmange was being felt stateside like a Duran Duran, it was more a ‘real discovery’.

I have two versions of the track up here – I always seem to find different versions of ‘Game Above My Head’. The ‘extended’ track coming in at 5:00 minutes or so, is slightly faster than what you get from the Razormaid! remix which builds much more slowly. Don’t know about Razormaid! remixes? (of course you do) – but if you don’t you should catch up with the wiki page there as well – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razormaid!

More servings of Blancmange

Also I dug up the Razormaid! version of ‘Blind Vision’ which comes from Blancmange’s 2nd major label album, ‘Mange Tout’. A must have LP, same one with ‘Game Above’ on it. This Razormaid! version was a revelation for me, for the just claptastic breakdowns throughout the jam. And you hear in here kind of the secret sauce that made Blancmange so funky – super soul back up singers, bright synths, and a horn section. They got more angular funky by this 2nd LP before kind of moving out of a funk phase and fading away around 1986. See if you lose that funk, you lose

I remember I went to London in the winter of 1985 and my parents let me run around like a wild man. I copped a live tape of them in Holland from 1984 on one of the many bootleg cassette tape stands in Kensington. Man I was glad when I found that Soulseek let’s you find this rare ish. I got that concert now, and so I’m offering up a live version of ‘Blind Vision’ from that concert. It is so spirited. Neil Arthur just rips it and with the soul singers, these guys I feel move into some deep club funk territory. Two more favs from the set – ‘My Baby’ and the really interesting ‘Kind’. Their live renditions pretty much stick to the way they came out on the ‘Mange Tout’ LP but still deliver. I’ve never found a live version though of ‘Game Above My Head’ but I’m going to YouTube in a second. No, can’t find it. But here’s a super slinky percussive version of ‘God’s Kitchen’ which comes from their first LP, ‘Happy Families’.

Wrap up – Post Blancmange, CLAPTASMS!

I noted in that version of ‘God’s Kitchen’ above – that even with all these Australian and French remix crews (I won’t name names recapturing these 80’s drum sounds, replete with hand claps and stuff – they never seem to place the claps and extra percussions in the right place on the beat to be extra funky. When I first heard DJ Eli in early 2007 on a remix of Pase Rock’s ‘Sexy MF’ – I quickly IM’d into East Village Radio, like what is this man .. I think I for the first time I heard some tabla and claps placed in just the right places in such a long time.

I’m not a music theorist from the Berklee College of music, but clap placement is so important for the ears you dig? You can be a new jack remix crew all day long rocking them 80’s new wave / funk / pop sounds, but unless you place the claps in strategic places, yer lost. That’s one element of Blancmange I think I love so much – the claptasms.

I put up DJ Eli Escobar and DJ U-Tern in the opening pic, because I really love how they recapture that Blancmange vibe with some of their jams, and I haven’t heard many people be able to work the drum machine in that direction. So I think in some sense these guys’ clapability and lush funk sounds have me revisiting this Blancmange ish on the regular… here are some of their recent works via RCRDLBL:

I always figure if I have to give a dappp to the future if I’m giving dapps to the past, in this case, sound wise it all certainly ties together just a bit.

Steven Luscombe went on from Blancmange to do some real claptastic things that even are more lush with Indian singer Asha Bhosle – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Bhosle .. the project was called the West India Company, and dang man, I had this 12″ back in the day and I’m putting up both sides up here, ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Thieves of Our Lovers Lives’.

I see Blancmange is working on a new album, but meh, everything I heard had nothing of the old sound – http://blancmange.biz/Music.html

Cores: Babylon
From: Babylon EP [Noom Records, 1997]

A few months ago, we had a nice Earfuzz email powwow to get our summer posting outlook sorted. Each of the writers chimed in with enthusiasm in favor of delivering a steady flow of posts throughout the coming lazy days. I know summer isn’t quite over yet, but, thanks for all the warm weather jams everyone (let’s hope the warmth continues)! As well, Chuck, thanks for starting up and maintaining Earfuzz on Facebook. Readers, thanks for stopping by, listening, and commenting.

At the time of our email correspondence, I half mentioned to the other writers that I was falling into a Jungle/D&B hole and anticipated eventually posting some Trance. I was excited about the dubious challenge of finding some Trance that would fly on a Funk/Soul blog. Even if you’re an affirmed electronic or hard dance music fan, Trance/Techno music can be a bit overbearing and off-putting.

Now, four months later, I’ve since dug deep and far and wide to find some tunes I felt were soulful enough for you all; however in the end, only one track really felt appropriate.

Produced by Michael Kores, Babylon is a wonderful example of German Hard Trance gone right. The song opens sparingly with a deep heavy kick. This kick continues relentlessly as it gathers layers of sound. With each successive layering, Babylon seems to rush forward and quicken on its pulse. The sounds, thankfully, are all tasteful and organic; including the high-hat and vocal samples. Ultimately, the push and pulse gather momentum through a few extended snare builds before plateau-ing at 5:47. At this point, one can either mix in a new track, or, continue to enjoy the song as it empties its energy into space before regathering its layers and coalescing once again.

Deep, heavy, dark, and soulful. Hope you dig.