NYCNCUSA (1977).
Review:
NYCNYUSA is an improvement over 1976’s lackluster Night Fever, but not by much. It suffers from the same problem that plagues many of the albums in the Fatback catalog: While the group has no problem generating solid grooves, they often have trouble translating them into enough solid songs to sustain an album. Inconsistent material continues to be a problem on NYCNYUSA: “Spank the Baby” layers a chant that is inane even by disco standards over a repetitive jam while “Duke Walk” sinks the pleasant quality of its pop-reggae feel with a dull arrangement that lacks any interesting twists and turns. Another problem track is “Cosmic Woman,” which fails to make to good on the promise of its interesting title due to uninspired lyrics and a humdrum groove. Despite these inconsistencies, the album does manage to produce some strong tracks: the title track pays affectionate tribute to the band’s birthplace with a nice combination of carefully layered harmony vocals and a catchy tune full of pop hooks, while “Love Street” effectively layers exuberant horns over a forceful bassline to create an effective fusion of soul grooves and pop hooks. Fatback also scored an R&B chart hit with “Double Dutch,” which pits dance instructions against a pulsating groove to create another in the group’s long line of trademark dance-craze songs. In short, NYCNYUSA is too inconsistent for the casual track but offers a few worthwhile tracks that might please the Fatback fanatic. (All Music Guide -Donald A. Guarisco).
Tracks:
1. Double Dutch
2. Soul Finger (Gonna Put On You)
3. Spank the Baby
4. Duke Walk
5. NYCNYUSA
6. Love Street
7. A Changed Man
8. Cosmic Woman
Fatback Band – NYCNYUSA (1977)
Julio 29, 2009 a 9:00 pm (Disco, Funk, R&B)
Funkadelic – The Very Best Of Funkadelic 1976-1981 [1998]
Julio 29, 2009 a 8:58 pm (Funk)
The Very Best Of Funkadelic 1976-1981 [1998]
Finding a quality Parliament best-of to start with is simple. In fact, the most difficult part is narrowing down your choices. Conversely, finding a quality Funkadelic best-of to start with is daunting. First of all, the group split its 11-year career between two labels, Westbound and Warner Bros., which makes assembling a career-spanning best-of a problem. If you want a compilation documenting the group’s early years at Westbound, you have few options, none of which are comprehensive or easy to find with the exception of Ace’s Finest. The group’s Warner Bros. years aren’t much easier to find documented. There are some single-disc best-ofs that have surfaced over the years, but they’re inadequate. “(Not Just) Knee Deep” itself spans the course of 15 minutes, and many of Funkadelic’s better moments such as “One Nation Under a Groove” aren’t short songs either, meaning you only get a small sample of songs on a 75-minute single-disc best-of. So if you really want to hear what Warner Bros.-era Funkadelic was all about, it’s recommended to find something more extensive or just buy the four Warner Bros. LPs. In terms of double-disc best-ofs, there’s no better choice than either Funk Gets Stronger or The Very Best of Funkadelic, which are near facsimiles. The latter includes all the group’s hits from the Warner Bros. era in unedited format, while focusing its attention primarily at the flawless Hardcore Jollies and One Nation Under a Groove albums rather than the less engaging Uncle Jam Wants You and Electric Spanking of War Babies. Because the band included live versions of “Cosmic Slop” and “Maggot Brain” on its Warner Bros. albums, you luckily get those pre-Warner Bros. classics here too. But what you don’t get is any Westbound material predating the four Warner Bros. albums. In other words, this isn’t exactly the one-stop you might hope it is. (Jason Birchmeier, AMG)
Tracks:
CD1
1. One Nation Under a Groove
2. Cholly (Funk Gettin Ready to Roll)
3. Comin’ Round the Mountain
4. Cosmic Slop (Live)
5. Electro-Cuties
6. Uncle Jam
7. Funk Gets Stronger (Killer Millimeter Longer Version)
8. The Electric Spanking of War Babies
CD2
1. (Not Just) Knee Deep
2. Smokey
3. Freak of the Week
4. Into You
5. Oh, I
6. Soul Mate
7. Icka Prick
8. Maggot Brain (Live)
*Gracias a Funkystar por esta compilación
Rafael Cameron – Cameron (1980)
Julio 29, 2009 a 8:52 pm (Disco Funk, Soul)
Cameron (1980).
Review:
Renewing a partnership with Brass Construction’s Randy Muller that was forged when the two played in the early-’70s group Panharmonics, Rafael Cameron released his solo debut on Salsoul in 1980. Backed by an uncredited Funk Deluxe (the instrumental alias of funk band Skyy, who were also produced by Muller), Cameron unleashed an exuberant, joyful fusion of funk underpinned by disco-inflected soul. Cameron brought a vivacity to the genre that had been missing in the onslaught of sub-disco bands that had glutted the marketplace. Both “Magic of You,” which gave Cameron a Top 20 hit, and “Together” are lengthy dance grooves, divided into movements that break the pace but keep the flow. “Funkdown,” meanwhile, is a throwback to classic funk that would have been as at home in the early ’70s as it is here. It also lets both Cameron and Funk Deluxe really strut their stuff. But despite “Funkdown”’s brilliant edge, it was the heavily disco-fied “Let’s Get It Off” that became a club hit, as much for its subtle raunch as for its effortless, spangly beats. But Cameron wasn’t done yet, and proved he was as easy on the downbeat as the up, rounding the whole thing out with the marvelous, tender ballad “Feelin’s,” which landed him a third hit. The only problem with this outstanding LP is one of timing. Cameron slid this nugget into the Top 20 as the decade was ticking over. Too late for the dying disco movement and too early for the next wave of clubbers, it would have its flash, only to be forgotten in the long run.(Amy Hanson – All Music Guide).
Tracks:
1. Magic Of You
2. Funkdown
3. Together
4. Let’s Get It Off
5. Can’t Live Without Ya
6. Feelin’s
7. All That’s Good To Me (Instrumental)-Bonus Track
**Listen**
Gap Band – The 12″ Collection And More (1999)
Julio 29, 2009 a 12:06 am (Funk)
12″ Collection And More (1999).
Review:
Although they are best known as funk band, the Gap Band was successfully marketed to a disco audience during their heyday via 12″ remixes of their songs. Most of these versions were confined to the discotheques, but this has been remedied with the release of The 12 Collection and More. This handy volume allows casual Gap Band fans get a new perspective on this group’s grasp of the groove by compiling five 12″ remixes and throwing in three album-length long versions to flesh the set out. The 12″ versions reveal a band that approached the remix of a song as a method of redefining it: “Outstanding” cranks up the percussion to show off the hidden danceable edge to that slow jam, and “Early in the Morning” pushes the interplay between rhythm guitar and bass to the song’s forefront and proves that the group’s ability to craft complex, hypnotic grooves was just as important to their success as their knack for capitalizing on then-current soul music trends. However, the most impressive of the 12″ mixes is “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” which transforms the original tune into a 13-minute epic, complete with new percussion breaks and a lengthy instrumental break featuring war-battle sound effects overdubbed atop the song’s churning, synth bass groove. The full-length album versions aren’t as revelatory as the 12″ mixes, but fit in with them nicely: the highlight in this arena is the eight-plus minutes of “I Don’t Believe You Want to Get up and Dance (Oops!),” which shows off the relentlessness of the song’s hooks (the “oops, upside your head” chant, some surprising acoustic guitar riffs) to their fullest. The 12 Collection could have added a few more rarities (the non-sound effects version of “Beep a Freak” and the legendary “munchkin version” of “Jam the Motha” are missing in action) but this collection remains a solid portrait of the Gap Band’s gifts in the 12″ arena. In the end, The 12 Collection and More will be of greater interest to the devoted fan than a casual listener, but it makes a great supplement to a greatest hits collection for those who want to go beyond the hits.(Donald A.Guarisco – All Music Guide).
Tracks:
01. You Dropped A Bomb On Me (Original 12″ Mix)
02. Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) (Original 12″ Mix) (Full-Length LP Version)
03. Early In The Morning (Original 12″ Mix)
04. Party Train (Original 12″ Special Dance Mix)
05. Outstanding (Original 12″ Mix)
06. I Don’t Believe You Want To Get Up And Dance (Oops!) (Original 12″) (Full-Length LP Version)
07. Shake (Original 12″ Disco Version)
08. Humpin’ (Original 12″) (Full-Length LP Version)
