PIECES

Listen to PIECES by The Stylistics.

I came across this exquisite bit of Philly Soul the other week. It's one of those songs you're sure you've heard before (and I'm sure you have), but for me personally I wasn't familiar with it. It's as gentle as a cool breeze, and now I'm wandering the internet looking for the album it came from. Why is it that everything recorded in 1972 sounds so damn good?

LA VALLA

Listen to LA VALLA by Bronx River Parkway (feat. Jose Parla).

Thanks to the good people at Truth & Soul Records, who shared with us this killer track from its highly recommended "Fallin Off The Reel Vol. 2" singles compilation.

La Valla is a track I first heard on Ben & Stu's radio show a few months ago (not that it hasn't been around for awhile, as per usual), and then it dropped off my radar a bit. But now it's back, and I'm enjoying sitting here trying to describe it. It's not like it's too complicated. It's like Night Rider played by locos. I love talking instrumentals--is that a genre? Rambunctious, infectious, it's screaming summer! to me. Stu should break it out this weekend and leave it on repeat for ten minutes.

Photo: Alterations, drapes, leathers.

MY FOUR LEAF CLOVER

Listen to MY FOUR LEAF CLOVER by Nicole Willis.

Hello there!

Here's a happy humpday song for you, one that somehow hasn't made its way onto the internet much, even though it's been out a few years. (Example: soul-sides was complaining that it had slept on this album for too long, and that was way back in 2006.) But that's alright, we aren't trying to be cutting edge here, since good music is timeless, that's what they always say...

Anyway, no matter how old it is, you should go out and get the "Keep Reachin Up" LP. I mentioned this the other week, but these Finns are some funky players. Also worth checking out, though I'm not going to blog it, is a remix album of "Keep Reachin Up" that came out on ATC Records just last year. I'm a fan.

That's all the commentary for today. If you want something light and frothy to celebrate the break of this nasty heatwave, press play.

Photo: Labor Ready.

PROBLEMS

Listen to PROBLEMS by Lee Fields.

Lee Fields has been here before. Back then I was trying desperately to avoid paying $60 for this deleted album of his on the defunct Soul Fire label called "Problems." Alas, my willpower wasn't strong enough. I ordered the d@mn thing. This is good news for you listeners, though, because how else would you be able to hear this excellent specimen of a title track? Our family starves for you.

For all of these soul funk songs, my first inclination in typing up a post is to go into all of the great musicianship happening (the image in your head should be something like a blog skating on thin ice). Still, I can't resist here pointing out what a great, nimble bass line you're listening to right now. There's even a couple Clyde Stubblefield-style breakdowns, in case you weren't sure that rhythm is king today.

Photo: Artificial Limbs.

HOW DO I LET A GOOD MAN DOWN?

Listen to HOW DO I LET A GOOD MAN DOWN? by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.

Hello, Monday! Let's go straight back to where we were a couple weeks ago, doing a little series on the new retro nuevo soul neo funk scene. (As we say in my job, 'familiarity with previous opinions is assumed.')

Sharon Jones is possibly/probably the leading light of this scene. Her 2005 album with the Dap-Kings, "Naturally," was a breakthrough. It got great reviews from the indie/online press, and ended up on lots of critics' year-end lists. Note that each of those reviews, just like our little blog, grapples lamely with what to label this music. (Though to our credit, we haven't stooped to using this stuff as a club to beat up on contemporary soul music. Yet.) Jones and co. released their follow-up last year to good reviews but to me it doesn't have the same crackle that "Naturally" does.

For all that, few people have blogged about the opening track of "Naturally," so let's do something about that. How Do I Let A Good Man Down? is a great opener, because it doesn't waste any time getting into its groove. You might even be tempted to say it's a harsh edit to open the song but not if you knew how tight the band is. Highlights include the snakey rhythm guitars, the lacksa-daisical vocals, and the crazy-catchy horns on the chorus.

Photo: Nuway Cleaners.

YAKUBA

Listen to YAKUBA by The Whitefield Brothers.

The New Funk scene (or whatever we're calling it) is a lot like today's NBA--some of the best players are from Europe. It's a surprise to find out that that group backing Nicole Willis on her masterpiece from 2005, "Keep Reachin' Up" are from Finland. I defy you to listen to a song from that record and get your head around that one. (And then go get the album.) The Soul Investigators have put out a ton of great funk instrumentals, as a matter of fact.

Likewise, Yakuba by The Whitefield Brothers, despite the African & African American trappings, is by some German guys (who generally record as The Poets of Rhythm). Again, this can get pretty complicated pretty fast, so just relax and play the song. Yakuba is one that Stu is always trying to get over on his radio show, so you may have heard it there before. If so, you're a lucky kid.

...Thus concludes the first edition of our "soul-funk funk-soul " series. Tomorrow Jason will be here, and next week we welcome a new amigo to the blog, John. If he doesn't get cold feet. Assuming all goes as expected, I'll be off next week but back in the saddle the week after. Be good!

Photo: Local churches (4). This photo had been scheduled to run long before this news came out yesterday, which is very nice indeed.

BROWN WIND AND FIRE

Listen to BROWN WIND AND FIRE by Brownout.

Coming out of Austin, Texas is Brown Wind and Fire by Brownout. Judging from the song title (Latino 70s soul?), and knowing that it's a side project of Grupo Fantasma (which is a well-regarded 11-piece Latin Orchestra), you'd never guess that the most prominent influence in this song is... Jamaican dub.

But listen to it. Or just listen to the first three seconds--that dub-echo effect tells you everything you need to know. That could be the first three seconds of any old Scientist track.

Of course, this is great for me, and another reason why I really dig these modern funk instrumentalists, because they take some of my favorite music: dub, rare groove, hip hop, the Meters, JB, soul, funk, and dumps it all in a crackling analog melting pot. Plus, it's hard for this stuff to get too insider-y and esoteric when the grooves are this infectious.

Photo: Local churches (3).

RIDE OR DIE

Listen to RIDE OR DIE by The Budos Band.

While the El Michels Affair may do a little recording with the Wu Tang Clan, the Budos Band is actually from The Slums of Shaolin.™

The Budos Band call themselves "afro-soul" but are still part of this little scene we're talking about. Actually, they're just a couple of degrees of separation from being a big deal--Amy Winehouse was a huge sensation last year, so much so that some people are aware that she recorded with a Brooklyn group, the Dap-Kings, whose best work has been with Sharon Jones, who is label mates (Daptone Records) with the Budos Band.

So why "afro-soul"? As is apparent on today's selection, they have an obvious thing for the Ethiopiques series. But it fits this general new funk, neosoul aesthetic, with (again) plenty of breakbeats, horns, an analog aesthetic, and an obvious pride in being strong players.

Photo: Local churches (2).

HUNG UP ON MY BABY

Listen to HUNG UP ON MY BABY by El Michels Affair.

I've been wondering how to transition away from newish music, hip hop, and old soul music that we've been doing the last couple of weeks. Then it hit me--why not share with people new music that sounds like old soul music that's heavily influenced by hip hop? Genius!

Let's start with the specific in hopes we can work back to the general. Today's selection is Hung Up On My Baby by El Michels Affair. Hung Up is a cover of an old Isaac Hayes number, but most people (including, I'd assume, the guys who recorded this version) know it as the song sampled by the Geto Boys in My Mind Playin' Tricks On Me. One way you can tell the band is working off the hip hop version is that this version is leaner, more stripped down, more open breakbeats than the original, as if they're covering a loop more than a song.

So who are these guys? El Michels Affair is Leon Michels and friends. Michels runs a label called Truth & Soul Records, which is a kind of successor to Soul Fire Records. Both of these labels are big names in a scene that doesn't really have a name. It's the retro soul-funk scene, the nuevo funk scene, the neo-soul, the neo-funk... I've seen every variety of label. Basically it's a bunch of young (but not always young) guys (and gals) recreating (though that's not always an acceptable term) an older, rawer funk-soul sound. Simple!

Actually not, but let's not get bogged down. We'll try to talk about it more as we go, but for now, have a listen to this excellent track. And go back to some of these other posts for further reference. My only request is that as you listen to it, don't think of it as aping the "good" music from the early 70s, take it as adapting some good music, with some other good music, and making their own thing.

Photo: Local churches (1).