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).