Thursday, May 1, 2008

THINGS YOU NEED

IT'S RARE I GET THIS EXCITED ABOUT MUSIC ANYMORE (I KNOW, JADED MUSIC STORE EMPLOYEE) BUT WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN, I GOTTA LET Y'ALL KNOW...

this is the second album by Badfoot Brown & the Bunion's:
COSBY, BILL - Badfoot Brown And The Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band
Uni | 1970


















i know you're like who?

well, it's Bill Cosby (yes, the pudding pop dude) on the organ with a slew of incredibly talented collaborators including members of the Crusaders.

dusty groove put it back out, here's what they have to say:
A funky masterpiece from Bill Cosby -- hardly the sort of record you might expect from all of his years on mainstream TV! This set was cut back when Bill was a much hipper cat on the LA scene -- and it was the start of a brief all-instrumental run with his Badfoot Brown ensemble -- a group who's not named in the notes on the record, but who offer up some seriously funky grooves! Bill supposedly plays keyboards himself -- some really mad electric piano that's often repetitive, cyclical, and really hypnotic -- a tripped-out style that's more funk than jazz, and which is easily one of the best parts of the record. But the rhythms are great too -- equally hypnotic, and build up from bass, organ, guitar, and this whomping sort of drum part -- echoing strongly in the background and really bringing a spooky feel to the set. Side one includes the amazing "Martin's Funeral" -- sampled famously by Tribe Called Quest, and a 15 minute jam that's inspired by the funeral of Martin Luther King. Side two features "Hybish Shybish", an even longer track that's sort of an improvised jazz game -- and which features tripped-out instrumental trading that's simply amazing. The whole record is really mindblowing -- a messed-up jam session that's well worth the legend that's been built up around it over the years -- and we're hard-pressed to think of another album like it! And as a special bonus, the package features these really long notes written by Bill Cosby himself -- words that are as unusual as the music, and a side of him that's hardly been shown again.





















first off, it took you peeps long enough...

Portishead finally dropped their third album, 13 years after their second.
It really was worth the wait.

It's rare a band can survive an era, a genre and still be just as creative and relevant.

They are also the rare group that can embody their influences (this time around: Can, Silver Apples, Shocking Blue...) without sounding like a parody.
Peep it, it really is brilliant.






















this is one of the best hip-hop records that you've never heard
released on the Fondle 'Em label, vinyl only, over a decade ago.
This was before "backpacker" was a bad word, some of the best creative hip-hop New York has to offer.

word

(see, I don't hate EVERYTHING!!!)

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