JOVM’s WIlliam Ruben Helms celebrates Black History — and pays tribute to Rick James.
Tag: funk
Throwback: Black History Month: The Whispers
JOVM’s WIlliam Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to The Whispers.
Formed back in 2019, the Moscow-based instrumental funk outfit The Diasonics — Anton Moskvin (drums), Maxim Brusov (bass guitar), Anton Katyrin (percussions), Daniil Lutsenko (guitar) and Kamil Gzizov (keys) — quickly amassed a cult following, while honing a sound that they’ve dubbed “hussar funk,” a blend of hip-hop rhythms, 60s and 70s psychedelia and Eastern European flavor within cinematic arrangements.
Also in that relatively short period of time, the members of The Diasonics have released ten highly-celebrated singles and various in-demand, 45RPM vinyl records through indie funk labels like Funk Night Records and Mocambo Records. The Russian funk outfit’s full-length debut Origins of Forms is slated for a January 28, 2022 release through Italian funk and soul purveyors Record Kicks.
Recorded on an Otari MX-5050 MK III at Moscow’s Magnetone Studio and mixed by The Cactus Channel‘s and Karate Boogaloo‘s Henry Jenkins in Melbourne, the album’s overall aesthetic is firmly rooted in the early 60s and 70s.
In the lead up to its release later this week. I’ve managed to write about two of the album’s previous singles:
- “Gurami,” a slow-burning, soulful strut, centered around shimmering, wah wah pedaled guitar that’s a mash up of Turkish psych, boom bap breakbeats, organ jazz and trippy grooves that sounds as though it was part of a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western or an instrumental soul obscurity found and sampled by the RZA.
- “Andromeda,” a trippy and expansive composition that sees the band meshing elements of prog rock, jazz fusion, Turkish psych and komishce musik in a way that reminded me quite a bit of Mildlife and L’Eclair — with a subtle Western tinge.
“Deviants,” Origins of Forms‘ third and latest single will further cement the act’s penchant for crafting hypnotic grooves — with the new single being centered around hip-hop inspired breakbeats, glistening retro-futuristic sounding Rhodes, strutting bass lines, shuffling wah wah pedaled guitar. The arrangement manages to be roomy enough for some inspired and scorching soling and some reverb drenched “ooh-ahhs.” Much like the aforementioned Mildlife and L’Eclair, “Deviants” is the sort of song perfect for poppin’ and lockin’ — or just chilling out on a Sunday.
Oakland-based funk and soul outfit The Grease Traps can trace their origins back through about two decades and two previous projects: Back in 2000, Aaron Julin (keys) answered a classified ad by Kevin O’Dea (guitar), searching for players who were hip to the grooves laid down by Blue Note Records artists like Grant Green and Lou Donaldson. The duo quickly formed Groovement, an act that covered those artists, along with other jazz-funk staples.
When Groovement’s rsax player and frontman moved, Julin and O’Dea switched gears and formed Brown Baggin’, an act that got into the harder hitting funk of The JBs, The Meters, Kool & The Gang, Mickey & the Soul Generation and a lengthy list of others. They increasingly became influenced by the rare funk compilations released by Keb Darge, Gerald Jazzman Short and labels like Harmless, Ubiquity, Soul Jazz and Now-Again, as well as contemporary outfits like Breakestra, The Whitefield Brothers and the Daptone and Soul Fire crews.
Back in 2005 while still with Brown Baggin,’ Julin and O’Dea began to get fed up juggling the schedules of seven band members, who each had their own varying professional and personal obligations. The pair put out a classified ad seeking a bassist and drummer to jam with as a quartet. The first two musicians, who answered the ad and showed up were Goopy Rossi (bass) and Dave Brick (drums). It was clear from those early jam sessions, that the quartet had a great musical and creative chemistry.
Originally intended as a fun side project, The Grease Traps quickly became a priority as Brown Baggin broke up. Performing as an instrumental quartet for a handful of years, the band expanded their lineup with the addition of a horn section and lead vocalist The Gata. Over the years, the band has shared stages with the likes of Shuggie Otis, Robert Walter, Durand Jones and The Indications, Monophonics, Neal Francis and Jungle Fire.
Now, as you might recall, the Oakland-based outfit released their full-length debut Solid Ground through Italian purveyors of funk and soul, Record Kicks. Six years in the making, Solid Ground was recorded at Kelly Finnigan‘s San Francisco-based Transistor Sound by Finnigan and Ian McDonald and at Oakland-based Fifty Filth Studio by Orgone‘s Sergio Rios, live and straight to eight-track tape on a Tascam 388 to recreate that old-school analog sound. The album’s material features guest spots from the Monophonics’ horn section, backing vocals by Bay Area-based vocalists Sally Green and Bryan Dyer, as well as strings arranged by Kansas City-based violist Alyssa Bell.
Solid Ground features a mix of covers and originals. The originals draw from the band’s various influences including funk, psych soul and lowrider soul among others. Lyrically and thematically, the album’s originals see The Gata discussing the pressing issues of our moment — racism, finding hope in a world that seems pitted against you and more. The albums’ covers manage to capture the energy of the band’s live set.
In the lead up to the album’s release late last year, I wrote about album single ”Birds of Paradise,” a strutting synthesis of Muscle Shoals-like soul, The Meters and The JB’s featuring shimmering and arpeggios Rhodes, old school breakbeats, a chugging bassline, wah-wah pedaled guitar, a funky horn line and enormous hook paired with The Gata’s soulful crooning, yelps and howls. Fittingly, the song is focuses on affairs of the heart: the song’s narrator brags, struts and attempts to do anything and everything he could to prove that he’s the man for the woman he desires.
“Roots,” Solid Ground‘s album opener and latest single is a strutting synthesis of Muscle Shoals, Isaac Hayes-like orchestral psych soul and The Payback era James Brown centered around an expansive song structure that includes the song’s underpinning guitar riff, some bluesy harmonica riffs, an alternating verse chorus verse section, featuring a rousingly anthemic hook, a trippy freak out reminiscent of The Isley Brothers‘ “Shout,” as part of the song’s lengthy outro. Lyrically, the song focus on gathering up the strength to face a hateful and brutal world that’s pitted against you at every single turn. But during the outro, the personal struggle becomes universal with the song pointing out that we need to band together and rise up against those who keep us down. Power to the people, indeed!
“‘Roots’ was the last song we recorded for the album in our studio,” The Grease Traps’ Kevin O’Dea says. “It started off with just the basic riff you hear over the verses. While the main rhythm section groove was cool on its own, we knew we wanted to build up the energy over the course of the song. I wrote some horn lines and added fuzz guitar on top which helped, but we still felt like the song needed something uptempo and driving after the darker beginning. After a false ending, we ramp up the tempo with a faster four-on-the-snare soul groove, followed by a breakdown to just guitar and drums, before building up to a feverish pitch on the outro. We decided to convert most of my original horn arrangements to strings which we felt added to the depth of this track. The Gata did a fantastic job with the lyrics, keeping it heavy on the slower verses, but imploring for change and unity during the outro. His harmonica work also lends an earthy poignancy which really suits the overall feeling we were trying to convey. This was the first and only take we did of the song, including the scratch lead vocals the Gata laid down, because the vibe was just right. Sergio Rios of Orgone created a brilliant mix, blending the many elements into one cohesive unit and making it one of the tracks we’re most proud of.”
Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Allen Toussaint!
JOVM celebrates Allen Toussaint on what would have been his 83rd birthday.
New Audio: Delvon Lamarr Trio Releases a Strutting and Soulful Bit of Funk
Acclaimed Seattle-based soul jazz outfit Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio formed back in 2015 and currently features:
- Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician, with perfect pitch, who taught himself jazz — and can play several different instruments, besides organ
- Jimmy James, a guitarist, whose style meshes acid rock freak outs with slinky jazz
- Dan Weiss, the Reno, NV-born drummer, the band’s new full-time drummer, who’s best known for his work with the soul and funk collective The Sextones
Since their formation, the Seattle-based trio has released two albums of what the band dubs “feel good music” that includes 2018’s full-length debut, Close But No Cigar and last year’s critically and commercially successful sophomore effort I Told You So, which debuted on the top of multiple Billboard Charts: #1 on the Contemporary Jazz Album Chart, #3 on the Jazz Album Chart, #4 on the Tastemaker Album Chart, and #12 on the Heatseaker Album Chart.
I Told You So also received praise by Under the Radar, AllMusic, American Songwriter, Popmatters, KEXP, Live For Live Music, Jazziz, Jambase, Glide Magazine and NPR, who named it one of their favorite albums of the first half of last year.
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio’s third album Cold As Weiss is slated for a February 11, 2022 release through Colemine Records. Cold As Weiss is the first recorded output with Weiss, the band’s newest member. And while finding the band at its tightest, the album reportedly finds the band continuing to push funky instrumental music to a new generation of fans.
“Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do,” Cold As Weiss‘ second and latest single derives its title from a quote by the band’s Jimmy James. “No matter what you say to this cat, ‘Yo bro, your butt crack is showing,’ he always says the same thing: ‘Man . . . don’t worry ’bout what i do,” the band’s Delvon Lamarr explains. “Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do” is an old-school pimp strut, centered around an expansive arrangement featuring Weiss’ quickly building up a tight, rhythmic swing, Lamarr’s sultry organ lines and James’ psych rock-like guitar lines. The end result is a composition that seems indebted to the likes of The Meters and Booker T and the MGs.
Chris Sherman is a Cincinnati-born and-based bassist, best known as Freekbass. Sherman, who graduated from his hometown’s School for Creative and Performing Arts started his career in earnest, when Bootsy’s Rubber Band vocalist Gary “Mudbone” Cooper recruited Sherman to record a track, which would appear on a Jimi Hendrix tribute compilation.
Sherman was introduced to the legendary Bootsy Collins, who had given him his stage name. In 1992, Sherman along with guitarist Chris Donnelly formed SHAG. Two years, later the band released their debut effort, Bootsy Collins Presents SHAG Live.
In 1998 Freekbass went solo, releasing his full-length debut, 1998’s Ultra-Violet Impact. Since then, the Cincinnati-born and -based bassist has gone to release seven more albums leading his own band, including 2019’s All the Way This. All the Way That.
Freekbass begins 2022 with the Eddie Roberts-produced “Under Krameria,” a swaggering and strutting bit of gritty funk that seems indebted to Funkadelic and Mandrill, centered around Freekbass’ thumping bass playing creating woozy melodies, Sky White’s soaring organ chords and some old school breakbeats. It’s the sort of soundtrack for strutting down the street in your finest threads.
After the session, the band was waiting for a title to come to them and found their van stopping under the Krameria street sign in Denver. As the story goes, the band realized that this odd bit of happenstance worked. It also manages to mirror, the song’s organic nature.
Throughout their decade-plus turn together, the Seattle-based octet Polyrhythmics specialize in a genre-blurring sound that meshes elements of funk, rock, jazz, Afrobeat, Latin soul and more with arrangements generally centered around keys and percussion.
The Seattle-based outfit is currently working with Color Red to re-master and re-issue their fourth album Libra Stripes. And to build up buzz for the forthcoming re-mastered reissue of Libra Stripes, the members of Polyrhythmics and Color Red released, the re-mastered album’s first single “Pupusa Strut.” Centered around a catchy and buoyant horn line, wah-wah pedaled guitar, Afro-Latin percussion and playful bursts of flute, “Pupusa Strut” is a funky and upbeat pimp strut that sonically brings The Funk Ark‘s High Noon to mind.
Moscow-based instrumental funk outfit The Diasonics — Anton Moskvin (drums), Maxim Brusov (bass guitar), Anton Katyrin (percussions), Daniil Lutsenko (guitar) and Kamil Gzizov (keys) — formed back in 2019 and in a relatively short period of time, the Russian quintet quickly amassed a cult following while honing what they’ve dubbed “hussar funk,” a blend of hip-hop rhythms, 60s and 70s psychedelia, Eastern European flavor within cinematic arrangements
Since their formation, The Diasonics have released ten highly celebrated singles and various in-demand 45 vinyl records through funk labels like Funk Night Records and Mocambo Records. Their highly-anticipated full-length debut, Origins of Forms is slated for a January 28, 2022 release through Italian funk and soul purveyors Record Kicks.
Recorded on an Otari MX-5050 MK III at Moscow’s Magnetone Studio and mixed by The Cactus Channel‘s and Karate Boogaloo‘s Henry Jenkins in Melbourne, the album’s overall aesthetic is firmly rooted in the early 60s and 70s. Last month, I wrote about “Gurami,” Origins of Forms‘ first single, slow-burning and soulful strut, centered around shimmering, wah wah pedaled guitar that’s a mash up of Turkish psych, boom bap breakbeats, organ jazz and trippy grooves. The end result, a song that sounded as though it could have been part of the soundtrack of a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western or an deep instrumental soul obscurity sampled by the RZA and then later played by El Michels Affair.
“Andromeda,” Origin of Forms‘ second and latest single features boom bap breakbeats, looping guitar lines, cosmic grooves, congo drum and shimmering organ in an expansive composition that mashes prog rock, jazz fusion, Turkish psych and komische musik. Sonically, “Andromeda” reminds me of Mildlife and L’Eclair — with a subtle Western tinge.
Live Footage: Acclaimed Melbourne-Based Act Mildlife Performs “Citations” on South Channel Island
2017 was a breakthrough year for the now-acclaimed Melbourne-based outfit Mildlife — multi-instrumentalists Jim Rindfleish, Adam Halliwell, Kevin McDowell and Tom Shanahan: Their full-length debut Phase, a mind-bending mix of jazz, krautrock and trippy grooves quickly became a word-of-mouth sensation among open-minded DJs and crate-diggers searching for that perfect, as-of-yet undiscovered-but-incredible beat. Their emergence — and their profile — was solidified by some extensive touring that demonstrated a loose-limbed live approach that thrilled and won over new fans, including the BBC’s Gilles Peterson.
By the end of 2017, the album received critical praise from Resident Advisor, Uncut,and The Guardian, as well as airplay on BBC Radio 6. Adding to a growing profile, the album landed a handful of award nominations including Best Album at the 2018 Worldwide FM Awards, Best Independent Jazz Album at the 2018 AIR Awards and Best Electronic Award nomination and win at the The Age Music Victoria Awards. DJ Harvey also included album track “Magnificent Moon” on his Pikes compilation Mercury Rising, Vol. II.
The Melbourne-based quartet have also opened for Stereolab, JOVM mainstays King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Harvey Sutherland. Their first national headlining tour was sold out, and they immediately followed up with a ten-date UK and European tour, which was culminated with a homecoming set at Meredith Music Festival.
Mildlife released their sophomore album Automatic through Heavenly Recordings late last year. The album, which debuted at #10 on the Aussie charts, saw the band crafting much more danceable material, centered around tightly structured arrangements that allow room for melodic improvisation paired with ethereal vocals. Interestingly, the album manages to further cement the Aussie outfit’s approach and reputation for effortlessly gliding between live performance and studio songwriting. Capping off the year, Automatic won an ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
Unable to play shows in person and in front of living, breathing, sweating and dancing humans, the mebmers of Mildlife travelled by boat to a long-abandoned 19th Century island fort on South Channel Island to play for fairy penguins and abalone poachers.
The end result: Live from South Channel Island, a 70 minute concert film and live album, in which the band recreate their live show while framed by Port Philip Bay. Live from South Channel Island is slated for an April 29, 2022 release through Heavenly Recordings/[PIAS] — and the band shared the album’s first single, an expansive live rendition of the Wish You Were Here era Pink Floyd meets jazz fusion-like “Citations,” which appears on Automatic. Of course, the accompanying live footage is at simultaneously eerie and jaw-dropping.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Genesis Owusu Releases a Trippy Visual for “Waitin’ For Ya (Remix)”
With the release of his debut EP, 2017’s Cardrive, the acclaimed and rising Ghanian-born, Canberra, Australia-based, artist Genesis Owusu — born Kofi Owusu-Anash — quickly established a reputation for being a restless, genre-blurring chameleon with an ability to conjure powerful and deeply personal storytelling.
The EP eventually garnered an ARIA Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Release and praise from Sir Elton John (!), NME, i-D, mixmag and others. Owusu supported the EP by opening for Dead Prez, Col3trane, Sampa The Great, Cosmo’s Midnight, Noname, Animé, Ruel and others in Australia.
Last year, Owusu-Anash released a couple of highly-celebrated singles — the fiery street shit meets mosh pit ripper “Whip Cracker” and the ARIA Award-nominated smash hit “Don’t Need You,” which quickly became the #1 most played song on triple J radio and eventually international airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 and here in the States on KCRW, KUTX, The Current and Alt98.
Owusu-Anash’s critically applauded full-length debut Smiling With No Teeth was released earlier this year. The album as the acclaimed Ghanian-Aussie artist explains is essentially about “performing what the world wants to see, even if you don’t have the capacity to do so honestly. Slathering honey on your demons to make them palatable to people, who only want to know if you’re okay, if the answer is yes. That’s the idea, turned into beautiful, youthful, ugly, timeless and strange music.
Each of the album’s 15 tracks can trace their origins back to studio jam sessions with a backing band that features Kirin J. Callinan, Touch Sensitive’s Michael DiFrancesco, World Champion‘s Julian Sudek and the album’s producer Andrew Klippel.
In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wound up writing about three of Smiling With No Teeth‘s singles:
- “The Other Black Dog,” a mind-bending production that meshed alternative hip-hop, industrial clang, clatter, rattle and stomp, off-kilter stuttering beats and wobbling synth arpeggios that was roomy enough for Owusu-Anash’s breathless, rapid-fire and dense flow. Managing to balance club friendliness with sweaty, mosh pit energy, the song is a full-throttled nosedive into madness that reminds me of the drug and booze fueled chaos of ODB, and the menace of DMX.
- “Gold Chains,” a brooding yet seamless synthesis of old school soul, G Funk and Massive Attack-like trip hop centered around shimmering and atmospheric synths, stuttering boom bap beats, squiggling blasts of guitar and the rising Ghanian-born, Canberra-based artist’s Mos Def/Yasiin Bey-like delivery, alternating between spitting dense and dexterous bars and crooning with an achingly tender falsetto. “‘Gold Chains’ got me thinking about the flaws of being in a profession where, more and more, you have to be the product, rather than just the provider of the product, and public misconceptions about how luxurious that is,” Owusu-Anash explains in press notes. “Lyrically, it set the tone for the rest of the album.”
- “Same Thing,” a jolting and uneasy future funk banger centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, skittering beats, bursts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar, a propulsive bass line and infectious hook serving as a silky bed for Owusu’s alternating dexterous and densely worded bars and soulful crooning. But at its core is an unflinchingly honest — and necessary — view of mental health struggles.
In July, the Ghanian-Aussie JOVM mainstay released the Missing Molars EP, a five-track accompaniment to his full-length debut. Recorded during the Smiling With No Teeth sessions, the Missing Molars EP material didn’t make the album — but further continue the soul-baring narrative of the album. “Missing Molars is an extension of Smiling With No Teeth,” Owusu-Anash explains. “A small collection of tracks from the SWNT sessions that take the already established world-building groundwork of the album, and expand that universe into new and unexplored places. These are all tracks that I felt were special in their own right and needed to be shared. This is music without boundaries.”
In the lead up to Missing Molars‘ release, I wrote about “The Fall,” a slick and pulsing synthesis of industrial house, hip-hop and future soul centered around Owusu-Anash’s silky falsetto that manages to convey a restless and uneasy energy while being a banger.
Originally commissioned to be part of a global ad campaign, Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma gave album track “Waitin’ On Ya,” the remix treatment. The original was sultry bit of neo-soul centered around shimmering and arpeggiated Rhodes, a sinuous bass line and Owusu’s silky smooth delivery. The Jono Ma remix retains the acclaimed JOVM mainstay’s silky smooth delivery but pairs it with skittering drum ‘n’ bass-like beats and glistening synths and buoyant horns, turning the song into a trippy yet club friendly bop.
The “Waitin’ On Ya (Remix)” caps off a wildly successful year for the Ghanian-Aussie JOVM mainstay: Owusu-Anash has firmly secured himself atop international “emerging artists to watch in 2021.” Smiling With No Teeth has received critical acclaim internationally from NPR Music, i-D, Paste Magazine, Hypebeast and countless others. The album has also received over 50 million streamed globally while landing on a number of Spotify and Apple Music playlists.
The video for the “Waiting On Ya (Remix)” was directed by Riley Blakeway, who directed the award-winning video for “The Other Black Dog.” The video continues the narrative developed from “The Other Black Dog” but through a fever dream-like prism that features that visual’s main character running a complex and crazy scam that seems him travel to all kinds of paradisal locations — but while appearing and being a menacing and uneasy look at someone, who might be slowly going mad.
New Audio: Montreal’s Fredy V. & The Foundation Release an Uplifting and Anthemic Ode to Self-Determination
Montreal-based collective The Foundation features some of the city’s best musicians, who also play in the Canadian city’s top R&B, hip-hop, funk, gospel, soul and jazz acts. The members of The Foundation gained collective experience from production and performing on a weekly, nationally aired TV show — and they used their momentum of their show to write and record their critically applauded debut EP One Step.
The Foundation also collaborates with some of the French Canadian city’s top and upcoming R&B, hip-hop, soul and funk acts, including Mel Pacifico and Fredy V — both, who are full-time members of the collective. The collective’s latest single “On The Rise,” marks the one-year anniversary of the release of their debut EP. But song is also a bold mission statement of stops, description the group’s current direction and mindset.
Featuring glistening synths, twinkling keys, thumping beats, hand-claps, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, wobbling bass synth, “On The Rise” is centered around a warm and roomy, New Jack Swing meets neo-soul with a hint of classic Chic-like production. Fredy V. contributes self-assured and thoughtful verses describing the sacrifices he had to take to get to where he is right now, including distancing from the people and habits that didn’t align with his goals. Pacifico contributes her soulful vocals to the song’s uplifting and infectious hook.Unsurprisingly, the new single is informed by and inspired by the collective’s experiences during the pandemic: Both individually and as a collective, The Foundation was forced to reflect on the direction of their careers in music — and their lives.
Thematically, the song touches upon self-empowerment, maturation, self-determination and accountability — that come about as someone matures and is actively attempting to make serious moves for themselves. The song — and the band — seem to say to the listener, “well, if you wanna fulfill your dreams, stop the bullshit and get to work. It ain’t easy but once you get there, it’ll be worth it.”
Moscow-based instrumental funk outfit The Diasonics — Anton Moskvin (drums), Maxim Brusov (bass guitar), Anton Katyrin (percussions), Daniil Lutsenko (guitar) and Kamil Gzizov (keys) — formed back in 2019 and in a relatively short period of time, the Russian quintet quickly amassed a cult following, honing what they’ve dubbed “hussar funk,” a blend of hip-hop rhythms, 60s and 70s psychedelia, Eastern European flavor within cinematic arrangements.
Since their formation, The Diasonics have released ten highly celebrated singles and various in-demand 45 vinyl records through funk labels like Funk Night Records and Mocambo Records. The Russian funk outfit’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, Origins of Forms is slated for a January 28, 2022 release through Italian funk and soul purveyors Record Kicks. Recorded on an Otari MX-5050 MK III at Moscow’s Magnetone Studio and mixed by The Cactus Channel‘s and Karate Boogaloo‘s Henry Jenkins in Melbourne, the album’s overall aesthetic is firmly rooted in the early 60s and 70s.
“Gurami,” Origins of Forms‘ first single is a slow-burning and soulful strut, centered around shimmering wah wah pedaled guitar that sounds inspired by Turkish psychedelia, boom bap breakbeats, soaring keys, and at trippy groove rooted in a sinuous bass line. While we all know the composition was written and recorded by a contemporary act, “Gurami” sounds as though it could have been part of the soundtrack of a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western or an deep instrumental soul obscurity sampled by the RZA and then later played by El Michels Affair.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Bootsy Collins!
JOVM celebrates Booty Collins’ 70th birthday.