funky house sceptics, let me draw your attention to this

also this! frm bugz in the attic/reinforced dude:

http://soundcloud.com/markforce/that-rhythm

(heard these on the infallible seani b covering mistajam's show last nite - why oh why can't it always be this way 1xtra? jam is fucking useless.)

Ha ha I came on to this thread to post the Ill Blu remix of "OMG" which I'd finally ID'd. Massive and murderous! I love it when she sings "I won't lower myself to snap at her!!" Reminds me of "You Better Tell Her". Also kind of nice that it's a bit less slick, which balances out the "Parachute" remix which is also great but almost too perfect.

But more generally loving this middle ground between, like, "Something Good" and the Freemasons.

thats a really good one.

DJ Naughty remix great also. I like how DJ Naughty has his aesthetic and sticks to it but about once every three productions or so pulls out some increasingly rococo and sickly and bizzaro twist on it.

^ yeah totally! i've long thought if i were to do a skykickin style expose of a producer in particular it'd be on naughty but i think hearing a couple of naughtyesque things that didn't turn out to be by him dissuaded me a little. also the whole being lazy thing.

the more i listen to naughty's mix the more i prefer it to the ill blu, but i'm not sure i've heard it in any sets as such - not to the extent of blu's anyway. (i hev nice mp3s of both if anyone desires.)

Actually both plus the Sound Boy mix are on mediafire, easily googlable everyone.

Naughty and Major Notes are my next two write-ups BTW. Naughty has done a ridiculous number of awes tracks in the past twelve months.

The Ill Blu remix is just more anthemic I think, it reshapes Sabrina's vocals perfectly. Funnily enough the Naughty remix is a bit too oddball to really cross over massively I think.

v broadly speaking i guess one thing i find most intriguing about him is his balance of up 2 the time modernity leavened by an almost i dunno, rinky dink house of horror vibe with the cheapo organ and stuff, it's fun.

maybe casino would be a better look actually. casio casino, etc.

v broadly speaking i guess one thing i find most intriguing about him is his balance of up 2 the time modernity leavened by an almost i dunno, rinky dink house of horror vibe with the cheapo organ and stuff, it's fun.

Yeah, the forcefulness and humour (to the extent these things can exist simultaneously and even be the same thing) of his productions is always surprising, always sneaking up on me.

Meanwhile the moneyshot moment in the Ill Blu remix is the high-pitched "ah ah aaoh oh oh aaoh" hook I think, it's what really pushes it over the edge as song as much as track.

Totally disproves the paragraph of mine that everyone here is now applying to Gucci Mane incidentally.

listening again in comparison with the naughty, the ill blu mix being "anthemic" as such is kinda what makes me hesitate when it comes to him - i am no enemy of maximalism but for ill blu it seems to translate into a feeling of a 5-year-old's grabby a.d.d greed that somehow passes over the sense of overbearing inclusive generosity you'd normally think was implied. almost as if the anthemic quality was being presupposed...? - i don't know why this bothers me really. he is still vv good and enjoyable however, don't get me wrong.

'blu magic' seems to me endlessly rewarding where his other productions pall and age, for instance - sonically it's probably his most lacklustre beat i'd imagine but "dooo doo doo doo doo - bom bom, bom-bom" is forever marvellous in its sheer efficacy of simplicity somehow.

Actually I do know what you mean sorta, there's an increasing sense (probably imposed from the outside) of entitlement with Ill Blu that makes you want to resist their charms, they have to keep getting better to prevent it from becoming a drag, and they're actually managing to do this at the moment but one wonders how long they can keep that up for.

But it might help to know that they're actually a duo and one of them is "Ill" while the other is "Blu". So the "Ill" guy lays down some ruff beat and then the "Blu" guy joy-juices and gussies it up with nice little synth squiggles and strings and the like.

I really like the idea of that for some reason. Certainly the sonic/aesthetic philosophy it implies is like catnip for me (boringly, almost, like a parody of me).

Easier emotionally to rally behind the charms of Screama/Farah, definitely. Though the follow-up tune I think is destined to stand uncertainly in the shadow of "Kiss".

what is this funky vocal song called 'dirty thoughts'? its got a female vocal and is one of the better ones ive heard in a while. reminds me of something geeneus might do as its quite early 90s-ish.

Do you mean Seany B's "Mr Seduction" from about 2 years ago?

That's the one that goes "I'm thinking of thoughts, of dirty thoughts, and it's all your fault, I want to be yours..."

there's a couple of screama/farah follow-ups aren't there? - the "baby i like your style" one at 86 mins on the 10th feb marcus, the "my life is good, my life is sweet" one at 33 on the 3rd march one. the latter might stand up to 'kiss' imo, albeit more demurely.

and here now's the bit in the script where i say tim should expand on his unified theory of r&b sensibility in funky.

haha yeah, i think thats the one. better late then never :)

Listening to that DJ Petchy/Topsy/Dream set again. SO EFFORTLESSLY EXCITING. What is that track at 47 minutes.

the ill blu remix of sabrina washington is sooooo good - naughty remix too but tim otm that the "ah, ah, ayyyy-ah" vocal on ill blu really pushes it over the top

the funkystepz remix of "rude boy" is odd in that it seems to borrow most from the hyperactive energy of bassline - i know lots of bassline producers had crossed over to funky, i didn't think this was the case for funkystepz?

the original "omg" is such disappointing electropop bollocks :(

and here now's the bit in the script where i say tim should expand on his unified theory of r&b sensibility in funky.

Not really unified and barely a theory. Basically I reckon there's a reason that funky goes for US R&B divas (Teedra and Jazmine in particular) who strike an absolute middleground between modern R&B attitude and a really organicky warm soulfulness - funky's sense of R&B is (by and large) a lot warmer than garage's was.

You couldn't accuse funky of embracing "hypersoul" in the same way that you could at least plausibly say of garage (note my equivocations here). Some of this may be for the prosaic reason that funky is a bit slower.

Could probably expand on this and explain it better but eh... I've had a few too many beers.

the funkystepz remix of "rude boy" is odd in that it seems to borrow most from the hyperactive energy of bassline - i know lots of bassline producers had crossed over to funky, i didn't think this was the case for funkystepz?

The Rude Boy remix isn't even a particularly great example of Funkystepz's recent shameless bassline-biting. Lex I know you're resistant to this but you simply must download one of Funkystepz's radio sets and listen to the all-Funkystepz production sections!

They're not from bassline but they (or at least some of them) are pushing a fusion sound harder than just about anybody in funky.

Lex when you hear "Lovers" you will literally flip.

i'm not resistant, i'd love to hear it all, i literally don't have the time! i have to leave the house in an hour and do literally a million things first. if they (or anyone) have any sets around an hour long (or god forbid actual TRACKS) (and no 96kbps nonsense) (i sound so fussy but these are basic requirements of music consumption in 2010) i'll def jump on those.

Basically I reckon there's a reason that funky goes for US R&B divas (Teedra and Jazmine in particular) who strike an absolute middleground between modern R&B attitude and a really organicky warm soulfulness

think the issue of "classiness" is also key here - i've found that a lot of funky producers have jazz backgrounds, in the sense that they grew up around family members who played jazz, and of course that's one never-talked-about element of uk garage's entire lineage, so you get values like soulfulness and also TECHNICAL CHOPS ingrained into these artists - which of course leads you towards the more grown&sexy or organic r&b artists (erykah being another recurring funky-friendly r&b singer).

The Feb 9th mix is gone now... Will try one of the more recent sets and tell you which section to listen to.

Yet another great - and very grimey - Ill Blu track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SO7DBmbwY&feature=player_embedded

where are these sophisticated jazzy chops in funky producers exactly? are you sure they dont mean the type of jazz you get on smooth jazz programmes?

I'd actually disagree a little bit with Lex on this point in that someone like Farah - who's totally an organic and archetypal funky diva - doesn't sound polished or anything, she's just got a great intuitive feel to her - see also Miss Fire obv. If anything the vocals in funky I'm thinking of aren't so much about technical skill so much as just an untrained and unforced humanness.

It's also reflective of their different eras but with uk garage its R&B-ness by and large struck me as much smoother, which is why Craig David was such a great and representative vocalist. I always think of the Architechs' kinda androidy remix of Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" - which feels like something very different (in terms of what it is in R&B it's seeking to reproduce/transform) than, say, a remix of Jazmine Sullivan.

Thinking this is my top 10 of 2010 so far (in no particular order):

Funkystepz - Hurricane Riddim
Naughty Raver - Drama
Farah & Screama - Kiss Me
Sabrina Washington - OMG (Ill Blu Remix)
Devine Collective - People Keep Dancing
Emvee - Windrush
that Thriller-sampling track
Bassboy & Marcus Nasty - Let's Get Nasty
Funkystepz - Lovers
Devine Collective - Tribal Daydream

Having said that Greyman may be the secret hottest producer right now. I hear heaps of tracks whose identity I otherwise couldn't begin to guess at with his laughing-ghost sample-signature.

Great start to the year.

haha, i'd only vote for the thriller track if it always came with the extended 'ur girl's a player' mc riff.

("your girl's a dirty one / your girl's a dirty one / she'll be like that til she's 31" being the best of the lot obv.)

devine collective's 'dirty funk' is from last year then i take it...? hadn't heard it before the petchy set - ridic track.

I've allowed myself to get way behind right now. Which are the best mixes to catch up with? Ideally specially recorded mixes rather than radio sets.

The Majestic/Marcus Nasty set is the only really good "specially recorded" set I have from this year.

Yeah "Dirty Funk" is ace but I have a feeling it's from last year? Maybe not though. What's the track it samples? Anyway not sure how many ridic Devine Collective tracks I can put in a top ten w/o looking ridic myself.

The rap from the Petchy set that always pops into my head is Dream (roughly paraphrased):

She said "Dream you're an arsehole"
I said "thanks for the compliment love but I wouldn't touch you with a bargepole"
She said "oh my days I can't believe it, you're as cold as the weather in Glasgow!
No, Moscow!"
I'll put a hole in your heart on Valentine's Day without use of a crossbow!

In terms of strategic relaxation of "no radio sets" rules, I'd say it's worth it for the Petchy/Topsy/Dream set linked above. It's becoming a cliche for people to compare it to the old days of Mak 10/Nasty Crew in terms of sheer intensity but that really is what it feels like a lot of the time.

Funkystepz 9 February is the other one for me, insofar as being relatively good sound quality and having an easy-to-isolate second hour block of all Funkystepz tunes. If I don't find a more recent set which matches it I'll upload it.

As you'd expect the Ill Blu remix of Hot Chip is a bit more subdued than is usual for them, but not too much. Nice xylophone:

http://soundcloud.com/richtlobf/hot-chip-i-feel-better-ill-blue-remix

ill blu 9th february

http://www.sendspace.com/file/gi0ezk

sorry i meant funkystepz obv.

Thanks Corpsey!

Now, everyone, go to about 57 minutes in and listen from there.

BTW, what's the tune that "Dirty Funk" samples so liberally (the "ba-da-ba, ba-ba, ba-ba, ba-ba, ba-da-ba-da-ba" vocals)? It feels like a key moment in the development of modern culture and yet its identity has somehow passed me by.

Also is there a free and idiot-proof way to chop up long MP3s on a mac so that I can isolate tracks deserving of particular focus in future?

tim is there anyway to hear the songs you listed aside from mixes? i.e. the two of the first five google results for "funkystepz lovers" brings up your blog & this thread

you can do that on garage band pretty easily

just open the mix in garage band & then isolate the section where the song is & delete everything around it

Okay I will try to puzzle out Garage Band - if successful, "Lovers" will be the first thing I serve.

it's kind of tough to figure out

(this is me cutting out a gucci mane verse)

you want to open garageband & drag the song/mix from its folder & into the garage band window

after that you want to double click on the long bar where the song is so you get a window that looks like this

http://i43.tinypic.com/5xri42.png

from here you can then cut out the parts of the track/mix just by clicking anywhere at the bottom & dragging in whichever direction -- if you press play on the button there you can obv figure out where the track is in correspondence to the bar

once you get your highlighted section of the track you just press delete

to convert to mp3 go share -> export song to disc -> select "mp3 converter" from the "compress using" dropdown menu & it should send an mp3 to your desktop (mine shows up as a quicktime file but it can be uploaded to mp3 service/opened in itunes)

Thanks Jordan, here you go. Funkystepz - Lovers:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/gkglfo

"lovers" is sweet!

dj constantly talking over the top = not sweet. this is the other reason i don't listen to the radio, does my head in.

why don't ill blu and funkystepz do non-radio mp3 mixes like, idk, every other dj out there? bah.