Martin's funk thread

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Mico Wave - 1987 - From The Inside Out!!!

P-Funk of a reasonably enjoyable kind, more at the funk end than the heavy rock end, maybe even more Bootsy than Clinton. Another that didn't make a powerful impression, I'm afraid.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Funkadelic - 1970 - Funkadelic
An excellent early album with a bit more '60s R&B and soul still audible, not too excessive an amount of heavy rock guitar, and some strong funk.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

James Brown - Live At The Apollo
Okay, I had this already, but um, it was labelled with the wrong year so maybe it was a different - nah, really I just wanted to include it on one of these CDs, and I particularly wanted to play it now because I just got the 33 1/3 book on it by one Douglas Wolk, so it was a good time to play it again. The book's terrific, by the way, and it makes me hear a bunch of new things in this, but it was already one of my all-time favourite albums, certainly one of my three favourite live albums ever. It's an exhilirating, fiery experience.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Mandrill - Just Outside Of Town
I really like Mandrill. They try all sorts of things. Not all of them work, but hardly any strike me as not worth hearing, and some are terrific. This for instance features some cool jazzy vibes, and some of the best super-heavy funk I've heard. There are dull spots, but I like a band that makes me check my diskman (which plays MP3 disks with a dozen or so albums on) to see if we have moved on to some other act.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

Rick James - Fire It Up
This one feels a touch routine, a bit 'will this do?'. I like his style - with a dash of extra disco this time - so I'm happy to hear him even off form, but this is undistinguished work.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link

Sly & The Family Stone - Live Dallas TX 09-01-69
Not a great mix on what I take to be a bootleg, but when that isn't a problem this is tremendous, even though it comes before or right at the start of their greatest period.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Bar-Kays - Cold Blooded
Mid-'70s Memphis R&B by one of the band's line-ups. It's the kind of thing I can listen to all day - but in all honesty I could listen to it all day without getting to this rather ordinary though very skilled example of the style.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Chairmen of the Board - Bittersweet
I know it isn't one of the first couple of big hits that come to mind for most people from this band, but Bittersweet is probably my favourite of their songs. I don't know exactly what's going on in the chorus in technical terms, but I find it hugely affecting, and I think it may be General Johnson's best vocal performance. It also has a genuine 'what the fuck?' middle section. This album is mostly somewhere near this kind of elevated level, with a couple of weaker tracks but none of the MOR disasters of previous albums (the man responsible had left the band by now). A great album.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Graham Central Station - Live In London
I'm kind of getting bored with them by now, but this is thoroughly enjoyable when they do songs I like (mostly Sly numbers) and when Larry isn't too egotistical. Their own material doesn't hold up so well, I think.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Mutiny - Funk Plus The One
There is loads of P-Funk and related material in the megastack, and while I am loving some of it, and disliking the rock end of things, even the copyists who don't lean much that way, mostly, are sometimes pointless. Mutiny aren't bad, they sound like P-Funk, but I don't really see why we need them.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Fuzzy Haskins - Radioactive
He's no kind of singer, and while there's nothing terribly wrong with this - there's quite a lot of good playing, for instance - it's kind of routine, lacking any great songs to make up for the vocal inadequacies. Since he was a major member of the Clinton bands, see above for comments really.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 26 March 2006 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

oh also: sorry to anyone who cares, and I will try to get back to a better schedule than weekly.

Fortnightly?

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 2 April 2006 14:25 (eighteen years ago) link

ha, sorry: I'll try to catch up tomorrow, possibly...

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 2 April 2006 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

I wish Martin would start posting again.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Saturday, 14 April 2007 00:37 (seventeen years ago) link

this is an incredible thread.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 14 April 2007 01:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Hell yeah.

― Bimble, Saturday, 14 April 2007 05:40 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

Martin come back and finish the reviews!

― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 28 November 2008 17:33 (fifteen years ago) link

two years pass...

classic

― cold gettin' dumb (m coleman), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:42 (twelve years ago) link

Forgot about this thread.

― Scharlach Sometimes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 28 July 2011 01:34 (twelve years ago) link

One of the first replies is bimble

― No. I think social networks need to keep it real (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 28 July 2011 01:36 (twelve years ago) link

I'll never forget his excitement about these dvdr-s. Hope they go to a good home. It's a real shame he never got to finish reviewing them always hoped he would one day come back to ilx and restart this thread.
RIP Martin. You and Bimble are going to have some great chats on a cloud.

― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Thursday, 28 July 2011 08:53 (twelve years ago) link

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