Mixtape: Dirty Stanky Funky Vol. 1

Dirty Stanky Funky was a party we recently threw at the excellent Golden Dawn 'Tavern Of Power' on Auckland's Ponsonby Rd recently. We gave away a bunch of mixtapes on the night, but have decided to make a link available for your streaming (dis)pleasure. Click it. But get ready to get dirty, to get stanky, and most of all, to get funky - because this is definitely NOT for the faint-hearted...

A Pocket Sized Mixtape Vol. 10: The Boogie Back

'The Boogie Back' is Vol. 10 in the 'Pocket Sized Mixtape' series, and it sees the selection narrowed to some funk and soul-filled, disco-flavoured boogie bangers that always make me shake what my momma gave me. And then some.

You can listen AND download from SoundCloud or MixCloud. If you're interested in a playlist, I suggest you head towards MixCloud...

Enjoy. And watch this space for Vol. 11 dropping soon...

The Taste Of: Playlist 'In The Pocket with 90' Tue 9 Oct on Radio Ponsonby

Every Tuesday on 'In The Pocket with 90' I'll be laying down 'The Taste Of', a selection of music with a common thread running through. It could be locality, genre or label features, it might even be DJ-mixes or compilations; whatever it is, I'll be looking to give you a taste of my take on things.

This week, it's The Taste Of: Lazer Funk, Raw Disco and Cosmic Boogie.

Lalo Schifrin | Quiet Village
Bob James | Nightcrawlers
Pyramid Plus | Comin' At Ya
Deodato | Keep On Movin'
Plush | Free And Easy
Esther Williams | I'll Be Your Pleasure
The Fatback Band | Let The Drums Speak
Gonzalez | (I Want To Get) Closer To You
Lakeside | Fantastic Voyage
Jacqui & The Rumor | Just Don't Break-A-My Heart (inst.)
Linx | The Ice Is Melting
Side On | A Magic Version
Zalmac | What's In It For Me?
Sumy | Soul With Milk
Yo Yo Dance | Kabbala
Sylvester | I Need You (unreleased mix)
K.I.D. | Don't Stop
Atmosfear | Extra Special
MdCL Presents Sy Smith | Teena (Lovergirl Syberized)
Karlmarx Project | OSC

Review: The Cactus Channel 'Haptics'

THE CACTUS CHANNEL
Haptics
[Hope Street Recordings]

Raw, unadulterated funk seems to ooze out of Melbourne like some kind of primordial soup. Or there's something in the water, at least; because, while Australian hip hop is truly stuck in a quagmire, Aussie funk music is on another planet. As if further proof was required, young (like, still-in-their-teens young) 10-piece band The Cactus Channel,  hailing from Melbs, have just released their debut album, Haptics. Real and nasty instrumental funk and soul music, recorded straight to analogue tape and with little regard for anything other than getting a crowded dance floor hot and sweaty, Haptics is a rough and ready (1970s movie car-chase scene) ride through hard funk, swingin' boogaloo and deep soul. Yes, at times this is jarring, with blaring horns relentlessly rubbing against the grooves laid down by the loose-limbed rhythm section; but it is also endlessly exciting at the same time - exactly how funk music should be. And to be fair, hearing this music played in a live environment, while jammed into a little room with a cluster of like-minded folks, with a beer in one hand and your girl in the other would be something else. Bands like (countrymen) The Bamboos and NY's Dap-Kings and The Menahan Street Band spring to mind, as do Eddie Bo, The Blackbyrds and The J-Bs; but this is more than a pastiche - it's a clever amalgamation of a handful of different funk and soul styles, which keeps the listener's attention throughout, with all the right boxes ticked: big fat horns, scratchy guitars, thick layers of keys and bass, heavy-handed drums and some fantastically arranged tunes. All up, a remarkable and impressive debut.

3 and 1/2 stars from 5

Have a listen to the album below or at this link. I recommend it.


The Cactus Channel - Haptics by HopeStreet Recordings

Review: Funkommunity 'Chequered Thoughts'

FUNKOMMUNITY
Chequered Thoughts
[FMG/Universal]

Chequered Thoughts is the debut album from Funkommunity, the brainchild of musician, songwriter and producer Isaac Aesili (Opensouls, Solaa) and vocalist/songwriter Rachel Fraser (Recloose, Sola Rosa); who first collaborated on I'm All In, the standout track from Aesili's excellent solo debut album Eye See. Soaked in future soul and funk, Chequered Thoughts treads a similar path to the likes of Electric Wire Hustle and Platinum Pied Pipers. The key difference is provided by Fraser: while her voice isn't technically amazing she has soul and gravitas, recalling old school jazz divas with her ability to draw listeners into the heart of songs; songs which are cleverly constructed, showing the kind of deft touches which belie Aesili's prolific musical experience over the years. Squelchy basslines and wobbly beats underpin bubbling keys and washes of horns and harmonies, while Fraser's voice ties it all together on what is an assured and accomplished debut.

4 stars from 5

Check out more from Isaac Aesili here...

Radio Ponsonby Record Review: Keb Darge & Paul Weller Present Lost & Found: Real Rn'B & Soul

Keb Darge & Paul Weller Present
LOST & FOUND: Real Rn'B & Soul
[BBE]

This is a genuine treasure trove of a compilation, a joyous celebration of "dance" music put together by two of the most famously grumpy old men in UK music: Scottish DJ, label owner & "Deep Funk" aficionado Keb Darge; & the legendary English songwriter & musician Paul Weller.

Weller is an acclaimed rock star & soul music collector whose contribution to music is well documented - The Jam, Style Council & a successful solo career - while Darge is the man who coined the term "Deep Funk" & the co-founder (alongside fellow funk record collector Mark Cotgrove aka Snowboy) of that now globally recognised musical scene. He co-owns the Kay-Dee label with US producer, DJ & collector Kenny Dope (of Masters At Work); works as producer with one of the leading lights of the live band funk scene, The New Mastersounds; & is a former Tae Kwon Do World Champion.

For many years now Darge has been putting his name to exceptional compilations of heavyweight funk music, many of them for the UK label BBE, such as 'Funk Spectrum' & 'Keb Darge's Deep Funk'. His new 'Lost & Found' series, also on BBE, apparently sets out to expose lesser known or forgotten lights of soul music from the '50s & '60s.

Many of Darge's (deeeeep!) selections are definitely forgotten lights - but just as many of Weller's are not: Tammi Terrell, Margie Joseph, The Dells, Bobby Bland, Albert King, Jimmy Witherspoon & Slim Harpo are all still fairly well known, I would've thought. There can be no doubt though, that each & every selection is an out & out gem, entirely worthy of inclusion here.

The soul of the '50s & '60s is pure & honest, reaching parts that a lot of modern music simply can't. The lyrics are direct, the music similarly so - these songs hit you in the gut. These songs are for the heads AND for the feets! These songs take me straight back to the dancefloor at Keb Darge's Legendary Deep Funk night at the infamous Madame JoJo's in London's Soho...

"I look into the sea of smiling faces on the dance floor every Saturday night at Madame JoJo's, & get a feeling that somehow this music as saved these people from a false & dreary nightlife." Keb Darge

IN A NUTSHELL: a joyous treasure trove of old school dance music compiled by two deeply (old)-schooled selectors
NYNTEE'S RATING: nine dusty old funk 45s out of ten

Check out the Radio Ponsonby Record Review with Nyntee, on Murry Sweetpants' Breakfast Show on Radio Ponsonby, every Wednesday around 8.25am. Tune in! 107.7FM in Auckland & streaming live.