Friday, December 15, 2006
Artist alert -- Azymuth
They probably don't count as independent or free, but what the heck. I've been looking high and low for new, boundry-pushing electronic and funk music but both commercial and independent releases have been uniformly disappointing. That being said, let's all thank our lucky stars for Azymuth. I have several of their older tracks in my collection from various compliations and they don't disappoint. Suprisingly their newer music rocks. A number of funk bands seem to have lost it somewhere in the 80's (by "it" I mean the ability to play funky rhythms). No one new out there has it (believe me, I've looked!). But these guys -- I guess it's that Brazilian influence. It helps somewhat if you understand Portugese, but there's no denying either their rhythm or their harmonic sensibility. I didn't even know they still made music, let alone really good music. Electrofunkreview says definitely check them out. And now, back to searching...
Friday, August 04, 2006
Still looking -- nothing to report yet
I'm still trowling the internet looking for good artists to feature here. It is unfortunate that there's so much junk out there, but that's part of the reason why this blog is here. So we continue to sift, and follow many false leads, on our quest to provide our readers (whomoever that might be) with the finest in independent funk and electronic music. If you're curious, I've recently completed a review of the entire funk section on cdbaby and found nothing worth reporting. There are several interesting possibilities, but no one who's really pushing the genre in any direction worth noting.
Not to get too negative, but there is one other thing I'd like to rant about a bit. Why is it that hip-hop is the only musical artform where having new and exciting "beats" is an asset? One of the big disappointments with most music I hear is that everyone reuses the same rhythms. Rock music is especially bad; the newer and currently faddish rock bands don't do much with drums other than use them as a backdrop. Go back and listen, for instance, to the Doors. Now that was some innovative drumming; John Densmore played differently on practically every track. Bands these days, across almost every "genre" of music, seem content to keep reusing the same patterns. The funny thing about it is hip-hop is notoriously a sample-based artform, yet you hear some real innovation with rhythm. Whether it's Kanye West speeding up old soul tracks or the old-school amalgam of different beats to create something new or the Neptunes rolling their own funk, there's a healthy respect for innovative rhythms. Imagine if the same approach to trying something new with beats were to be used in rock music, or funk music, or even jazz (which also seems plagued by this).
O.k., that's enough for now. I will continue to scan for stuff worth listening to, so stay tuned. BTW, if anyone out there happens to hear something they think is cool then feel free to leave a link in the comments. I try to be comprehensive but there is quite alot of music available on the internet...
Not to get too negative, but there is one other thing I'd like to rant about a bit. Why is it that hip-hop is the only musical artform where having new and exciting "beats" is an asset? One of the big disappointments with most music I hear is that everyone reuses the same rhythms. Rock music is especially bad; the newer and currently faddish rock bands don't do much with drums other than use them as a backdrop. Go back and listen, for instance, to the Doors. Now that was some innovative drumming; John Densmore played differently on practically every track. Bands these days, across almost every "genre" of music, seem content to keep reusing the same patterns. The funny thing about it is hip-hop is notoriously a sample-based artform, yet you hear some real innovation with rhythm. Whether it's Kanye West speeding up old soul tracks or the old-school amalgam of different beats to create something new or the Neptunes rolling their own funk, there's a healthy respect for innovative rhythms. Imagine if the same approach to trying something new with beats were to be used in rock music, or funk music, or even jazz (which also seems plagued by this).
O.k., that's enough for now. I will continue to scan for stuff worth listening to, so stay tuned. BTW, if anyone out there happens to hear something they think is cool then feel free to leave a link in the comments. I try to be comprehensive but there is quite alot of music available on the internet...
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
YouTube Funk
So, I was a wanderin' around the internet and ran into some video on YouTube. I'd heard of YouTube before, but hadn't really thought about it as a resource for funk music. Well, well, well, wasn't I wrong! Since we're all about the funk around here, I thought I'd do y'all a favor and add some new links on the left. Down below our favorite artists you'll find a new section containing links to classic video (well, what I think is classic anyway) on YouTube. So far I've found stuff by the Meters, James Brown, Issac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, the Bar-Kays, etc. I've even included a link to a video containing some early hip-hop footage. I haven't explored a whole lot yet (there are some 2800 videos listed in my search for "funk"), but so far it looks promising. I even found a random band that plays a pretty decent little funk ditty. If they had posted a name or more info, I'd probably feature them. Anyway, enjoy the links and hopefully this will inspire you to do some digital digging on your own.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Rant -- the poor state of Funk
A week or so ago I spent some time going through every artist listed under "funk" on Soundclick.com. I've done a similar thing on music.download.com and I started last night to venture into the world of music on myspace. In all of my explorations of the funk, I have yet to find an artist worthy of featuring here. There are a number of things wrong with funk music, and I'm afraid that the somewhat commercial artists (Antibalas Orchestra, Soul Donkeys, Daktaris, Sugarmen Three, Connie Price and the Keytones) don't escape unscathed, either. The commercial artists are closer to decent funk to be sure. The bands are at least staffed by well-meaning folks who understand what good funk ought to entail. However, in many cases it these efforts fall short. Here is my list of the Top 5 Not Funky Things in Modern Funk Music:
1.) Your rhythm is not funky. This is sin numero uno, mainly because it's most often abused. On the free funk side I hear many rock bands who think throwing in a guitar with a wah pedal and a pseudodisco beat make funk. It takes years of practice to master funk drumming, it's not something that happens overnight (I know mostly because I'm trying to do that myself). Most of the rhythms I hear are too straight-ahead to be funky. This is often the disease that affects the more commercial releases -- they have the pattern right, but the elusive "feel" is missing and instead we get a robotic approximation of funk. On the other hand, too much swing can also kill a funk rhythm. This is the sin committed by many of the "smooth jazz" funk wannabes, they play a swing rhythm and "ghost" the notes so much it sounds like someone badly tapdancing to the "samba" beat on a casio. Too rigid or too swingy of a feel will kill a funk rhythm, so please practice, practice, practice and listen to lots of funk so you can hear the difference. Thanks.
2.) Your bass is not funky. Now I love me some Larry Graham and P-Funk, but the whole slap-bass thing is waaaay out of control. I want to slap the bassist, usually, and while it's debatable whether the bad timing and horrible rhythm is his fault, he's a partner in the funk with the drummer. Perhaps there's some super-secret brotherhood of drummers and bass players which only promotes the swingiest, slappiest members to the highest ranks. That's great, but please don't call it funk. Also, while I like a bit of piano in my funk that isn't the sound I like to hear coming from the bass. Please listen to the Meters (and invite the drummer) and notice how totally-freakin-awesome that bass sound is. I'm not saying it's the only sound, but for funk I'd consider that square one, the launching point from which a million tones flourish. And while you're at it notice how the bass player is an integral part of the _rhythm_ section. Oh, and leave anything with more than four strings at home.
3.) Your drum sound is not funky. Don't even get me started on this one... If you're using more than two or three mics to get your drum sound then you're already lost. If your snare rings for longer than about a second then choke it, muffle it, maybe loosen the head, get an SPL Transient Designer, or do something. Anything. Just don't play funk on that darn kit 'cause it won't work. And get rid of anything over about two toms and a crash and ride cymbal. A good rule of thumb here is one trip to carry the kit from the car to wherever you plan to play. More than that and you should consider switching genres.
4.) General MIDI sounds are not funky. Not that most arrangements I hear are stellar to begin with, but nothing kills the feeling of funk like cheesy sounds. Now that's not to say there can't be a bit of cheese -- Joe Coleman's "Get It Off The Ground" has a borderline nasty (and not in a good way) electric piano sound that mysteriously blends superbly with the track. However, layering the whole track in gobs of strings and electric pianos and other gooey ickiness is the quickest way to be relegated to elevator music.
5.) Wah-wah guitar is not (always) funky. It's a staple of 70's soundtracks and disco, and even the Meters (notice I mention them alot? There is much to learn, grasshopper) use it to great effect on "Just Kissed My Baby". This does not, however, give license for every guitar player in the known universe to squonk away playing eighth notes while rocking the wah pedal and call it funk. For a great reference here, listen to "Sex Machine". Notice how that guitar uses no wah, yet it's one of the funkiest things in the song? It helps that the bass and drums are tight and playing stuff relevant to the track, but that guitar is clean as a whistle with no wah in sight. And if "Sex Machine" isn't funky then funk doesn't exist. For those trying to recover from wah attack, I suggest you try playing your funky guitar part on an acoustic guitar and see if it still grooves. You may want to play along to some decent bass and drum tracks (looping old breaks is your friend) as well to get a feel for how the whole drum/bass/guitar machine should work together.
I was originally going to make this a top 10 list, but it's hard not to rant at length about these issues. Among the other things I'd mention if I wanted to waste more of your time is that old can mean moldy and throwback can mean throw away. Or that you don't need a 13-piece band to make funk, or that just because you have a 13-piece band at your disposal doesn't mean you're funky. And on and on. I'll spare you the sanctimony (I've already used my alotted amount for today) and get back to sifting.
1.) Your rhythm is not funky. This is sin numero uno, mainly because it's most often abused. On the free funk side I hear many rock bands who think throwing in a guitar with a wah pedal and a pseudodisco beat make funk. It takes years of practice to master funk drumming, it's not something that happens overnight (I know mostly because I'm trying to do that myself). Most of the rhythms I hear are too straight-ahead to be funky. This is often the disease that affects the more commercial releases -- they have the pattern right, but the elusive "feel" is missing and instead we get a robotic approximation of funk. On the other hand, too much swing can also kill a funk rhythm. This is the sin committed by many of the "smooth jazz" funk wannabes, they play a swing rhythm and "ghost" the notes so much it sounds like someone badly tapdancing to the "samba" beat on a casio. Too rigid or too swingy of a feel will kill a funk rhythm, so please practice, practice, practice and listen to lots of funk so you can hear the difference. Thanks.
2.) Your bass is not funky. Now I love me some Larry Graham and P-Funk, but the whole slap-bass thing is waaaay out of control. I want to slap the bassist, usually, and while it's debatable whether the bad timing and horrible rhythm is his fault, he's a partner in the funk with the drummer. Perhaps there's some super-secret brotherhood of drummers and bass players which only promotes the swingiest, slappiest members to the highest ranks. That's great, but please don't call it funk. Also, while I like a bit of piano in my funk that isn't the sound I like to hear coming from the bass. Please listen to the Meters (and invite the drummer) and notice how totally-freakin-awesome that bass sound is. I'm not saying it's the only sound, but for funk I'd consider that square one, the launching point from which a million tones flourish. And while you're at it notice how the bass player is an integral part of the _rhythm_ section. Oh, and leave anything with more than four strings at home.
3.) Your drum sound is not funky. Don't even get me started on this one... If you're using more than two or three mics to get your drum sound then you're already lost. If your snare rings for longer than about a second then choke it, muffle it, maybe loosen the head, get an SPL Transient Designer, or do something. Anything. Just don't play funk on that darn kit 'cause it won't work. And get rid of anything over about two toms and a crash and ride cymbal. A good rule of thumb here is one trip to carry the kit from the car to wherever you plan to play. More than that and you should consider switching genres.
4.) General MIDI sounds are not funky. Not that most arrangements I hear are stellar to begin with, but nothing kills the feeling of funk like cheesy sounds. Now that's not to say there can't be a bit of cheese -- Joe Coleman's "Get It Off The Ground" has a borderline nasty (and not in a good way) electric piano sound that mysteriously blends superbly with the track. However, layering the whole track in gobs of strings and electric pianos and other gooey ickiness is the quickest way to be relegated to elevator music.
5.) Wah-wah guitar is not (always) funky. It's a staple of 70's soundtracks and disco, and even the Meters (notice I mention them alot? There is much to learn, grasshopper) use it to great effect on "Just Kissed My Baby". This does not, however, give license for every guitar player in the known universe to squonk away playing eighth notes while rocking the wah pedal and call it funk. For a great reference here, listen to "Sex Machine". Notice how that guitar uses no wah, yet it's one of the funkiest things in the song? It helps that the bass and drums are tight and playing stuff relevant to the track, but that guitar is clean as a whistle with no wah in sight. And if "Sex Machine" isn't funky then funk doesn't exist. For those trying to recover from wah attack, I suggest you try playing your funky guitar part on an acoustic guitar and see if it still grooves. You may want to play along to some decent bass and drum tracks (looping old breaks is your friend) as well to get a feel for how the whole drum/bass/guitar machine should work together.
I was originally going to make this a top 10 list, but it's hard not to rant at length about these issues. Among the other things I'd mention if I wanted to waste more of your time is that old can mean moldy and throwback can mean throw away. Or that you don't need a 13-piece band to make funk, or that just because you have a 13-piece band at your disposal doesn't mean you're funky. And on and on. I'll spare you the sanctimony (I've already used my alotted amount for today) and get back to sifting.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
New Artist alert: Ken Ji
'Aight, call me old, but I like the more primitive style of breakbeat, more of a beat collage than a slick electrowhatever production. That's why, say, Ken Ji's track "Hit The Peak" does it for me (oh, and don't miss "Fizzy Drink"). I think of this style of breakbeat as more rock-n-roll than the newer stuff. It's a bit repetitive, but who cares? AC-DC wrote their one song over and over again and I still like it. Same thing goes here, and it's rather surprising how few folks still produce this kind of stuff. I called this blog "Electrofunk review" because I like funky beats first and foremost. Whether in electronic music, or funk, or hip-hop, or wherever. So long live the funk, and listen to Ken Ji because he gets it right. And you'll like it -- that's an Electrofunk guarantee.
Friday, May 19, 2006
New Artist alert: inconnector
Another day, another new artist. Today's pick (not that there will only be one per day, but it's a work week and I'ma slave) is inconnector. Another track that's lived and survived on my playlist for the last few months is "eRRor", a fun little electro-breakbeat ditty. Inconnector's sound is similar in ways to Crystal Method, only the compositions in my opinion are tighter. When I say that I don't mean they're locked to a particular musical form or song structure, rather I mean that the tracks "gel" -- everything sounds like it's put there for a purpose and serves that purpose well. That's what I consider "composed", in contrast to having random stuff playing because that's how music in a particular genre is supposed to sound. This malady can plague any type of music, but with the proliferation of loop libraries it's much easier to put together crap. Loops aren't a bad thing, we wouldn't have hip-hop with out 'em and the right loops together can be magic. But that doesn't mean that just because you can use a mouse and string together some loops from "Mr. Electric's Power House 1000" collection of "everything you need to make slammin' House and Trance tracks!" in Acid doesn't mean you're an artist. Anyway, this is supposed to be about inconnector and not all the other crap, there's plenty of it out there and sooner or later if you listen to enough music on free sites you'll come to loathe it as much as I do. O.k., so check out inconnector and enjoy. Electrofunk says check it out.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
New Artist alert: Binaerpilot
Binaerpilot is our first artist up for linking. I've been digging "Goof" and "Sanjorda" for some time now, both reside on my playlist at work. I checked in on the site today and he/she has a new track up called "Destroy the Popollution", which will also find a home on my playlist. Why do I like this stuff? Well, it's pretty simple -- it rocks! Not in a big-hair 80's sort of way, but in a bits and bytes sort of way. Well, maybe there'd be some big hair in there. Certainly it'd be a trip to see some rocker dude freaking out to this, but that's besides the point. The point is this doesn't suck. Many, many so-called "artists" out there that do electronic music get one of the loop-based software packages (such as Sony's Acid or Propellerheads' Reason) and fire away with preset loops. They make music that sounds like it should "fit" into some sort of genre with nary a thought for originality or composition. Not so with Binaerpilot (note: there shoud be an "umlat" (I think that's what they call it) above the "a" in the name, but I don't know the html code for it off the top of my head), this stuff gels as real honest-to-goodness songs, with progression and variety and style and all of that other good stuff. And there are vocals from time to time, more so on the newer "Destroy the Popollution" than the others.
As far as "sound" is concerned, the beats are machine-drum solid (not recognizable as being from any particular drum machine, but programmed nonetheless). The compositions are structured and well thought-out, no senseless noodling or rocking the same beat for eight minutes. Much use is made of random electronic noises, from videogame-ish bleeps and bloops to squiggly basses and a few random vocal samples. It's clean, although I wouldn't necessarily describe it as slick due to the abrasiveness of some of the sounds (not that that's a bad think). Overall production is great; while I haven't had a chance yet to burn this to disk and test it in my car, my guess is it'll hold up well on any sound system.
Overall Binaerpilot is, in my opinion, one of the best of the "free" artists out there. Electrofunk says check it out.
As far as "sound" is concerned, the beats are machine-drum solid (not recognizable as being from any particular drum machine, but programmed nonetheless). The compositions are structured and well thought-out, no senseless noodling or rocking the same beat for eight minutes. Much use is made of random electronic noises, from videogame-ish bleeps and bloops to squiggly basses and a few random vocal samples. It's clean, although I wouldn't necessarily describe it as slick due to the abrasiveness of some of the sounds (not that that's a bad think). Overall production is great; while I haven't had a chance yet to burn this to disk and test it in my car, my guess is it'll hold up well on any sound system.
Overall Binaerpilot is, in my opinion, one of the best of the "free" artists out there. Electrofunk says check it out.
