Author: Gareth

Not sure how it happened, but I’ve got a metric assload of music this week for your perusal. So, let’s get right to it:

First off, as promised to , some Friday Funk: George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars – “Flashlight.” I decided to go with something I hadn’t heard in a while, rather than the obvious choices (“Turn this Mutha Out…”, etc.). Hope that gets you bouncing today.

Keeping on a similar track for a moment, here’s a track from 1972, when the stars of Motown were dabbling in other musical styles. This soul track begins to show the early stages of what would become funk. The Temptations – “Papa Was A Rolling Stone.”

I just found out that in November, Sony/BMG will be re-releasing all 8 Eurythmics albums, re-mastered on CD with new bonus tracks, etc. While this is a good thing, I am a bit bummed that the re-release schedule does not include their work providing the soundtrack to the film version of George Orwell’s 1984. It wasn’t a hit for them, and barely got any play outside of dance clubs…but I was a big fan of the soundtrack, and the single: Eurythmics – “Sexcrime (1984).” (link disabled by request)

Another track by middle-eastern vocalist Natacha Atlas, this time doing a Casbah’d-up cover of the Jay Hawkins classic: Natacha Atlas – “I Put A Spell On You.”

I discovered this artist via another music blog, and was hooked the minute that I heard her voice. Jolie Holland records for Anti, the record label of Tom Waits, and possesses the same sort of timeless early-20th-century sound that makes me think of flophouses and desperate characters. Jolie Holland – “Old Fashion Morphine.”

A long way back, I posted my favorite track from Soul Coughing, “Screenwriter’s Blues.” This is my second favorite track by the band: Soul Coughing – “Super Bon Bon.” “Move up side, and let the man go through…”

One of my favorite bits of electronic composition, what initially drew me into this song was the interview sample that starts it: The Orb – “Little Fluffy Clouds.” Taken from an album with one of the best titles ever, The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. (EDIT:The original link had disappeared for a bit, but I found another copy. If you missed it the first time around, give it another go.)

In 1999, a film was released that flopped at the box office. Robert Carlysle and Jonny Lee Miller starred as the famous highwaymen, Plunkett & Macleane. The film also featured Liv Tyler and Alan Cumming, and and I loved it. One of the things we loved about it was the soundtrack, which was done by Massive Attack’s Craig Armstrong and mixed traditional instrumentation, choral pieces, and electronica. Our favorite bit was during a formal ball, when this piece of music was used: Baroque strings, mixed with dance-club beats: Craig Armstrong – “The Ball.”

From the same soundtrack, here’s a very short (minute and change) selection (actually the middle movement of a multi-track piece), which combines all of the elements that I love about this soundtrack: Craig Armstrong – “Escape.” I love the mix of orchestra, chorus and electronic beats and synth in this.

Now that Duran Duran have reformed with the original line up, all is right with the world. However, the band’s output during the 90s should not be ignored, and unfortunately, aside from the breakout success of The Wedding Album, not too many people are aware of the great stuff done during this period. For example, from Meddazzaland, the band’s 1997 release: Duran Duran – “Electric Barbarella (single edit).”

Whew! There you go. 10 tracks. I’m spent. More next week.