Various Artists – Eccentric Soul: The Saru Label

 

Title: Eccentric Soul: The Saru Label
Artist: Various
Label: Numero Group
Formats: CD, 2-LP, Digital
Release date: March 23, 2018

 

This exploration of Cleveland’s Saru label, released earlier this year, is another fine addition to Numero’s Eccentric Soul series featuring lost gems from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Due to its fascinating connections to Ohio funk, the Saru compilation is also one of our favorites. Label owner Chuck Brown set up a management team that included Bobby Massey, one of the original members of the O’Jays, and Calvin Simon, an original member of the Parliaments with George Clinton, and later the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. These two influential staff members assembled talent for the backing bands and also produced and performed on many of the sessions. Continue reading

Garrett Shider – Hand Me Down Diapers

Garrett Shider
Title: Hand Me Down Diapers

Artist: Garrett Shider

Label: Everland Music Group

Formats: CD, MP3, Vinyl

Release date: July 10, 2017

 

 

The Mothership has returned to feed “funk-starved” earthlings, bringing as its main course second-generation P-funker Garret Shider, aka Starchild, Jr.  Garret, son of former Parliament-Funkadalic’s “Diaper Man” Garry Shider, serves up his own recipe of the much-needed groove, proving with this debut album that he has come into his own as an adult artist. First and second generation Clintons show up to the meal as members of Shider’s team, with George, son Tracey “Trey Lewd” Lewis and grandson Tracey “Tra’zae” Clinton providing a healthy dose of those bass/rock/horn booms indicative of the unique P-funk sound.

The set begins with “Sugar Rush,” a not-so-subtle sultry ode to all the sweetness that special person holds in our life. Shider then gets cooking with the next offering, “Bop Gun 17,” a song holding strong echoes of classic P-funk backdropped against Shider’s funky old-school falsetto. Starchild Jr.’s dose of political consciousness spills out in the form of “Hard Pill,” as Shider intonates, “When the doctor prescribes his pill it’s the side effects that’s gonna keep you ill, so go ahead and get your glass of water.” The courses just keep on coming from the center section of the funk banquet, as “Jamnastics” to “Stuck in the Middle” reinforce the concept that Shider and his bandmates have plenty of simmering soulfulness.

But it’s the final dish in the form of the title track that fully encapsulates the servings of both Shider’s. “Hand Me Down Diapers” acts as Garret’s personal tribute to his father, tracing the Shider legacy from its beginnings to current day. The song ends with a poignant guitar solo by Jr. as background to an interview conducted with the late Garry Shider, in which he explains the point of his diaper and references an upcoming album.

Showcasing P-funk’s multiple generations at their best, Hand Me Down Diapers is both a testament to Garry Shider’s legacy and a presentation of Garrett Shider’s own artistic individuality, all while holding true to the main ingredients of 1970s funk.

Reviewed by Amy Aiyegbusi

 

Fuzzy Haskins – I Got My Thang Together

Fuzzy
Title: I Got My Thang Together: The Westbound Years

Artist: Fuzzy Haskins

Label: Westbound/Ace

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: April 7, 2017

 

 

Ace Records has released the compilation I Got My Thang Together: The Westbound Years celebrating the music of one Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins.  Who’s Fuzzy Haskins, you ask?  Well, if you are even a casual fan of Parliament-Funkadelic, chances are you are already familiar with his brand of earthy, heavyweight funk (“Put Up Your Dukes”).  Although amongst most popular culture George Clinton and Bootsy Collins are seen as the brand ambassadors for the P-Funk Mob, there were many, many players who made both bands what they were.  Some of these players were even given their own chance to shine on various side projects that sprung up during the height of their popularity.

After growing up on Parliament (my Dad’s record collection is the core of my own collection), I was still amazed at how much material was out there to be discovered.  During my personal “deep dive” into the Parliament-Funkadelic catalog, I came across A Whole Nother Thang and Radio Active, the aforementioned Fuzzy Haskins albums from 1976 and 1978 respectively.   As with many of the side releases from P-Funk, Haskins is backed by other members of the band including Billy “Bass” Nelson, Tiki Fulwood, Bootsy Collins, Cordell “Boogie” Mosson and Bernie Worrell.  Since the lion’s share of this compilation was pulled from these two albums, it definitely has a very familiar feel.

Haskins’ history with Parliament goes back to its very origins as part of the doo wop group known as “The Parliaments”—the original group that would later birth Funkadelic and Parliament.  Haskins is credited with writing several songs on the early P-Funk records, but by the mid-1970s he was feeling a little disconnected (pun intended) from the Mothership and began stashing songs away for what would become his debut solo album: A Whole Nother Thang on Westbound Records (the label behind the first few Funkadelic releases).  The most famous track from this first outing was “Cookie Jar.”  The song has a great groove and was later covered with great results by P-Funk’s female group, Parlet.  The version included on this compilation is not from the album, but an alternate that’s arguably better based solely off the hilarious conversational intro by Haskins.  Another highlight is “Mr. Junk Man,” a funky lament for those addicted to drugs, and “The Fuz and Da Boog” which features Haskins on drums and Cordell Masson on bass.

This compilation also features tracks from Haskins’ second Westbound release, Radio Active, including the tracks “Sinderella” and “Not Yet,” which feature Haskins basking in his carnal desires.  It is tracks like these that eventually stalled Radio Active from getting a solid push from the label.  By this time Haskins had become disenfranchised with the P-Funk Mob and turned his life over to religion.  Not wanting to sing “nasty” songs he was equally unenthusiastic about the record upon its completion. In the years since, Haskins has reunited with Parliament-Funkadelic on several occasions and was inducted with them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

I Got My Thang Together serves as a great introduction to Fuzzy Haskins’ solo work and fits right in with many of the other great P-Funk side projects.  If you are a hardcore Funkateer, this one’s for you.

Reviewed by Levon Williams

 

 

Dâm-Funk – Invite the Light

Dam Funk Invite the Light._SS280

Title: Invite the Light

Artist: Dâm-Funk

Label: Stones Throw

Format: CD, MP3 Vinyl

Release Date: September 4, 2015

 

 

Pasadena, California-based musician and producer Dâm-Funk returns with the announcement of his newest solo project Invite the Light, to be released September 4th on Stones Throw Records. There is no doubt that Dâm-Funk is a powerful asset to the label. His production perfectly fits within the label’s current stable of artists while at the same time extending the broad musical diversity of Stones Throw’s offerings. It is possible to hear the manipulation of textures and beats which Stones Throw artists tend to be fond of on the track “Acting”, which features the cosmic vocals of pop surrealist Ariel Pink. By interspersing old school beats with futuristic sounds, atmospheres, melodies, and harmonies on cuts like “She Lights Me Up,” Dâm-Funk channels many of the artists who have influenced his approach to production.

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After numerous collaborations, Invite the Light is Dâm-Funk’s first solo album in nearly 6 years. The influence of the collaborative processes in which Dâm-Funk has participated during the past several years is apparent through the impressive diversity he offers as the album’s guiding concept: “the awareness of funk.” So, it’s not surprising that funk-master Junie Morrison (perhaps best known from his work with the Ohio Players or his participation with the P-Funk collective in the late 1970s) opens the album with an intriguing introduction on “The Secrets of Funk,” heralding this album as “The spearhead of the revolution and the nearly forgotten school of groove formerly known to us as the funk” which “will cause an evolutionary leap in consciousness and in the message of the funk itself.” And Dâm-Funk definitely knows how to deal with the P-Funk legacy, as is keenly illustrated by HowUGetFu*kAround, what may be heard as the descendent of “Flashlight,” a kind of proto-g-funky-hip-hop. This style has been Dâm-Funk’s bread and butter since Adolescent Funk, the series of demos and home recordings he made between 1988 and 1992. Following George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog,” “The Acceptance” uses a recording trick similar to the one Clinton employed that “intended for the bass and the handclaps to be abnormally loud”[1] in order to produce the danceable beat that drives both tracks.

To further explore the techniques that Dâm-Funk uses when constructing his beats, one may simply look at the “phat bassline” on Just Ease Your Mind, which meshes perfectly with the signature flow of Snoop Dogg, with whom Dâm-Funk previously collaborated on 2013’s 7 Days of Funk. Other tracks are notable not only for their all-star cast of featured artists but also for how they demonstrate Dâm-Funk’s adroit beatmaking skills, as with two versions of “I’m Just Tryna’ Survive,” offering a “party version” as well as the original, with both sporting distinctly different raps by Q-Tip. This type of juxtaposition also occurs again with the modern/retro track “Floating on Air” featuring the surprising duo of Flea and Computer Jay.

In short, Invite the Light represents a convergence of many different sounds and textures, creating a pleasant and even astonishing whole when considered as a full package. What binds all of these disparate influences together? Funk, of course. So, as Clinton would say, sit back, relax and “give up the Funk!”

Reviewed by Guillaume Dupetit

[1] See “Dam Funk Interviews George Clinton: It’s A Beautiful Stink!” by Nathan Morse on L.A. Record website, http://larecord.com/interviews/2014/08/31/dam-funk-interviews-george-clinton-parliament-funkadelic. August 31st, 2014.