Daptone Records Double-Post: The Mighty Imperials and Sugarman 3

Daptone Records is a label that seems to release exclusively throwback funk and soul albums. Both of these albums were released in the last 10 years and yet they sound like they came straight out of the early 1970s.

The Mighty Imperials - Thunder Chicken (2006)

New Orleans heavy organ/guitar/bass/drums funk. Basically, this sounds like a new Meters album. The drums are bangin throughout the record, mixed just like they used to be back in the day. The guitar and bass both do an excellent job of creating and maintaining some funky ass rhythms that will get the girls in the room on their feet. The organ work is great here, highly reminiscent of the aforementioned Meters as well as Booker T. The solos are brief, these guys aren't showoffs, they just keep the groove going strong. Most of these tracks are instrumental, but three of them have vocals by a guy named Joseph Henry. Henry's vocals remind one of James Brown's crowd interactions, most of them are some variation of UHH! GET UP! SHAKE IT! LET'S GET IT GOIN! Apparently these guys were only 16 when they made this album. Henry was the only one old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes. You'd never know it though, this album knocks!

Tracklisting:

1. Thunder Chicken

2. Never Found a Girl

3. Jody's Walk

4. Duck Hunt

5. Joseph's Popcorn

6. Chico's Barnyard

7. Kick the Blanket

8. Funky Belly

9. Ride Shank's Mare

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Sugarman 3 - Soul Donkey (2000)

More heavy organ funk, this time with horns! Lots of amazing drum breaks that are just begging to be sampled, especially on the first few bars of that title track. All instrumental, this album doesn't have any slow songs on it, it's all dance funk. Seems more centered on powerful breaks than salacious grooves. The solos have a bit more room to breathe on this album than on Thunder Chicken, with the organ, drums, guitar and horns all given some time to shine, and shine they do. The horns take center stage on most of the tracks, this album seems most comparable to Lou Donaldson's more funk-oriented outings, although a bit more uptempo. This was the first album I heard on the Daptone label and really made me want to check out what else they had goin on. Hopefully it will have the same effect on you.

Tracklisting:

1. Soul Donkey

2. Chicken Half

3. Baby I Love You

4. Turtle Walk

5. Daisy Rides Again

6. Double Back

7. Pull My Cart

8. Mulin' Around

9. Saddle For Two

10. Out A Sight

11. So Long Donkey

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The Best NaS Remixes In My iTunes Library

If you like NaS at all, you should probably download this. These are the best remixes/blends of NaS songs that I've found over the years. Beats by DJ Premier, J Dilla, RZA, Dr. Dre, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, Havoc, The 45 King, RJD2, Large Professor, MF DOOM, DangerMouse, Kanye, 9th Wonder and even Al Green are all featured here. If you especially appreciate a certain song in the compilation, let me know and I will send you a link to the album/mixtape it came from.


✓ Affirmative Action Vinyl Reanimators Remix 1997
✓ Blaze Another Fifty (L.O.P. Remix)
✓ Book Of Rhymes (Blend)
-Uses the 10 Crack Commandments Beat
✓ Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been DJ Premier Remix)
✓ Come Get Me
-Same MF Doom beat from 9 Milli Bros off of Fishscale
✓ F.E.D.S. II
-A Street's Disciple verse over Still Tippin, surprisingly great.
✓ Fast Life Feat Nas (Norfside Remix)
✓ Fast Life feat. Kool G. Rap (Supa Star)
✓ Freestyle Paper Planes
-M.I.A. + NaS
✓ Halftime (Butcher remix)
-A subtle, grimey remix by Arsenal
✓ I Can...(Large Pro blend)
✓ I Make It Like That Part II
-Uses Ambitonz as a Ridah (Tupac)
✓ It Ain't Hard To Tell (Dilla Blend)
-Uses Starz from Jaylib's Champion Sound
✓ It Ain't Hard To Tell (Large Professor Remix)
-A classic
✓ It Ain't Hard To Tell [Dangermouse Nas Is Like Blend]
✓ It Ain't Hard To Tell Remix
✓ It Aint Hard To Tell
-Uses RJD2-Produced Saliva off of MF Doom's Operation Doomsday
✓ It Aint Hard To Tell (Danger Mouse Remix)
✓ It's Mine feat. Mobb Deep & J
✓ Just To Get A Thief
-Uses Gangstarr's Just To Get A Rep with Thief's Theme
✓ Last Day Feat. Nas (March 9 Remix)
-Uses RZA's Criminology beat off Only Built
✓ Last Real Nigga Alive (9th Wonder Mix)
✓ The Last Real Nigga Alive (Blend)
-Uses KRS ONE's MC's Act Like They Don't Know
✓ Life's a Bitch (Delay Remix)
✓ Life's a Bitch (Start From Scratch Mix)
-Uses The Game's Start From Scratch
✓ Made You Look (Apache Remix)
✓ Made You Look (J. Period Remix)
-Uses Shook Ones
✓ Made You Look (Large Pro blend)
✓ Made You Look / Love And Happiness (Ft. Jadakiss and Ludacris)
-AL GREEN!
✓ Memory Lane Remix Demo DJ Premier
✓ Nas Will Rock Pete Rock Mix
✓ New York (Heart of the City)
-Uses the Kanye beat from the Jay-Z song
✓ NY State of Mind 2 45 King remix
-Sweet blend by Vaporized using the beat that was the first draft of Eminem's Stan
✓ One Love (Original Q-Tip Mix)
✓ Represent Remix Demo DJ Premier
✓ Rewind (Mind Playing Tricks)
-Uses the Geto Boys beat
✓ Salute Me (Blend)
-Uses Gang Starr's Above The Clouds
✓ Silent Murder
-Not a remix but a dope track cut from his second album
✓ Stillmatic Intro (Remix)
✓ Street Dreams
-MF DOOM blend
✓ Take it in blood alt verse
✓ Thief's Theme
-Uses The Red from Jaylib's Champion Sound
✓ The World Is Yours (Juicy Beat) (Stackhouse Recordings Mix)
-Brief blend using Biggie's Juicy
✓ The World Is Yours (Large Pro blend)
-Very low-key, very cool
✓ The World Is Yours (Tip Remix)
-Q-Tip
✓ 95 Ferenheit

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EDIT:

I left this one off like a damn fool. But everyone should hear it anyway.

Kool Keith - Black Elvis/Lost In Space (1999)

"Every morning I wake up, lookin in the mirror
I am, the original Black Elvis
That's right. When you see me, with my wig to the side,
wearin my short leather jacket,
Marilyn Monroe on my back,
I'm livin that life,
I'm for real with this."

Kool Keith has been making fun of hip hop for more than 20 years now. Never taking himself or hip hop seriously, he has nevertheless proven himself time and time again to be one of the most gifted and unique rappers to ever pick up a microphone. Kool Keith's rapping style is one of the only in the history hip hop to never be successfully jacked by anyone. He often raps off-beat, forming his own metronome which is somehow still complimentary to the drum pattern he's rapping over. His rhyme-schemes vary abruptly and erratically but somehow manage to never sound awkward. In short: Kool Keith has the most dynamic flow of any rapper alive (I specify alive only because the Ol' Dirty Bastard might still hold the title overall).

Though Keith is incredibly prolific, his output is notoriously uneven. The downfall of Keith's many bad albums usually hinges on one fact: Keith has a terrible ear for beats. And while an amazing beat can save a lame verse (see: Group Home - Supa Star), an awful beat always makes a rap song unlistenable. And since Keith is too cheap to pay for beats and is no brilliant producer himself, well, there are a LOT of bad Kool Keith songs.

But on Black Elvis Lost in Space, Kool Keith got it mostly right. The beats are sparse and minimalist and don't distract from Keith's esoteric hilarity: synthesized bass samples with some spaced out sound effects over straightforward 808 drum programming by Motion Man. They're not great beats, don't get me wrong, but they do the trick.

Black Elvis/Lost in Space is actually two albums. The first half is Keith Turbo in space and the second half is Black Elvis on earth. But they’re both just different characters that Keith uses to do what he does best: calling out bullshit rappers for their unoriginality (“Youse a first year rookie, duplicatin Method Man”) as well as mocking their lack of funds (“Livin with roommates, you camp out, with paper plates/Broke Panasonic speakers missin, playin Puff and Mase”) and bragging about things that no one but Keith would think to brag about. On one song he takes over a record label and revels in being a millionaire CEO:
“Me and Al Sharpton was talkin about real estate in Compton
With a loan from General Mills
I would start a new NBA team in Baldwin Hills
The Baldwin Hills Spacemen
Lime green uniforms with a orange basketball logo
coach the group solo, that's right, dolo.”

Keith’s adlibs are damn funny too. On The Girls Don’t Like The Job, he gives his secretary some pretty hilarious instructions at the end of his verse: “I want you to fax yourself to China OK? Do this now.” He starts every song with tongue-in-cheek hip-hop cliché’s like “YEAH, FOR THE 2000, WORD UP! NEW YORK! ALL THE WAY LIVE! YouknowhatI'msayin?” You can’t help but smile because of how seriously the people he’s mocking take themselves.

Some people are put-off by this album because of how stupid and nonsensical the choruses are (I see maxi curls! Yeah! Players, activator/I see maxi curls! Yeah! Remote control alligators [and repeat]) but this too is intentional, he wants to show us just how silly rap really is.

This is a hilarious album and one that showcases the skills of one of the most talented rappers of all time, but it’s not for everyone. If you want an album to put on at a party, look elsewhere. If you only have a passing interest in lyrics and are more attuned to beats, look elsewhere. But if you want to put on your headphones and listen to a jester virtuoso poke fun at the absurdity of rapper egos, this is your album. "I'm doin it well! I'm doin it swell!"

Whether or not you cop the album though, everyone should check out the video below. Funny as hell.

Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Lost In Space
3. Rockets on the Battlefield
4. Livin Astro
5. Supergalactic Lover
6. Master of the Game
7. I'm Seein Robots
8. Static
9. Intro 2
10. Black Elvis
11. Maxi Curls
12. Keith Turbo
13. Fine Girls
14. The Girls Don't Like The Job
15. Clifton
16. All The Time
17. I Don't Play
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Soul Tornadoes - The Complete Recordings (1969)

Crunchy, badass instrumental funk. These guys never actually released an album, just a string of singles that are collected here. Every track is a banger; there is no dance party you couldn't tear up with any one of these tracks. The organ work is tremendous; the solos are melt-your-face-off amazing. If you like James Brown and Booker T. and the MG's (and who doesn't?), you will love this album.
Tracklisting:
1. Hot Pants Breakdown
2. Boot's Groove
3. Go For Yourself
4. Funky Thing
5. Crazy Legs
6. Bobby's Mood

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Sam Cooke - Night Beat (1963)

Shortly before his death at the hands of one of his lovers, Sam Cooke released his best album: Night Beat. Many of Cooke's albums are riddled with forced country-western tempos or dramatically over-produced swelling strings, crashing horns and backup singers. This album is Cooke's best for the simple fact that it lacks any of these blemishes.

The songs are well-chosen, each giving Cooke a chance to showcase the stunning power and control he had over his legendary smooth-as-silk voice. His extraordinarily expressive voice is dripping with so much anguish on every song that you can't help but believe his pain, making this one of the most heart-wrenching albums ever made.

The effectively understated instrumentation on Night Beat is a big part of its success. Most of the songs consist of a simple, quiet bass-line, subtle drumming that always compliments and never overpowers Cooke and some graceful piano or guitar to set the mood. Sitting at the organ is Billy Preston, sometimes known as "the fifth Beatle" for his prolific work with the group (Get Back was credited upon its release to "The Beatles with Billy Preston," one of the only times a fifth person was acknowledged). But Sam's flawless vocals are what stick with you. Every track on Night Beat is a classic; if you keep only one Sam Cooke album in your collection, this should be it.

For the audiophiles out there, this album was recorded on RCA Victor during one of the label's last great years, making it one of the best-sounding (from a technical sense) soul albums ever recorded: the separation on the soundstage and the dynamic range and depth of the mid-range sound is nothing short of astounding.

Tracklisting
1. Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
2. Lost And Lookin
3. Mean Old World
4. Please Don't Drive Me Away
5. I Lost Everything
6. Get Yourself Another Fool
7. Little Red Rooster
8. Laughin' and Clownin
9. Trouble Blues
10. You Gotta Move
11. Fool's Paradise
12. Shake Rattle & Roll

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Sly & The Revolutionaries - Black Ash Dub (1980)

One of my favorite reggae dub albums. Each song frames Robbie Shakespeare's basslines with virtuoso reggae drumming complete with lots of spaced out reverb and some impressively understated bongo work. Extremely well-produced, reminds me of the best of King Tubby's dub work. Each song is supposed to represent a different drug, so there is quite a bit of variation of moods and tones used but it remains cohesive nonetheless. A relaxing album that never gets boring or tedious.

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Tracklisting

1. Marijuana

2. Herb

3. Collie

4. Lambsbread

5. Rizla

6. LSD

7. Acupulco Gold

8. Cocaine

9. Black Ash

10. White Rum

Fela Kuti - Zombie (1976)

Zombie might be the funkiest afrobeat song of all time. It was Fela's biggest hit and took Nigeria by storm in 1977. The political message behind the album was so incendiary that Fela's mother was killed as a result of its release. The horn solos are some of the best I've ever heard, in any genre. If you're looking for a way to introduce yourself to African funk: look no further, you won't look back.

Tracklisting

1. Zombie

2. Mister Follow Follow

3. Observation is no Crime

4. Mistake (live)

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Mel Brown - Chicken Fat (1967)

Great 60s electric blues instrumental album. If you like classic blues guitar solos, this album is a must. A former sideman for T-Bone Walker, his picking is relentlessly fantastic throughout. He's joined by Herb Ellis on side guitar who contributes almost as much to the greatness of this as Mel does. Also, his drummer Paul Humphrey is one of the most underrated of all time, another good reason to snag this gem. As Mel's career progressed he moved towards fusing funk and blues, Chicken Fat was his debut and is generally more straightforward electric blues music, but much of the pacing, drumming and organ work (especially on the title track) showcase his growing appreciation for funk.

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It begins

This blog is going to span a wide variety of genres and decades. I’ll spend some time on both vintage and fresh hip hop, funk (60s and 70s), soul music, reggae/dub/Jamaican funk/Ska, psychedelic rock/folk/pop/soul music from around the world, 50s and 60s pop music, the blues (Chicago, Delta, piano, electric, acoustic, blues-rock), Afrobeat and African pop, instrumentals from all genres with some jazz and big band music thrown in there from time to time. If a link falls dead, post a comment and I’ll do my best to provide one that works. If you are the owner/artist and would like me to remove a link, drop me a line and I'll take it down.