Monthly Archives: January 2009

Kings of Diggin'.

Friday: January 30, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul Leave a comment

Kon & Amir with DJ Muro put out a dope album of some obscure records, called Kings of Diggin’ a while back. SICK RECORD! GO BUY IT!

Flipped v5.0

Friday: January 30, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Flipped 1 Comment

flipped

The Message
Another banger from one of the greats! This is an example of how to chop vocals, and make them sound like they’re in the correct sequence.

Check it out…

Original:

Flipped :

The Pocket.

Friday: January 23, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul 4 Comments

Artist: The Soul Searchers
Title: Salt of the Earth
Year: 1974
Label: Sussex
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

Front

Review
For those of you who don’t know the history of Chuck Brown, and only know him as the “Godfather of Go-Go”, you’re truly missing out! Chuck went through many different genres of music before establishing that go-go sound. The 1974 release, Salt of the Earth, was a funk album…and a great one at that. You can definitely hear where he started to develop that signature “pocket groove” that he became so famous for. This album is mostly upbeat, and like many albums from the 70′s, it speaks directly to the listeners. It’s packed with monster grooves and breaks.

Check out the sound!

Funk To The Folks

Ashley’s Roach Clip

If It Ain’t Funky

Blow Your Whistle

Design
Two thumbs up! The cover has a spaced out look to it. It’s definitely interesting and parallels well with the title of the record, but it could throw off one’s interpretation. It’s very literal, but the Salt of the Earth generally refers to and interesting person, group of people, or character, generally of the lower class. So here, the artist may be using the enlarged grains of salt to represent the members in the band, there are about 8 musicians that contributed to this LP.

The 3D logo lockup is amazing. It doesn’t seem to be any specific font either, the entire cover is hand-drawn/illustrated.

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Additional info on Chuck Brown

Cosby.

Friday: January 16, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul 2 Comments

Artist: Bill Cosby
Title: Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band
Year: 1971
Label: UNI
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 5.0/5.0

Front

Review
Perfection! That’s what this album is all about. PERIOD. From the title of the group, to the music, to the conceptual vision, to the feeling. Bill had his planets aligned on this one…

The briefing…for those who don’t know, not only was Bill Cosby a comedian, actor, activist, etc…but the man was a musician and avid jazz collector (think back to the Cosby show when he’d be in his basement drooling for jazz records, that was a reflection of the real Bill folks). Anyway, Bill played the electric piano on this record as well as produced it, and he did an AMAZING job. The overall sound is very open, it’s there but not there, so to speak, as if it’s the soundtrack to a dream of adventure.

There’s no mention of who actually make up the Badfoot Brown Ensemble (aside from Bill on the electric piano), there’s some speculation, but I won’t get into that…the uncertainty is intriguing and adds to the mystique of the LP.

On the A-side is “Martin’s Funeral”, which is an instrumental representation of Bill’s mood. It’s a tribute track, for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Very emotion-driven, the sound hit me directly in the heart, it even made my stomach drop. Music that can control the feeling of the listener, I’m all for it. That’s a HUGE vibration, bottom line. Now, for some contrast, the B-side track “Hybish Shybish” is funky and upbeat. Again, once you start listening, you get drawn in, and you’re at the mercy of the music. And you’ll enjoy every bit of it!

I have a few Bill Cosby LP’s, most of my other ones contain vocals, some jokes, etc. But this one just focuses on the music, the emotion, the innovation and creativity of the artists involved. This record trumps ANYTHING that I’ve heard in a while. The tracks are lengthy, but well worth a complete listen.

Check out the sound!

Martin’s Funeral

Hybish Shybish

Design
The album cover is genius! As you can see, there are these small figures with over sized feet, swollen feet…from marching (nod to Madlib for “Come On Feet”). But I think Bill was trying to use that as a metaphor…for The March on Washington (which is where MLK gave his “I Have A Dream” speech), especially since he dedicated this album to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Aside from that, the type treatment is dope as well, it visually supports the old chipped and dusty wood panels that everything is placed on, and it appears to be hand-written (PLUS!). And check out the facial expressions and body language of the small figures…this was a well thought-out album cover and many conclusions can be drawn from it.

Although it references “Marching Band” in the title, this cover feels far from celebratory, instead it feels dark and mournful…which under the circumstances it should, to an extent. I haven’t figured out the placement of the two dandelions…but uhhh, that’s enough of my inner design nerd rambling for one day.

Peace.

Mellow Grooves.

Thursday: January 15, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul Leave a comment

Artist: Leo’s Sunshipp
Title: We Need Each Other
Year: 1978
Label: Lyons Recording Company
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

Front

Review
Don’t let the extraterrestrial name fool you, Leo’s Sunshipp definitely kicked royal mellow grooves, and would have been around much longer if tragedy hadn’t struck. This was their one and only album. The group split after one of the lead singers passed (Johnny Simon), he had cancer. Such a shame, this was a very talented group with a lot of potential. This album DEFINES mellow soul, it strikes similarities to Marvin Gaye’s classic I Want You LP.

What makes this album unique is the fact that they never finished recording it (because of the death), but released it as a full LP, it’s just THAT dope. There were 4 vocal tracks, and 4 instrumentals to those vocals.

Check out the sound!

Get Down People

Madame Butterfly

Give Me The Sunshine

Design
This cover is kinda hot. It definitely doesn’t feel like the cover of a soul album, but that’s what surprised me about it. The cover simply supports the name of the group. The name was derived from the fact that all three members were born under the astrological sign of LEO. We Need Each Other is a message to the listeners, the album was originally going to be a self-titled debut, but the death to Simon led to this album title instead.

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Additional info on Leo’s Sunshipp

Brazilian Soul.

Wednesday: January 14, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Latin, Soul 11 Comments

Artist: Marcos Valle
Title: Previsão Do Tempo
Year: 1973
Label: Odeon Fonográfica
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.5/5.0

Front

Review
This is one of the best Brazilian records that I’ve come across. Surprisingly, this one is heavy in synthesized instrumentation, which is wild considering this record was released in 1973. The synthesizer wasn’t used as much during the early 70′s, and even when it was, the outcome of the sound was not as dope as what’s displayed on this record. Previsão Do Tempo is mellow music for sure…feel-good music, very versatile as far as style is concerned, with a few standard sounding tracks here and there. But this album has innovation written all over it. It’s said to have influenced the acid jazz scene in Europe.

An interesting fact, Brazilian jazz masters, Azymuth, originally formed as a band to back Marcos Valle at live shows. Anyway, Jose Roberto Bertrami, the lead keyboardist for the group, played the synthesizers (mini-moog and arp), as well as the fender rhodes for this album.

Check out the sound!

Não Tem Nada Não Pt.1

Não Tem Nada Não Pt.2

Tiu-ba-la-quieba

Design
How can anyone argue with how great this cover is? Interesting and curious to say the least. I believe that the title of the LP suggests that Previsão (not sure what this means in Portuguese – Thanks PAN!) Gave Tempo…but gave tempo to whom or what? Maybe one of you readers can help me out with this one?

I’m into the type here, it’s nice how the two fonts are completely different, but still seem to work. One of them feels like it could be ITC Busorama (which was designed by Tom Carnase, a design partner of the master, Herb Lubalin). The real winner here is the photography…that underwater shot is great! Not sure what point it’s trying to get across, but it’s striking, and I believe it would make anyone want to pick it up, and add it to their collection. Just so happens that the music is awesome as well.

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Additional info on Marcos Valle

Wood Brass & Steel

Monday: January 12, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Wood Brass & Steel
Title: Self-Titled
Year: 1976
Label: Turbo
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.5/5.0

Front

Review
This is a record that I slept on time after time, I always thought the cover was pretty dope, however, I thought it was another Earth, Wind & Fire type record (and I wasn’t looking for that type of sound), so I wasn’t in any rush to pick it up. On top of that, it was always 30 bucks or more, so I really was turned off by it. One day I came across the LP while I was dollar-bin diggin’ and decided that for $3.00, it was finally time to check it out (BIG smile!).

Needless to say, it was a dope record. For some reason, this was the only album that the group released…there’s no story as to why they just disappeared afterward. But that adds to the intrigue of the record. Wood Brass & Steel have a very buttoned up sound, every detail in their music is intentional, masters of their craft for sure. The drumming really stands out, the timing is dead on, and the sound is crisp. This album gives off a smooth vibration, but take a listen and let me know what you think…

Check out the sound!

Funkanova

My Darling Baby

Say What You Want To Say

Design
This album cover is one of the best record covers out there I’d have to say. The illustration is on point, and straight to the point. The letters WOOD are made from wood instruments, the BRASS of brass instruments, and the STEEL of, well, steel. That’s amazing typographically (examine it). The forward motion of these elements come across as very strong, as if they’re suggesting to be moving full steam ahead through their music. One mildly funny thing about this cover, on the back (sorry I was to lazy to take a picture of it) there is a photo of the members in the band, and under their name is their sign (gemini, pisces, etc.)…that’s soooooooooo 70′s.

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Additional info on Wood Brass & Steel

Hip-Hop/R&B Producer Algorythm Interview.

Sunday: January 11, 2009 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Sidenote Leave a comment

Allan Cole

A good friend of mine, Allan Cole aka Algorythm (hip-hop and r&b soon-to-be super producer), was recently interviewed over on Amadi Mag, check the feature out here.

Peace.

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