Ohnomite by Oh No (2012)

Kind of Like: Madlib, Black Milk, Raekown
Genres: Hip-hop, Funk, Soul
Buy/Preview: Stones Throw

Talk about a family of musicians.  Oh no's brother is Madlib, his father is Otis Jackson, and his uncle is Jon Faddis.  It's been a bit since I listened to some fresh hip-hop material and this is certainly quenching my thirst for that.

Like Madlib, he was cali-bred, but has since been infusing his west coast funk with east coast techniques; immersing himself into the underground NYC rap scene and working on projects out there.

This album is long and has a long list of quality names: MF Doom, Guilty Simpson, Frank Nitty, etc etc.  This is a good one, folks.

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Will Sessions (2011)

Kind of Like: Nujabes, The Avalanches, Madlib
Genres: Hip-hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz
Preview:


Whether it be MF Doom, Madlib, J Dilla, or any other really cool vinyl records or reissues coming out, Stone's Throw is usually behind it.  I love their catalog, and whenever I find a good contemporary hip-hop record (or classic reissue) in there, I always see their logo in the corner.

People around Detroit may know Will Sessions as the organizers of the now-staple-of-Detroit-night-life: Funk Night.  It started as random meet ups at abandoned warehouses or swanky mansions that were advertised on facebook for the last friday of every month.  Eventually hundreds showed up every night.  It was great because there was no cover, it was BYOB (or anything for that matter) and there was great live funk bands and djs to dance your ass off to.  The police eventually caught on, and they were usually shut down earlier than expected.  If they weren't shut down, you could bet they kept going well into 5 or 6 in the morning.

They still do Funk Night, but it's at a venue.  So, there usually is a cover charge of 5 dollars (not bad), and you have to buy drinks from the bar and no smoking (bad).  Needless to say, they aren't the same as they used to be.

Now that these guys are legit, they are starting to gain a lot of recognition.  Listening to these albums makes me so proud of Detroit hip-hop artists.  In a world full of autotune and mainstream garbage, these beats, nay, compositions are incredibly intelligent.  Here are two releases that I have been listening to on repeat during my mass studying for my exams in all three classes next week (how convenient, college).

The Elmatic Instrumentals are a collection of beats that would put many bands to shame.  The Real Sessions is a collection of live performances by various Detroit hip-hop artists within the Will Sessions movement: Mayer Hawthorne,  Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Phat Kat.  The overall feel of Real Sessions is great, you get that feeling of being at the show, but it is still mixed really well.

Oh yeah, and Megaupload just got shut down by the feds.  The good news is that maybe now legislators will recognize they have the power to shut down sites that host pirated music without idiotic/far-reaching acts like SOPA and PIPA.  The bad news is that I have a feeling all the other sites like mediafire and fileserve will be next.

StreamPad: Will Sessions - One Love

so drunk its fuckin Thursday II: Look out for #1 Brothers Johnson

For the fans of: The Jackson 5, Sly & the Family Stone, The Supremes

Genre: Funk

Listen here: Mediafire

Look out for #1 is the debut album of the brothers. Probably my favourite funk album of all time, George (left) and Louis (right) have got 'it' all, and as their producer Quincy Jones puts it, "These are the baddest cats I've ever heard!" Boasting the stage-names Lightning Licks and Thunder Thumbs, respectively, the versatility of style is an outstanding asset for their first album. Though, the licks can at times take you strait into that 70's studio-session atmosphere, dancin' and prancin' about; for me, its the instrumental tracks like Tomorrow that really furnish the album. Look for more of these brothers, as they aged through the 80's their music really takes a turn towards discotheque, not to say its for the worse, but needless to say this is a house specialty. Louis, the younger brother, became a very prominent studio bassist for Quincy productions, recording on a large variety of albums, most popularly, Michael's Off the Wall and Thriller.

Funky Thursday: Sly & The Family Stone, Stanley Clarke, Edwin Starr, Jackson 5

Kind of Like: Funkadelic, James Brown, War, Prince, The Temptations
Genres: Funk, Soul, Rock, Motown, Pop
Preview: Boobtube


It's time to expose yourself to something a little bit outside of the box.  I've recently been buying lots of old funk records.  They are not only inexpensive, but they are fucking awesome.  I know Stanley Clarke wasn't as well received as the other bands on here, but I'm going to continue to force shit like this down your throats.    Here are a few records that I have been spinning lately.  Fact: Edwin Starr invented hardcore.

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(Classic) Journey to Love by Stanley Clarke (1975)

Kind of Like: Earth Wind and Fire, Return to Forever, Miles Davis
Genres: Funk, Jazz, Rock
Preview: 

It may not seem it, but I am actually a fan of funk and jazz music as well as all the noodly hipster shit.  I even have a whole plethora of classical vinyl that I put on from time to time (Holst's Planets really can pump a guy up).  Anyways, I found this album when I was first going through my dad's record collection trying to separate shit from THE shit. I popped this...on, and I was greeted with a low rumbling bass line that burst into porno-esque funk music.  I had been hooked on the song "Silly Putty" by Stanley Clarke.  This record would become a mainstay for the ladies, it is the perfect music for that sort of activity anyways.  I would find out that Stanley Clarke is a renowned jazz funk fusion bass player.  I also found out that this album featured Jeff Beck on "Hello Jeff" and the guitar solo for Journey to Love.  Also featured on this album is George Duke on the keys (organ, synth, bells, piano) who also did work with Frank Zappa.  I am going to try and put more funk, jazz, and classical from time to time, those genres have a lot to offer even if you mainly like math rock, emo, and other more popular genres.

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