Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Meters - Meters


One of the greatest albums ever in the history of funk -- the first album by The Meters, and virtually the blueprint for countless funk records to come! The album's bubbling over with classics -- all hard-hitting instrumentals played by the group in an effortlessly tight style, produced to perfection by Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn in their classic 60s New Orleans style. A blinding masterpiece of bass, drums, and scratchy guitar -- with tracks that include "Cardova", "Cissy Strut", "Sophisticated Cissy", "Here Comes The Meter Man", "Ease Back", "Ann", "6V6 La", and "Live Wire".

The Meters - Look ka py py


One of the all time classic funky instrumental LPs, with a choppy tight funky guitar groove that millions of bands have tried to copy, but have never succeeded in duplicating. The whole thing's like a classic songbook of funky tracks, with killer cuts like "Funky Miracle", "Oh, Calcutta!", "Yeah, You're Right", "Pungee", "Look-Ka Py Py", "Dry Spell", and lots more. 

The Meters - Struttin


The rarest Meters record ever! This is one of the 3 classic funky albums they cut for the Josie label in their early years -- and it's about as hard and heavy and funky as you could get! The group's trademark scratchy guitar funk sound is firmly in place, and the rhythm section is nice, tight, and choppy. All tracks are great groovers -- and titles include "Same Old Thing", "Joog", "Chicken Strut", "Liver Splash", "Hand Clapping Song", "Hey Last Minute", "Tippi-Toes", and "Ride Your Pony". A bucket of breaks in every track

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Kashmere Stage Band - Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974



A massive exploration of the music of Kashmere Stage Band -- the legendary Texas funk combo whose work has been pushed heavily over the years by Wax Poetics, Stones Throw, and many others! The set goes even deeper than any of the previous vinyl reissues of work by the group -- and features some previously unreleased tracks, and alternate takes on their funkiest numbers! The Kashmere groove is incredible -- blasting horns, scratchy guitars, and funky drums --wrapped super-tight around a range of original material and some more familiar numbers --  with 18 tracks in all: "All Praises", "Thank You", "Scorpio (extended)", "Headwiggle", "Do You Dig It Man", "Getting It Out Of My System", "Zero Point (parts 1 & 2)", "Boss City", "Burning Spear", "Take Five", "Keep Doing It" and more!