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April 16, 2006
Highly Flammable - Hot Picks for April '06
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Five records/songs that are making my month a lot funkier:
1. Afrodisiac Soundsystem - Afroheat #4 12-inch
I became a big fan of the Afroheat 12-inch series when I heard the incredible Fela/Kano blend on Afroheat #2. For the last several years, Los Angeles DJs Haul and Mason (and associate Jed) have been deftly mixing West African funk/"afrobeat" with more Western-style "club music" (pop, hip-hop, disco, funk) and releasing the results on vinyl for the benefit of their fellow DJs. This fourth Afroheat record has a bit of an early 80s old-school-rap theme, what with its use of Melle Mel's verses from "The Message" and Dimples D's rap from "Sucker DJs". But my favorite track on here might be the one where some "La Di Da Di"-inspired ragga rhymes from Shaggy associate Rayvon (?!?) get dropped on top of funky Fela beats. If that sounds appealing to you, download the MP3:
Afrodisiac Soundsystem - Fela Kuti vs. Rayvon
2. Sean Paul - "Temperature"
This heatrock is not only the dancehall crossover smash of spring, it's also Papa D's favorite jam right now. "Hey, are we gonna hear that Sean Paul song tonight? You could even play it more than once." It's always good to please the man in charge!
3. Bonde Do Role - "Funk Da Esfiha"
Brazil's Bonde Do Role are sort of a "next-generation" baile-funk group that Diplo has signed to his new Mad Decent label. I find the trio's Alice-in-Chains-sampling "Melo Do Tobaco" to be borderline awful (uh, listen for yourself), but B-side "Funk Da Esfiha" is pretty awesome. A catchy "Summer Nights" sample + sporadic appearances of the "Push It" beat + lots of Portuguese words I can't understand = uptempo dancefloor mayhem! "Jabuticaba" is also the jam, with its "Doo Wah Diddy" tip-o-the-hat to 2 Live Crew's similarly inspired song from almost two decades ago. Tell me more, tell me more!
4. DJ Green Lantern featuring Dead Prez, Saigon, Immortal Technique & Just Blaze - "Impeach the President"
I'm not sure why it took 5+ years of Dubya being in office before someone finally decided to remake the Nixon-era classic by The Honey Drippers, but this is definitely worth the wait. Good thing Green Lantern has some Sirius connections (er,had?) and a strong mixtape game, 'cause this song certainly won't be getting played on any Clear Channel stations anytime soon.
5. Ghostface Killah - "Be Easy"
This Pete Rock production is 6+ months old by this point, but it's back in my heavy rotation thanks to the official release of Fishscale and a very unofficial "Be Easy" edit that splices in an old Ludacris cameo (to fairly good effect). Between "Be Easy" and J Dilla's extremely intoxicating "Two Can Win" (R.I.P. Jay Dee), it would seem that circa-1973 Sylvers are the act to sample right now. Someone reissue those early Sylvers records already!
Posted by Tim at April 16, 2006 03:09 PM