Parliament

Hot Snakes, “Braintrust”

The third Hot Snakes album certainly announces itself with authority. “Braintrust” opens up my favorite record from them, with a song that would absolutely sit right at home on one of the legendary Drive Like Jehu records. Which is a high complement!

Nine Inch Nails, “Get Down Make Love”

As with most industrial dance acts, there were a bunch of singles released with Nine Inch Nails’ early work, usually featuring a bunch of remixes and the occasional half-assed b-side. This is one of those half-assed b-sides, in this case from the “Sin” single (which included three pointless remixes of that tune). But, you know, high school Josh was nonetheless kinda intrigued by it.

Parliament, “Testify”

Up For the Down Stroke is the record where George Clinton brought back the Parliament name and it represented the band going big on party friendly funk tunes. It’s the record where they really hit the big time, and the start of their essential records.

George Harrison, “Any Road”

Released posthumously, Brainwashed is the final record from Harrison, and the only one I’ve actually picked up. I’m not sure I’m really the audience for this, fundamentally. It’s pleasant enough, but not something I’m going to really throw on.

Amon Tobin, “One Shy Morning”

Amon Tobin put out two albums in 2019, with this one (Long Stories) being the more ambient, quieter one of the pair. It’s well done, and it’s a good record, but honestly, I prefer Tobin when he’s more out there than this.

Fela Kuti, “Igbe”

The inventor of Afro-beat, Fela Kuti is one of the key musical figures of the 20th century. I’m not a Kuti scholar, truthfully, owning only a handful of albums, and if I roll out a bunch of biographical info here, I’d largely be cribbing from some other site. But just listen to this, and then try and imagine any of the Daptone bands sounding the same. Even beyond the influence, though, this just flat cooks. This is from Gentlemen, which seems to be considered his best album - that’s why I picked it up in the first place.

Parliament, “(You’re A Fish And I’m A) Water Sign”

While I always prefer the more upbeat stuff from Parliament, their ballads were also often great, certainly during their peak period. This comes from the last great Parliament record (Motor Booty Affair), but not the last great record from the Parliament/Funkadelic collective.

Black Eyed Peas, “BEP Empire”

Before the Black Eyed Peas became massive pop music successes, before they were cranking out deeply irritating hits, before they entered the collective consciousness as THE BLACK EYED PEAS, they were an underground hip-hop act that put out a couple of decent albums. There’s a little Black Star here, which is of course welcome. So, what happened? Well, one major thing you’ll notice about those first two records is that one familiar member of the band isn’t there. Fergie joined on the third record, and, well, only the first two albums are worth anything.

We open and close today pretty funky! And, you know, track four is built on the Amen break, so I’ll count that too!

Parliament, “Oil Jones”

Parliament’s first album was in 1970, and Medicaid Fraud Dogg came out in 2018. When I think about the idea that I might do the same job for 48 years, I can’t really wrap my head around it. And I got an early start in my career! Sure, this isn’t George Clinton’s best work. But nevertheless, it’s still impressive.

Folks, they can’t all be winners.

Scissorfight, “Victory Over Horseshit”

Can we just admire the naming going on here? Scissorfight? “Victory Over Horseshit”? That’s good stuff. I mean, the album isn’t that great or anything, but whatever.

DJ Food, “Dark Blood (Mlo Nu Blud 2 Mix)”

Yeah, there’s no way this is going to be on YouTube, is it?

(looks)

Hooray! I’m very lazy, so that’s great news.

OK, Plexasaurus Rex, let’s get some meat on the bone here, not much to talk about so far.

Some all-time great bands in this go around!

Parliament, “(You’re a Fish And I’m A) Water Sign”

About time funk legends and intergalactic weirdos Parliament showed up around here. I’m never really sure if it makes sense to do a little potted biography of famous acts here or not. Parliament is one of the names that George Clinton and his ensemble recorded under, Funkadelic being the other primary one. The two names grew out of a legal dispute over the name Parliament, and even after it was settled, Clinton and company continued releasing records under both names. Despite the name, Funkadelic actually concentrated more on psychedelic rock, and Parliament was the outfit that mostly played funk, although there was plenty of crossover in both directions. Mostly, what they were, was restlessly creative, always trying new things.