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Stark raving funkyness
Just because Stones Throw point man Egon Alapatt has been on the down-low lately doesn’t mean he’s been taking time off to bask in the glory of his Funky 16 Corners comp. Nope. The sudden glut of new releases from his Now Again sub-label shows he’s been back excavating in Indiana for more astounding artifacts like the Fabulous Souls’ burner Take Me Ð which sounds much fatter in the 12-inch format backed with Ebony Rhythm Band’s The Thought Of Losing Your Love Ð and Amnesty’s brutally bumpin’ Everybody Wants To Be Free.
Besides those gems, Egon also came up with the breakbeat crown jewels in The Stark Reality… Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop. It may appear to be a goofy record for kids, but serious beat junkies know why the original double-vinyl LP commands three figures. It’s a funk bomb from top to bottom and the pre-release Rocket Ship 7-inch is just a taste of what’s in store when Stones Throw unleashes The Stark Reality. Check www.stonesthrow.com.
European con-fusion
Germany’s delightfully named Crippled Dick Hot Wax! continues its swank Revisited 12-inch series in which adventurous contemporary electronic producers have a go at reworking vintage jazz fusion joints. Past releases show that neither Herbert nor Meitz could improve on the original tracks by Karin Krog and Missus Beastly, and Slope’s lame crack at Paul Kuhn’s magnificent Gateway To Crime is no exception. Thankfully, the original version is included on the flip.
Devil in the garage
If you were wondering what happened to the Devil Dogs’ Steve Basie, he’s hiding out in a Chesapeake, Virginia, garage bashing out future classics like Get Outta My Way and Good Head with pals Joe Vincent and Larry May. The songs have now been released on a sweet split 10-inch by Spain’s venerable punk clearinghouse, Munster Records. Even more exciting are the four blistering trash punk raves by Sonny Vincent and the Ex-Safety Pins on the other side. One of the unsung heroes of the NYC scene, the top Testor hasn’t lost any of his snarl. Go get ’em, hombre!
Randy reggae
A residual effect of Sanctuary’s dip into the Trojan vaults is a new series of limited-edition 10-inch dubplates, the latest Ð swankly stamped with an old-school Upsetter label Ð is four tracks of Lee Perry roots dub dynamite featuring Stay Dread and Callying Butt along with Bunny & Ricky’s boisterously blunted Bushweed Corntrash. Righteous.
But it’s tough to top Soul Jazz for reggae reissues, and they again deliver the goods with a raid on the Randy’s Records archive. The Impact! collection, which boasts rare roots instrumental bidness from Augustus Pablo, Jackie Mittoo and Tommy McCook, is an end-to-end scorcher. Disco DJs will want to grab a copy of the pre-release 12-inch for the boomin’ Skin, Flesh and Bones twist on Do It Til You’re Satisfied, which is a surefire floor-filler.
