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Funky home Chicago
Sure, I’ve griped about it before, but there just aren’t enough blues funk reissues to go around. So when a Chicago edition of Tuff City ‘s fab Funky Funky series (which now includes Detroit and Baton Rouge volumes as well) was announced, I was counting on hearing some hard-whumpin’ crossover crunchers in the mix. And sure enough, venerable Windy City bluesmen Artie White , Casey Jones , Bobby “Top Hat” Davis , Little Mack Simmons and Jimmy Johnson all deliver on Funky Funky Chicago . And old-school disco fans will be happy to know that both sides of the Chosen Few ‘s in-demand Mod Art single also appear. Boogie down!
Rocket science
Can’t say that I was overly impressed with Paolo “P-Love” Kapunan ‘s Fob Lights single for Montreal’s thriving hiphop indie Bully Records , but Amon Tobin seems to have had a positive impact on the local bedroom beatmaking community. At least P-Love benefited from the use of Tobin’s Nord Electro virtual analog synth on the new Rocket Launch Test (Bully) 7-inch. The scratch-happy top side is nothing special, but the transfixing Trueno Apex is a darkly twisted delight. It sounds like something off an obscure French crime thriller soundtrack by François de Roubaix. The swank hand-screened sleeve version is released in a numbered edition of 1,000, so be quick or be sorry.
Kickin’ Carleen
An independent funk band that exclusively recorded their own original compositions was as rare in the early 70s as the sight of a badass woman drummer doubling on lead vocals, but Charleston, South Carolina’s innovative Carleen and the Groovers had it all goin’ on. The rough cut Can We Rap, which appeared on the great Funky 16 Corners comp, reveals the group’s obvious debt to the James Brown sound. And J.B. appears to have returned the sincere flattery by hitting huge with his version of the Groovers’ Hot Pants. You can read more about the whole intriguing chicken-or-egg mystery in the liner notes of Now Again ‘s stylish Carleen and the Groovers 12-inch EP reissue of their two impossible to find sevens. Right on!
