Review: Mutiny - Funk Road

So here we have it! Mutiny have broken their 17 year silence, and have finally released their 5th album to us!

Actually, this CD was in fact, recorded in 2011, only just released on "Catbone Unreleased" this year. It's odd to think that Mutiny would hesitate on releasing this album, or that it could possibly be considered something that wouldn't be released. The awesome artwork on this cover was done by none other than my mentor and legendary soul guru whom I fill in for, The Funk Priest!!

Mutiny were, of course, a mutiny from Parliament/Funkadelic in the late 70s, fronted by P-Funk drummer Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, whom felt disillusioned with the management of Parliament/Funkadelic under George Clinton. Turning a negative into a positive, Jerome Brailey splintered off and produced some many fine albums under the name "Mutiny". This album is no exception!

Those who listen to Mutiny's albums and expect Funkadelic have come with the wrong approach entirely. Sure, the zaniness of P-Funk is present in Mutiny, and the bold edge, but there are noticeable differences. There's an indescribable mellowness and a laid back attitude about Mutiny that Funkadelic don't quite have. I'm not saying that's a better or worse thing, but it's a noticeable difference. With Funkadelic, you can never quite just sit down and relax when listening to it; you're absolutely compelled to get off your ass and jam! With Mutiny, you can sit and chill to their sounds much easier, even when they're rockin' hard. Another difference between Mutiny and Parliament/Funkadelic is Mutiny/Jerome Brailey's bigger tendency to experiment. Their previous album from 1996, "Aftershock 2005" was an unusual fusion, adding a lot more rock to the funk than usual, and a lot of 80s synths to nicely even out the grooves. This album, however, has tracks that take funk right back to the 60s and early 70s. Perhaps the most startlingly convincing is the track "What?.YEAH!!!" on this album, which even sounds retro in its audio production. Had it not been for the raps and some of the vocals, you would almost think this song was from back in the 60s. Another nod to the 1960s is a really nice cover of Wilson Pickett's "Ninety Nine And One Half", which almost has a slight "glam" feel to it, and the James Brown type riffs on the track "Ouch".

It's not all rooted in the 1960s, though. There's a really nice spacey synthed out track called "Something Better To Do" which evokes the classic zany P-Funk styles of the mob back in the early 80s. Also we have a nice sequenced instrumental funk hit to start off the album, called "Thought Patterns" with some wicked drum loops, which could possibly be my favourite track on the album. "Delta Dog" is a re-make of George Clinton's "Atomic Dog", done in a blues version with a 90s-style drum machine. "Diggity Don Dotta" brings some very heavy rock onto this album, and "Lights, Camera, Action" has the feel of a late 90s midtempo groove! I could go on, but the bottom line is that this album, "Funk Road", is delightfully versatile, and should undoubtedly whet your appetite in some form, whatever your personal taste is in funk & soul.

Buy this album soon and get listening to it!!

Retro Love!

Here is the third Flagship Funk Mix to celebrate the Autumn creeping in. A mix of 70s and 80s funk and soul ballads that set the mood like none other!

1) The Isley Brothers - Hope You Feel Better Love (1975)
2) Con Funk Shun - Secrets (1977)
3) Slave - For The Love Of U (1981)
4) Pictures - I'm Gonna See You Through (1981)
5) Breakwater - No Limit (1978)
6) Midnight Star - Open Up To Love (1981)
7) Elusion - Show And Tell (1982)
8) Dunn Street - Even A Fool (1986)
9) Fredi Grace & Rhinstone - Won't Cha Give It To Me (1982)
10) Aurra - One More Time (1983)

Review: Cameo - Real Men...Wear Black

Alright, I know I've been single-mindedly concentrating on 90s funk recently, and haven't even begun to do anything about the 60s or 70s on this blog, but while I'm on the subject, I've just got to give a review about this album. In my humble opinion, this Cameo album is the very best of their discography, and one of my top 10 albums of all time.

This album, "Real Men...Wear Black" was released in 1990, two years after the "Machismo" album in 1988, and four years after their worldwide smash hit and album "Word Up!". Cameo have made a lot of changes in their sound, since they started out as a huge disco-funk collective from New York. (They originally wanted to call themselves "The New York City Players") However, Cameo usually changed to their own liking and not to what the trend dictated; this album pretty much proves it. When New Jack Swing came on the scene in 1988, many of the funk acts went straight to that sound, some of whom even ditched their funk sound entirely for the NJS trend. Cameo could have made a very convincing jump to New Jack Swing, as Teddy Riley's sound was arguably similar and influenced by Cameo's "Word Up!" style. But they didn't, and instead produced this album, which only incorporated the loosest of New Jack Swing influences that compliments the style of funk that Cameo are so renowned for.

The term, "All killer, no filler" gets bandied about a lot these days, but with this album, it's absolutely correct. Not one single track on this album is a dud for me.

The album starts out with the longest jam: a song over six minutes called "Close Quarters" - possibly Cameo's most mellow groove of all time. It has a really nice swingbeat drum machine working alongside with some really nice guitar grooves by Charlie Singleton, but ends up showing more and more layers and event to the song. At 1:48 in the song, Larry Blackmon gives a very brief and loose rap accompanied by a classic Cameo hard-clap drum, where Larry Blackmon once again shows his brilliantly comical and goofy nature by giving a very tongue-in-cheek piece of self-aggrandisement. After this very brief rap ends, the unusual mood of the song is set with some vocal echos and synths. Then at 2:57 the song briefly heads into an ultra-mellow and soulful vocal hook by Tomi and Larry with some great atmospheric synths, followd by another of Larry's loose raps. My favourite part of this song however, is the ultra smooth and mellow piano solo at 4:11 that just totally comes from nowhere and is completely unexpected. A lot is going on this song and shows how Cameo's writing talents can often dig very deep into some very unusual and powerful territory.

The next song, "I Want It Now" is a more uptempo and speedier groove, which became the hit for this record. This song features the sound of record scratching; at the time, this technique was pretty much unique to New York, and New York hip-hop at that. Cameo were possibly one of the first funk groups to include record scratching into their songs. The keyboard work in this song really makes this song; the very quick orchestral piano jabs that are indicative of the small New Jack Swing influence and the classic Cameo style synths which are unusually unique to them and their funk.

This next track is an absolute belter. The third song on this album, "Me" comes with an insanely hard drumbeat comprised of Cameo's synthesized clap sound, a loose bass drum swingbeat rhythm and some quick screams from the Cameo horn section by Nathan Leftenant. Cameo's lyrical styles are on full form here as Larry Blackmon sings with a very direct and sincere message about being who you want to be and getting on with life. ("What you think of me, won't mean that much you see!") This song is funky as hell, but then goes into deep soul once again with a beautiful vocal hook on the chorus by Larry and Tomi, along with some smooth synth work. Cameo bassist Aaron Mills also does some nice work on this song, reinforcing the groove in the background. At a time when the R&B music scene was rapidly becoming shallow and stereotypical, Cameo took funk to its deepest level with this highly moving and beautiful song, but keeping it hard-hitting at the same time.

The fourth song "Attitude" is one of Cameo's classic 80s style funk jams and comes with some very infectious claps in the background. This song features Cameo's more crazy side with Cameo's usual provocative lyrics about an egomaniacal partner. ("All the people are laughing but you don't know why! If you could figure it out, you'll know just what it is, but you're too busy looking at yourself to know that shit!") On this song, this time Tomi Jenkins delivers a rap with Larry Blackmon's rhythmical shouts in the background to strengthen the groove.

The next song, "Get Paid" is slightly new territory for Cameo. Cameo have thrown their weight into politics for quite some time, but this is the first time Larry Blackmon raps for the entire song at an incredibly fast pace, talking about "The United States of Denial", and the many issues facing the average American public, and how they differ with the priorities of the overbloated establishment figures such as the incumbent president of the time, George Bush Sr. and others. This song differs from the other songs on the album, in the sense that this song is quite a stripped down, minimalistic sound compared to the rest of the album, which is full of highly layered sounds. The great thing about Cameo in this particular song, was their ability to comment on the political issues but not preach, which differed from their hit song from the Machismo album "Skin I'm In", which felt just a bit preachy. (Great song, nonetheless.) Near the end of the song, they changed the subject into the classic party style lyrics, ("Let's change this subject for one moment, if you're ready to party let's get on it! We'll get back to this in a minute, and when we do, we'll get with it!") which shows a sense that Cameo deep down recognise political "issues" for what they really are: guff. ("No explanation needed!")

Cameo then go into a really soulful groove with "Am I Bad Enough"; this is a really, REALLY nice fast paced love song with some absolutely stunning vocal work by Larry and Tomi. Some really nice keyboard work again on this song, with the mellow synths in the background and foreground. The New Jack Swing orchestral piano jabs are used in this song as well, to keep the pace nice and quick. Aaron Mills and Charlie Singleton are working in the background again with guitar and bass. This song is a very beautiful song by the funky New York group, and shows the very elegant side of their nature.

"Time, Fire & Space" is the only slowtempo song on this album, and even for Cameo's standards, it is really, really unusual. I've absolutely no idea what they had in mind when writing this song, or how they did it, but it is absolutely stunning. Listen to this song, and you will get a trip to another dimension!! I can't even describe the mood of this song accurately, to be honest, but the title perhaps says it all. On the surface, it's a slowjam/love ballad, but I suspect Cameo were trying to do something else with this song. The synths on this song are highly spooky and unusual, and along with the vocals of Larry and Tomi, this song just does something else.

The next song "Nan-Yea" brings a fierce and tough groove with some nice guitar licks from Charlie Singleton, great bassing from Aaron Mills and some really funky lyrics. Some classic funk brought with a very high quality to it by the legendary Cameo.

And finally, Cameo end with a slowjam song "Just A Broken Heart". It would be hard to describe this song as a slowtempo song, as Cameo chose a very unusual and lively drumbeat with this song. Some really smooth synths, guitar and bass work on this song, with Tomi Jenkins taking over for the vocals on the verses. The classic and unique vocal harmonies of Cameo stream in on the chorus, making this song a beautiful end to a beautiful album. This album was undoubtedly Cameo's finest hours, and they had many, MANY fine hours throughout their discography!!

Hidden Treasure!

Here is the second Flagship Funk mix which is guaranteed to be good to your earhole! This mix is dedicated to the hidden and hard to find songs of some of our favourite bands; discography hunters of various funk/soul groups often think they've got the lot by the artist, only to find a hidden 12" single not assigned to an album, or an extra song hidden on what appears to be just another compilation! Here, I've compiled some of these hidden treasures in this mix. Enjoy!!

1) Kleeer - Oooh With You (1993)
2) Enchantment - Feel Like Dancin' (1985)
3) Con Funk Shun - Throw It Up, Throw It Up (1996)
4) The Deele - The Only 1 (2007)
5) Bar-Kays - Put A Little Nasty On It (1993)
6) Steve Arrington - No Reason (1991)
7) Slave - That's The Way I Like It (1984)
8) The Dazz Band - My Little Princess (Unknown Year)
9) Richard "Dimples" Fields - Baby's Got It Goin' On (1994)
10) Brick - That Button (2009)

Review: The Dazz Band - Here We Go Again

This is second of the three comeback albums released by The Dazz Band, released between the mid 90s and the early 2000s. This album, "Here We Go Again" was released back in 1998, and without a doubt, this album has to be one of the top five finest 90s funk albums; you might not think that's much of an accolade, given the general lack of funk in the 90s, but trust me, this album is SUPERB.

The Dazz Band first started out as "Kinsman Dazz" throughout the late 70s, then became The Dazz Band from the start of the 80s and onwards. The Dazz Band will always be noted for their wacky, uptempo energetic 80s funk sounds with lots of fuzzy guitar work by the brilliant Marlon McClain, so the fact that this album follows the trends of the late 90s slow/midtempo may not appear to be in line with their usual work and styles, but this album is so good that it doesn't matter. Many funk bands made the transition from the uptempo 80s songs to the slower mid/late 90s R&B sound, and for many of them, it didn't work out, but The Dazz Band brilliantly worked this one and made this great album as a result.

One of the things that ought to be noted carefully about this album is that one of the participants of this project was none other than the mothership connection legend himself, George Clinton!! P-Funk and many of its spinoff projects went a bit silent from 1996 to the turn of the millennium, so having George on the scene for this album was a huge bonus!

Okay, let's start with the tracks. I'll only go through the ones that absolutely grab me, but bear in mind,  I'm likely to warm to even more as I continue listening to this album.

The first track on this album is one that would get totally ignored and shunned by the average funk fan, but would be really lapped up by the Funkology experts and the heads. The first track is called "Bop Gun", and as the Funkologists will already know, the "Bop Gun" is a part of P-Funk mythology - the secret weapon which fills up the people it shoots with funk. The Dazz Band hilariously, and very cleverly brought the "Bop Gun" fresh into the 90s with this song, by turning the subject matter into what can only be described as a light hearted parody of the violent gangster rap of the time, the chorus of which goes: "What ya gonna do if they refuse to move?! Gonna shoot them in the ass with my bop gun!". The tone of this song is so convincing that a listener not in the know would almost believe that this was some type of gangsta rap tune. The drumbeats on this song are really nice, as provided to us by Raymond Calhoun of Sunfire, whom also threw his weight into this album. It's nice to hear in this song that The Dazz Band still kept their light-hearted goofiness from their heyday. The song features a female rapper doing a rap, which is the only aspect of the song that I could have gone without; it's understandable in the era of rap-overkill that the Dazz Band would add a rapper on, but I think the song was contemporary sounding enough without the rap. The rap wasn't a bad one particularly, and it featured no offensive lyrics, but I think it just slightly detracted from the tone of the song, which wasn't meant to be serious in any way. Other than that, a great song.

The next song, "Sho Ya' Right" is a really unusual one, and shows that The Dazz Band are able to get with the times without being clones or copycats. Marlon McClain gives a sequenced riff on this song that absolutely sets this groove alight, accompanied with an organ-like keyboard sound given by funk legend Kevin Kendricks and Michael Norfleet. Raymond Calhoun again gives us a really nice late 90s bass heavy drum beat and Nathaniel Phillips gets down with a nice funky bass. Some really nice vocals on this track as well, which totally fit in line with the late 90s.

The third track on the album is a really nice and unusual late 90s midtempo soul hit called "Girl Got Body", with some really great harmonies in the lyrics. Again, totally contemporary, but The Dazz Band are always able to take it that bit higher. One thing I also like about this song is the occasional spacey synth introduced in the background of this song.

Now, the fourth song on this album has GOT to be my favourite. "Do Popppa Do" is a really, REALLY slick fusion of late 90s bass heavy swingbeat, funk, R&B and soul. The vocal hook on the chorus is absolutely stunning - one of their best harmonies, and vocal harmonies were always one of The Dazz Band's strongest points. This song is just the perfect song to ride to on a quiet Summer evening with a full sunset, and it just totally captures the better aspects of the late 90s. I also love the way the talk-box is utilised throughout this song; not overused at all, and doesn't detract from the harmony whatsoever. And as always, Marlon McClain's subtle guitar work on this song is excellent.

One of the bloody coolest 90s funk songs of all time, and on this album is the song "Ride". The beat on this song is so hard-hitting and fly that it absolutely surpasses and puts many of the hip-hop producers of the day to shame. The guitar and bass on this are just PERFECT! And on this song, the legendary George Clinton's vocals can be clearly heard on this playing over The Dazz Band's harmonies, like it's a separate entity altogether.

Another really cool late 90s style song is "The Things I Do". The mood of this song is very down in the ghetto with some very provocative and suggestive lyrics; a bit like something Cameo would have done, had they recorded in the late 90s.

In conclusion, this album is a MUST HAVE. Once people finally start to dig 90s funk (which they will, let me assure you) this song will be at the top of the respected 90s funk albums.