What The Funk Is Up With The Slackness???

I know, I know...

Slacker McSlack over here but a New Zealand powerhouse of easy listening rock anthems once said that absence makes the heart grow fonder and damned if I disagree.

So here's the tracklist for last weeks Get SoulFunkDub show to compensate. No, really, you're more than welcome:

Hope - Fat Freddy's Drop
Love That Girl - Raphael Saadiq
Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
Sunshines Through Your Love - Plantlife
Grandmas Hands - Bill Withers
Girl You Need A Change Of Mind - D'Angelo
Touch The Hem Of His Garment - Sam Cook
Somebody's Gonna - Alice Russel
Right Where You Are - Amp Fiddler
Welfare Bread - King Khan & The Shrines
Thank You For Talking To Me Africa - Sly & The Family Stone
Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City - Bobby "Blue" Bland
Beautifully Deadly - Nat Rose
So Fresh And So Clean B.cause Let's Get It On - B.Cause
The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker - Prince
Swing By My Way feat. John Legend - Will.I.Am
A Lotta Things To Do - Arrested Development
Hippy Skippy Moon Strut - Dave Cortez With The Moon People
On The Floor - Sa-Ra Creative Partners
Look Around feat. Cherie Matheson - Lewis McCallum
I Get Lifted - George McCrae
Record Ban Blues - Dinah Washington
Real Woman - Ayah
M16 - Lone Ranger
Something About Her - Plantlife

And real postings will commence more frequently henceforth.

Good day Sir. I said good day!

Melbourne Kids Keepsin it Cool Over Summer in Oz

You know what I love more than a hot summers day?
Hiphop
Especially that home grown shiznit.
One posse I’ve been fawning over for the past year is Outward Obtooce from our Southern City of spectacular, Melbourne.
OO is Joshua Hall on the mic and arrangements, Matt Povey on the mic and DJ Bacon doing all the sweet cuts. They stand out from the crowd with their HIGHlarious story telling lyrics with plenty of tongue in cheek social commentary ingeniously layered over some seriously catchy little melodies. The instrumentals are also highly play worthy..make that replay worthy.
Check em out here and bug them for new releases and tour dates.
Another Melbourne crew on the up and up from down under is Funk in Public. These guys are a super cool fusion of some first class talent.
The band was formed by David Wilkinson on drums and percussion (who learnt under legendary drummers David Wiltshire, Danny Fischer, Ian Smith) and Anthony Devine on bass and electric bass (having studied his craft with Wylie J Miller from Arrested Development, Tim Pryde from K Oscillate and Drew Deadman from Superhiest)
These bright sparks got hold of Lady Lash to do vocals (previously backup singer with Aboriginal band Coloured Stones), Travis Percy on guitars and Jeremy Blamey on sax and keyboards.
The band cruises along sounding like a sexy fusion of jazz, soul and ska and Lash takes to the mic to spit some solid ass rhymes broken up by angelically sung chorus’s.
Her lungs are a force to be reckoned with for real. Listen for yourself here.
We hear they will be touring soon.
We are excited.

Till next time bishes!
Jahmandee x

Brand Funkin' New Member!

Sit down excitable chitlin's, I have exciting news for you!

We have a fancy new member of the "What The Funk?" whanau to bring you all things blog-worthy on the other side of the Tasman when it comes to sizzounds.

Jahmandee is our Sydney based roving reporter that will be contributing so things will be named from now on so you can keep track. the accents should differentiate enough in any case, she's the nasally one and I'm the lazy-slurring one.

I jest!

So yes, funky lil' readers, we're international now.

Australasia represent-represent-sent!

-SunShaarne
Hells funkin' yes.

Pacific Funkin' Heights

I'm only going to say this once so listen up good: Go get In A Quiet Storm. Put down your toast or whatever you're holding. Just stop it and get this album.

Devin Abrams aka Reno is a bit of a bloody genius, just quietly. If it weren't sickening enough that he is partially to blame for New Zealand's dub/dance/fun darlings Shapeshifter he comes and drops this slice of heaven.

Music for the grown and sexy, that's what I would call it. Tasty morsel after tasty morsel is offered up and you devour them, gratefully, until you are sated and a bit sleepy because it was that satisfying.

Using some of our country's finest talent including bandmate PDigsss, Joe Dukie and the previously gushed over Lisa Tomlins and Mara TK, it really couldn't go wrong but the sweet production of Reno ensures that it is funkin' genius.

You start off Dreaming, midway are at Peace and just Breathe and by the time The Show Is Over you are well and truly spent.

That's right, it's so choice that it makes me both corny AND lame. And that's fine by me.

Pretty much going to thrash it on Get SoulFunkDub this Wednesday from 6-8pm on Contact 88.1FM. Umm yeah, changed the show name. Just keeping you on your toes.

Thank you Pacific Heights. One clever little funker you are.

Myspace!!!
Website!!!

Funkin' Love That Conch

This may not be quite so timely because of my tardyness (double drats) but I'm pretty sure that there are a few kids out there that don't know about it. This is for you.

Conch is bloody choice. Bloody choice as. Snuggled in the bosom of Ponsonby Road, but don't hold it against it, it waits for you with open arms, a steaming cup o' joe and delicious records.

If I weren't a vinyl-phobe with my klutzy fingers it would appeal even more to me. Thank friggen goodness it doesn't because with a limited, sexcellent selection with appropriately elite prices I would be pawning many of my things.

Amazing records including the new Samon Kawamura and crazy good sandwiches, how can it get any better Shaarne?

I dunno, maybe if the little nugget sitting on P-Money's shoulders in the Jam Of This Summer worked there.

Oh wait, yeah Bobby Brazuka works there too. Little nugget.

Muey bueno Conch, muey funkin' bueno.



http://www.conch.co.nz/

Funkin' Lazy

It has been put to me by one Micaspam that I am lazy and neglectful of this here blog.

Yes that was unecessary but it still cracked me up something wicked.

Anyway, he does have a point and a good one at that. Thus why you are getting another today!!! Cue the celebrations.

I'm sorry, that's enough of that. I know I've used up the quota of needless hyperlinking.

Us WebMedia08 types are quite enthusiastic about our class, yes I speak on behalf of all of us. The ones that don't fall into this category probably wont read this anyway so that doesn't matter.

It makes one reflect on ones dependency on the intraweb and how you can spend so much time on it and yet come out with nothing productive. My main scapegoats would be the time-consuming mistresses that are social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace. Having two is somewhat unnecessary and yet I have quite the dependancy. I tend to break out in cold sweats just at the thought of not being able to check to see what's been happening with my pals and if they've sent me any Maori Kai applications. Sad yet true.

Another one of the other sources of internet crack that I just can't kick is none other than Perez Hilton which is even more sad yet true.

Noone really wants to admit that they love all of the addictive schadenfreude that he dishes up in his bitchy little way and yet here I am, hand on heart, confessing to you. I am a crackhead and he is my pusher.

The redeeming feature for all of these sites that I frequent way too frequently is the music linking. Not so much for Perez but he does promote some indie artists which tend to appeal to my camp sensibilities but that's about all. Mostly crap.

Myspace in particular is one of my main sources for feeding my musical fiendery. I couldn't even try to put a number on the amount of artists that I have found courtesy of this motherload. Naturally the selection of their songs is somewhat limited and I'm not all that appreciative of the new format which I find to be hard to navigate but it's still my good pal and the friendship is likely to grow and flourish.

Facebook is helpful to establish my fanmenship (that is a new word, academia is all about jargon) and keeping tabs on my buddies likeminded tendencies musically. We just tend to share the love.

Imeemis a bit more for the hardcore musical-social-networker and I find it handy but it's a bit selective, harder to link and whatnot but still good to trawl through and find specific songs. Yes, yes. We all know about Lastfm etc.

Blogging is probably one of the best things that happened to my life. Period. Obviously not so much mine because it's *cough* fairly average as of right now but other more involved types are my idols.

As you will find in my delicious there are a few that I'm pretty much engaged to including but not limited to Musical Schizophrenia and OkayPlayer's very excellent blog of note Blogarhythms. Where Musical Schizophrenia tickles my jazz/soul/hip hop fancy, Blogarhythms does include these genres of excellence but also branches out to pretty much everything everywhere. Me likey.

Now, to Give Up The Funk, get into this. It's delicious, especially Phone No.

You're welcome.

Funky for the ladies, the kiwi ladies...

I'm going to say it, I don't care about sounding like a dude on the prowl: where are all the ladies, man?

Hmm?

Right, will need to get specific before I have to explain my penchant for k.d is merely a coincidence and I don't play hockey/soccer/rugby. YOU know what I mean.

I'm talking about the presence of the ladies in the soul/funk world in New Zealand. Yes, yes, we all know Hollie and Ladi and Tyra but what else is there.

Gimme some mo'!

Everyone knows that the world of music predominantly is a sausage fest, this is no surprise, but it still would be nice to have a bit more of the feminine touch.

The three aforementioned ladies are of course doing their part really effing well, nobody is taking that away from them because that would be foolish. I'm not suggesting that we need to do a sit in or start a petition or anything. Yet. Let's just share some love. I'll go first:

Lisa Tomlins rocks me like a hurricane. You may recognise her as one of the chanteuse back-up singers from Fat Freddy's Drops Wandering Eye video, along with the equally amazing Deva Mahal, or possibly even from Twinset's cover of Just The Way You Are.

Maybe Rhombus is your flavour and you've heard her lovelyness on that. It's probably the fact that I've had the pleasure of going to se The Pleasures with, once again, Hamilton's own Tyna Keelan amongst the ever-changing, always awesome line-up of awesomeness and that's why I've fallen so hard. If you are in Wellington on Wednesday night and don't make it to Hope Bros. on Dixon St you are a foolish, foolish sucker.

Another lady I'm loving is Iva Lamkum. Also a Wellingtonian and also rad. My goodness, I am gagging for her LP to drop. Husky, bluesy, soulful fun with some clever lyricism is pretty much my kryptonite. Never stood a chance.

And to round it off Nat Rose and her awesome pipes have been brought to my attention. Boy howdy am I grateful.

I'm sure that there are more than this handful of delightful ladies bringing the funk and soul for Aotearoa. Care to share?
Now you go...

It's Soul Good Hamilton!

Hamilton is going to get Soul Funk Dub, thanks to yours truly.

You are not alone in noticing the gaping hole that this town has had in its radio offerings and I feel that I am the man for the job. Fill that hole with some soul, get some more funk in its trunk and more flavour to savour. Musically that is.

It is that penchant for cheese and funk (funky cheese, if you will) that is precisely the reason why I shall be hosting a show on Contact 88.1 FM in the not too distant future. It will consist of two glorious hours of the best soulful, funky, dirty, grimey, groovy (not in a mum way) tunes that everyone has been hankering for.

What will be offered, I hear you ask.

Firstly we should clarify what WONT be played. Some members of the NO list include:
- T-Pain and/or Soldier Boy
- My Chemical Romance
- Linkin Park
- Leona Lewis
- Jordin Sparks
- Miley Cyrus

And so much more! That is unless they change their tune, which I certainly would not mind.

But instead of player-hating there should be more congratulating, wouldn’t you say? Quite.

There WILL be:
- D’Angelo
- Stevie Wonder
- Prince
- Chaka Khan
- Marvin Gaye
- Fat Freddy’s Drop
- Alice Russel
- Recloose
- Ladi6
Amongst many, many, many, many, many others.

This I can promise you. There will be a bit of old, bit of new, some artists you’ve heard of, some that you may never have had the chance to before. Pre-emptive “You’re Welcome”. Plenty of local and abroad but not just the States as well! Checking out what Asia, Europe, Australia, South America and the rest of the globe has in store for you.

Just remember, It’s Soul Good.

Recloose – Perfect Timing: Funk yes.

Detroit-native and now Auckland-based DJ/producer/live band leader/funkmaster du jour Matt Chicoine, a.k.a Recloose, has returned with album number four.

It is somewhat of a departure from his previous offering, with the live recording of The Recloose Band in Backwards and Sideways, with it’s polished studio-work but funkdified all the same.

Once again he is supported by a stellar team of local talent including Joe Dukie and Warren Maxwell from Fat Freddys fame and his long running (and proudly Hamilton-bred) vocal supplier, Tyna Keelan just to name a few.


After the collaboration that set the precident with party-pleaser 'Dust', he re-groups with Dukie's soulful vocals on neo-disco track 'Deeper Waters' to ensure that lovers on dancefloors everywhere will be satisfied.

Perhaps more importantly Keelan features and provides the accompaniment to what has become somewhat of a signature sound for Recloose. Good, old-fashioned funk gets its dirty hands on more than a few tracks and 'Emotional Funk' would undoubtedly have the Purple One tapping a bedazzled shoe in approval of the Minneapolis-tinged effort.

All of the nostalgia can be a bit much for some to swallow, with The Herald claiming it would have been more appropriate a few summers ago, as if this 1970-1980s referencing was coming all too late. Perhaps he should have gone for the early to mid-1990’s instead? How retro of Recloose.

All in all it sounds like summer and in this bitter winter, exactly what we all need.

Tiki Taane - Still funkin.

If you were forced to choose one person that embodied New Zealand dub, drum n bass, dubstep, electronica and roots music it would be fairly safe to say that you would think of Tiki Taane.

After burning up stages all over the country and the world as the front man for Salmonella Dub for 11 years he has gone on to work on himself as a solo artist and a person.

His latest album Past, Present, Future saw his journey into finding himself and a major component was getting back to his Maori roots.

“The kaupapa Maori world has totally energised me and made things a lot more clearer. I have embraced it wholeheartedly and I’m enjoying it.”

Primary collaborators included family members, most significantly his father who provides vocals on two of the tracks and performing with him on tour.

Behind the scenes they provide the framework also. His sister Ninakaye manages the business and other sister Maureen controls all merchandising.

He describes a trip to Rarotonga as being life-changing after visiting the beach where his ancestors left on the Tainui waka. Recognising the struggle that they had, he realised some of the battles he needed to fight within himself.

This change was manifested physically first when he shed his trademark dreadlocks and then saw some lifestyle changes including leaving the band that had given him so much.

By recognising he could not be fulfilled in what he wanted to express they parted ways to endeavour on in their musical journeys.

All of this talk of reflection could fool some into thinking that he couldn’t stay relevant as he has for so many years.

As a musician, audio engineer, producer and composer, this man is anything but complacent and this is clearly demonstrated through the new material provided.

Ranging the spectrum from peeled back acoustic love-songs to heavy electronic soundscapes he manages to stay challenging and cutting-edge.

“I’m hot now but in a years time there will be someone else that is hotter, my stuffs old so you always have to stay ahead of the game.”

Electric Wire Hustle: Why the funk not.

Haven’t heard of Electric Wire Hustle? Don’t beat yourself up, this slice of neo-funk that’s got more soul than a sock with a hole are fresh to the scene as a group but made up of some well-established individuals in New Zealand music.

With involvement in groups such as Solaa, Olmecha Supreme and the Recloose Live Band, just to name a couple, it is safe to say that this Wellington-based trio made up of Mara TK, Myele Manzanza and David ‘Taay’ Wright have only just begun to bring the funk.

With a strong rhythm section ensuring your head bops, grooving melodies and instrumentals to suck you in and topping it all off with buttery, soulful vocals to make sure you get the message, they manage not only to hark back to soul sessions of a bygone time but also prepare you for what is yet to come in the future of New Zealand soul/funk music.

Unfortunately they do not have much readily available to preview as yet, best bet being via their Myspace page but the teaser tracks you can get, such as Gimme That Kinda, are a hint of what is in store for you when they finally do. The repeated lyrics and cyclic beat of the rhythm section have this grunting, tribal groove have you quite convinced that you do indeed give them that kind of something they speak of.

Currently they are supporting Matt Chicoine, aka Recloose, on his national launch tour for the new album Perfect Timing, and but none independently as of yet but be warned to keep an ear out, if they follow up to the promise they have shown they will indeed have everyone doing the Electric Wire Hustle.

www.myspace.com/electricwirehustle