International Funk!

No, this blog post isn't about the current depressing worldwide environmental or economic situation we're in! It's about late 60's-early 70's music that kicks some serious ass from some pretty exotic places!

Let's ease into it with something from Brasil. Gal Costa is a singer who was part of the Tropicalia movement circa '68 which featured people like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Here's a funky song from the "Tropicália: ou Panis et Circencis" album that is pretty much the Tropicalia manifesto:



(She's easy on the eye too...)

Let's now move on to a different continent. Broken Flowers was a movie that introduced many of us to the fantastic charms of 70's Ethiopean Jazz, the kind featured on the Ethiopique label. Mulatu Astatke is probably the figurehead of that musical movement. If you haven't seen the movie (shame on you!), or want to hear what I'm talking about, here's a good one that was featured on that movie soundtrack and should work as a good starting point:



And now to a destination that is just as surprising, as far as funky or fusion arrangements are concerned: Iran. Kourosh Yaghmaei was a pop singer from the 70's who had a hit, Gole Yakh, that even crossed borders at the time. But the song I'm posting here was one I didn't know before and that was featured on the excellent Funk Archaeology series by Egon on NPR Music's web site, specifically the show dedicated to Persian Funk:



That moustache alone made it worth posting it, didn't it?

Youthful Indiscretions

Here's some stuff from various musicians before they finally "made it" with another band. It's somewhat encouraging to see that not everyone started out as a genius, and that hard work sometimes really helps!

Let's start with Grace Slick. Jefferson Airplane only really took off (ahem) when she joined them and brought with her a couple of hit singles (you know what they are) that she had initially concocted with a band called the Great Society. So in case you're wondering what the Great Society sounded like, here's a sample:



The great vocals are of course already there (yet she never really influenced anyone except for the girl in Black Mountain, can EasyTV viewers think of anybody else?); as for the song... it's not bad but she did better later.

Moving on... Before Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal became the famous Tears for Fears duo, they were in a band called Graduate (pretty sure it's a reference to the movie, as Roland used to be in a Simon & Garfunkel tribute band; maybe they liked older women?). What did Graduate look and sound like? YouTube once again to the rescue!



Kind of punkish and catchy, but better things would come...

Now here's an exception to the rule: Big in Japan was a late-70s Liverpool band comprised of many members who went on to become famous with their respective bands: Echo and the Bunnymen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, KLF, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Lightning Seeds, Pink Industry. Yet they weren't bad at all! Here's their subversive tribute to Valerie Solanas, the woman who notoriously shot Andy Warhol and authored the SCUM Manifesto, a.k.a the Society for Cutting Up Men (interesting video):



OK, this band is too good to not give them room for another song. Enjoy!

Kick Ass!

Just came out of the movies, and am still feeling the rush of the fantastically cathartic Kick Ass! I need to share some its musical goodness with everyone (note: not everything is good in the soundtrack, this is just some of the highlights):

Sparks were a glam-rock duo of brothers with a few relatively minor hits and some unforgettable stage presence. This is probably my favorite song of theirs, and its choice in the Kick Ass soundtrack makes complete sense given its title and its overall feel:



The Dickies were a punk band with a sense of humor. And now I can only smile when I think of the scene in Kick Ass where this song is played.



To finish, I had to explore a little bit to find out what this song was: Zongamin is apparently a Japanese lo-fi electronic musician. Nice tune to dance to:



But don't forget: I can't see you through the screen, but I can kick your ass.