Anatomy of a Sample Part 2- Shake Your Rump

Beastie Boys: Shake Your Rump

From: Paul's Boutique [Capitol Records, 1989]

Alphonse Mouzon: Funky Snakefoot

From: Funky Snakefoot [Blue Note, 1974]

Harvey Scales: Dancing Room Only

From: Hotfoot: A Funque Dizco Opera [Casablanca, 1979]

Ronnie Laws: Tell Me Something Good

From: Pressure Sensitive [Blue Note 1975]

Paul Humphrey: Super Mellow

From: The Drum Session [Inner City, 1979]

Alan Moorhouse: Soul Skimmer

From: The Big Beat Vol.2 [KPM, 1970]

Rose Royce: 6 O'Clock DJ, Born to Love You and Yo Yo

From: Car Wash soundtrack [RCA, 1976]

Funky 4+1: That's the Joint

From: That's the Joint- 12 " single [Sugar Hill, 1980]

James Brown featuring Afrika Bambaataa- Unity Part 6

From: Unity-single [Tommy Boy, 1984]

Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five- Jazzy Sensation

From: Jazzy Sensation- 12 "single [Tommy Boy, 1981]

The Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder

From: 8th Wonder [Sugar Hill, 1981]

I posted the first installment of the Anatomy of a Sample series in August, so you can read about that here. Today I am exploring the samples that the Dust Brother's used on Beastie Boys "Shake Your Rump" from Pauls Boutique. When Paul's Boutique was first released it was slept on by most of the hip-hop heads because it was nothing like Licensed to Ill. The Dust Brothers were true visionaries in the sampling game circa 1989, but they were undoubtedly influenced by the chaotic sample-heavy production of the Bomb Squad on Public Enemy's landmark recording It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. I'm not 100% sure about this, but it's rumored that Paul's Boutique contains more samples than any other hip-hop record in history. "Shake Your Rump" contains thirteen samples alone, so I can only imagine that the entire record is tipping the scales at over one-hundred samples.

The Dust Brothers artfully juxtaposed rare jazz drum breaks with old-school hip-hop and funky soul to craft the sample masterpiece "Shake Your Rump". I will now take you on a journey through the various samples from "Shake Your Rump". Fasten your seatbelts cause it's going to be a bumpy ride!

During the opening seconds of "Shake Your Rump" the listener is assaulted with a spastic drum break taken from the first couple seconds of Alphonse Mouzon's fantastic funk-inflected jazz tune called "Funky Snakefoot". This immediately segues into another drum break taken from the five second mark of Harvey Scales disco classic "Dancing Room Only". However, It seems that they removed the instruments in the foreground and slowed down the beat for the sample. After this, a chicken-scratch guitar taken from the opening seconds of Ronnie Laws cover of" Tell Me Something Good" is sped up to match the upbeat tempo of the track. Then, at about the twenty-six second mark, the conga drum beat from the opening seconds of Paul Humphrey's jazzy "Super Mellow" is used to spice up the track. Next, the first couple seconds of Alan Moorhouse's rippin' drum beat from "Soul Skimmer" is sampled at the 37 second mark of the track. Finally, the Funky 4 Plus 1's "That's the Joint" is sampled at the 39 second point of the track and it segues right into mutated scratching over a deep bassline that is taken from Rose Royce's instrumental track "6 O'Clock DJ".

This goes on for about 15 seconds and then the bassline from the beginning of Rose Royce's funk-tastic "Yo-Yo" slightly slows down the tempo before the "Funky Snakefoot" chicken scratch guitar makes another appearance. Then, the drum breaks from the beginning of the track are reincorporated into the mix and at the 1:33 mark, a vocal sample is taken from the 1:40 mark of James Brown and Afrika Bambaataa' Unity Part 6 (This is the part where Bambaata says "Shake Your Rump-Ah"). Next, at the 2:07 mark the Dust Brothers fuse the opening bars of Rose Royce's "Born to Love You" with background ambience and electronic handclaps taken from the 5:04 point of Afrika Bambaataa's "Jazzy Sensation". After this, a short vocal sample is taken from the 1:53 point of Sugarhill Gang's "8th Wonder" where they proclain "Hoo Hah Got Them All in Check". Finally, the Dust Brothers close out the track deftly by reintroducing Afrika Bambaataa's "Jazzy Sensation" sample and integrating it with the drum beats from Paul Humphrey's "Super Mellow". There are probably a couple samples that I have missed, so let me know if you spot them. This concludes the anatomy of a sample for Beastie Boys "Shake Your Rump". I hope you have enjoyed the ride.

Snugglin' with Alice Russell: Keeping up with the Ms. Joneses

A Fly In The Hand (DJ Vadim Mix) - Alice Russell
from the 12" on Tru Thoughts Records (2006); also on the album Under The Munka Moon II on Tru Thoughts Records (2006).

Strugglin' - The Snugs
from the 12" on Freestyle Records (2007).

If your listening habits and tastes are anything like mine, you've been enjoying Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings new Motown redux 100 Days, 100 Nights on permanent rotation for over a month now. Also it is nearly undeniable that 2007 is Amy Winehouse's year. The vast underground and overground success of these two ladies and their aesthetic (and backing band) similarities has helped a bunch of other retro-soul/funk bands with powerful female lead vocalists bubble up a little higher on the musical awareness scale. Of course, in most cases they were already there making their music and working their magic, but even in today's world where audioblogs, car commercials, internet radio, your phone company, and nearly everything else can help you find new music constantly some things can slip through the cracks.

Today's post celebrates two lady-led tracks of the highest caliber, one from a long-running titaness and another from a new outfit from whom I'm looking forward to hearing much more. The first is a very nice blues track by Alice Russell, here in the burpy bass remix form provided by DJ Vadim. Russell has a fantastic voice and she has applied it to many genres (jazz, funk, soul, pop, dance, folk). That's her up above in the image and not to be that guy but she doesn't look like my brain imagined. Which is all pretty meaningless, but just saying. Personally, as great as some of the tracks are, I think the many different styles and thus disjointed nature of her first album Under The Munka Moon probably didn't do her any favors. The same can be said for UTMM II, but this year I heard her full length My Favourite Letters from 2005 which was entirely produced/co-written with TM Juke and the cohesion and wall to wall quality of that track is fabulous. It is every bit as cohesive in vision and sound as the Winehouse (I greatly prefer Russell's voice because of her greater range) and Jones (between Jones and Russell I don't want to pick favorites) efforts. Still, while recommending demanding that you pick up My Favourite Letters, I put up "Fly In The Hand" because it is a different piece from her excellent and growing catalogue and still great.

I am late to the party on the pure hot fire "Strugglin'" by wonderfully named The Snugs, but I'd appreciate your tolerance. The Snugs is a collection of various musicians from SW UK, and "Strugglin'" is their debut record on Freestyle. A hard as hell breakbeat provides the foundation for Leah Simmons's strong, emotional vocals. Guitar and horn flourishes pop in and out at just the right time. Top to bottom, this is a great song, and I'm looking forward to their album although we'll have to wait for the summer of 2008 for that.

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Bonus Kutiman follow-up. If your were feeling the music from the recent Kutiman post, there is a new youtube video up of one of his compositions being played by Israeli funk outfit Funk 'n' Stein. Also if you're in the Paris area then:
1) lucky you and
2) there is a free Kutiman show to enjoy.

A Message From Harlem

The Voices Of East Harlem: Right On Be Free and For What It's Worth
From: Right On Be Free [Elektra, 1970]

'We know who we are and what we are and we're free' is a pretty powerful statement to have on the sleeve notes to your first album and when it comes from a twenty strong ensemble of singers you'd expect and hope that the music offered up an equally powerful righteousness. Luckily The Voices Of East Harlem's debut album from 1970 doesn't disappoint with it's blend of more traditional gospel and damn funky covers of hits of the day.

The gospel group were formed in 1970 and ranged from the prepubescent to the early twenties, offering up a mix of sweet vocals and youthful energy over four extremely solid albums. It must have been somewhat of a head scratcher for producer/manager supremo Jerry Brandt to capture the energy of the group on vinyl but he succeeds on this debut release with great results.

Right On Be Free, the title track, is a great upbeat combination of gospel vocals and funky percussion, kicking off the album with aplomb as the band get able support from a cracking backing band including Ralph McDonald's congas and Richard Tee's keyboards.

The real highlight of the album for me though is one of the funkiest covers of For What It's Worth that you'll ever hear. The band ably transform the mellow atmosphere of Buffalo Springfield's original into a bass heavy monster with rattling percussion and a great group workout vocal from the singers themselves.

Happily for once the album has been reissued so you can pick up a far cleaner copy than my scratchy original, plus you get bonus tracks. Anyway, enough from me, enjoy the weekend.

Freeway: Free At Last - At Last

Freeway: When They Remember
From: Free At Last [Roc-a-Fella, 2007]

Despite the fact that a large percentage of my listening time is spent checking out new rap releases I generally tend to avoid blogging about them. This is mainly due to the fact that guys like Noz at Cocaine Blunts, Oliver at Soul Sides, and many more are so adept at covering the releases that it seems kinda pointless offering my two cents.

However I just had to put something up about the new Freeway release coming out tomorrow on Def Jam.

Freeway's debut release, Philadelphia Freeway, was an album that, while slowly building appreciation, is still cruelly slept on. Featuring stellar production from the likes of Just Blaze and Kanye it also showcased Freeway as one of the most intense rappers in the game.

Needless to say I was more than a little excited about Freeway's follow up and have only had to wait four years for it to show. However, I am pleased to report that the album doesn't disappoint with Free not showing any signs of growing rusty over the gap.

For me the standout track has to be When They Remember whereby producer Bink (the man behind the monstrous All My Life off Philadelphia Freeway) takes the Gladys Knight & The Pips live version of Try To Remember/The Way We Were and flips it into a blistering hot beat. What makes it extra special though is the way Freeway takes the beat and runs with it - No chorus, no breakdowns, just high energy line after high energy line. God knows how many times I've played this since first hearing it.

The album drops tomorrow and I would advise you not to sleep.

While this year will undoubtedly once again belong to the South and Bay Area with superb releases by UGK, Devin, The Federation and Turf Talk all competing for top five status it has to be noted that Def Jam are coming with a strong fourth quarter what with Freeway, Jay Z, Ghost and, potentially, Nas all dropping albums. It's good to have them back.

One Soulman And His Dog: Danny Woods - Aries

Danny Woods: Roller Coaster and Try On My Love For Size
From: Aries [Invictus, 1973]

Back once again with another slept on gem to bring tingles to your ear drums. Chairman of the Board are one of those long established soul groups that most listeners will be at least familiar with a song or two by. Enjoying more than reasonable success in the early seventies the group split and subsequently suffered the curse of the 'nobody cares about you when you're alone' solo album flops. Needless to say it wasn't long before the group reformed and they are still touring to this day.

As an obsessive collector with a high streak of curiosity I love coming across band member's solo albums as they always offer an interesting insight to how an artist takes forward their sound when given the freedom from the group. Band vocalist Danny Woods' only solo effort, Aries, from 1973 doesn't offer up anything extraordinarily different to the band's sound but what it does have is some extremely solid songwriting and some superb production.

Roller Coaster is a stonking little tune with it's stuttering kickdrums and the steel drums placed deep in the mix.

Try On My Love For Size is one of those pleading soul songs that I just can't get enough of complete with whoop whoop backing singers and more excellent percussion and rhythm work.

It's a shame this album wasn't rewarded with more success at the time, maybe its throwback style didn't sit well with listeners who had adjusted to the Hi/Stax sound or maybe it was the choice of another, god awful, what were they thinking, front cover but nows your chance to give Danny and his dog some love.

I Get Monae, Monae I Got

Janelle Monae: Sincerely Jane



From: Metropolis Suite 1 [Wondaland Arts Society, 2007]

Janelle Monae: Lettin' Go
From: Got Purp Vol 2 [Virgin, 2005]

First of, excuse the title pun, what can I say, it's been one of those weeks. Following on from J.'s post earlier this week about newer music that's been catching the ear I give you Janelle Monae's new EP on the Wondaland Arts Society label. Slated to be the first section in a four part series, the EP once again showcases her talents for offering up something different to the mainstream.

I first heard Janelle's work on her two tracks on Big Boi's Got Purp vol 2 and while Time Will Reveal left me pretty cold Lettin' Go was a definite highlight of the compilation with it's upbeat, dare I say it, Acid Jazz overtones and throwback swing production of strings and 4/4 beats. I've included it here just in case you missed it first time round. On a side note Got Purp has some great tracks hidden away in there, don't sleep.

Needless to say I was intrigued when I got a heads up on Janelle releasing her debut solo work and it's a pretty wild bunch of various styles and genres. However, the stand out track for me by a mile is the EP's closer, Sincerely Jane; it's a difficult trick to merge classic soul with something more modern but I think this track achieves it with aplomb. The song's stylings actually remind me of Nicole Willis with an incredibly catchy chorus and great horn section. Throw in some scratching for good measure and you've got a song which promises great things for the future releases. As the EP is only a few tracks long and you can get the whole lot for $4.99 I thought it only fair to stream it for now.

Back with some older, dustier, selections next week.

Kutiman - He'll Try Anything Once

And Out - Kutiman


No Groove Where I Come From - Kutiman f/ Elran Dekel

both from the Kutiman's self-titled debut album on Melting Pot Music (2007).

Music Is Ruling My Life (DJ Day Remix) - Kutiman

from the 12" on Melting Pot Music (2007).

Working a website like Ear Fuzz has many blessings, and the most tangible if not necessarily the best is all the kind folks at record labels who are willing to feed the compulsion hunger to hear new music by sharing their releases. I hate to say it, but sometimes I can get complacent about how great a system this is when I have gone through a stack (both real and virtual) of tunes that didn't do much for me. However, my thin veneer of jaded music commentator quickly fell away when the lovely folks of Melting Pot Music sent me their latest CD, the self-titled album by Israeli musician Kutiman (ne Ophir Kutiel).

Melting Pot has been putting outstanding music into beathead's waiting hands since 2002; all of it with an over-riding sense of funkiness. The label's artists are a world wide diaspora (New Zealand, Israel, Germany, USA, etc) and come in with excellent hard funk (Lefties Soul Connection), instrumental hip hop (A-Ko), and even an classic sing/rap Mos Def sound-a-like (note: a good thing) (Miles Bonny). Kutiman actually brings a large number of styles to the table in his album. A mix of electronic production and Kutiman's own multi-instrumental skills, "And Out" captures the old mid-70s jazz-funk sound very well layering noodley organ riffs and synthesizer scales over punchy, cymbal-laden drum fills. This is probably my favorite track on the album.

"No Groove Where I Come From" is leans more to the funky soul side with a minute long instrumental lead in that gets kind of spacey before vocalist Elran Dekel and various horns start their interplay. Great flute and drums throughout. Finally, to make up for our 2 week absence, I've added a third track today which is the great DJ Day's (another MPM artist) remix of "Music Is Ruling My Life," which can be found on the single release. Day keeps many of the elements of Kutiman's original intact, including the ridiculously bouncy+slinky bassline. This remix in particular has been constant aural companion lately to keep me warm as the weather sours. Lots of good stuff from a young artist and an exciting young label.