Main Source: Just Hangin’ Out
From: Breaking Atoms [Capitol, 1991]

Gwen McCrae: 90% of Me Is You
From: Rockin’ Chair [Cat, 1975]

Sister Nancy: Bam Bam
From: One, Two [Techniques, 1982]

Skull Snaps: I Turn My Back On Love
From: Skull Snaps [GSF, 1973]

Ike and Tina Turner: Bold Soul Sister
From: Hunter [Blue Thumb, 1969]

Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steven Stills: Season of the Witch
From: Super Session [Columbia, 1968]

While the blistering sun is warming the asphalt in Portland today, I thought I would take the opportunity to bless your ears with a sample breakdown from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms.

This record first dropped in the summer of 1991, right about the time when real hip-hop was being replaced by braggadocio and bling. The rhyming and production skills on this record are practically unparalleled in the history of hip-hop, with the dense, layered production enhancing the creative rhymes of Producer/MC Large Professor. Main Source went on to make one last attempt at stardom with the ill-fated Fuck What You Think in 1994, but Breaking Atoms is the one that sticks in my mind as a true classic.

The opening drum break is skillfully lifted from the 1:44 mark of Skull Snaps’ gritty “I Turn My Back on Love”. Shortly after this intro break, the main groove of the track is spliced from the seven second mark of Gwen McCrae’s soulful “90 % of Me Is You.” While the groove is flowing, the laid-back horns taken from the three second mark of Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” create a relaxing vibe that is perfect for summer evenings. At around the 1:21 mark of “Just Hangin Out”, a playful vocal part from the thirty-nine second mark of “Bam Bam” acts as a bridge from the main groove. Ike and Tina Turner’s “Bold Soul Sister” and Mike Bloomfield’s “Season of the Witch were also sampled on this track, but I can’t for the life of me figure out which parts of these songs were sampled. If any of you crate-diggers and vinyl enthusiasts have any thoughts about where these samples came from, please enlighten me.

This concludes the Anatomy of a Sample for Main Source’s “Just Hangin Out”. I hope you guys have enjoyed this episode, and I would love to hear about the summer joints you were bumpin’ in 1991.

Loose Joints: Is It all Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix)
From: Larry Levan’s Classic West End Records Remixes [West End, 1999]

Mustafa Ozkent Orchestra: Burcak
From: Genclik Ile Elele [Finders Keepers Reissue, 2006]

Genya Raven: Little By Little
From: Goldie Zelkowitz [Janus, 1974]

Mauruce Cultier: Joe
From: Joe 7″ [197?]

Ashantis: Safari
From: Disco Play [Harmony 1977]

The Jaz: I’ll Smoke You
From: To Your Soul [Capitol, 1990]

The pale fingers of winter are now eagerly gripping these shores as my day is plunged into various shades of grey and the temperature rarely seems to get above absolutely freezing. Couple the general lethargy this brings on with a resoundingly bastard of a workload over the last couple of week and I’ve been struggling to find the time I needed to update the site or go through my records.
In these times of trouble a solid soundtrack is always required and my weapon of choice for this period was an eclectic fix of the weird and the wonderful. The only required criteria was basslines to rattle my brain, beats that wouldn’t quit no matter what, and just enough happy vibes to break through the cold barrier and let a little sunshine through.

Since these tunes did a sterling job of getting me through and because my brain is still too pickled to work to any great extent I thought it was only decent that I shared the love with you, the Ear Fuzz readers. Enjoy.

First off we have Larry Levan’s take on Loose Joints provocatively titled Is It All Over My Face. A brilliant piece of funky disco, what always got me with this track is the way the vocals sweep in and out of the instrumentation, almost like an afterthought to the rhythm. Off the beaten path and fuelling it’s own particular route, it’s still one of the most unique tracks from this period that I know off.

Next up, with enough breaks for any head to comprehend, is the rare as they come Mustafa Ozkent Orchestra. Now reissued on Finders Keepers, this album always reminds me of the previously featured La Formule Du Baron album in that its style and production seem to have been channelled from an entirely different age. Just listen to Burcak and and see what you think but it certainly does the job for me, I think I hear cowbells too…. You can find more about this album with a nice write up by Andy Votel here.

Right, what next? Hows about some Betty Davis style funk rock from Genya Raven? Already ten years deep in the industry by the time of this release due to her work in various group, Genya goes for broke on this album and absolutely destroys the mix of original and cover versions on offer. Just as with Ruth Copeland, the power of the conviction is outstanding on this long player. Little by Little is a great stop start roller as Genya sleazes over the top. Highly recommended.

Back to the dancefloor with Afrofunk legend Mauruce Cultier. As far as I know this cut, Joe, was never released on any of his albums (or at least any that I could find) but it’s a fantastic tune. Fading in with the band already in full swing the track feels more like a live jam session than a prepared track and is all the better for it – the enthusiasm and energy of the band translating brilliantly to the vinyl.

Movin on to something a little bit more laid back as the Ashantis finish off their extremely upbeat 1977 release Disco Play (does what it says on the tin) with this controlled and impressive piece of smooth groove that gets in the rhythm from the off and stays firmly there at all times. Animal noises apart, I love the little instrument solos that fade in and out over the ever resilient bassline.

Finishing things off, some fast rap from 1990 in the form of I’ll Smoke You off The Jaz’s second album. Probably most famous these days for launching the career of a reasonably famous rapper named Jay-Z this album is actually a more than decent slice of turn of the nineties rap in it’s own right with The Jaz displaying his linguistic abilities over a bit of JB. I’m a sucker for fast rap at any time and this is smooth, slick and expertly executed.

Now that’s the winter gloom dealt with, bring on the music…..

Thanks to Junior for getting us back online. Way back in January I was exploring my inner obsessive nerd and compiling “best of” lists for all the most important categories: album, movie, book, science paper, etc. So while I get some more posts in order and inspired by Matt W’s mix from the previous post, I wanted to hit you all with my list for the five best mixes of 2007. (I know, I know…my God it’s March and all…still I hope you find something good).

The criteria: I had to hear these for the first time in the calendar year of 2007, regardless of when they were made. Everything is rate on a five star scale, with five being the best. To put things in perspective, I’ve only ever give a ***** rating to maybe half a dozen mixes in my whole life (for what that’s worth), an average mix is ***, and DJ Trainwreck is a 0.0. So after having made my way through 83 mixes in 2007, without further ado:

Number Five: ****.5 Monk One’s Wax Poetics Mix from the Scion sampler Vol. 14.

Monk One makes some smooth mixes, and he really kills this collection of neo-funk and soul and instrumental hip hop. Butter smooth transitions and super dope track selection (choosing so much from the Daptone label is dangerous but genius). I probably dug this mix out of my CD stacks more often than any other in 2007 because of how often it fit the mood I was in or wanted to be in, namely serenely happy and open minded. Plus it is always good to hear a Diverse and Prefuse 73 track, which is what this snippet starts out as (note, you’ll have to turn up the sound as the gain was accidentally low when i recorded these snippets).

Number Four: ****.5 Arthur King’s Pop S#!+

My better half and I do not see eye to eye on many things music wise, but we both agree that the best thing for riding in the car are these ironic mix and mash CDs. Hollertronix, The Rub, and lots of other talented and cheeky folks get PT from us while we’re burning fossil fuels. And this mix where Frenchy Arthur King puts together hip hop and the 80s pop confections that “inspired” them. Blends, sample references, lyrical references, all connections get play. But King’s skills are on display for the opening cut-up in the snippet and then we get into a B.I.G. run captures the spirit of the CD well. Some how AK let’s all the 60 odd tracks on this mix have their time in the sun alone and still fit in lots of dense transitions.

Number Three: ****.6 Play Anything by Sound Advice

Speaking of dense transitions, Brooklyn’s Sound Advice made the independent-mobile mix of the year with their all styles and blends spectacular loosely linked to 80s stalwart / extreme skiing enthusiast John Cusack. Elsewhere and K.Ross made this mix years ago, but somehow it only got around to me early in 2007. Fun and inventive, and filled with great stuff from every source you can imagine. I don’t even mind that they have a U2 track in there briefly and I hate U2 with such a fervently holy passion you would not believe. You can get the whole bloomin’ mix at the duo’s website.

Number Two: ****.6 Special Herbs Box Set by MF Doom

Something totally different from the other mixes on here is the 3 disc mix of beats MF Doom has produced for his long and well (internet fan boy) chronicled career. Doom is an exciting MC and in concert comes across as the most talented, brilliant homeless man you’ve ever stopped to talk with. But the genius of his beats never fully hit me until I was nodding along to collection, which is somewhat loosely mixed together by Doom with little to no cutting or blending. Maybe it is more of a compilation, but it is something beautiful. Doom beats are instantly recognizable as Doom beats and for that reason they can get lumped together and somewhat ignored, but for me it really clicked the subtle variation and cohesive vision throughout his work. Unique and yet extensive, now that is hard to do. This snippet is from the middle of the first CD, but maybe I should have picked something from the third CD which focuses on his time in KMD. Get your own copy.

Number One: ***** Gaslamp Killers by Gaslamp Killer

And finally the mix of the year. And a ***** effort to boot, maybe J Rocc should be nervous? Evidently this mix is also a few years old, but I’d never heard of GK until starting blowing my mind last year. His production has super tight drum programming while often pushing those drum samples to the point of distortion, but he kills with the intricate upper layer of melody or tone recalling early DJ Shadow (less introspective maybe) or RJD2 (but harder). This mix is hard core drums for over an hour, just blasting away at you with the lovely percussion. Some of them you’ll recognize easily, others are from records I’ve never sniffed and probably never will.

Honorable mention mixes: Mason and DJ Zeph – Hip Hop Bebop; DJ FaceMe – Bingo Wings; J Rocc – Taster’s Choice 5; and DJ Platurn – Best of ATCQ.

It’s good to be back. Lots more posts coming. I hope you enjoy this.

Rene Costy: Scrabble

Jackson 5: All I Do Is Think Of You

Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfá: Saudade Vem Correndo

The Cyrkle: The Visit

The Three Degrees: Maybe

Ahmad Jamal: Swahililand

A year to the day of Jay Dee’s untimely death and the blog world is rightly filled with tributes to the brilliant catalogue of beats the producer left us with.

Not having anything unheard to add to the tributes out there I thought instead I’d just share a few of my favourite tracks that Dilla reinvented for his beats. It may just be a coincidence but to me what many of these originals share is a deep rooted soulfulness similar to the great beats that the man delivered time and time again during his lifetime.

While I tend to shy away from breaks posts the quality of tracks produced from the great songs above is justification in it’s own right. May his music be celebrated for many years to come.

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006)

Ben & The Platano Group: Arte Pino Pasta
From: Paris Soul [Dare-Dare, 1971]

Five Stairsteps: We Must Be In Love
From: 7″ [Curtom, 1969]

Joe Mcphee: Shakey Jake
From: Nation Time [CJR, 1971]

Lyn Christopher: Take Me With You
From: Lyn Christopher [Paramount, 1973]

So, apologies for disappearing for the last couple of days, these things happen you know, nothing like going on holiday and coming back to find you’re forgotten to renew the site ownership.

However, let’s not waste time talking about what’s been and gone and instead get back to celebrating the hear and now.

As we enter the third year of Ear Fuzz it seems time for another shake up and that’s why we’re looking to you, yes you, to help keep this site the magnificent bastard that it is today.

We’re looking for ladies and gentlemen who would be interested in writing for the site and joining the Fuzz family. By now you should have some idea of the kind of music we talk about on this site from hip hop to soul to funk to jazz to blues to library to psych to electronica and beyond so if you’re interested in contributing to the site drop a line here and we’ll go from there.

Just in case you need reminding of what we do, and because you’ve been deprived off new music for a minute, here are a few choice cuts of classic material.

Ben & The Platano Group’s Arte Pino Pasta, taken from their 1971 album Paris Soul, is European funkiness of the highest order – an orchestration desperately in need of a high speed, gas guzzling car chase to accompany it’s relentless rhythms, horn crescendos and dirty guitar.

I’ve stated before my love for the Five Stairsteps work and We Must Be In Love is a bonafide classic. Curtis Mayfield’s touch is all over this from the rousing horns to the bongo drums to the sweet soul harmonies. It’s tracks like this that prove just how great this group were at their peak, rivalling the best of any male vocal group out there, including the Jackson 5.

Next up we have 13 and a half minutes of heavy drums, great organ work and all round genius of Joe Mcphee’s Shakey Jake off his 1970 album Nation Time. Drop this in the right club, at the right time, with the bass way up high, and pandemonium will ensue.

Lyn Christopher’s Take Me With You off her 1973 Self Titled album, is one of those songs that makes the whole digging process worthwhile. While the rest of the album is reasonable, Carly Simon lite, folky music, Lyn hits the listener with this brooding, sexed up genius of a track. Pure perfection.

McNeal & Niles: Ja Ja and Punk Funk
From: Thrust [Tinkertoo, 1979]

So, after J.’s quickie yesterday I feel a bit guilty about holding back on my own textual diarrhoea, but, due to knowing squat about the artist involved I’m afraid I have no choice. Feel free to use up your allocated reading time with a game of solitaire, a call to someone you love or an extra long dump in your office toilets. You see? It’s all love and giving at Ear Fuzz.

McNeal & Niles were a guitar playing husband and keyboard playing wife duo who (to my knowledge) released a single longplayer under their own names. Strangely out of sync with the disco sound of the time of it’s release in 1979, its lush synthetic sound gives it more of a timeless feel.

Due to its across the board lack of success on original release the album has long been an eager digger’s wet dream but with the recent reissue its class and quality can now be heard by those who don’t have 600 dollars lying around and the right connections to get their sweaty paws on an original.

Ja Ja totally pulls all the right strings for me, featuring a simple keyboard melody that burrows deep inside and the kind of throbbing bass and stuttering meaty drums that I get tapped on the shoulder and asked to turn down when I’m rocking it on my Mp3 player. Understated and at the same time epic, I know I harp on about musical perfection in simplicity but, seriously, listen to this and tell me that it isn’t absolutely sublime.

Punk Funk is the heaviest track on the record and kicks things off with a hard as nails drum solo – I wish I could give credit to whoever played drums on this album but there’s very little info out there. Any knowledge dropped would be appreciated. Again making no errors throughout the piece this funks hard with it’s wah wah guitar and distorted synths.

One of those albums I turn to whenever I need reminding that there’s still so much great music to be discovered and unleashed, I can’t recommend this highly enough.

Dorothy Ashby: Soul Vibrations and Come Live With Me
From: Afro-Harping [Cadet, 1968]

What with all the continued drama and ups and downs that accompany the World Cup what better time to take a breather, sit back, and unwind your mind to the sounds of Dorothy Ashby.

The harp is not the first instrument that springs to mind when you think of funky, beat heavy, jazz and Ashby worked long and hard to garner respect for her talent, touring with more established musicians thoughout the fifties and into the sixties. However, the hard work was worth it as one listen of Ashby’s playing and it all makes perfect sense. Ashby’s skill with the instrument takes the harp out of the background, crafting sublime melodies and themes, it’s lush sound working beautifully with the arrangements of Richard Evans and the trademark bassy production of the Cadet label.

Afro-Harping is, in my mind at least, Ashby’s strongest work, capturing her at the height of her powers with a sound that’s as tight as they come. From the get go on Soul Vibrations it’s all about the power of the piece, coming across like a lost track from Axelrod’s Songs albums, exotic strings and thudding drums propelling the track forward with Ashby’s harp fluttering over the top exquisitely.

Come Live With Me is lazing on a sunny day captured on vinyl grooves. Blissfully laid back, the track glides by as Ashby’s harp and synthesised chords leave you floating away in a cloud of dreams. Absolutely gorgeous and the perfect tonic for a hectic month.

Bernard Estardy: Cha Tatch Ka and La Gigouille
From: La Formule Du Baron [CBS, 1967]

I was flicking through my stash at my planned posts here and realised that 99% of it was either a) Deep fried jazz or b) Soul/funk groups so decided that it was time to mix things up. It is by this logic that I lead on from J.’s post with some more French goodness.

Sometimes you hear a track and it’s so far ahead of it’s time it’s heard to believe that it isn’t some canny modern musician selling his work as some lost classic. Bernard Estardy’s work certainly falls into this category. A sound engineer by day, compositional genius by night, Estardy put together the album as more of a sideline project than anything else, which partly explains the wonderfully diverse themes and ideas that ricochet round the album. From jazz, to funk, to synthesised library sounds to easy listening grooves.

You can read a recent, damn fine, interview with the man himself over at the French Attack website. Probably even better in the original french but it’s a long time since I was taught it at school.

So what about the music then? Cha Tatch Ka is like some crazy proto Neptune’s record with staccato drums accompanied by what seems to be a baby beatboxing over the top before the vocal melodics build and build harmonising the bass and tenor vocals. Um, I’m not selling this well am I? Just download it and hear for yourself, by the time the warping synths come in you’ll be nodding your head in uncontrollable spasms to this gem.

La Gigouille is a more straightforward funk number with a big brass section, reverberating bassline and tinkling pianos. When Estardy add Hammond organ to the mix you wouldn’t feel too shamed if you were fooled into believing that this was some experimental Bar-Kays 45 – no mean feat by any means.

There you have it, something different to treat your ears to. Back to the soul, jazz and rap later in the week but for now I’m rocking it with La Baron……

The Emotions: Blind Alley and If You Think It
From: Untouched [Volt/Stax, 1971]

I. Love. Breaks.

Ok, while you’re still reeling from that shocking news let me expand a little. I love breaks partly because when they work on a rap record there’s very little that’s as rewarding or as invigorating in music. I also love them because in the early (and in today’s case, later) years of my digging it encouraged me to seek out artists I may otherwise ignore and dismiss – before discovering that their music was far more than a five second sample. While I try to avoid posting songs based purely on their use as samples it does feature greatly in my record knowledge.

So with that out the way, I’ve got some gorgeous soul for you today in the form of female vocal group The Emotions. Comprising of three sisters the group have had a career spanning five decades moving from r&b to soul to disco to beyond. It’s really not worth expanding on it too much here but you can read all about it on their official site.

Both song are from The Emotions 1971 album Untouched which is notoriously hard to pick up on vinyl and both songs were introduced to me via breaks. While the album was featured by Oliver on Soulsides a while ago if you haven’t heard them you need to experience this. Blind Alley has one of the most recognisable breaks in the business, probably most famously used for Big Daddy Kane. The song itself is a lovely piece of summer soul with those gorgeous keys and horn arrangement.

If You Think is a classic song notably used very cleverly by RZA for Verbal Intercourse (how the hell did he come up with that?). The song itself is absolutely 100% stunning. A proper piece of energised soul, the track oozes that kind of impatient, vibrant yearning that just floors me everytime. Everything about this song, from the arrangement, to the vocals, to the strings, to the harmonies to the horn blasts is just pure perfection. I love breaks, but I love the originals ever more.