You had me at "Wikki-wikki-wikki-wikki"

Back from a weekend of hiding (inside the apartment) from the burnt-out post-apocalyptic hellhole that is the San Fernando Valley. Seriously, between the heat and the smoke, it's like a scene from The Road around here right now. Google it...



London Funk Allstars were one of Ninja Tune's first batch of acts, and despite putting out two nice albums of sample-riffic Downtempo beats, they have done virtually nothing sense. I imagine that they followed their mums' advice and got sensible jobs doing peoples taxes or baking tasty pastries. That or they were kidnapped by Mongols. It's one or the other...

London Funk Allstars - Wikki's Revenge (ysi)

Pretty much any song with guy going "Wikki-wikki-wikki-wikki" is going to win me over, so LFAS had this one in the bag. Now, for my next trick, watch as I smoke a ham simply by setting it on my patio for an hour...

Smokey The Bear is finna eat some fools right about now.

In case you didn't know, L.A. is so on fire right now. I'm not talking about the music scene... this shit is on fire. The entire area has a ceiling of black smoke and the air smells like charcoal. Oh, and it's approximately a thousand fucking degrees outside. Delightful. But that has absolutely nothing to do with today's House Music Friday...



Soultourist are a group of four guys from Switzerland who are on the Compost-related label Drumpoet Community. And they have no interest in your petty international squabbles...

Soultourist - Wild Cats (ysi)

I'm not sure how that song is about cats, but I'll go with it. Have a great weekend and stay out of any infernos...

Headspins all around!

Break out your ghetto blasters and pieces of cardboard. It's breakin' time...



Yeah, I know... perhaps not the most original intro I could have thought of. But I bring to you a beginners' compilation today, so I'm keeping it simple. Simply (ha!) put, I've never seen a better intro to classic B-Boy Electro than this little two-discer put together by Freestylers. As in, if you wanted to turn a friend on to this music and had only one disc (or 2 in this case) to do it, this is where you start. Packed full of the most essential classics, including this one by Davy DMX, who also did a lot of producing for RUN-D.M.C., so there's your steez...

(DMCA'd? Really? Are these things just random now?)

Now show me some moves like these...



Or just buy me some clothes like that...

Can you ride the Hot Chocolatron?

Fuckin' pisser about Teddy Kennedy. Hopefully, Congress can honor his memory by passing a healthcare bill that doesn't suck...



With a name like Ben Wa, it's not terribly surprising that this act came from San Francisco. Boing! But seriously, people in San Francisco like to put things in their ass. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyhoo, I had forgotten that one of the members of this group was Butthouse from Limbomaniacs, who were a cool Funk/Rock group quite some time ago, and also got some contributions from the likes of Buckethead and Brain (who played drums for Primus for a minute). Weird, huh? Because this shit doesn't sound one tiny bit like any of that shit. It sounds like some fun-time Electo-Breakzzzez...

Ben Wa - Hot Chocolatron (ysi)

There were actually two Ben Wa albums, which is pretty good seeing how this cast of characters bounces around ADD-style between projects. And, um... that is the end of anything interesting I have to say today...

Throwing Backstreet to The Lions

I think I'll have to make it quick to today... The Backstreet Boys are in the building, and it's total pandemonium. It is also 1997...



Q: What happens when members of some of L.A.'s best funk bands (Orgone, Breakestra, The Rebirth and more!) get together and, for shits and giggles, decide to record a Reggae album?

A: The Lions happens. And it's pretty righteous indeed...

The Lions - Ethio-Steppers (ysi)

And today you get a YouTubes extra...



Okay, I'm gonna go throw some NSNYC gang signs and start some trouble... wish me luck...

In which I make dubious claims...

Hey, all... sorry I left you with no House Music Friday last week. I was posing for a pictorial in Playboy Magazine on Friday and just didn't have the time. I bet you think I'm kidding...



... but I'd say you gotta be kidding me that I've never once posted any Underworld on this blog. That is even more shocking than me hanging out with naked Playmates! 'Cause I do that every once in a while... anyhoo, if you need me to tell you who Underworld are, I have no idea what you're doing reading a blog dedicated to good music. Here's a remix of maybe their most amazing epic ever by some guys known as Futureshock... not a radical reworking by any means, it's almost like a re-edit with a couple new bits thrown in... and doesn't have the really long beatless intro, which makes it ace for mixing into a set....

Underworld - Cowgirl (Futureshock Remix) (ysi)

Stone cold certified all-time big-time TUNE! And I'll see you in the pages of December's Playboy...

Mummy Funk?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you this week's contender for Worst Band Name in History...



Shahrokh Sound Of K? What. The. Fuck? Kind of sounds like the name of a mummy, doesn't it? Especially if you replaced "Sound" with "Son". Not that you would have a reason to do that, but I think you see my point. Or not. Anyhoo, shitty name. And it belies a real lack of effort on the part of everyone involved, i.e. Shahrokh... okay, that's his name, I get that part... and Andreas Kohler, who sometimes records as Sound of K... but I mean, couldn't you guys have taken 10 extra seconds to think of something less ass-tactular? At least the music's good... has to be to be released on Compost. Kind of the typical Compost mix... funky, vibey, a bit retro/a bit techno... me likey...

Shahrokh Sound Of K - Ilike (ysi)

Mummy Funk could be an interesting genre though... rock some Egyptian vibes in there... the vocals would be shit, though...



... that guy doesn't look like he can carry a tune, what with his being all decomposing for 3700 years and all... actually, he probably sounds like Tom Waits...

My next side project = Polka/Calypso fusion

Side projects are cool when they don't suck...



Lanu is the Kiwi guitarist and "bandleader" of Aussie Funk outfit The Bamboos, who you already know about. His real name is Lance... which is why he calls himself anything other than Lance. Now, I hate when someone from a band does a side project and it sounds exactly like the band they're in (most every Rock side project ever) or sounds completely different and sucks ass (most every other non-Rock side project by a rocker ever), so I'm quite pleased to say Lanu turns in The Bamboos' old-school Funk for some shiny new Broken Beat/Nu Jazz gear. The vocals on this one are very nice and handled by fellow Kiwi Cherie Mathieson, and the label is Tru Thoughts, because of course it is...

Lanu - Runaway (ysi)

I know, what you're saying... you're saying why hate on the Rock side projects, Tone? I say to you The Honeydrippers, The Fireman, Audioslave and pretty much everything Perry Farrell's ever done that's not Jane's Addiction for starters...

P.S. I shall call my band A-Polka-Lypso

Sub-par comedy, Above-average tune

I'm not feeling particularly funny today. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sad or anything... I just can't think of any good jokes... ask the people who read my Twitter. Weak sauce. I compared Brett Favre to Barbra Streisand! Bet nobody else thought of that! So anyhoo...



Sa-Ra Creative Partners are a group of weirdos from Los Angeles who make the kind of out-there R&B/Hip-Hop I've talked about before, and quite frankly I wasn't very funny that day either. Hmmm. This rather fast-paced little number packs a lot of story into 2:25, and this Rozzi Daime girl on the vocals seems a little batshit crazy, too... so good times all around...

Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Tracy (ft. Rozzi Daime) (ysi)

Big fan of that buzzy synth-bass sound. I'll try to get more hilarious for tomorrow...

Monday man-love

Are you ready for some Monday man-love? Because guess who's released another compilation...



Yep, it's Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label with it's 4th installment of Bubblers. I haven't even gotten all the way through it yet, but I was particularly excited to see this track on it after hearing Gilles play it on the radio show a couple months back and furiously, fruitlessly searching for it ever since. Souleance are a couple of French dudes who I've not heard of before, but if they keep putting out stuff like this... I'd what? I'd have heard of them then? Way to type some shit that makes no sense, Tone...

Souleance - Manana (ysi)

A cuica will get bonus points from me every single time, folks. I'm going to go bake Gilles a cake now...