This year marks our first Halloween in NYC. The day’s never been that big of a deal, since I don’t need a government sanctioned day to dress up like a monster and ask strangers for candy. However, it DOES give me a chance to listen to delightfully kitschy songs in the house without my roommates looking at me like I have some kind of necro-fetish…normally, I keep that shit to myself (ohhhhhh how I crave your hot bod, Eleanor Roosevelt). So this weekend as you shop for your costume, iron it all out, get all dressed up, go to the club in it, get Patrón spilled all over it, and wake up Sunday morning wondering why you have it on backwards (not so awkward if you dress up as Kriss Kross), allow for this compilation to be the razor sharp mix for your first bite into the Big Candy Apple.
Freaky Funk 1. Mos Def “Boogie Man Song”
2. North American Hallowe’en Prevention Collective “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en”
3. Parliament “Dr. Funkenstein”
4. Jimmy Castor Bunch “Dracula Pt. 1″
5. Fela Kuti “Zombie”
6. RJD2 “The Horror”
7. Gorillaz “Last Living Souls”
8. Gnarls Barkley “The Boogie Monster”
9. OutKast ft. Kelis “Dracula’s Wedding”
10. Michael Jackson “Thriller”
11. Sade “Haunt Me”
For awhile now, iLL-Literacy’s mission has been to create a spoken word show that people can dance to. Does that seem like an obscure concept? Why has it been such a challenge to create music that revolves around spoken word (or spoken word that revolves around music)? What happens when the poet wants to break out of the neo-soul-jazz image and would rather skydive naked in a bucket of paint? Okay, we’re at least two years away from doing that shit!
In the beginning people began talking, and rhythm was formed, which induced the need to tap and dance to the rhythm, which summoned additional noise to soundtrack the movement. Somewhere along the way we forgot how to dance to the word, but if we look not too far away, the tradition was strong just a generation ago. The Jimmy Castor Bunch is a funk band that, much in the tradition of George Clinton, used spoken word and storytelling to accompany the instruments. Rather than playing a heavy-handed voice that consumed the track, it was simply another layer, like a trumpet or oboe. (heehee…oboe sounds funnnnnny…)
Jimmy Castor is incredibly versatile, ranging from gritty funk to bubblegum disco…but the groove is always strong. Can you digit?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
All rights reserved
