Wednesday, July 20, 2005:

Brides of Funkenstein

Brides of Funkenstein -- Funk or Walk LP cover

Brides of Funkenstein -- Nappy
Brides of Funkenstein -- Amorous
Brides of Funkenstein was one of many George Clinton/P-Funk offshoots, featuring Lynn Mabry and Bernie Worrell (who you might also have seen on Stop Making Sense), as well as other bits of the Clinton crew, including Phelps Collins, Gary Shider, Michael Hampton, and Bootsy Collins.

The Funk or Walk LP is good for the most part, with a few standouts and one stinker ("Just Like You," a nine minute soul track that's so soft it makes Pee Wee Herman look like a contender).

"Disco to Go," the album's opener, was a hit for the Brides, but it was the only one they had. Personally I think that "Nappy" and "Amorous" might be a bit better. "Nappy" isn't very danceable, but "Amorous" is.

I love the sort of gently-delirious tone to "Nappy." Allmusic.com says it sounds like something by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, which it does: it's got a chilled-out jazz-tinged festive atmosphere to it, like something off a high-society musical in an alternate history New Orleans. Odd and fun work.

"Amorous" closes the album and is more conventionally funky. Pluses: the vocals (the melody, the delivery, the growl), the bassline (thumps, slides, growls back), the horns, the composition as a whole (including the lulls--very nice). Minuses: N/A.

The LP is out of print, though you can get "Disco to Go" on two different concert albums available on amazon.com.
Allmusic.com review

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In other news, I don't think these trackback links are working. I've seen links to the site in the referer log that aren't being picked up (one I can think of was in French, talking about Steinski & Double Dee). If anyone has any idea what's gone wrong with the "auto-detect," I'd love to know; otherwise I'll just remove the trackback links so there's less clutter.

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