Musical Cousins: 3 Types of Creeps (Stevie Wonder, TLC, Scala & Kolacny Brothers)

 Musical Cousins  No Responses »
Apr 022011
 
 

Stevie Wonder
Creepin’
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Released in 1974

 

TLC
Creep
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Released in 1994

 

Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Creep
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Released in 2010

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This time on Musical Cousins: three totally different songs with three totally different takes on the word “creep.”

First up, Stevie Wonder’s haunting “Creepin’,” featuring backup vocals from Minnie Riperton. In this song, creep refers to the stealth way a lover invades the dream world. The melody is typical Stevie perfection, but the moody, off-kilter synth floating underneath hints at something less rosy.

In TLC’s 1994 single, “Creep,” the Atlanta trio and producer Dallas Austin made a buoyant R&B/pop classic dedicated to cheating on the one you love.

The last take on the word “creep” comes from an early Radiohead composition where the creep in question is the song’s self-hating narrator. I prefer Scala & Kolacny Brothers’s cover, used to great effect in the trailer for The Social Network. Dozens of post-pubescent Belgian girls singing in unison truly is creepy.

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Crate Diggin’: First Choice, Delusions

 Crate Diggin'  3 Responses »
Mar 172011
 
 

Let No Man Put Asunder
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Love Having You Around
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Dr. Love (Tom Moulton 12″ Mix)
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Album: Delusions (1977)

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The onset of spring makes disco bloom on my hi-fi. And though it has its place, I’m not talking about the commercial disco I wish I heard at Studio 54; I’m talking about the soulful proto-house disco I wish I heard at the Paradise Garage. One of the best examples of the latter is First Choice’s Delusions LP.

Annette Guest and Rochelle Fleming founded First Choice when they were still Philadelphia high school students. Rochelle reminisces:

Our success didn’t hit us until graduation night. We were marching down the aisle and the principal of the school said he wanted to congratulate First Choice… then the whole graduation class just stood up and hollered and screamed.

Five years later, as disco was starting to dominate the pop landscape, First Choice (Rochelle, Annette, and new member Ursula Herring) released Delusions. In hindsight, First Choice is perceived as more of a singles act rather than album artists. Delusions, however, is a fairly consistent collection of songs, thanks in part to the lush production from MFSB’s rhythm section: Ron Baker, Norman Harris, and Earl Young.

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LP Classics / Musical Cousins: J Dilla, Donuts + 10cc, The Sylvers, and The Escorts

 LP Classics, Musical Cousins  1 Response »
Mar 062011
 
 

Workinonit
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Two Can Win
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Don’t Cry
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Album: Donuts (2006)

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J Dilla’s Donuts isn’t for everyone. It has zero commercial aspirations, and would fairly be categorized as an experimental art project. But for those of us who like to deconstruct how producers dig for and manipulate samples, Donuts abounds with creativity and originality.

Donuts is sui generis: impossible to imagine anyone else creating it, and with no apparent influences. Sure, many others have started with the same set of tools — a diverse stack of vintage vinyl (most of it rare 45s), an MPC drum machine, a turntable, and a Mac — but no one synthesized these elements quite like Dilla.

Most of the time, sample-based productions extract a few seconds of a track, loop it, and layer a beat on top of it. But Dilla can chop up a track into precise chunks, then reform it into its hipper cousin.

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 Posted by -G. at 3:11 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

12″ Gems: Cypress Hill, “The Phunky Feel One”/”How I Could Just Kill A Man”

 12" Gems  No Responses »
Feb 092011
 
Cypress Hill, "The Phunky Feel One"/"How I Could Just Kill A Man"  

The Phunky Feel One (Extended Version)
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How I Could Just Kill A Man (The Killer Mix)
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Released in 1991

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Sometimes, I get mad. These tracks help get the aggression out.

There is no B-side on this 12″; both of these tracks are 5-star classics, and murder on the dancefloor.

‘Nuff said.

 

 Posted by -G. at 6:29 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Crate Diggin’: Evelyn “Champagne” King, Smooth Talk

 Crate Diggin'  No Responses »
Jan 182011
 
Evelyn "Champagne" King  

Shame (12" Mix)
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Smooth Talk
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I Don’t Know If It’s Right
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The Show Is Over
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Album: Smooth Talk (1977)

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Evelyn “Champagne” King was all of 17 years old when her debut record Smooth Talk was released. Discovered while accompanying her mother as she worked as a janitor at Philadelphia International Records (home to The O’Jays, Lou Rawls, and Teddy Pendergrass, among many others), Evelyn was successful from the get-go with her 5-star classic first single, “Shame,” presented here in its extended 12″ mix. In addition to lengthening some passages within the song, the producer trebelled out the mix a bit. Or maybe my 12″ of “Shame” is in better shape than my Smooth Talk LP.

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 Posted by -G. at 9:52 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,
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