THE NEW YORK BLUE FUNK ORCHESTRA

On Friday September 10th we are stoked to be sharing the night with members of THE NEW YORK BLUE FUNK ORCHESTRA. We will be playing records, acapellas and samples over their live drums. You always see drummers performing on the streets of most cities but believe me when I say that these guys are the real deal. You can tell just by how well they keep time and heck, they're going on tour with Pharrell no more than a week after their performance at 4HOF so that alone should be a good indication of how tight these guys are.

Above here is a quick video of two of the members in a NY subway station using only buckets, bongos, cowbells and a small cymbal (on the 10th they will have the same setup only with a full drum set). Those rhythms seriously give me goosebumps.
So by all means this next edition of 4 HOURS OF FUNK is truly something not to be missed!

ROY AYERS "FAST MONEY"

First of all this is one of the more obscure Roy Ayers albums which was released on his own Uno Melodic Records (Not Columbia). There are really great songs on this one such as "Black Family" and "Chicago" which is played often in the house scene. The track that really gets me is "Fast Money". Where have you ever heard a boogie track with vibes solos in it not to mention vocorders and chants about "Fast money, Get that money now!". You even get a breakdown where Roy asks the crowd if they want love, say yeah and if they want some money say yeah! I seriously can't get enough of this song. Its gets played on repeat on my recent weekend mornings. Its motivational to me and it might be for you too. Extra special audio file contained here.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/pmvtbw

MORE 80'S FUNK VIDEOS!!!!!

I recently discovered this cool video for The Systems "You Are In My System". It cracks me up watching David Frank (The keyboard player) He's beating the the computer keyboard on his synth like its making a beat or something. And the scene where his partner Mic leaves him on the street with a hot dog in his hand........priceless. They even play on the moon. Who else would have though to do that.......well Paul Hardcastle thats who. So below I have also included the incredible spaced out video of King Tutt where he's basically playing his keytar all over space. Why more low budget than The Systems vid but it will make you feel just as warm and fuzzy inside. I cant get enough of this stuff but I promise....no more videos for a while just more great vinyl rips.

BRITISH FUNK LIVE AND DIRECT!

Staying with the theme of British funk and dance music here's some awesome vids of performances by Hi Tension, David Joseph (Lead singer and keyboard player of Hi Tension) and two equally awesome performances by Beggar & Co. Not sure if there's lip synching going on but I want to ignore that and just admire the sheer dopeness of being able to see stuff like this. Im def going to post more things like this!

POWERLINE & ANDY SOJKA

One person who should get a lot more recondnition is Andy Sojka (Waxpoetics where U at?). Apparently he owned an early dj oriented record store called All Ears in London and also was the guitarist of the band Atmosfear who are well known in the dance community for their heavy disco jams like "Dancing In Outer Space" and "Motivation. Sojka was involved in many other side projects however up until the late 90's and even got the chance to work with high profile artist Masters At Work and Francois Kevorkian to name a few. One of these projects is the mysterious band called Powerline. Here I have my two favorite pieces. "Double Journey" was the 12" that first turned me on to the band. Its a beautifully spaced out journey in disco funk land. I love all the delay effects they use in the mix and that deep bassline and dubbed out guitar will give you goosebumps for sure. We also have here the stunning vocal cut entitled "Watching You". If stunning melodies and harmonies are your thing, it doesn't get much better than this.




http://www.sendspace.com/file/n1a0ox

WOODS EMPIRE "UNIVERSAL LOVE"

I recently found this incredible LP for a decent price. Some would call it "modern soul" but I call it plain and simple good music. I think quite a few songs on the LP would be awesome to play out, but honestly like most other people the song "Universal Love" is most of the reason why I picked up the pricey album. Slow disco at its best! Just to show my universal love for the heads that check this blog I have a special wav file just for you!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ay72pt

!!!! DEF ROCK & DJ FREEZE "SPANISH LESSON" !!!!

I'm sure some people really want to hear this after the track "Spanish Lesson" was featured in various "History Of Baltimore Club" mixes. The record is really hard to come by even in Baltimore. Every track on this is seriously bangin'. "Man Down Under" on the b-side is the first Baltimore track to incorporate sing sing drums and following that is a dope deep house joint called "I Want You". Apparently though "Spanish Lesson" was the real business and the "Breakdown Crank" mix of the song is what I have the share here. Mad props to Wayne Walston and Duane Lucas for creating such a dope EP!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/38oi74