A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

YOURZ

This is without a doubt one of the best hip hop records ever made, hands down.  Not only is it ground breaking in its use of jazz samples expertly produced into some of the greatest beats in the genre, the lyrics are smart, funny and relevant to the times, while pretty much avoiding any profanity (well, okay there is a little, but compared to most other records in the genre, this is almost squeaky clean).

Cited by scholarly types as being a generational link between the old (jazz) and new (hip hop), The Low End Theory uses a diverse array of samples from many artists including Miles Davis, Average White Band, Steve Miller, Minnie Ripperton, Sly Stone, The Last Poets and James Brown.  But it is really quite a hard job to spot any sample in particular, such is the genius of Quest's production.

I’ve not heard this album for some time, but listening to it was reminded why I loved this era of hip hop.  The production is clean and relatively uncluttered, the beats are fat and simple and the flow is playful and intelligent at the same time.  And while they approach a number of different issues, they do so with tact and don't sound preachy.  No wonder it keeps making appearances in greatest 90s albums lists: it is near perfect and where it isn’t, well, it only adds to the overall charm.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

I was wondering why I hadn't played this album - given that I'm a big acid jazz fan and have a bunch of Tribe songs on my Rebirth of Cool compilations.  I have no answer for that.  This is my kinda music - albeit it's a little heavier on the rap than I prefer, they still have the great melody lines and jazz samples I spent most of the mid-90's listening to.

I was almost certain I'd seen these guys too, but a short consultation with Dr Google tells me they toured here for the first time ever this year (damn it, why didn't I know that?).  Must be getting mixed up with some other acid jazzy dudes.  Maxi Priest, Ronny Jordan - there were a bunch of 'em.

I guess I get a bit confused with YourZ calling them a hip-hop act - because I just don't see them that way.  What this conjures up to me is long nights playing pool at Kinselas, drinking vodka tonics with my Kiwi friend Anne and working out how we were going to make it to next payday, given that we were going out four nights a week.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to: http://atribecalledquest.com/html/

Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits

YOURZ

While this is one of Mine's contributions to the collection, I am a fan of Sly and co because they have provided some of the best source material for sampling this side of James Brown.

And while some of this is just a bit too disco for my liking, there's no denying its ability to make the listener smile (or, in my case, grimace a little less).  That Sly And The Family Stone go down in history for breaking boundaries by being both integrated and mixed-gendered is very cool indeed.  This paved the way from so many acts that followed, too many to name here.

While I know the hits, Stand, Dance To The Music and Everyday People, all anthems in their own right, the rest of this collection is new to me, except for the occasional recognition of a break.  But it's also a little frustrating because I'm left wondering where I had heard the sample.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

A Forgotten Gem for me, and not for the truly excellent music, but for the strong, positive messages the Family manage to weave into their funky, hook-laden efforts.  Take Life - it says "You might get angry sometimes/ But don't let it turn you around" and of course You Can Make It If You Try goes without saying.

It's the perfect accompaniment to cooking - so it's going in the Kitchen Collection right away - and it's so positive it's gotta make the Grumpy Pants Abolisher playlist as well.  And for once I'm grateful i don't have the music-producer ears my husband does.  I can enjoy this music as it is, in its entirety, and not give two hoots about who sampled what or when.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.slystonemusic.com/

James Brown - In The Jungle Groove

YOURZ

From sample kings The Avalanches to a sampler's choice artist, James Brown.  But what to say about him?

He's the undisputed Godfather of Soul and quite possibly the funkiest of the funkiest. He lived for music, for entertaining and never slowed down, earning himself the title of 'the hardest working man in show business' and, despite numerous health problems, continued a heavy touring regime right up until his death on Christmas Day, 2006.

In The Jungle Groove features two versions of the heavily sampled Funky Drummer. Used by everyone from Public Enemy to Sinead O'Connor, it's perhaps telling that in certain circles, a sample from it is now considered a cliché.  But there's no doubting the track, and the rest of the album, are classics of the genre and quite literally one of the best party starters around.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

F to the U to the N-K-Y this album just shows how great a musician he was, and how he surrounded himself with the best of the best.  I got to see the late Mr Brown sometime I think in the late 80s.  (Viv, Bill, do you remember when it was?)  And I must admit I was less than impressed by him.  By him, that is, not by his band which produced the tightest, funkiest, sharpest, most amazing sound I had heard to date - and probably the best I've ever heard.

The problem with James Brown was that his band played several songs before he came on, and in between each one, some poor bugger in his band had the job of exciting the audience about the proximity of his arrival.  The audience was definitely left with the feeling that if we didn't scream loud enough, applaud hard enough, he just wouldn't bother gracing us with his presence.

When he made it onstage he was magnificent.  But as I recall, he didn't stay that long.  Maybe I'm maligning him, maybe he was feeling under the weather that day but made it onstage anyway, in the best show-must-go-on tradition.  Whatever it was, it was a bit of a sour note for one of the best in the business.  Can I get a witness?

VERDICT: TURN IT UP get on down

For more information: http://www.jamesbrown.com/

People Under the Stairs - Fun DMC

YOURZ

I've got a lot of time for this band.  Theirs is the kind of hip hop I've always liked, where you know they've searched high and low for a rare groove they can sample and build a track around.  It's the sort of hip hop I've never had the chance to make, which is probably why I enjoy this so much more.

The other thing I like about this duo is their overwhelming sense of fun.  It is a bling-less, gangster-less world where the groove and the flow are more important than the car they drive or how many girls they have waiting out back.  And given this album's title, there's no doubting their intentions.

Coming together in Los Angeles in 1997 and bonding over a shared love of rare grooves and old school techniques, P.U.T.S have carved out a niche career in a genre full of try-hards and wanna-bes.  Well known around the world for their live performances and their sense of humour, they continue to capitalise and gain fans in an often-fickle market place.

Fun DMC continues their well-trod formula of their previous half dozen releases - fat grooves, distinct flow and lotsa fun.  This is the way hip hop was always meant to be.  It is also the sort of hip hop Mine doesn't get, as you're about to find out.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

Oh, BLECH.  Please please please DO NOT namedrop great funk artists while putting together so-so hip-hop.  You don't even remotely approach Parliament or James Brown, PUTS (oh goody, they sound like Putzes!) so don't mention them.  And what's the deal with all the chat between numbers?  I hate that at live shows and it really doesn't work on an album.

I didn't even care enough about this to look up who these people are and what they're trying to do.  It's low-brow and uninteresting and has the distinction of being the only CD other than Radiohead so far that I actually yelled "SHUT UP" to while it was on. (YourZ sez: if you see a lady in a maroon Seca swearing at her car stereo, avoid at all costs hahahaha...)

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT (the window at high speed)

For more information: http://www.putsonline.co.uk/

In our collection we also have Stepfather