Perhaps it’s the money or the availability of opportunity or the sheer scale of the country, but whatever mix it is Americans just tend to be the best at pretty much everything they put their hands to (bar fitba for some weird reason). When they run with summat, they tend to go the whole way. The culture of individualism, inherent competitiveness and lack of social cohesion that the country is built on has at least one benefit – great art. Best authors, filmmakers, dancers, artists, creators of jazz... and in addition to all that they also do the best goddamn freaky weird shit. And things have always been a little freakier out west. Even behemoths like Motown, who moved out there in the early 70s, weirded out a touch, as did Blue Note. Let’s face it the whole film industry is weird. And then there’s also Scientology.

Post the 60s-is-over/Manson/Altamont period, you had the Los Angeles Free Music Society (L.A.F.M.S), a loose collective of odd ball radical eccentrics much of which was based out of Poobah Records in Pasadena. And it's still there, still releasing records and still lovingly embracing what won’t fit elsewhere. LA has always been full of people only too willing to embrace the avant garde and music as scientific experimentation rather than art (high or low).

Not even delving into the cities massive punk scene (cos I know sod all about it – but I could google it and bullshit I suppose), if you like some uneasy, thoughtful listening you can check out the one of the pioneers of 70s experimentation, Dennis Duck on the ‘Does Disco’ LP released by Poobah a couple of years ago, a fitting relaunch their label after a dormant period. It’s early turntablism of sorts. The LP is created entirely by using a record player and records “incorrectly” - playing them at the wrong speed, playing them while sitting on the deck at an angle, mixing two vinyls together and adjusting the speed, playing broken ones etc. A rewarding listen - and if that interests you I also recommend the Acnode One LP via Poobah again - a Sun-Ra meets Zappa freakout.

As an aside strictly for my scratch nerds, please note – this was originally released in 1978 and there are live scratches on it. There is no way they had heard the New York hip hop DJs but this was originally released as cassette only (with only 25 were made!) so the chance to go down as the first record with scratching was lost! Though it beats Flash by a full 3 years! (I have no doubt there are records from the 50s with scratches on them but these are kind of funky – check ‘em).

Sound In Color, a Long Beach-based label, was another home for music progressives and rule transgressers but of a funkier bent – you can still check them on the web. The 2007 title gives away the fact that it’s not been with us for quite some time. The ultimate “Los Angeles” label in the sense that it was backed by a wedge of serious, perhaps shady, capital, it had lofty ambitions, suspect bosses and of course, an incredible roster of artists. SIC was there at the beginnings of this beat thing - much slept on at the time and distribution was poor - with a diverse line-up. Everyone from Ghostface to Daz I Kue, Morgan Spacek, Exile and Blu, Ta-raach and Sa-Ra recorded for it and, I think, Dilla’s finest ever 12 – and the label’s finest moment - Steve Spacek’s ‘Dollar’ 12 inch. The track is a dope flip of a Billy Paul tune:

If you don’t know get, familiar:

Incidentally it’s the one Dilla tune which isn’t rinsed in DJ sets and mixes cos it’s so hard to come by.

Also worth investigating is their own one-man version of the L.A.F.M.S in the form of turntable maestro, DJ, producer, composer, inventor and all round renaissance man Ricci Rucker who released commercially unviable scratch music LPs (please note: not Battlebreaks, this is most definitely high art!). Check the ‘Scetchbook’ LP only you won’t find it… until someone re-presses in 20 years (or I suppose you could always rapidshare it). Along with inventing a turntable, the Controller One, he also found time to form analog synth duo, Poly, alongside label mate GB.

Check out their performance here:

Sound quality is not great but it is well worth going through the four videos.

If you want to hear more of the synth boogie/80’s funk that he’s killing right now, check out his Controller One demo:

Now going under the Ruckazoid alias you can check his myspace for some serious heet. With Dam Funk currently so popular it seems odd that Ruckazoid is on the low - but it’s only a matter of time. His former partner in synth GB is still rocking it – help yourself to a free download of some dope edits he did earlier this year here. Includes a fantastic version of Little Dragon’s ‘After the Rain’ and Muhsinah’s ‘Always’.

Exile is still making beats – on the one hand keeping the spirit of the L.A.F.M.S alive via his Radio LP (made entirely of samples from the radio and still funky as uhf) – if you don’t believe me check some sounds here:

Or watch him create a beat out of a new Wifi radio:

And then by the same token, freaking out the mainstream a touch giving 50 Cent the best beat he ever got to rap on:

And finally R.I.P to Baatin of Slum Village who died earlier this month. The rest of SV were overshadowed by DIlla, however the group was always more than just the producer. The usual label problems meant his LP never came out but hopefully one day: