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Beat : Files #5

Olan, All City, talks Numero, Bandit and home schooled child stars.

by Olan O'Brien • 11th February 2010 • 2 comments
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Focusing on that other great breeding ground of African American musical talent another essential pick up is their Gospel Funk Hymnal comp Good God! Focusing at a particularly inventive and creative time of Gospel in the early 70s it’s a great selection of praises which would sit quite easily in most standard funk comps. A number of great tracks here but it ends on a high note with Detroit’s LaVice and Company's proto rap lament of hells former glory days - there’s a sample of it here

Almost 40 years on and another prototype rapper is currently summonsing up ungodly spirits, this time a little more darkly via a cover of Robert Johnson’s Me and the Devil.

Gil Scott Heron who, if things had have turned out a little differently, could quite easily have ended up a paragraph on a beautifully printed Numero liner note returns with his first LP in 15 years. Produced by XL Records Richard Russell there are obvious comparisons to Rick Rubins work with Johnny Cash. Maybe you could also say Kode 9 and Spaceape as there is a little less obvious a nod to aging and mortality than with Cash's and with the sonics a little more contemporary –its on XL - but like the people Numero document GSH has always existed on the margins of society.

In the 15 years since his last LP, rap has lost most of its potency and American music in general doesn’t engage with the political and social structures of the US on any real level. The personal struggles of the mothers, grandmothers and extended families that made these men set against the urban decay that he talked about 40 years ago and was witnessed by any of the eccentric soul participants is still here and hearing these universal stories so personally conveyed marks it as a great companion to the Numero history pieces and makes it most likely the best new old record you'll hear this year.

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  • magoo95 @ 12 Feb 2010 9:00

    Afro based psych and funk / rock, on it while now. No mention of : BLK JKS, jazz / rock / funk / reggae, incredible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLK_JKS

    Good article though, you made me aware of the korean jimi hendrix :)

  • interstellar_fugitive @ 13 Feb 2010 0:17

    Great read as ever. The GSH album sounds fantastic to these ears.

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