funky

Worldly Wednesday: “Hang ‘Em High,” Jackie Mittoo

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Jackie Mittoo was a baller keyboardist from Jamaica.  This is my favorite song of his, and has been on heavy rotation today, seeing how I need continuous energy injections for this last leg and the last leg of this trip.

Sort of apropos of this song, I want to call your attention to an interesting story going on this week.  In a suburb of Denver, Colorado, this week, a group of high school students staged a walkout to protest changes to how American history is taught.  The local school board had voted to turn the dial down on certain portions of American history that, according to the school board, “encourage or condone civil disorder.”  I think these students are gutsy heroes.  Civil (emphasis on civil) disobedience is one of the highest forms of patriotism because it shows you are actively engaging with your country.  To read more, go see the good people at the Christian Science Monitor.

 

Funk Friday: “If You Don’t Get It The First Time,” The JB’s and Fred Wesley

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This morning, I was so spacey that I stepped off the wrong train (the yellow) to wait for the right train (…the yellow) because I thought I was on the wrong train (the green) and as such I’d need to change at Mt. Vernon Square for the right train (the yellow).  And then the yellow came, again, but I couldn’t get on because only the front half of the train doors opened, and I was at the back half, so the train just…left.

Then I finally, miraculously, got to work, and was in line to purchase my bagel and cream cheese, and the guy in front of me had just gotten his change, when another employee said “I can take you over here,” and “over here” was in the absolute back of the store.  Ohhhhkay.

Yesterday I absolutely killed it in a presentation to one of my directors and got a bushel of kudos, after a few weeks of crazy stressing that I was going to bite it, and months of anxiety before that thinking I wasn’t making any progress.  But I was.  …Huh.

My point?  Nothing is static.  Everything changes.  Just keep breathing.  And maybe get a trombone.  That seems to help, too.

Funk Friday: “Left Hand Free,” alt-J

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This is the second single off of alt-J’s forthcoming album, being released next month.  According to the band, this is the least alt-J-y song ever.  (For a point of comparison, search for alt-J in the search bar on the left hand side of your screen and play “Taro,” the song I posted a few months ago.  Different, right?)  According to me, it’s absolutely, completely, foot-stomingly awesome.  The tone of the song is a mild break from the classic funk music I tend to play on Fridays, but the sassiness of the guitar lick tipped the scales in its favor.  It just slays me.  This will probably be my remainder-of-summer 2014 song.  Happy Friday, Tune Sharks.

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Hey shady baby I’m hot
Like the prodigal son
Pick a battle eenie meenie miney moe
Hey flower you’re the chosen one

Well your left hand’s free
And your right’s in a grip
With another left hand
Watch his right hand slip
Towards his gun, oh no

I tackle weeds just so the moon buggers nibble
A right hand grip on his Colt single-action army

Well your left hand’s free
And your right’s in a grip
With another left hand
Watch his right hand slip
Towards his gun, oh no

N-E-O, O-M-G, gee whiz
Girl you’re the one for me
Though your man’s bigger than I am
All my days he disagrees, oh no

Well my left hand’s free
Well my left hand’s free

Hey shady baby I’m hot
Like the prodigal son
Pick a battle eenie meenie miney moe
Hey flower you’re the chosen one

Well your left hand’s free
Well my left hand’s free [x4]
Oh no

Funk Friday: “Get Up Offa That Thing,” James Brown

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I’m not entirely unconvinced that I haven’t spent this week in some sort of strange sonic pressure cooker.  Actually, I’m not entirely unconvinced that all of us poor humans haven’t spent the week in a strange sonic pressure cooker.  It certainly feels like it.

SO.

Do you know what we do when things get hard?  Like really, really, in-your-bones, buy-a-plane-ticket-to-anywhere, screw-this-and-all-y’all hard?

You know what we do.

We DANCE.

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One other thing: THIS IS MY 200TH BLOG POST!  Cue balloon-drop!  Thank you to everyone around the world for making this blog so successful and so much fun to write.  It’s hard to write a post every single day but it’s such a blast to see new pings from all kinds of countries.  I am going to try and create a comment box to make this more interactive but for now – thank you, one and all.

 

Funk Friday: “What’s Golden,” Jurassic 5

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It’s a good Friday, Tune-Up fans.  The universe is moving in our direction, and things are looking up.  My air conditioner, which you may remember from Tuesday’s post, is getting removed today (maybe even put into a box!  Crazytown!), friends who are looking for jobs are getting interviews, I scored a major professional victory (to which Señor Boyfriend, when hearing about it, responded with “HUGEATHON!”), and the U.S. soccer team advanced to the knock-out rounds.  I think we all deserve a little celebration today.

Funk Friday: “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” Eric B and Rakim

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So, okay, England didn’t win yesterday.  Neither did my softball team last night (but we left it on the field, guys, we left it on the field – especially Kathleen, who bit it on the way to first and crawled the rest of the way to the bag and made it like the boss she is).  It was 97 degrees with 100% humidity and only one of the rooms of my house has air conditioning right now.  I have a chest cold that makes me sound like phlegmy Paul Robeson.  And I’ve got a best bud out west who’s wondering (completely rationally) what life’s deal is.

BUT.  In the plus column we have the following:

  • Today is Friday.
  • The mighty falling early in the World Cup makes room for awesome other countries to advance and we might have a very cool match on our hands with some first-tme winners.
  • We’re playing softball again next week (and against a truly odious team – like, literally the worst team ever) and have a good shot at kicking their ass.
  • The one room in my house with AC is my bedroom, so I’m sleeping very happily.
  • Mr. Yankette finds the sound of a phlegmy Paul Robeson alluring.
  • My best bud is also a cat-like badass.

So I’m take the long view.  Like the man says: “It’s cool when you freak to the beat – but don’t sweat the technique.”

 

SHAME WEEK! Funk Friday: “Kalimba,” Mr Scruff

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Mr Scruff is a legitimately good DJ.  This song is a pretty good song – maybe a little repetitive and pointless, but it’s got a good groove.  So what’s so embarrassing about this song?

Anyone reading this blog on a PC knows exactly why this song is so embarrassing.  It’s because this is one of three or four songs pre-loaded onto the Windows Media Player as sample pieces.  I don’t know why they did that.  All I know is that, one day, when I had to work at another facility and I didn’t have my own music with me, I hoped against hope there would be something already on the Windows machine I had to use – and, God bless America, there was.  I listened to this song on repeat for eight hours.

Eight.  Hours.

Stockholm syndrome is real, my friends.