CAVLDRON TH1RT3EN <> WE GOTSTA GETS FUNKED UP.
[ Now playing in Demon Tribe Hollow... Your Life (Extended 12) by Konk from Your Life ]
I was going to post something pensive and sad tonight, centering around a Peter Gabriel song called Family Snapshot from his finest work, III.
But just after I heard that track, another song came on the Demon Tribe Hollow radio that is almost as close to my heart, in a completely different way. And it bounced me right out of my morosely reflective mood, as it has always done so well.
That somewhat little-known tune is Your Life by a now-defunct (de-funked!) NYC band called Konk.
Konk was a brilliantly eclectic collective of an ever-rotating lineup of jazz musicians, percussionists, brass players, and MCs. And they just happened to hit it out of the fucking park with Your Life.
I first heard this track when I was about 11 or 12 on an old K-Tel compilation and the cold stylin synth groove with which it begins absolutely never left the back of my mind. I dug it out in 2005 from a cassette tape that I made right when I first heard it, and though the recording was decent, I had to hear it as it was meant to be heard. So I found this compilation at Lous Records and it knocked me on my ass, again, twenty years later.
You just cant beat this tune. It was the inspiration for my purchase of timbales back almost eight years ago, and *any* old schooler will tell you that the extended version, especially, fucking slays.
But not to dwell too long (though it deserves some serious dwelling for sure), because just tonight I heard part of a Chemical Brothers DJ set where they busted out another all-time b-boy fave of mine, Know The Ledge by none other than Eric B. & Rakim.
This track gained fame via being featured on the soundtrack for the dope-as-hell movie, Juice, and it perfectly captures the intensity as well as the ultimate self-destructive nature of that gangsta-life flick.
Rakim brilliantly delivers lyrical nail after nail into the coffin of the mob boy he portrays as he weaves the story with suave braggadocio and the unexpected, final humility. And Eric adeptly cuts the record to pieces every verse with manic stylings and wicked precision.
Anyway, I practically shit myself whenever I hear either of these tracks played with serious volume. Its gross, but its funky, and I go mental.
[ Also playing in Demon Tribe Hollow... Know The Ledge by Eric B. & Rakim from Dont Sweat The Technique ]
[ Now playing in Demon Tribe Hollow... Your Life (Extended 12) by Konk from Your Life ]
I was going to post something pensive and sad tonight, centering around a Peter Gabriel song called Family Snapshot from his finest work, III.
But just after I heard that track, another song came on the Demon Tribe Hollow radio that is almost as close to my heart, in a completely different way. And it bounced me right out of my morosely reflective mood, as it has always done so well.
That somewhat little-known tune is Your Life by a now-defunct (de-funked!) NYC band called Konk.
Konk was a brilliantly eclectic collective of an ever-rotating lineup of jazz musicians, percussionists, brass players, and MCs. And they just happened to hit it out of the fucking park with Your Life.
I first heard this track when I was about 11 or 12 on an old K-Tel compilation and the cold stylin synth groove with which it begins absolutely never left the back of my mind. I dug it out in 2005 from a cassette tape that I made right when I first heard it, and though the recording was decent, I had to hear it as it was meant to be heard. So I found this compilation at Lous Records and it knocked me on my ass, again, twenty years later.
You just cant beat this tune. It was the inspiration for my purchase of timbales back almost eight years ago, and *any* old schooler will tell you that the extended version, especially, fucking slays.
But not to dwell too long (though it deserves some serious dwelling for sure), because just tonight I heard part of a Chemical Brothers DJ set where they busted out another all-time b-boy fave of mine, Know The Ledge by none other than Eric B. & Rakim.
This track gained fame via being featured on the soundtrack for the dope-as-hell movie, Juice, and it perfectly captures the intensity as well as the ultimate self-destructive nature of that gangsta-life flick.
Rakim brilliantly delivers lyrical nail after nail into the coffin of the mob boy he portrays as he weaves the story with suave braggadocio and the unexpected, final humility. And Eric adeptly cuts the record to pieces every verse with manic stylings and wicked precision.
Anyway, I practically shit myself whenever I hear either of these tracks played with serious volume. Its gross, but its funky, and I go mental.
[ Also playing in Demon Tribe Hollow... Know The Ledge by Eric B. & Rakim from Dont Sweat The Technique ]