Give up the funk: P-Funk and The Mothership Connection

When one thinks of funk three big names come mind James Brown, Sly and the Family stone and Parliament Funkdelic (abrivated as P-funk). P-funk is a group that contains the best of elements, experimentalism and classic funk licks to create unique sound. It’s no mistake that my second review of music would be based on one of their greatest albums ever, The Mothership Connection. This album brings together the best elements that P-funk has to offer to create a sound so funky that it will make you want to dance. This is funk at its all time best and at same time is an experience that can only be found within the sounds of P-funk.

As I stated above this is sort of music that makes you want to get up and get into it. The Mothership Connection is all about the beat, then singing and lastly about background horn licks. Each songs purpose is to give out energy like some sort plug. The music doesn’t worry about having a complex story, instead spending their energy on making the lyrics become part of the overall grove of the track. This sparseness of lyrics is to the albums advantage making powerful vocals that tap into the beat and the feeling of the track. The music cartoony but in that good sort of way like Star Wars, and as the title of the album suggests it sounds like funk from outer space. The best way I can describe it is as something out of this world that can only be created by P-Funk, to put it simply cosmic.

This music is the brainchild of three people comprising the three key elements of P-Funk. The rhythmic drive in the work comes from the writing of the Bass player William “Bootsy” Collins; he is also responsible for bringing James Browns concept to P-funk of the hitting on one of the beat and helps the rhythm section drive the band. The next element the vocals is the work in this album of George Clinton. Clinton is the influence for the strange cosmic nature of this album and P-funk. He furthermore encouraged the bizarre, comical and, sexual nature of the music dubbing himself later “Doctor Funkenstien,” and dressing up the band in a wacky wardrobe. The final piece of the puzzle was the amazing talent of arranger and trombone player Fred Wesley, one of the greatest funk players of all time. In the brief time with the group he brought along his friend Maceo Parker and a new approach of horn writing using his experiences with James Brown to create horn parts that masterfully fit into the rhythmic pulse of the music pushing it ever forward. Overall this set up was perfect for P-Funk allowing this album to be one of the best ever written.

The theme of this album is definitely out of this world, producing some of the best songs of all time. Many of P-Funk best hits are played here at their best, this album includes pieces like “The Mothership Connection (star child),” “P-Funk (I want to get funked up),” and, “Give up the funk (tear the roof off the sucker),” In these songs many things that normally seem against the rules at the time are used that changed the nature of funk forever. First off, is the strange role reversal at times between the Bass and Keyboards, many times the bass notes and lines are driven by the Keyboard where the Bass then plays counter melody or melody. If this is not strange enough vocals are mixed into the stew becoming an added ingredient as oppose to always being in the front line. The lead vocals by George Clinton often take on an early style of mcing later becoming a common place in popular music but for its time revolutionary.

This album pioneered new techniques as well as the best of classic techniques all into a single powerful sound that is unforgettable. I have heard no band quiet like P-Funk and there is no sound ever that sounds quiet like the one on this album. Everything in this album is done in such a way that it will blow you away and make you wonder if this album really was made on earth. I remember when I first heard this one it blew my mind and I had to hear it again and again; it’s that sort of album. So if your looking for a cosmic experience that makes you want to get up and sing and dance this is definitely a good one to pick up.

Personal

Bernie Worrell (Synthesizer), Bernie Worrell (Keyboards), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Maceo Parker (Alto Sax), Sidney Barnes (Handclapping), Bootsy Collins (Bass), Bootsy Collins (Guitar), Bootsy Collins (Percussion), Bootsy Collins (Drums), Bootsy Collins (Vocals), Jerome Brailey (Percussion), Jerome Brailey (Drums), Randy Brecker (trumpet), George Clinton (Vocals), George Clinton (Producer), Gary “Mudbone” Cooper (Percussion), Gary “Mudbone” Cooper (Drums), Gary “Mudbone” Cooper (Handclapping), Raymond Davis (Vocals), Joe Farrell (Tenor sax), Ramon Tiki Fulwood (Percussion), Ramon Tiki Fulwood (Drums), Glen Goins (Guitar), Glen Goins (Vocals), Michael Hampton (Guitar), Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins (Vocals), Taka Khan (Handclapping), Cordell Mosson (Bass), Gary Shider (Guitar), Gary Shider (Vocals), Calvin Simon (Vocals), Grady Thomas (Vocals), Pamela Vincent (Handclapping), Fred Wesley (Horn arrangement, trombone), Debbie Wright (Handclapping), Reginald Rasputin Boutte (Handclapping), Bryan Chimenti (Handclapping), Archie Ivy (Handclapping), Boom (Horn)

1. “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/B. Worrell) – 7:41
2. “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/B. Worrell) – 6:13
3. “Unfunky UFO” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/G. Shider) – 4:23
4. “Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/B. Worrell/G. Shider) – 5:03
5. “Handcuffs” (G. Clinton/G. Goins/McLaughlin) – 3:51
6. “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/B. Worrell) – 5:46
7. “Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples” (G. Clinton/W. Collins/G. Shider) – 5:10

Bad apple: Appleseed review

If you want an example of the strengths and flaws of a typical cyberpunk comic one can find them in the manga Apple Seed. This manga is one of the best examples, I have ever seen of revealing the strength and flaws within this genera. Overall this manga has less then meets the eye and was a chore to read through despite a few good qualities. For all those even enjoy cyberpunk manga stories of high caliber, this is definitely though not one to pick up no matter how much it might sound and looking a good manga because of it’s many flaws. Many people swear by this manga, but after reading the final volume of this one I want to swear off it. At first it looks like quality work, but if you dig deeper you’ll realize this work just isn’t worth the effort of getting invested in.

The thing about this work that is good is the art work, a amazing hard to match graphical quality within it cannot be match. It is one of the best looking manga I have ever seen, everything is so carefully crafted and no image is missing this detail in the complex shading of the biggest mech to the smallest flower. It makes the cities and machines seem almost real and yet fantastic at the same time. This in fact is why I choose to read and review this story. However, there are a few minor problems with this approach even for cyber punk and, mecha manga like this one. The first problem with this art work style is that it lack contrast throughout most of it making it look almost entirely photo-realistic creating at times too much of a oneness in style (the only exception to this is a few early chibi images, which are still done with top detail.) The second problem exist for those who like a less realism, and more cuteness in their manga might not enjoy tired of the 1980’s style photo-realistic employed in this series. Even those who have no problem with this style of artwork will comment that this would make more sense to exist in a anime format (where it came from). Overall, though it’s art is masterful and the greatest element of this manga.

Things start to fall apart as one goes on to look at the story, which clearly is not nearly at the same level as the artwork. The story is based more around world building then characterization or plot development leading to a number of problems (I will say more about this later). The plot throws the reader into a post world war 3 environment a remote city seemingly abandoned where the two main characters a spunky ex-cop woman named Deunan and her lover a robot man Briareous (they claim he’s a cyborg human with robot parts but he looks more like a robot). Soon a Bioroid (genetically engineered human) Hitomi working for the government comes to bring them to Olympus a cyber city inhabited by other Bioriod many who distrust humans. In the city she becomes a SWAT member in a futuristic organization “ESWAT,” that uses high tech amour and mech suits to fight criminals and terrorists. Corruption though is not far behind her arrival though as the government of angry Bioroids resentful of the human nations who in the past used them for labor (or so I think I’m not quiet sure) build defense system to prevent dependency from humans that appear to be build giant spider like machines (which you don’t see until the chapter 12). A council elders connected to a super computer running the macines, stress balance between humans and Bioroids and warn against the building of the machines but are jailed by the government for their warnings(and the machines go berserk, big surprise). This sort of theme appears all over the place, including the ending (which is disappointing considering the build up) where balance is restored by a Bioroid (more on this later as well) and the help of shell of Briareous fires into the computer to destroy it filled with Apple seeds (hence the name). This sort of moral of balance despite being repeated time and time again is hammy and dull and never once convincing.

From after chapter 14 the plot, for a while wanders around random and boring elements including pointless fan service (it is much more explicit then most modern fan service in general release manga) in a needless sauna scene and a few pointless stories about some wolf girl android. The plot doesn’t improve from this slump as it goes on to a pointlessly long dragged story with zero suspense and poor flow involving them busting Iranian and Soviet governmental leaders running pointless slave dens full of young children (desperate). This attempt once more to be moral is a disaster and even more dull, making the future seem like a black and white full of people that either noble or evil. If I made any of this sound half way interesting then I’m sorry, but it isn’t. The only thing that really is interesting in this is the world building, which quickly gets tiring quickly. If your confused or find I got stuff wrong, please keep in mind that I had to take notes and research stuff on the story online, and I still remain confused.

The sad excuse for a plot can only be topped in lameness by the characters that in inhabit this world. It would be hard to believe that the writer even seems to care about his main characters, spending more time building things that were fun to draw and trying to keep the plot from totally crashing (which it ends up doing anyways). The result is a crash instead in characterization, characters frequently appearing and disappearing into the storyline with no apparent value to them, and many stories that only feature key characters loosely, if at all. If a character even has personality it is a they might have at most ½ a defining quality that is interesting and each is as dull as the rest (this includes the main characters). Briareous behaves as though he some warrior-monk, mostly speaking of patients and helping save the day and of course is fine most the time being part machine, showing little or no in depth thought about this (so you have something to distract you from his lousy personality). His partner Deunan who should be even more important because she appears the most in the stories, is even more the bland a aggressive and loud mouth female pilot (who is suppose to be tough but relatively good looking and later has her eye shot out in a training exercise to further stress her toughness) is a stale overused character typed used in many other cyber punk manga and anime of the time such as Ghost in the Shell or Bubblegum crisis. She spends her time either being gritty (to the point of self parody), or flirty with her dull lover Briareous (the reader has no reason to care about their relationship making flirt scenes dull as dirt). There really isn’t any other characters worth mentioning save Hitomi, who seems to be in the story to make it more comical (which only adds to confusion), attempts explain the nature of the city, save the city by opening up the supercomputer in the end of the biggest story (another instant of person just happen to be the key *groan*), to introduce Deunan and Briareous to her brother and, to be cute in another attempt to hide the abysmal characterization. Beyond these functions she really has no purpose in the story and is overall perhaps as annoying as Deunan herself and just as needless.

The terrible and confusing story with this manga might be forgivable considering the graphic sophistication in this story (I can’t believe I’m saying this) if not for the characters personality in this world. Overall not even the amazing artwork in this work can save it from its bad writing. The confusing and boring plot-combined characters that are even worse and would all be best taken out of the story makes for a bad outcome. This manga might be one to flip through if you can find it any where but is definitely not worth buying or reading with all the other material there is out their to choose from. Join me next week as I review another good classic album, the Mothership Connection.

Golden Horns: Basie Meets Bond

When many people think of the pioneers of swing names Duke Ellington, Luis Armstrong and especially Count Basie come to mind. Yet many fail to realize that some of the Counts greatest work actually occurred in his later years after World War II as he created some of his best records of all time. Most people recognize may recognize the album The Atomic Mr. Basie, his later greats like such as Straight Ahead, or the amazing Basie meets Bond (even more so) are sadly forget. For this reasons I want to speak album Basie meets Bond despite it being to hard to find it is worth at least listening to. Those who know this work simply don’t seem to understand it, lumping it as commercial product trying to bank off the success of the early James Bond film. However to me it is far more then that and I love this album despite what the few others might think. This album if you can find it definitely worth adding to your collection, you won’t be sorry you spent the ten dollars for it even if you find it. Even if you don’t like it as much as some of the other Basie albums, for it’s price it is definitely a good buy.

I should begin with state style of the album is for all those who new to Basie albums (get familiar with his work fast) and remind for those who know the Count what makes the album so good, which will help explain the value of this album. This album contains a steady traditional Basie big band sound within it. What Basie big band so amazing is the exactness of every passage, no detail is left out in this album; the playing of every written note (and a majority of the notes within solos) are dead on! Dynamic contrast, blend and accuracy are so spotless that no matter what is being played one could swear that if swing had such a thing as perfection this would be it (his only real rival is Ellington and Ellington is so for very different reasons). Everything sounds so easy in this album, and most solos seem like natural extensions of the songs. On occasion one might want to hear more out the soloists in terms of breaking away and making it more about them but that really isn’t the purpose of the album or the band Basie is running.

Much like other albums done in Basie’s later period it seem to usually be more about the style and playing then having the players stand out. In this albums however, the players definitely help make it into something special and are a key component to the sound. One must begin by saying something about the wonderful, Eddie “Lockjaw,” Davis. His solos have cool and personal nature to them and it was definitely accurate of them to feature his name on the album cover as a featured musician. His solos are some of the best on the album with his signature mellow tenor sound sliding into and out of notes, simply wonderful to listen to. Another great soloist on this album is the trombone player Al Grey with his moaning solos that seem to make all the right notes at the right time and filled with an incredible control. The player though that impressed me the most on this album, however was the Bass trombone player Bill Hughs. His playing brings a great power to trombone section and pumps out all the low notes better then any other Bass trombone I have ever heard. It would not be right to forget Counts work when talking about all the great players; his unique working of chords and use of tension resolution is top notch.

The music in this album also written to the highest quality, Chico O’Farrill and George Williams’s compositions work to all of The Basie band’s strengths. The groove of this album is always there and features a great deal of range from song to song and even within the songs themselves. Despite this it all retains the great Basie sort of sound always at the same time. The backgrounds are key to this album and are, complex and inter-weaving, full of surprises and special effects played perfectly by the band. This album also is flexible in that it uses enough popular songs from bond that one can recognize, but it also uses some great song most are not familiar with like “The Golden Horn.” All the song have a wonderful feel that fits perfectly with the players making the album sound like genuine gold and definitely making it top notch.

I’m not sure why many people seem to look down or are not aware of this album, maybe because Basie has so much work out their that is wonderful. This album though is definitely worth picking up. It’s hard to describe the feeling of this album (or the thrill of Basie’s music for that matter), but that’s what so great when you hear it. Level of nuance that demands your attention is what makes Basie so great. Next week, however my review of Apple Seed will definitely not be subtle nor as favorable as my reviews so far, so don’t worry if you want to hear me criticize then be sure to tune in.

PERSONAL: Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Wallace Davenport, Phil Guibeau (trumpets), Henderson Chambers, Al Grey, Grover Mitchell (trombones), Bill Hughes (bass trombone), Marhall Royal, Bobby Plater, Eric Dixon (flute), Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Charlie Fowlkes (saxophones), and a rhythm section comprised of Basie, Freddie Green (guitar), Norman Keenen (bass), and Sonny Payne (drums). Arrangements by: Chico O’Farrill and George Williams

Originally released: 1965

Music: 007
The Golden Horn
Girl Trouble
Kingston Calypso
Goldfinger
Thunderball
From Russia With Love
Dr. No’s Fantasy
Underneath the Mango Tree
The James Bond Theme
Dr. No’s Fantasy [First Version]

Tezuka’s game: Black Jack

For my first review I thought it would be good to start with a manga that is both wonderful and at the same time rarely given the credit it deserves. As manga seems to get more derivative, it is ironic that one of the best forms of relief from this derivative material exists in manga written then 30 years ago and just recently making its way to the United States. I speak of the manga known in English by the title Black Jack. Written and drawn by the first and perhaps most famous manga artist in Japan Osamu Tezuka. As of now, due to licensing issues, only two books have been published, both by Viz in 1999, each a collection of various stories. I was lucky enough to find one of these rare volumes. However, in September of this year ( 2008 ) Vertical Books will begin releasing Black Jack in its entirety. So I hope this review will at least give you a heads-up, if you find the Viz edition somewhere (it is a very difficult book to find in stores).

The first thing I always look at in any manga before I even read a word of the manga is the drawing. I think the drawing in any form of comic can tell you a lot about it, such as whether the comic is worth reading or not (at least in most cases). The first thing one notices about this work is that it carries Tezuka’s trademark style, a style unlike that of most modern manga. This style is sort of a cross between what people typically expect of most manga and with Disney-like elements. His style is very much at first glance deceivingly simple-looking and caricatural, but this works to the story’s advantage, allowing the reader to see great depths of emotion within his characters. This enhances his ability to draw the extremely disturbing imagery (such as the patient within “The Face within the Affliction”). This also allows him time to create glorious background and detailed lighting effects, which can enhance the story or create a natural, non-disruptive background whenever called for. Even though I’m not familiar with medical drawing and even though many of his drawings are fictional, it is clear from the drawing Tezuka has a vast knowledge of the human body. Overall the manga has a great attention to detail and a special flavor that one can only find in Tezuka’s work. Most will find this artwork refreshing when compared to other manga.

If the art style for some reason is not enough reason to get this manga, then the plot surely will get you to pick this one up. The basic premise of the manga revolves around the work and life of super un-licensed surgeon Doctor Black Jack, a charismatic, noble, mysterious doctor, and on occasion his cute but bizarre assistant who appears to be a small girl though she claims to be 18 (though she is actually really a bunch of organs that Black Jack creates a body for). Most stories are one-shot stories involving clients paying him millions of yen for strange and amazing surgeries, but others involve Black Jack’s past. This series works much better in this way because it lacks very many constant characters and seems to be run on a plot similar to what the Cowboy Bebop anime would later use. I think this is for the better because it avoids giving away too much about mysterious Black Jack and the constraints an ongoing plot can bring, plus it simply works because one can never get tired of hearing of Black Jacks deeds (the writing’s that good!).

Along with the great plot, the faces and personalities of the characters allow one to understand and believe in the emotions they express, without making it so melodramatic that it becomes corny or, on the other hand, underplaying important chances to make you feel for Black Jack or his patient. Tezuka shows off in this series his emotional versatility, creating a perfect mix of many forms of joy, sadness and his goofy humor (Tezuka and Astro Boy make cameos in the story “Two Loves”). This series really has one of the most balanced tones of all his manga; it has a darker theme than in works like Astro Boy but is also far from his darkest stories such as MW. Because of the some of the disturbing imagery, I wouldn’t recommend this for the younger audience, but this manga its definitely is one of the most accessible manga’s out there that even people who normally don’t enjoy manga would love reading.

When it comes down to it this manga is that it is one of the best I’ve ever read. It is certainly a classic that deserves more attention then it receives. Then again in America one could say the same thing about Tezuka himself, since many people who claim to be fans of anime and manga have sadly never even heard of him. If you are looking for a manga that is filled with suspense, wit and creativity, Black Jack is definitely the manga for you. Be one of the many and please take a look at this manga if you haven’t done so already, believe me you’ll be thankful you did.

Join me next week as I review another under appreciated piece of work, Basie Meets Bond.

Welcome to all

Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Coleman Hatfield, AKA “Hats,” and I’m here to set up a place so that I can share my views on a variety of manga and music. Being a music major at CSU Northridge in Wind Performance and a member of the Anime Club here at CSUN (and formerly the vice president of my Anime Club when I was in High School), I feel this will be a good place for me to express my feelings on particular albums and manga. I also hope, however that this blog can help others expand their collection of manga and albums.

I will attempt to make my reviews personal, informative, and to certain degree academic and thoughtful in nature. I will cover a number of works of manga and styles of music, both works I enjoy and those I do not care for. It is important to me that my reviews also be informative as to why I enjoy or dislike the material.

As well as increasing others’ collections, I’m always interested in increasing my own collection. If anyone would like to contact me to give me personal comments about any of my reviews or to suggest material for me to see or listen to, please feel free to contact me at colemanhatfield@sbcglobal.net. Thanks for reading this perhaps overly long introduction. I plan by the end of this week to have my first review up and to post at least one review a week (despite finals coming up fast).