You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Afro-beat' category.
by Cousin Geoff
I’m rolling out a new feature here on Cousins Vinyl. It’s called “Guess That Sample”.
It’s really a shame that sampling is pretty much outlawed now in hip-hop; it’s killing the genre. Sampling is what the art is based on - not only is it a tribute to the funk and jazz that came before it, but it’s how it was born in the first place. It’s probably why I gravitate towards the old school stuff, yeah - I grew up on it - but I really have no interest in listening to most of today’s rap: some bullshit negative lyrics backed by a generic, synthetic beat made by the same two or three guys that sell ‘em to all the top rappers. It’s garbage - give me the old stuff with heavy samples any day.
A lot of times I’ll be listening to a 70s funk or jazz album and I’ll have one of those - ”hey! that’s the sample off the so and so record!” - moments. Justin and I just drafted a bunch of 70s jazz/funk records off a collection we bought recently. I was listening to this Rasta Afro-funk group called Cymande tonight, their self-titled debut album, and I heard a sample I recognized right away. It’s from their song, Dove.
Listen to it and see if you can guess who sampled it. Then click “read the rest…” below to get the answer and hear the track that it’s featured on.
by Cousin Geoff
I wrote about this album about two years ago, but I didn’t include a picture or audio. I forgot I wrote about it when I was thinking about what to post tonight, but I took the picture and recorded a sample of Gone With Yesterday. Rather than write about it again, you can just read what I wrote before and listen to the cut.
Let me start by saying these things:
1) All Music Guide gave this album 2 out of 5 stars, but didn’t describe it in a review.
2) It sells on ebay for about $15-20, pretty decent but something of this genre could go a bit higher - closer to $40-50.
3) AudiophileUSA.com says this: “Beautiful 1972 Gatefold sleeve . A Hard To Find LP With An Excellent Blending Of Heavy African Rhythms And San Francisco Psych With A Good Measure Of Fuzz Lead Guitar.”
4) I like both African and funk music, so an unheard Afro-funk early 70s LP sounded pretty sweet to me. So instead of selling it, I snatched it up, something Justin and I do as part of our “compensation” for owning Cousins and doing the job.
When I first listened to this album, I started out on side 2 by chance. And this is why I didn’t get past much of the rest of the album. The first song on side 2, titled Gone With Yesterday, is frickin’ awesome. A definite future mix-tape centerpiece, a song blended of afro-beat, reggae, folk, and 70s soul. Has a haunting guitar in the background which sounds Indian or Egyptian that just keeps improvising and then cuts to a solo after the first vocal verse. And then keeps going until you’re totally feelin’ it. The music is strangely happy and positive although the vocals say,
“Yesterday, you gave me happiness, happiness, that’s all I need, to get me happy, but Today, my happiness is gone, with yesterday, with yesterday, ohhh everything, with yesterday.”
And then the next song continues this mood theme and goes off into a terrific all instrumental afro-funk jazzy jam (Hippies, you’d like this).
And the rest of side two is just kick-ass. I can’t go wrong if I’m deciding what to throw on and I choose this side. I can listen to a fantastic single and then jam the rest of the way through the record, djembes and everything. Psychedelic Afro-funk! Which is so good and I go to flip the record, but, strangely, side 1 is disappointing.
Unlike side 2, it’s more subdued, less exciting, and the first song completely stops the pulse of the record so far (if listened to from side 2 first). It’s like an introduction to who they are, with a lame slow drum intro and then some music to kind of show us what we’re about to hear. And then the songs sound choppy and mixed up. They can’t decide if they want to make more songs like, Yesterday, or jam out like they do so well. The first two songs with vocals suck, and then they start jamming for a song, which sounds sweet. And then the next song goes to a half jam/half Yesterday, which sucks again. And the last song of side 1 is a chant, and kinda sucks too.
So I think if this album was contructed better and the actual concept was re-evaluated the album would be a classic in 70s Afro-funk. As it stands, side 2 is so good that the album is definitely still worth checking out.
Listen to Gone With Yesterday:
Let me start by saying these things:
1) All Music Guide gave this album 2 out of 5 stars, but didn’t describe it in a review.
2) It sells on ebay for about $15-20, pretty decent but something of this genre could go a bit higher - closer to $40-50.
3) AudiophileUSA.com says this: “Beautiful 1972 Gatefold sleeve . A Hard To Find LP With An Excellent Blending Of Heavy African Rhythms And San Francisco Psych With A Good Measure Of Fuzz Lead Guitar.”
4) I like both African and funk music, so an unheard Afro-funk early 70s LP sounded pretty sweet to me. So instead of selling it, I snatched it up, something Justin and I do as part of our “compensation” for owning Cousins and doing the job.
When I first listened to this album, I started out on side 2 by chance. And this is why I didn’t get past much of the rest of the album. The first song on side 2, titled Gone With Yesterday, is frickin’ awesome. A definite future mix-tape centerpiece, a song blended of afro-beat, reggae, folk, and 70s soul. Has a haunting guitar in the background which sounds Indian or Egyptian that just keeps improvising and then cuts to a solo after the first vocal verse. And then keeps going until you’re totally feelin’ it. The music is strangely happy and positive although the vocals say, “Yesterday, you gave me happiness, happiness, that’s all I need, to get me happy, but Today, my happiness is gone, with yesterday, with yesterday, ohhh everything, with yesterday.” And then the next song continues this mood theme and goes off into a terrific all instrumental afro-funk jazzy jam (Hippies, you’d like this).
And the rest of side two is just kick-ass. I can’t go wrong if I’m deciding what to throw on and I choose this side. I can listen to a fantastic single and then jam the rest of the way through the record, djembes and everything. Psychedelic Afro-funk! Which is so good and I go to flip the record, but, strangely, side 1 is dissapointing. Because I expect it to be better than side 2, cuz it’s side 1 of this awesome record.
But it’s more subdued, less exciting, and the first song completely stops the pulse of the record so far (if listened to from side 2 first). It’s like an introduction to who they are, with a lame slow drum intro and then some music to kind of show us what we’re about to hear. And then the songs sound choppy and mixed up. They can’t decide if they want to make more songs like, Yesterday, or jam out like they do so well. The first two songs with vocals suck, and then they start jamming for a song, which sounds sweet. And then the next song goes to a half jam/half Yesterday, which sucks again. And the last song of side 1 is a chant, and kinda sucks too.
So I think if this album was contructed better and the actual concept was re-evaluated the album would be a classic in 70s Afro-funk. As it stands, side 2 is so good that the album is definitely still worth checking out.
