Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Primitive Sound System on This Is The Modern World with Trouble

Hello Y'all,
On Tuesday October 11th from 10AM to High Noon I get to spin a set of Soulful & Funky ladies on the always great, This Is The Modern World with Trouble. Trouble and I have talked about doing this for a while and have been trading YouTube clips of some of the better performances since. I don't think there is a record in the box older than the early 90's and one record I received just last Wednesday. So this really is the modern world. The vocal styles of the New Funk and Soul scene can vary greatly and so can the quality. The men seem to fail at a far higher rate than the ladies. The voices of James Brown, Bobby Byrd, Dyke, Curtis Mayfield, Syl Johnson, Eddie Bo, Lee Dorsey and countless others from the 50's through the 70's had a quality all their own and still don't sound dated even today. Too often when a young man steps to the mic now, the results are forced, thin sounding and sometimes just plain corny. The guys seem focused on the past and try way too hard to be "real." The ladies on the other hand just get "it." You know "it" when you hear "it" and you definitely know how "it" feels… "IT" feels right. Some ladies sing, some shout and others give it everything they've got as if they'll never get another chance to sing again. Luckily these ladies have very impressive discographies documenting their amazing performances but that also made selections for these two hours difficult. I started buying up New Funk & Soul records in the early nineties as one of the local NYC Funk and Soul re-issue labels began releasing their own 7-inches. Most of those early releases were instrumentals but slowly vocals began popping up here and there. Soon I began to find other labels doing similar releases. The sound was different from the Acid Jazz scene and was definitely not concerned with slick recording quality. Despite being disappointed with many of the male vocals I tried not to make too many comparisons to the originals. Instead I focused on the instrumentals and the wonderful female vocal recordings that seemed to be available in endless supply. I'm not naming any of the records I am bring to the station tomorrow because than why would you listen. Tune in for a bunch of ladies that have brought much pleasure to my ears.

FMU is also in the middle of a fund raising marathon of sorts called, "Shock & Awetober." You can make a pledge to the station - https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/pledge.php or directly to Trouble's show at http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/LM. While you are there listen to all her incredible archived shows.

See Ya!
- pat.

Primitive Sound System
VINYL RULES!
"Audio Visual Triumphs and Disasters" - http://primitivesoundsystem.blogspot.com

Tuesday October 11th from 10AM - Noon
WFMU
91.1 on your FM dial and at http://wfmu.org online

This Is The Modern World with Trouble
Tuesdays 9am - Noon on WFMU 91.1 fm 90.1 fm wfmu.org
A viking ship appears on the horizon, a likeness of Loretta Lynn carved into its bow. Rare birds flock together to sing Francoise Hardy as soul hits. A sunset of blips and bleeps fills the air.