Parliament-Funkadelic: The Extraterrestrial Brothers

[bobzilla77]

Been listening to a LOT of P-Funk this week, remembering old favorites and discovering new ones.

The uptempo party jams like "Comin Round The Mountain" and "Hit It And Quit It" are the ones I tend to know the best. Right now I'm into their HEAVINESS, when they slow down and everything gets real thick and heady.





Great, isn't it? It's like Doom Funk - but with a positive message! "Maggot Brain" could be considered the same.

What kinda doo be in your funk?

[pcqgod]

[bobzilla77]

"We don't want the funk! Spare us the funk!"

I once went to a P-Funk concert with a couple who were both friends of mine. The guy was a fellow P-Funk nut, his girlfriend was from Germany & not familiar with them but decided to come along to the show since we were so excited. He and I thought the show was great - an especially good one.

But she didn't enjoy it at all... the music never "went anywhere", it was just the same thing over and over and people saying something about "funk". Where were the songs? Shouldn't they have choruses and bridges, not just guitar solos?

I remember my college music prof talking about the German & Austrian composers having this one thing in common across hundreds of years, despite whatever changes were happening to the orchestra or the particular forms, the music was constantly BECOMING, always moving onto some next step. There's no repetition without variation. And funk music isn't really about that. It's not about elaborate arrangement and thoughtful composition. It's more about being stuck in a spot. I often think about Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me. You could almost loop the first few seconds of the instrumental, but you can't really, because eventually you get to Tim Drummond's walking bass solo.

Anyway, I guess a certain type of person might be less receptive to the pleasure principle P-Funk embodies. Oh well. Maybe someday they'll get hit by the Bop Gun.

[clive gash]

It’s not me it’s you