***The following came from a large CD drop at a thrift shop (Oct).
*Automatic Man - Visitors. 2005 Lemon (CD) (1977). If you were to read the reviews and interpret the ratings on this one, you'd think they leapt off the pop cliff. Shrieve went packing and so did the hard rock aspect of their sound. Automatic Man thus became Bayete's band. But Pat Thrall was still hanging around throwing in some mean licks. But it's mostly funky fusion by this point, with a dash of soul. It's far more consistent than the debut. And for my tastes at this juncture, I found this just as good as the debut. Not even five years ago that would have been the case. Have I evolved or devolved? Hmmm...
*Axiom Funk - Funkcronomicon. 1995 Axiom (2xCD). This was in the mid 90s when Bill Laswell and the gang were completely dominating this field of music. You've got most of the P-Funk gang on hand, even some archival Eddie Hazel is thrown in here. Remember Praxis? This album is a sprawling set of inconsistency. But it stays due to the massive psychedelic era Funkadelic styled pieces. There are some wonderous jams to be found among the usual silliness, soul, pop, whatever.
*Netwerk: Electric - Expression Sessions. 2001 Harmonized (CD). I had no idea who these guys were. Netwerk: Electric were a band from Santa Cruz, California and they mixed jazz fusion, funk, and space rock seamlessly. I tend to favor these kind of "tribal" albums of late, so the timing to hit the collection was perfect.
Dawn Silva - All My Funky Friends. 2000 private (CD). Dawn Silva was an active member of the P-Funk tribe and this album brings in many from the collective. This was a comeback solo album of sorts and the reviews indicated this to be a retro funk extravaganza. Eh. Pretty good, but does devolve into the usual soul crooning at points. As my friends in Mexico might say "ees OK". Another rarity in any event.
Infectious Grooves - Mas Borracho / Pneumonia. 2000 Suicidal (CDEP). I was hoping for a Latin Funk banger here. No such luck. I don't remember too much about it now, but it was more modern and lacked the heavy psych that makes the genre endearing. Also rare these days.
Quazar. 2012 Big Break (1978). I had high hopes for this one, promising P-Funk sounds from the late 70s. Not even sure if there really is a P-Funk connection and the music falls mostly to soul versus funk or psych. It's decent for what it is, but not really my thing. Beautiful CD release, that is now quite rare.
Clydie King - The Imperial & Minit Years. 2007 EMI/Stateside (CD). The compilation starts with the three Imperial singles, and all six tracks offer up an excellent Bacharach / Specter take on soul music. Sophisticated arrangements, and King's voice is reminiscent of Dionne Warwick here. In particular, 'Missin' My Baby' is superb. No surprise to learn that these singles go for serious coin these days. Unfortunately it's all downhill from there. The four Minit singles (eight songs) head towards more typical Soul radio standard fare. Too whiny for me, and no arrangements or other interesting background music to keep it interesting. Worth noting that these singles are relatively cheap, so today's market seem to reflect my observations as well. This is followed by eight unreleased tracks, all recorded in 1968. Once again, these follow the Minit style and range from good to disappointing. The CD package is awesome, with a full history of King, and recording details. Really enjoy her mid-60s style, but clearly not enough here to hold onto overall.
***end of sale
