Music For The Messes

Amateur Reviews of an Ever-Growing Music Collection

[musicforthemesses]

“Funky Pack” - C.S. Crew (1976)

2015 was the year of the funk for me. I’ve always dug funk and soul but it wasn’t until earlier this year that I began to devote time and energy into expanding my funk collection. This album was recommended to me by some funk blog that happened to also provide a download link. I really really dig it.

According to Discogs, this is a pretty rare album. The median going price for it on vinyl is a hefty $145+. Thankfully the version that I have is a vinyl rip that sounds friggin’ fantastic.

Funky Pack packs quite the auditory punch. The band is from Nigeria but sounds like it could be from any of the funk hubs of the ‘70s. What really separates this album for me is the usage of a Moog synth to flesh out the funky grooves. It works so unbelievably well particularly when combined with the gritty vocals of the front man. Check out the track “Bread Power” below to see what I mean.

This six song album is hard funk and exactly what I want from this era. It isn’t the most mind-blowing set I have ever heard but it’s definitely an album that I have revisited a few times since acquiring it.

As far as I can tell this is the only album that C.S. Crew put out which is a shame. It’s raw and relatively unpolished but a whole lot of fun.

Funky Pack by C.S. Crew is a FUNKTASTIC 4 Stars.

Standout Tracks: “Love is Peace”, “Freaky Funkified Fix”, and “Doin’ The Good Thing”

Throwaway Tracks: “Living Together” and “I’ve Found Love” are both slow groovers that, in my opinion, shouldn’t end the album. Were they interspersed more with the harder tracks I probably wouldn’t mind. As it is, however, I can listen to the first four tracks and feel really groovy and then feel slightly let down by the last two songs... Still quite good but not perfection.

[musicforthemesses]

“meat.” - moe. (1996)

Here we have an EP from the band moe. This one is slightly interesting in that the album is one 45:09 long song called, appropriately, “Meat”. The only lyric to the song? One word: Meat.

The story that i remember hearing back in the day was that Sony, upon signing the band, wanted to release a single to help propel the band into mainstream radio. The band wanted no part in that (which, in hindsight, makes little sense since mainstream=$) so they released a 45 minute long single to radio stations. Of course very few stations ever played it...  I remember finding a used copy of this limited edition EP at the local music store for $20 around 1999. You can now get it occasionally on Ebay for around $5. Poop.

The song starts out slightly funky and jammy until it reaches its lyric. Then the song is launched in many different directions over the course of the album. There’s a harder rocking section, a slightly spacey section, a whole lot of guitar noodling, some amazing drum fills and bass lines anchoring the tune, a ska-type section, an almost bossanova section, a whole lot of asking “is this song still playing? sheesh!”, and finally a return to the established opening of the song to close it out. It’s long. It showcases a lot of solid musicianship. It’s long. The problem I have with it is that I have shorter (and tighter) live versions of this song which make the album a bit redundant. I don’t listen to it very often; maybe once every couple of years just to say I did it. It’s not bad though. It’s just a lot.

meat. by moe. is a pretty decent 3 Stars.

Standout Tracks: Not really applicable...

Throwaways: Also not really applicable...

[musicforthemesses]

“Super Fly OST” - Curtis Mayfield (1972)

I think the longest that I have gone without listening to this album since first buying it around 1997 has been about two months. I don’t even need to re-listen to write the review... but rules is rules. So here we go!

This album is perfect.

Okay... that’s not quite true. There is exactly one song on here that I could probably live without. However, that song is still so much better than literally thousands of other songs that populate my computer!

I’m not going to break this one down track-by-track. If you aren’t familiar with this album you should rectify that immediately by clicking here. I can’t tell you how many hours of my life have been spent with this album as the backdrop. It is a permanent fixture in my car and is often played while I am doing whatever it is I do when I have music playing in the background. 

Curtis Mayfield hit it out of the park with this anti-drug and socially aware soundtrack for a film that, at best, is ambivalent leaning toward pro-narcotics. That being said you’ll hardly notice the D.A.R.E. message that Mayfield is spreading due to the infectiousness of the funky grooves. From the moment I heard the album I was hooked (like a junkie). That hasn’t changed.

Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield is a resounding 5 Stars.

Standout tracks: “Freddie’s Dead”, “Little Child Running Wild”, and “Super Fly”

Throwaways: None... but if I had to choose one it would be the instrumental “Think”. It’s still really good but, to me, it is the least interesting on a super interesting album.

[musicforthemesses]

“Pork Soda” - Primus (1993)

What an album to start this site off! I was 12 years old when this album came out and, thanks to my older sister, was already a pretty large Primus fan. However, I can’t remember the last time I listened to this album... Let’s dig in, shall we?

The album opens with the aptly titled (and super short version of) “Pork Chop’s Little Ditty” before jumping into the killer bass line opening of “My Name is Mud”. Jesus fuck Les Claypool kills on this track! I remember sitting by the radio with a blank tape waiting for the DJ to announce that he would be playing this song so that I could record it. This, to my 12 year old ears, was pure bliss. It holds up well all these years later.

I don’t think I purchased Pork Soda until after the movie Brainscan* came out in 1994. I vaguely remember the next track, “Welcome to this World”, appearing in that film and thinking to myself ‘Hey! That sounds like Primus!’.

...and it does. The track screams Primus from the get-go. It’s not my favorite track but it definitely doesn’t suck.

The next track, “Bob”, was never one of my favorites. However, on listening to it now I actually prefer it to some of the other songs on the album. Yes it’s very dark (being about suicide) but it builds in such a manner through Claypool’s yodels and Larry LaLonde’s shredding during the vamp that I can’t help but turn it up and really get it into it.

Even the fantastic bass line of “DMV” can’t save this track for me. Never liked it. Still don’t. Meh.

The same cannot be said for “Ol’ Diamondback Sturgeon”. I love the fishing songs on the old Primus albums and this one just hits all the notes for me. Such a great song and a nice reprieve from the harder tracks that preceded it. I particularly love how Les Claypool’s bass mirrors the intonation of his already somewhat wacky voice stylings.

I FUCKING LOVE “Nature Boy”! Creepy music that’s seemingly panned low in the mix underscoring the choruses until everything boosts in during the chorus. Songs about being naked around the house make me smile.

“Wounded Knee” is a bizarre little drum and percussion soundscape that I can’t for the life of me remember hearing before today. I mean, I know that it’s always been on the album but it’s never been really memorable. If you asked me to list every Primus song and gave me a hundred years to do so I still wouldn’t be able to name this track. It’s fine enough. Nothing mind-blowingly amazing. I’m not a fan of how it trails off. I’m not a fan of how many of these songs just fade out. It comes across as half-assed to me.

“Pork Soda” reminds me of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean during a massive storm. The swelling of the bass and drums combined with Claypool’s bizarre narration and the repeating guitar part is almost.... comforting? This is Primus. I like Primus.

“The Pressman” works mostly because it follows “Pork Soda”. In all the times I saw Primus going back to 1995 I wanted to see this song live. I don’t think they ever played it when I saw them though. This song screams TURN ME UP! I dig it.

The upright ‘lectric bass featured on “Mr. Krinkle” makes this track worth seeking out. So fucking good.

“The Air Is Getting Slippery” hit all the right notes for my young immature mindset when I first got this album. It was totally one of my favorite songs. The lyrics are goofy and self-referential while always skirting the line of saying the f-word. Listening to it now I can appreciate the novelty but it isn’t fantastic... The solo in the middle though is quite fun.

“Hamburger Train” is super noodly and, to me, about four minutes too long. The bass is pretty funky though. I probably won’t be listening to it again anytime soon.

I prefer the full-length “Pork Chop’s Little Ditty” and kind of wish that it had opened the album. But no. It’s left to hide just shy of the end.

“Hail Santa” is another bizarre little soundscape. This time it features Claypool’s bass and a bicycle bell. I’m neither here nor there on the track...

And that’s the whole album! Teenager me preferred Sailing the Seas of Cheese and Frizzle Fry and my guess is that adult me will as well. All in all though Pork Soda isn’t a bad album. It’s not as consistent as I would’ve liked but there are some amazing tracks on it. When it came out I probably would have given it 4.5/5 but I can’t say that that feeling has remained...

On re-listen, Pork Soda by Primus is a strong 3.5 Stars.

Standout Tracks: “My Name is Mud”, “Bob”, “Nature Boy”, and “Mr. Krinkle”

Throwaways: “DMV”. “Wounded Knee”, “Hail Santa”, and “Hamburger Train”

*Brainscan was an awful movie. Don’t watch it. It’s really really bad even by 1994 standards. The soundtrack was pretty decent though...

[musicforthemesses]

THE TEST BEGINS....... NOW!

Welcome to Music for the Messes!

My goal for this blog is to randomly go through my extensive music collection, listen to an album, and write up a short review. It should be noted that I am neither a musician or a music writer. I’m just a person who managed to accumulate far too much music on his computer who wants an excuse to listen to things randomly and, hopefully, find something to say about those things.

A FEW RULES:

- In order to prevent this blog from turning into a ‘Here are reviews of my favorite albums and everything else can remain hidden from public view’ I am using a random number generator to automatically decide what my next album listen will be. Everything contained in my collection is fair game (except for concert recordings. see below) and hopefully this blog will allow for much of the collection to be revisited.

- No re-rolls allowed unless that album has previously been reviewed!

- I am omitting all concert recordings unless they have been officially released. Exceptions will be made for interesting (to me) bootlegs but generic concert recordings have already been removed from my master list.

- My initial goal is three reviews a week. That will probably change. But for now three is a good number. I hope to update on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

- Disagree with my review? Want more info on an album? Just want to chat?Please feel free to drop me a message in my ask box! I don’t promise that I will respond but I can guarantee that I will read everything sent...