Tag Archives: Friday Night Funk

Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk): (8) The Chemical Brothers – The Test

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Excerpt from the music video – The Chemical Brothers have some of my favorite music videos, always featuring a cameo appearance by the duo

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(8) FUNK: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS – THE TEST (2002)

B-Side: The Golden Path (2003)

 

“Am I coming through?

Am I coming through?

Is it sweet and pure and true?”

And we’re in the big beat genre, with the Chemical Brothers as pioneers in bringing it to the forefront of popular culture.

“Devil came by this morning

Said he had

Something to show me

I was looking like I’ve never seen a face before

Here we go now, let’s slide into the open door”

The Chemical Brothers are electronic music duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, originating as DJ duo the Dust Brothers – hence the title of their debut album Exit Planet Dust with their name change to the Chemical Brothers. That album still features one of my favorite Chemical Brothers tracks, Alive Alone (featuring Beth Orton as vocalist).

“I’m seeing waves breaking forms on my horizons

Yeah I’m shining

I’m seeing waves breaking forms on my horizons

Lord, I’m shining”

It was with their second album, Dig Your Own Hole, that they rose to prominence – with tracks such as Setting Sun and Block Rocking Beats.

“You know I almost lost my mind

I can’t explain

Where I’ve been

You know I almost lost my mind

I couldn’t explain

The things I’ve seen

But now I think I see the light

Now I think I see the light”

However, my favorite Chemical Brothers song and the one with most resonance for me is a track from their fourth album Come With Us – The Test, with lyrics by Richard Ashcroft, better known as singer for the Verve (and the song Bittersweet Symphony), and its (literally) trippy video.

I also enjoy the videos of their singles. Interestingly, like Hitchcock, the duo have a signature cameo appearance in all their videos – although those appearances have become increasingly elusive or tricky to spot.

“You know I almost lost my mind

Now I’m home, and I’m free

Did I pass the acid test?

Did I pass the acid test?”

Close runner-up is The Golden Path, an original single for their 2003 singles collection. It’s a piece of neo-psychedelia featuring vocals by the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and lyrics suggestive of posthumous fantasy as well as a video that is my favorite Chemical Brothers video and a contender for my favorite music video of all time (now there’s an idea for a top ten list) – essentially a video for how I dream my days away at work. And yes – in our hearts, we all know the photocopier is a powerful demon force…

As for the balance of my Top 10 Chemical Brothers songs:

(3) Alive Alone (Exit Planet Dust 1995. Hell, the whole damn Exit Planet Dust album while we’re at it for hardcore rave dance-bunnies – “The brothers gonna work it out!”)

(4) Setting Sun (1996)

(5) Block-Rocking Beats (1997)

(6) Hey Boy Hey Girl (1999)

(7) Let Forever Be (1999)

(8) Out of Control (1999)

(9) Galvanize (2005)

(10) Wide Open (2015)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Friday Night Funk: Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk) (7) Jamiroquai – Love Foolosophy

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(7) FUNK: JAMIROQUAI – LOVE FOOLOSOPHY (A FUNK ODYSSEY 2001)

B-Side: Don’t Give Hate a Chance (2005)

 

“Baby baby, I feel these sweet sensations

Honey honey, looks like a superstar”

It doesn’t get much funkier than Jamiroquai – indeed, Wikipedia lists the band’s genres as “funk, acid jazz, jazz funk, nu-funk, pop and disco-rock”.

Jamiroquai is best known by its lead singer Jay Kay, dubbed the cat in the hat – particularly in his incarnation as the Buffalo Man, the silhouette character on their album covers – and his idiosyncratic style of dancing, showcased to best effect in the trippy video to Virtual Insanity, their best-selling single.

Or to its fans, the use of their single Canned Heat in that dance scene from Napoleon Dynamite. (Vote for Pedro!)

Their breakthrough album, particularly in the American music scene, was Travelling without Moving – apparently the best-selling funk album according to the Guinness Book of Records, with the aforementioned Virtual Insanity as its flagship single. Personally, I prefer the single Alright as funkier (“Let’s spend the night together, wake up and live forever”), although my true soft spot is for the sci-fi boogie of Cosmic Girls and its cheesy lyrics:

 

“I’m scanning all my radars

Well she said she’s from a quasar

Forty thousand million light years away

It’s a distant solar system

I tried to phone but they don’t list ’em

So I asked her for a number all the same

She said, step in my transporter

So I can teleport ya

All around my heavenly body…

She’s just a cosmic girl

From another galaxy”

However, my favorite Jamiroquai single and accordingly this entry is from their fifth album A Funk Odyssey (aptly enough in 2001) – Love Foolosophy.

Close-runner-up is a single from their sixth album Dynamite (and their singles compilation High Times) – (Don’t) Give Hate a Chance.

 

And as for the balance of my Top 10 Jamiroquai songs:

(3) Alright (Travelling Without Moving 1997)

(4) Cosmic Girl (Travelling with Moving 1996)

(5) Supersonic (1999)

(6) Little L (A Funk Odyssey 2001)

(7) You Give Me Something (A Funk Odyssey 2001)

(8) Corner of the Earth (A Funk Odyssey 2001)

(9) Feel So Good (A Funk Odyssey 2001)

(10) Feels Just Like it Should (2005)

Although Supersonic (Synkronized 1999) is a close runner-up, particularly for its trippy video

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Friday Night Funk: Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk) (6) Groove Armada – I See You Baby

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Groove Armada’s logo

 

(6) FUNK: GROOVE ARMADA –
I SEE YOU BABY (1999)
B-side: Paper Romance (2010)

“This is the house that funk built – Groove Armada style!”

Nuff said.

Or perhaps not – Groove Armada (English electronic music duo Andy Cato and Tom Findlay) is another big beat funk entry from the 1990’s.

This entry, I See You Baby, is arguably their signature single and certainly one of the defining songs of 1999-2000. Although the original single was funky in itself, I prefer the even funkier remix by Fatboy Slim. (Interestingly, the duo DJ’d Fatboy Slim’s – or rather, Norman Cook’s – wedding). Watch out for that video – it gets a little raunchy

“You got to get on the dance floor…Oh this party got it going on!”

Don’t look for much in the way of lyrical depth (or lyrics) there – it’s all about the funk.

For my B-side – their 2010 single Paper Romance from their album Black Light (also remixed with other songs in their White Light album that year)

As for the balance of my Top 10 Groove Armada songs:
(3) Song 4 Mutya (2007)
(4) If Everybody Looked the Same (1999)
(5) Madder (2003)
(6) Superstyling (2001)
(7) My Friend (2001)
( 8 ) Think Twice (2002)
(9) Purple Haze (2002)
(10) But I Feel Good (2003)

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk) (3) Fatboy Slim – Rockefeller Skank

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(3) FUNK: FATBOY SLIM (NORMAN COOK) –
ROCKAFELLER SKANK (1998)
B-Side: Weapon of Choice (2001)

 

Right about now – the funk soul brother! Check it out now – the funk soul brother!

And we’re in the electronic dance funk end of the funk scale, so don’t look for lyrical depth – or any lyrics beyond the above.

A prolific producer or mixer of dance music, Norman Cook has an appealing array of musical funk sub-genres attributed to him by Wikipedia – electronica, acid house, trip hop, nu-funk and the nomenclature with which I identify him, big beat.

Of course, not many people identify him as Norman Cook – he is best known by the moniker he adopted in 1996, Fatboy Slim, and under which he released the album which represented perhaps the height of his acclaim, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby. And that album featured this entry, Rockafeller Skank.

I am also partial to the following Fatboy Slim album Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, particularly my B-side selection Weapon of Choice and its video, because who doesn’t love Christopher Walken dancing?

 

And as for the rest of my Top 10 Fatboy Slim songs (including his previous incarnation as Pizzaman):
(3) Happiness (Pizzamania 1995)
(4) Sex on the Streets (Pizzamania 1995)
(5) Going Out of My Head (1997)
(6) Right Here Right Now (You’ve Come a Long Way Baby 1999)
(7) Praise You (You’ve Come a Long Way Baby 1999)
( 8 ) Sunset / Bird of Prey (Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars 2000) – I mean, come on, it samples Jim Morrison!
(9) Don’t Let the Man Get You Down (2005)
(10) That Old Pair of Jeans (2006)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk): (4) David Guetta – S*xy B*tch

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Excerpt from the video for the song

 

 

MUSIC (MOJO & FUNK): TOP 10
(4) FUNK: DAVID GUETTA –
SXY BTCH (2009)
B-Side: Sweat (2011)

 

Hmm – I’m trying to find the words to describe this song without being disrespectful. You know, as opposed to its title, which are the words they found to describe a girl without being disrespectful?

David Guetta falls in the electronic dance funk end of the funk scale and is a prolific producer or mixer of dance music. Guetta had a career playing clubs as a DJ in his native France from the 1980s and releasing his first album in 2002 but achieved international mainstream access with his fourth album One Love in 2009. And that album featured this undeniably funky single, still my personal favorite.

Close runner-up is 2011 single “Sweat” from his Nothing But the Beat album – his remix of Snoop Dogg’s “Wet”.

And the balance of my Top 10 David Guetta songs:
(3) When Love Takes Over (2009)
(4) Memories (2009)
(5) Little Bad Girl (2011)
(6) Play Hard (2013)
(7) Lovers on the Sun (2014)
( 8 ) Dangerous (2014)
(9) Flames (2018)
(10) I’m Good (Blue) (2022)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk): (5) Calvin Harris – Feel So Close

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Opening (title) shot from music video

 

(5) FUNK: CALVIN HARRIS –
FEEL SO CLOSE (2011)
B-Side: How Deep is Your Love (2015)

 

“And there’s no stopping us right now
I feel so close to you right now”

Calvin Harris falls in the electronic dance funk end of the funk scale – electronic dance music or house, sometimes termed electro pop or nu disco. He’s been a prolific producer or mixer of electronic dance music since his debut album I Created Disco in 2007 – both in the sense of number of singles and also in the profile of those singles, rising to international prominence with his third album 18 Months.

Of course, it’s electronic dance music, so don’t look for lyrical depth – or much in the way of lyrics in general, as the lyrics tend to be fairly basic verse mixed through the music. However, it is irresistibly funky.

And as for the balance of my Top 10 Calvin Harris songs:
(3) You Used to Hold Me (2010)
(4) Drinking from the Bottle (2013)
(5) Thinking About You (2013)
(6) Under Control (2013)
(7) Summer (2014)
( 8 ) Outside (2014)
(9) My Way (2016)
(10) Stay With Me (2020)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk): (9) The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face

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MUSIC (MOJO & FUNK): TOP 10

(9) FUNK: THE WEEKND –
CAN’T FEEL MY FACE (2015)
B-Side: I Feel it Coming (2016)

 

“I’m a m***********g starboy!”

Of course, that’s the titular chorus from his song Starboy (featuring Daft Punk because they make everything funkier), but it encapsulates Abel Makkonen Tesfaye a.k.a The Weeknd. Also, it is funky – but my funk favorite still goes to this 2015 single from his Beauty Behind the Madness album, my introduction to The Weeknd.

The Weeknd has been so consistently funky through the 2010s to the 2020s – and so ubiquitously funky, as each time my ears prick up for any funk recently, it’s usually The Weeknd – that I’ve had no choice but to rank him in my Top 10 Mojo & Funk (and also ultimately compile my Top 10 Weeknd songs). And how can you not like the Weeknd? We all love the weekend!

“I can’t feel my face when I’m with you
But I love it, but I love it”

Anyway, I can’t resist this tagline for “Can’t Feel My Face” from Billboard – “The Weeknd’s irresistible, Michael Jackson-esque “Can’t Feel My Face” is so perfectly crafted that it’s impossible to imagine a world or alternative reality in which this song isn’t number one”. And it’s not every music video that ends in the immolation of its singer.

As for my B-side entry, I have a soft spot for “I Feel It Coming” (once again featuring Daft Punk, again making it funkier).

“You’ve been scared of love and what it did to you
You don’t have to run, I know what you’ve been through
Just a simple touch and it can set you free
We don’t have to rush when you’re alone with me”.

As for the balance of my Top 10 The Weeknd songs:

(3) Starboy (2015). Obviously
(4) Blinding Lights (2019)
(5) Take My Breath (2020)
(6) Ariana Grande / The Weeknd – Love Me Harder (2014)
(7) The Hills (2015)
( 8 ) Save Your Tears (2020)
(9) Swedish House Mafia ft The Weeknd – Moth to a Flame (2021)
(10) Sacrifice (2022)

 

RATING: 4 STARS****
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Friday Night Funk – Top 10 Music (Mojo & Funk): (10) Doja Cat – Paint the Town Red

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Clip from the official video

 

TOP 10 MUSIC (MOJO & FUNK):

(10) DOJA CAT – PAINT THE TOWN RED (2023)

 

“I let all that get to my head

I don’t care, I paint the town red (walk on by)

Mm, she the devil

She a bad lil’ b*tch, she a rebel (walk on by)”

 

What can I say – it’s all in the sample and I just can’t, well, walk on by that sample of Dionne Warwick’s 1964 song “Walk on By”.

 

Also my usual rule for my wildcard tenth place is to award it for the best entry from the current or previous year – and Amala Ratna Zandile Diamini a.k.a. Doja Cat wins my favorite funky song from 2023, albeit narrowly beating out Rita Ora’s “Praising You” and Coi Leray “Players”. (Very narrowly for the latter as it samples one of my funk favorites – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “The Message”).

 

And who’s going to argue with the nation of Australia, at least as far as it came in first place in their hottest 100 for 2023 (by Triple J radio as part of Australia’s Broadcasting Corporation)? Or whatever the hell – literally – is going on in the video for the song…?

 

Apparently in the boom bap subgenre, the lead single from her fourth album “Scarlet” and her most successful song to date – it’s “backed by a bouncy production that sees Doja Cat rapping over a subtle brassy, finger snap-laden beat”.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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