Up, Bustle & Out
City Breakers-18 Frames Per Second
(Groove Attack, 2006)
www.grooveattack.com

“Rainbow Town,” “Sheppard and his Flock,” “5000cc Revolutionary (Dub),” “City Breakers (Dub)” and “Paramos Ghost (A Dusty Town of Whispers)”. That twenty minutes of music outta seventy might not look like bunches, but in-fact is. Those titles are densely produced and edited to modern day dub standards and perhaps even those of twenty five years ago. The eighties and dance music heavily influenced the development of latter day Jamaican music and subsequently this Up, Bustle & Out release. Now each individual is apt to make his or her own decision as to whether 70’s titles or the 80’s style are more to one’s taste. Up, Bustle & Out have decided they like both. City Breakers is with out question a dance album, so each track will slither its way into your soul and move you around from the insides.  There is some plain sly dub on this slab, as well as some ska on “Sheppard,” though.  But apart from the tracks previously mentioned, there’s not a great deal of listenability here.  Take it to a club and see what happens otherwise, give King Tubby or Keith Hudson some money instead.

V.A.
Movements – 14 Deep Funk Pearls
(Tramp Records, 2005)
www.tramprecords.com

DJ Tobias Kirmayer apparently has an extensive funk seven-inch collection and through his label, Tramp, felt the need to share it with the world. Most of the groups on here never released a full album and after a listen you can hear why. None of the tracks are bad, in-fact they’re all pretty funktastic, but when compared to their contemporaries (The MG’s or Pucho), don’t sound as tight. That isn’t the case on all tracks as on the Guy Morris track. “Cool It” represents the most ambitious melody, making the track sound more jazzy than funky. That’s a good combo, one that’s maintained throughout a hefty portion of this compilation. There’s some unabashed soul music on here and a few really nice Latin-Jazz numbers. The Soul Shakers dispense the shakiest offering. “You Ain’t My Brother” sounds as if it might fall apart at any moment and the chorus is almost in key, but not quit. However, the overall effect is good-time-music. So, the lack of professionalism can’t really be a complaint. As a matter of fact on a number of offerings, you can hear the bands having a good time, like on the Rick & The Entire World number, which closes with someone yelling, “Whatsa matter, you stoned or what?” The stand out, though, is “Look What You Done to Me” by Sheila Skipworth.  Even though there are only two female vocalists on this funk slab, Skipworth offers up one of the funkier tracks with a soothing flute line and some of the best drumming on the album. Randolph Brothers Plus again show-off the female vocals accompanied by a flute loop, which works nicely alongside the wah-wah guitar solo. No tracks worthy of skipping. Send this German money.  Just make sure he doesn’t spend it on ecstasy or tanks.