A teenage Jamie Hodge enchanted the international underground-dance community in 1993 with his debut 12-inch as Born Under a Rhyming Planet, Analog: Heaven. Techno figurehead Richie Hawtin released Hodge’s music on his Plus 8 label after the Chicago producer played him some original recordings—he dropped in on Hawtin in Ontario at the end of a […]
Tag: funk
Star Creature keeps the party going with The Chicago Boogie Vol. 3
I’ve long admired Chicago indie label Star Creature Universal Vibrations for its efforts to push the synth-heavy sounds of boogie and modern funk and bolster the international underground community that loves them. The label focuses on contemporary artists and releases, but it also maintains an indispensable archival project in the form of its ongoing Chicago […]
The modern soul of the O’My’s sounds smoother than ever on No Swimming
As the O’My’s, singer-guitarist Maceo Vidal-Haymes and keyboardist Nick Hennessey carefully control the heat they apply to their luxurious contemporary take on soul, so that it smolders instead of burning off the roof. The Chicago duo mostly stay cool and low-key on their latest EP, No Swimming. During the songs’ hushed passages, Vidal-Haymes’s almost hornlike […]
Cimafunk brings his uplifting Afro-Cuban funk fusions to Chicago in advance of El Alimento
Erik Alejandro Rodriguez, who performs as Cimafunk, is a prominent figure in a rising generation of Cuban artists, and his fusions of Afro-Cuban musical traditions with funk, hip-hop, and African rhythms have a fresh and uplifting vibe. Rodriguez’s stage name comes from the Spanish word cimarrón, which translates to “wild” or “untamed” and in the […]
Jupiter & Okwess capture the musical anarchy of their performances on Na Kozonga
My first impression of Jupiter Bokondji and his band Okwess was that their sound resembled Fishbone filtered through traditional African music. That’s not to say that the players in this Congolese ensemble actually take any cues from the legendary ska-punk band—rather, both groups combine African rhythms with rock, funk, and the occasional jazzy flourish. Jupiter […]
Chicago producer Vince Kaichan steers footwork toward serenity on Lost in Time
Chicago electronic producer Vince Kaichan is an omnivorous listener—or at least that’s the impression I get from the hodgepodge of styles in his own music. For roughly a decade now, he’s tussled with chiptune melodies, jazz-influenced lite-funk grooves, and serrated funk carioca rhythms. Recently, Kaichan has taken a shine to footwork, and his years of […]
Chicago polymath Cam Be melds funk, R&B, and hip-hop to lift up struggling spirits
Chicago composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Cam Be draws on his community to invigorate his already bold musical ideas. On his new second album, Summer in September (on his own Camovement label), Cam and an ensemble of friends create immediately gratifying fusions of soul, funk, hip-hop, and R&B. Feel-good jam “Fade Away” opens with 16 people […]
Tank & the Bangas embrace connection and the wacky side of isolation on Friend Goals
When New Orleans band Tank & the Bangas invited their friends and family to help them cover Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s pop classic “What the World Needs Now Is Love” in January, they embraced the song’s earnest call for kindness, sprinkled in spoken word urging people to come together in peace, and wrapped up […]
Bless the Mad share their private pantheon of Black Chicago music
Production duo Bless the Mad discuss the classic hip-hop, soul, gospel, and jazz records that inspired the reverent sonic collage on their debut album.
Mr. Bungle re-form after a 20-year absence and get right back to trolling
I sometimes wonder if Mr. Bungle have been trolling their fans since day one. Their self-titled debut full-length, released in 1991 by Warner Brothers, is a blur of funk, ska, world music, and death metal that flips from Morbid Angel-influenced riffs to zany circus music and back on a dime. Formed by high school friends […]
Fantastic Negrito merges rootsy sounds on his new Have You Lost Your Mind?
Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Xavier Dphrepaulezz, better known as Fantastic Negrito, takes us on a trip through his consciousness on his latest album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Cooking Vinyl/Blackball Universe). He confronts heavy issues such as mental illness, addiction, and gun violence, and filters them all through the lens of his own life […]
The return of Captain Sky
Chicago funk superhero Captain Sky releases his first album in 40 years—and this time his mission includes mentoring Black teenagers on the south side.
Chicago rapper Ric Wilson and Los Angeles producer Terrace Martin invigorate disco, soul, and funk on a new collaborative EP
Chicago rapper and prison abolitionist Ric Wilson knows the joy of combing through history for jewels of knowledge that enrich his connection to his hometown’s multifaceted Black communities. He also understands how to incorporate sounds from the past into contemporary music. Last year he found a kindred spirit in Terrace Martin, a Los Angeles jazz […]
Pieces of Peace cut most of their brilliant soul-funk for other people’s records
Chicago soul-funk band Pieces of Peace didn’t put out their only album till 35 years after they broke up.
Little-known Chicago blues-rock wizard Zach Prather has found his crowd in Europe
Thanks in part to a long partnership with the late Cash McCall, Prather has played with the likes of Willie Dixon, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Etta James.