Dam Funk
Toeachizown
Stones Throw

In 1964 Bob Dylan sang (or croaked) The Times They Are a Changin, a central trope in the soundtrack of beatnik era revolution and more than 40 years on something similar appears to be happening, be it apolitical, infinitely more debatable and ever transient in today’s fragmented media world.

From beatnik fast-forward to beat-scene. The last two years has seen a shift in the cultural landscape of popular black music with rap’s hegemony giving way to an un-definable, melting of genres that Mark Fisher accurately describes in his sterling assessment of The Sa-Ra Creative Partners Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love (Wire #305) as “decay – of drum patterns, of genres, of musical history…doesn’t sound mouldy or musty, but kaleidoscopically bright, synthetically shiny.” But it took the rousing portamento of Flying Lotus’s craftsmanship on 1983 and to better exhibition on LA to cement this anti-genres popularity and bedroom producer inimitability (a junction I’m sure many hipper than thou blogs would dispute as cliché, but, fuck them it’s true) through to dubsteps various guises and finally onto Dam Funk’s excellent Toeachizown to make this transition all but complete.

The veteran LA producer prefers to work exclusively with 80s era equipment; keytar, vocoder and a cornucopia of vintage synths and drum machines, that helped first define the infectious boogie funk sound. Like a musically erudite kid in a candy store he also picks out some of the era’s most potent sound sources – from the likes of Roger Troutman, Cameo, Prince as well as Gary Numan and The Human League for wider electronic influences – and somehow makes them all his own.

Yet labelling his sound ‘retro’ will bring short shrift, especially from the man himself, and once you scratch the surface on Toeachizown I’m inclined to agree as the music reveals as much contemporary gangsta attitude as funk theory. In particular Vol 4: Hood (the album comes as 5 volume vinyl set or double CD/download), features 2 songs; Kill Dat aka Killdatmuthafu*ka and Hood Pass Intact that could both easily find there way onto Dre’s more spacial NWA productions, where lush analogue waves and sleazy synths swamp the senses. Then there are other characteristics of the album that exhibit a more holistic approach to ‘the funk’ as in One Less Day (featuring a rare guest appearance on the album by G-Shaft). Dam Funk’s ghostly vocals drift in and out of the album via vocoder allowing the songs to err carefully between cheesy and skilful compositions in a move that causes ultimately causes greater enamour for the creator (NB to producers who take their music seriously, there is something to be learnt in making it while having serious fun). It’s no surprise he has worked with high-calibre acts as diverse as Dr Dre, Animal Collective and Hudson Mohawke.

And it’s these contrasting qualities – a serious artist making insanely fun and funky music – that help make Toeachizown one of the essential albums of 2009, from one of the years most intriguing artists.

It’s ironic that one of the songs is called Fantasy (a low-key beat that raises a knowing smirk at any cheesy accusations) because it’s a trait that hip-hop has sadly lacked in recent years and perhaps Dam Funk is the man to help find it if he ever deviates from his future funk crusade.

DK

Filed under: Reviews by P.A.