It's April 1st today but I don't think anyone needs any April Fools jokes at the moment. Instead I offer you a third Andrew Weatherall post of the week, a one- two- three of old and new. In 1992 Weatherall linked up with Talkin' Loud outfit Galliano to remix their song Skunk Funk. The resulting 12" single brought forth three remixes, the pick of which is the ten minute rumpus that is the Cabin Fever mix.
Skunk Funk (Cabin Fever)
The vocal intro, looped male/female voices appear as if coming through a fug. FX and rimshots join in and build slowly. Some drums kick in, a didgeridoo is deployed and eventually the bassline hits. At two minutes fifteen the drums and bass lock together and the mayhem ensues, a rolling, irresistible groove stopping and starting, rising and falling, a wiggy delight. There's a long fiddly guitar solo and an overall feeling of losing yourself to the rhythms, of not taking yourself too seriously and the heady sense of late night action.
I don't think there's any need to make any comment about it being titled the Cabin Fever mix but it seemed particularly relevant to our current situation.
Galliano were a bit of an acquired taste. They were beatnik, jazz loving, love bead and sandal wearing, spoken- word poetry enthusiasts with Mick Talbot on keyboards. I liked them, they seemed genuine about their interests and enthusiasms and their album of the same year, A Joyful Noise Unto the Creator, had some good tunes and was great fun. Around this time I saw them play live at the Hacienda, a fairly sparsely attended show, where they encored with a version of Kris Kros' Jump. Manchester on the whole didn't really go for acid jazz and Talkin' Loud, it seemed to be very much a London thing.
I once defused an imminent pub fight by using a line from one of their songs- 'with a pushing and a shoving you're killing all the loving'. I didn't plan to use the line, it came out of my mouth spontaneously, but it worked. The about- to- fight participant laughed and stepped down. Peace restored.
7 comments:
Always reminds me of ome of my friends comments "Do you remember that week in the 90s when we all listened to Galliano,then stopped"
Ha! Yes, it did seem a bit like that.
No idea if it was a London thing but I was in Brighton from 92-95 and the flame of acid jazz burned high the full three years. I still think of it as acid jazz obsessed, though chances are it's moved on in the last 25 years.
Ha. Yes, Brighton is very acid jazz in my mind too.
I stuck with Acid Jazz a bit longer than most...probably because I was totally unimpressed with the majority of the britpop bands on offer. Jazz Funk, which is still a WAY better way of looking at the majority of the bands under the Acid Jazz umbrella, was broad in the expanse of it's sound. Galliano was laddish and indulgent, but they backed it up with some solid tracks.
I chose Cabin Fever Dub for my tribute to Mr. Weatherall because it has always stuck with me. It is wonderfully tripped out, cut up and shuffled about.
A couple of rather splendid singles recently released on Acid Jazz, The Kevin Fingier Collective Don't Wanna Cry No More and the Ashley Beedle remix of This City by Laville
Don't know either of those but I'm always interested in Ashley Beedle's work.
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