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Just when I thought I'd heard everything,
"George Clinton" throws a "concept" Funk
album at me. This turns out to be pretty entertaining, since
on top of having a wonderful mix of tracks that span everything
from Heavy Metal to Blues, with Reggae, Rap, Soul, and a bunch
of other stuff mixed in, now I have to worry about finding the
theme that links all the songs. Great!
"Dope Dogs" is about, well, Dope
Dogs. Which seems like a normal subject when taking into account
George's fascination for drug laws in the U.S. Since I'm barely
old enough to remember how horrible disco was (I refuse to say
"Disco Music," no way), I never had the opportunity
of learning the difference between disco and funk. Many years
later, as I learned that cool music did not start with MTV, I
discovered a neat little documentary that covered most of the
seventies where I first heard "George Clinton, and I was
blown away - which happens to my reaction to "Dope Dogs."
The first track, "Dog Star (Fly On)"
is very loud, slow, and I would dare say, "bluesy."
The title track is "U.S. Custom Coast Guard Dope Dog,"
in which he explains how the drug sniffing dogs are trained to
"have the habit." Again, it's a slow track, but this
time it has none of the blues and loud guitar rifts of "Dog
Star." "Dope Dog . . ." is the kind of slow-beat-soul
that everybody wants his/her R&B record to have, but almost
nobody gets it right. All you wannabe's, take notice. This is
how it's done!
The true funk starts with "Some Next
Shit" and "Just Say Ding (Databoy)." It then gets
complicated, because not only are you dealing with R&B, rap
and run- of-the-mill blues, but now the mix gets spiced-up with
reggae and glam. Sometimes this is subtle, like in "Help
Scottie, Help (I'm Tweaking and I can't Beam Up)."
I could go on and on, finding even more
little things thrown into the mix, but what I can tell you is
that this is one great CD. For those of you that like Funk, R&B,
and even adventurous Blues fans that are looking for something
with a bit of a twist, check out "Dope Dogs." You'll
be glad you did! |
