Galactic Funk (Part I)

Last post for the month. Just a few quick notes before I begin. First, I’ve decided that for format, I’m going to have just the two most recent posts showing on the page at any time. The rest will be available in the archives in the upper right-hand corner. Secondly, someone asked me if I could include sound clips on the site, and as much as I would absolutely love to do that, it would present a whole host of potential legal issues that I don’t want to deal with. Instead, I’ll try to include links to YouTube clips if they’re quality enough. Lastly, a Happy Birthday to the Small Donkey.

Ok, on with the show. I’ve been excited for this post for a long time. It’s about one of my absolute favorite bands, and will be split into two parts. It is a band of relative unknowns to most, but one that most people who know me and my musical tastes are going to have some level of familiarity with, because I’ve been destroying their anonymity for years. These guys are the modern-day masters of funk music. They are, New Orleans’ own, Galactic.

Galactic is a five-man (formerly six-man) jazz/funk group that has been around since the mid-‘90’s. They were first brought to my attention during my freshman year of college, by my musician-roommate JP. JP was an avid drummer and guitarist from Virginia, and he was very in tune with a lot of different stuff that I had just never heard in New York. Most of it was very mellow, groovy, jam-band stuff. Worth noting is that he also introduced me to John Mayer (way before he blew up), Ryan Adams, O.A.R., Ben Harper, Coldplay and others, while I’m pretty sure I introduced him to more rap music than he even knew existed (which is pretty much all I was listening to at age 18).

So anyway, since JP and I shared a mutual affinity for all things drum-related, he turned me on to this funk band Galactic, because their drummer was point-blank the best in the business. According to him, I simply had to hear it. I remember how he used this now-defunct, highly primitive file-sharing site (I can’t even remember the name of it anymore) on my computer, and came up with a couple of tracks that he thought I’d like. I remember being absolutely blown away. At that point I had only heard old-school funk. I had no idea that modern bands were playing funk like this. And let me clarify, it was not rock, or hip-hop, or anything else that had elements of funk to it. No, it was just straight up, groovy funk music. And JP was right, the drummer was intense… he filled up the track with more drum sounds than I could process, yet it didn’t sound at all cluttered. Everything fit together perfectly, in this exciting, fast-paced display of raw musical energy. Guitar solos, sax riffs, screeching organs, impossible drum solos, perfect basslines… it was unreal. The love affair was born.

Galactic started in 1994, as the brainchild of two ordinary kids from D.C. Guitarist Jeff Raines and bassist Robert Mercurio were so into music, that they decided to pick their colleges of choice, based largely on the music of the city in which the college was located (I’m sorry, but how ballsy is that!). Their love of funk and soul landed them both in New Orleans, where they sharpened their skills by immersing themselves in the local styles of jazz playing. In time they teamed up with saxophonist/guitarist Ben Ellman (a California transplant), and keyboardist Rich Vogel (a Midwest transplant). But the lineup wasn’t truly complete without the addition of a true local. As it was, that local would become the driving force behind the band’s sound, as his musical prowess was so deeply rooted in the New Orleans style of jazz, that he stands out on nearly every song this band plays. The “local” was drummer Stanton Moore, highly regarded as one of the finest drummers in the business today. And there they were… five scrawny-looking young white kids, playing funk music in the heart of New Orleans. Pretty impressive.

But once again, they couldn’t resist adding some more New Orleans flair. So the band decided that they should branch out, away from just instrumentals, and take on a vocalist. How about a hip, young superstar-in-the-making? Nope. Instead they decided to go with a local legend named Theryl “The Houseman” DeClouet, who was 20 years older than most of the band members. This proved to be the finishing touch on a formula for 7 years and 4 studio albums of great funk music, which culminated in 2003 with DeClouet’s retirement, and the band’s rise to semi-mainstream fame.

Now for the sound. I know I seem to throw this phrase around quite a bit, but this music truly is like nothing else I’ve heard. Like I stated earlier, a lot of bands out there can summon up a funky sound, but they’re not really playing funk music. These guys play real funk, and they make it sound modern. And it all starts with the drums. Stanton Moore plays the straight-up, unabashedly groovy and syncopated New Orleans style of drumming. Lots of snare drum, great exchanges with the snare and the hi-hat, backbeats on the bass drum that seem out of place at first, and an overall ability to make complex patterns sound easy, while never over-doing it and drowning out his bandmates. He’s one of the few musicians out there who can approach an instrument with a “less-is-more” style of play that will actually allow him to rip through immensely complicated rhythms without anyone even noticing. I have to laugh a little when people anoint flashier players as the kings or queens or their instruments, when in reality most of those players are a lot of gimmicks with little substance. Not the case here. Moore’s play is almost always flawless, and provides the funky framework over which the other Galactic members can lay down their respective grooves. (Check out this video for some of Moore's great licks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYBmaXztl1I&feature=related).

Moore’s rhythmic counterpart is undoubtedly bassist Robert Mercurio (in many of today’s musical genres, it is the bass and drums that are considered the “rhythm section”, whereas years ago there might have also been a piano, horn(s), second guitar, etc. due to the fact that there were more instruments available to play the lead parts). Like Moore, Mercurio’s play is understated yet highly sophisticated. He generally finds a groove and sticks to it throughout a song, thus never disrupting the flow that he and Moore set for that song. Some bass players try to do too much, and wind up just confusing the ear as to what the actual melody is. Mercurio stays in his zone and allows the listener to settle into the groove. This is not to say that he’s just a space-filler though. His basslines are undeniably funky. Whether he’s picking, slapping, or playing chords, the guy is always funky. And that of course makes every other instrument sound that much funkier.

As for the other band members? Well, I’m going to hold off on that part since 1) I have another post in which to discuss them, 2) I think it might be cool for you guys to approach some of their songs with a very defined perspective (here, the rhythm section perspective) as opposed to just an overall view, and 3) this post would become obnoxiously long.

So enough yapping, let’s get on with some suggestions. I’m going to provide some selections from their earlier stuff on this post, and I’m not going to bombard you with analysis… I figure you can all analyze for yourselves. The sound is very groovy, and highly influenced by the New Orleans style of jazz. It’s much lighter than their more recent sound, which retains more elements of hip-hop. Some tracks here have vocals, and others are instrumentals, but all of them are incredible. Great driving music. Enjoy.

Song(s) For The Week:

“Baker’s Dozen” from Late For The Future: The first Galactic song I ever heard. Unreal. Moore’s snare drum dominates the track, and Raines’ guitar solo is one of the cleanest you’ll ever hear. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t carry the original, only live versions. I’ll have to see what I can do about that.

“Something’s Wrong This Picture” from Coolin’ Off: This is the first song Theryl DeClouet wrote with Galactic. It’s a perfect introductory track for listeners, as his jazzy, lounge-singer voice is toned down to fit within the band’s sonic landscape. I love Mercurio’s slap bass, and Ellman’s sax solo.

“Doo Rag” from Coolin’ Off: A classic Galactic song. It has a very laid back sound, with all of the members uniting to form one smooth groove. Mercurio and Moore stay in the background, where they are joined by Raines on guitar, setting the stage for Ellman and Vogel to take the lead. This is probably one of the most ambitious uses of the keyboard that I have heard out of Galactic. It’s 6+ minutes of mellow funk.

“Running Man” from Late For The Future: Another vocal track. This is one of the most laid-back Galactic songs out there. iTunes doesn’t even carry it, but I figured I’d throw it in just in case someone found it. A very relaxing song.

“Everybody Wants Some (Part 1)” from Coolin’ Off: Like “Doo Rag” this is a very mellow song, indicative of their early sound. I think Moore’s play really shines on this song, as does a guest trombone spot from Mark Mullins. Enjoy your listening!

The Lyrical Miracle

Whoops. Looks like I showed up a little late to this week’s party. Please forgive me. I attribute this week’s tardiness, and last week’s lone posting, to a 3-day excursion to Baltimore, followed by an impromptu 1.5-day excursion to Philly. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, but not nearly enough music. I was actually fairly deprived these past 5-6 days. I have to admit, the lack of music, as well as the severe lack of sleep, made me quite crabby. Luckily, a combined 7 hours of driving gave me a small window of opportunity to get some good listening in.

So what was on the menu this time around? Plenty of randomness… some metal, some funk, some jazz, some old Dave Matthews (very unusual for me), some Hall & Oates (I heard “Private Eyes” in CVS the other night and couldn’t resist busting out that CD… laugh if you must), and surprisingly very little RHCP or Incubus. But the tracks that were repeated with the greatest frequency were by a guy that I doubt any of you have ever heard of.

I first heard of Don McCloskey while interning at Sony. You may remember me referring to my boss Josh in a previous post, as he was usually my source for new Sony music. Right next to Josh was my other “boss” (he didn’t like me calling him that) Patrick. Patrick always had music playing too, but usually at a much lower volume, allowing Josh’s stuff to dominate. This wasn’t a huge problem though, because I spent a ton of time in Patrick’s office asking dumb questions, thereby giving myself a chance to hear what he had on. There was lots of heavy stuff (which I enjoyed), the occasional old school rap block (which he played on days when we needed a pick-me-up) and a fair amount of folk-type stuff, which I normally don’t really care for all that much.



One of these folk performers, however, Patrick made a specific point to have me listen to. It was this guy Don McCloskey, who was either a friend of Patrick’s, or a friend of a friend, or something like that… I forget. Either way, Patrick knew the guy, went to his shows pretty regularly, owned his albums, and played his stuff at work quite a bit. He seemed really into it, and was really excited to share it with me. At first I was skeptical, since I knew that traditional folk music didn’t do very much for me, but as it turned out this guy was far from traditional.

I’ll never forget when I first heard McCloskey's music in Patrick’s office. I really had no idea what to make of him. A folk singer? Yea, I guess… there were banjos, and guitars, and whatnot… but then also this guy with a nasal-sounding voice, rapping about “G’s” and “hoes”… And the craziest thing was that it was actually really good! I mean, I have to admit, the guy sounded like he was white as snow, but you couldn’t help but sit there and say “wow, that was a pretty good rhyme right there.” And if you weren’t immediately impressed by his musical prowess, you at least had to laugh. It was pretty clear that this guy was going for a comical and satirical sound just as much as he was pure folk. So we sat there and listened. We remarked on how impressive his rhyme schemes were at some points… we laughed at the incredibly lewd lyrics he used in certain songs… we credited him for his ability to retain true folk elements in songs that sounded more hip-hop than anything else… and I walked away with one more new artist to check out… which I did.

You’re probably sick of hearing this, but man do those iTunes gift cards come in handy. A few months ago I had a few bucks left over on one of them, so I decided to buy some Don McCloskey tracks, and give them a more thorough listen than the few occasional moments listening in, or outside of, Pat’s office. I would liken him to… I don’t really know. There are elements of G. Love, Sublime, Phish… literally tons of different musicians, as well as different musical styles. The main elements in McCloskey’s music are folk and country, mixed in with hip-hop and funk. Not to be left out are blues, jazz, rock, soul, ska, and plenty of others. It doesn’t seem like it would mix particularly well, but it does. And that has to be attributed to the man behind the microphone.

McCloskey can sing. As I mentioned earlier, he has a nasal-y voice, but he also has a significant vocal range that allows him to not only hit a wide array of notes, but also bend them, thereby giving him the ability to sing in a blues-ier manner. Additionally, he is able to provide the “twang” that is traditional in folk music (look no further than Bob Dylan), on those songs that are intended to convey a more folk-sounding style.

But in reality, his traditional singing is not the real draw. It’s the rapping. Would anyone mistake this guy for Jay-Z? No. But he’s still pretty good. And the reason I say that, is because he’s not actually trying to be a rapper. He’s being what he is: a folk singer who incorporates rapping into his folk music, and does it in a fun, almost self-deprecating way. His phrasing is solid. His lyrics are clever, and humorous. And perhaps most importantly, he can “rap” by actually singing his rhymes in a generally monotone voice that will fluctuate between the various notes that make up the blues scale. It makes the rapping sound melodic, and brings it back into the realm of that bluesy, country-sounding folk music, just with the obvious undertones of hip-hop.

I’m afraid I might have ranted too much about genre crossovers here, so let me take a step back for everyone’s sake. Don McCloskey is good. He’s a lot of fun to listen to. You may like folk music, and hate rap music. You may hate country, and love jazz. You may like protest songs, and despise songs that appeal to sophomoric humor. This guy does all of it, and he does it in a way that seems to me to be very appealing across the board. It’s the kind of stuff that I would gladly put on at a backyard barbeque, and listen to all the way through while we all just sat in the sun and drank a few beers. As it was, this music proved to be the victor of my weekend playlist. I had to go from New York to Baltimore, Baltimore to Philly, and then Philly back to New York. Lots of music was played in the car, but Don McCloskey by far got the most pressing of the rewind button. Sure it’s really random, and sure it’s not someone that you’ve heard of… but so what? One of the best things about music is all the secrets it has. Check this guy out. Who knows? He might not be a secret forever.

Song(s) For The Week: “Return of the Freak Emcee” from Northern Liberties; “Live From the Other Side” from Bombs Over Bristol; and “This Just In” from Northern Liberties. “Return of the Freak Emcee” is my favorite McCloskey song. It is the perfect song to illustrate his style, capturing all of the elements I mentioned above. His satire starts right away as he dedicates the song to all those “fake-ass folk singers” who talk about how “phat and large they’re living.” Then as his monologue builds to a head, the band kicks in with this funky bassline, and jazz-style keyboard harmony in the chorus. To keep the folk sound, an acoustic guitar is laid over the top of the bass, creating that jam-band sound. McCloskey shows us his humorous but impressive rapping style, while also demonstrating his prowess as a singer as well. Really, it’s just a fun song. He bends notes like a blues singer, reaches for high notes like a soul singer, raps about goofy stuff like a comedian, and sings about his plight like a true folk singer. All over the place and I like it. “Live From the Other Side” is a little less heavy on the hip-hop elements, but is fairly similar to “Freak Emcee”. The use of blues-tuned guitars creates a very mellow feel, and McCloskey himself softens his voice, to create a looser sounding rap style. Of note is his second verse, where he plays both himself and his muse in an argument. Also, I can’t help but be struck by the random rock riff in the solo section. Just more organized chaos I guess. Lastly is “This Just In.” This is McCloskey’s traditional folk. Country blues guitars, bass, and drums… McCloskey putting the folk twang on his voice… lyrics that attack Bush, the handling of Katrina, American healthcare, etc… I like this song a lot. It’s far away from the other two suggestions on this list, but it shows McCloskey as a true folk singer, ranting about social awareness. And his lyrics here are actually quite good… I love the line about the doctor telling the patient “you’re too poor to get sick.” Hope you guys give these a try, and if you do I hope you enjoy. Many thanks to Pat for introducing me.