Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Happy 50th anniversary to Superfly! One of, if not the, greatest soundtracks of all time and a ground-breaking film to boot! New tunes from Khruangbin, Say She She, Robohands, Robert Glasper, and Ikebe Shakedown highlight our funky first, then Dan Lloyd even on vacation can't stay away with new tunes from Screeching Weasel, Off!, and Ginger Wildheart to close the door with a slam!
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Aug 4, 2022
The Drop with Danno
Curtis Mayfield – No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song)
Say She She – NORMA
Paul McCartney – Pretty Boys (Khruangbin remix)
Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Scream!
Fort Frances – Nothing Ever Change In America
Ikebe Shakedown – Waiting for the Storm
Robohands – Nightshade
Elijah Nang feat nogymx – Shaped by the Sea
Robert Glasper feat Masego – All Masks
Chaka Khan – Woman Like Me
Gloria Scott – All of the Time, You’re On My Mind
Vieux Farka Toure & Khruangbin – Savanne
Idris Muhammad – Brother, You Know You’re Doing Wrong
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight as the drizzle spout high above our heads just can’t seem to finally shut down, and as usual it’s time to get funky as we have struck the magic hour here on Thursday evening? It’s our Sampled & AMPED weekly edish for tonight’s programmatics, and all the new funk punk soul rock is heading for your face right now. Danno here doing my usual unusual, of course salutations to all of you back with the listening whether that’s now or later on with the streamers. Lots of great new stuff for our Sampled first hour tonight, with new tunes out from Robert Glasper, Khruangbin, Chaka Khan, and Say She She to really make the meters bump. Gwangju’s man on the beat Dan Lloyd is back for hour two in order to give you a taste of what’s new in the rock world and also highlight what’s coming up this weekend in Incheon at the Pentaport Music Festival, so big things definitely afoot to close the show. So, let’s get to the Superfly history to begin the program tonight as this is a landmark date in music history with The Gentle Giant releasing his most iconic album, and we’ll discuss the illicit goods after the initial powdering. THIS is The Drop.
Curtis Mayfield – No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song)
The first fourth of our nightly game of audio mirrors is in full effect for this evening’s weekly funk punk soul rock showcase. What’s up Drop Tops (KOR), Danno here making things happen as we have lit the fire for our Sampled funk & soul first hour, and Dan Lloyd busts it up with our AMPED rock feature coming up in parts 3 & 4.
Just kicked off with some big history for tonight’s TIGHT (or) feature from Curtis Mayfield as today marks 50 years since Superfly and its accompanying soundtrack made film & soul music history in 1972.
Of course, the entirety of the album was produced, arranged, and performed by The Gentle Giant, taking on the drug culture and violence portrayed in the film with vivid commentary.
The film is about a cocaine dealer in New York City named Priest who is looking for one last score so he can get out of the business before it kills him. He is a complex character at a time when African Americans are rarely portrayed as such on film. He's a drug dealer, but he's also winning the game, and thus admired. Mayfield, who with his band The Impressions had a huge impact on the Civil Rights movement with songs like "Keep On Pushing" and "People Get Ready," gives Priest a musical voice through the songs.
The film, a low-budget affair, is very popular in the black community, but the soundtrack has a far greater reach, climbing to #1 in America, where it stays for four weeks, making Mayfield a bona fide star in his own right after his time with The Impressions. An amazing film and piece of music history, rest in power to Curtis Mayfield and happy 50th to Superfly!
Just a quick reminder…#9870 (50/100)…stream
Now that we have the history and shameless promo out of the way, let’s get to the (mostly) new stuff for the first block of funk tonight. We have Say She She up next followed by Paul McCartney and Brooklyn Funk Essentials, all of which we’ll talk about after the bumps but for now THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday.
____
Back at it on The Drop for tonight’s final part 1 airbreak. What is the deal this evening, Drop Tops (Korean)? Danno here on the mic in GFN HQ studio 2, we just had our first triangle of new and recents for our Sampled funk & soul first hour this Thursday night. Dan Lloyd runs down the rock for our AMPED feature in hour 2 later on, but let’s get to what just happened to your ears, that was…
Say She She – NORMA (…the latest from the Piya Malik-fronted femme power massive, just out this week from Colemine Records. For all you trainspotters, this is an album to pay attention to coming up in September, as Say She She drop their debut LP Prism on September 23. This song is an urgent call to action in light of the US Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v Wade recently, with the band encouraging people to get active and up the pressure on this heinous ruling, and we would advise the same.)
Brooklyn Funk Essentials feat Alison Limerick – Scream! (…in light of the Roe ruling, I’m sure a lot of people not just in the US but all over the world were indeed doing as such. This tune initially dropped on July 13 from the extra veteran group, with the accompanying video for the tune just popping up on feeds one week ago today. Co-writer and vocalist Alison Limerick also explains that suppressing your expression over a long period of time is an impossibility, so just let it out when you feel it.)
Paul McCartney – Pretty Boys (Khruangbin remix) (…from the eternal Beatles frontman’s album of remixes released last year, III Imagined. This one sees extra vocals and remix duties handles by the Houston extraterrestrial trio named after a Thai flying machine, who once again will be in Seoul November 12 if you wanna see them do it live, and we got a new one from them to wrap the hour with as well tonight.)
Quick …#9870, social media.
Moving towards the first break tonight, we have a couple of seriously lowdown joints to rock before we hit the buzzer. Up next is Fort Frances with a joint called Nothing Ever Change in America, and then we’ll go back to Brooklyn and Colemine with the latest from Ikebe Shakedown and a tune called Waiting for the Storm, part of a 7” release with another cut called Adonai so vinyl addicts and DJ’s, do mark it. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday night.
Fort Frances – Nothing Ever Change In America
Ikebe Shakedown – Waiting For The Storm
II.
The Drop commences the sauteed 2nd stanza of our nightly radiological orchestra. Danno here conducting things to start part 2, and we just had a couple instrumental quick-hitters to cold open right there. As always we’re coming at you from studio 2 in downtown Gwangju with the funk & soul for our Sampled first hour, and Dan Lloyd once again makes his presence loudly known for our AMPED weekly which all happens after we hit the top of the clock again. To the recap of what you just heard, that was...
Robohands – Nightshade (…this is the opening tune from the newest album from the London-based drummer Andy Baxter. The album is called Violet and just came out last Wednesday via King Underground if you’d like to hear more from one of our favorites. Now, speaking of favorites, that was…)
Elijah Nang feat nogymx – Shaped by the Sea (…seriously, the artists making lo-fi stuff are just on the move constantly. Nogymx is based in Cheongju and originally from Ireland, and we have true name Jimmy Dunne joining us on the show October 14 for a premiere of a few tunes off the upcoming album dropping that next week.)
Now moving along, we have some big names coming up in the next block of taste testers, with Robert Glasper and Masego holding open the door for Chaka Khan and Gloria Scott. We’ll talk about these three low-down go-slow heavy hitters after the impact but for now THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday.
__________
The Drop moves along tonight, and we are into the final airbreak of the first half on our Sampled funk & soul Thursday foray. What’s happening, Drop Gangsters? (Kor) Danno making sure to keep things funky in hour 1, and Dan Lloyd will be throwing rocks via the magic of radio shortly for our AMPED rock weekly. As to what just happened, some big names going there in that last block ...
Robert Glasper feat Masego – All Masks (…now, earlier this year we saw the Houston man on the keys drop the third installation of the famed Black Radio album series, and this one presages the deluxe edition of the LP. Glasper and Masego on this tune present a story of unhappiness with a masked world that lacks the light of simple human smiles. The deluxe edition of Black Radio III is out later this fall.)
Chaka Khan – Woman Like Me (…this the premiere single from the upcoming 13th album from Chicago’s iconic soul singer. Khan says this song is about true empowerment, stating that what she sees online with how ladies are connecting with one another and presenting themselves to the world saddens her. No release date on that LP, so we’ll have to wait for details.)
Gloria Scott – All of the Time, You’re On My Mind (…starting and ending with Houston on this block with the unbelievable Gloria Scott, now in her 76th year since being born in Port Arthur. It’s been 56 years since Scott made her debut in 1964 with the man who’d become Sly Stone later, but as long as she’s been in the music game she’s never once had a solo album just singles mostly on Casablanca Records. That all changes September 30, as the So Wonderful LP drops in full then. Congrats to Gloria Scott, an amazing vocalist that never seemed to get full due from the biz.)
Moving along to halftime, we have a couple of super favorites to close with, and we’ll begin with Khruangbin teaming up with Vieux Farka Toure on a very West African joint called Savanne. This joint presages the band’s next album called Ali, which is dedicated to Toure’s father who is one of the most influential guitarists out of Africa of all time, and that LP drops September 23 via Dead Oceans. After that we have something from the dearly departed Idris Muhammad to close the first half called Brother, You Know You’re Doing Wrong, which is from the Peace and Rhythm LP, originally released in 1971 but just reissued this week. Rest in power supreme to a great jazz drummer, and we’ll close the first half. This is The Drop and we are at the jump.
Vieux Farka Toure & Khruangbin – Savanne
Idris Muhammad – Brother, You Know You’re Doing Wrong
III & IV AMPED
Anti-Flag – LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE.
Flatliners – Rat King
Bush – More Than Machines
Screeching Weasel – Kill to Cure
Guerilla Toss – Zum Herz
Brutus - Liar
Off! – War Above Los Angeles
The Wonder Years – Low Tide
Vampire Weekend – Harmony Hall
Deafheaven – In Blur
Mogwai – I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead
Ginger Wildheart and the Sinners – Lately, Always
Anti-Flag – LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE.
Anti-Flag have announced a new album, Lies They Tell Our Children, out January 6th via Spinefarm. The punk vets also shared the video for lead single “Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die.” featuring Silverstein’s Shane Told.
Lyrically, the new song tackles the issue of climate change — “Can anybody hear me, does anybody care?” — words set against the band’s familiar melodic punk sound.
Anti-Flag even posted the full lyrics and an essay that inspired the song, providing context to help drive home its message. The burning globe in the final scene in the video (directed by INDECLINE Activist Art Collective) sums it up.
In addition to Shane Told, the guest-heavy album also features notable appearances by Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath, Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach, Bad Religion’s Brian Baker, and more.
Flatliners – Rat King
Canadian punks The Flatliners have shared the third single off their first album in five years, New Ruin, and this one works in some grungy anthemicism. New Ruin is out this week.
Bush – More Than Machines
Bush have announced their new album, The Art of Survival, out October 7th via BMG. The veterans rockers have also shared the single “More Than Machines,” which arrives just ahead of a US tour in support of Alice in Chains and Breaking Benjamin (grab your tickets here).
To record The Art of Survival, Bush reunited with producer Erik Ron, who contributed to two tracks on the band’s last album, 2020’s The Kingdom. They also collaborated with film composer and producer Tyler Bates on a pair of songs. Their ninth studio LP centers around themes of human resiliency while also nodding to the group’s own endurance in the rock scene.
“Instead of being mournful or self-piteous, this is about the success stories of humanity’s survival against the odds,” frontman Gavin Rossdale said in a statement. “People just find a way to push through. We’ve all obviously suffered in varying degrees. I think the nature of life is the art of survival. Everyone is being tested all of the time, but we find a way.”
He continued, “In recent memory, we’ve made major strides and shown great resilience in the face of war, endless instances of racism, gender politics, a pandemic, and a melting pot of what we’ve experienced. For me, The Art of Survival encompasses all of this.”
Screeching Weasel – Kill to Cure
14th album The Awful Disclosures of Screeching Weasel came out July 15th (I missed it because this band does zero promotion these days). Like previous album Some Freaks of Atavism it’s tight, hooky and has the band sounding better and more revitalised than they have done for much of their career. Following the demise of genre mainstays Teenage Bottlerocket, these guys have rightfully reclaimed the flag as frontrunners of the Ramones-style 3 chord pop punk song.
Guerilla Toss – Zum Herz
Krautrock duo NEU! are getting an anniversary box set celebrating 50 years since the release of their debut album. NEU! 50! is out September 23 and includes NEU!, NEU! 2!, and NEU! 75, plus a NEU! Tribute Album and a NEU!-themed stencil and booklet. The tribute album features remixes by the National, Man Man, Mogwai, Alexis Taylor, and more. Plus, there’s an original, NEU!-inspired song by New York art-rock crew Guerilla Toss called “Zum Herz.”
AD
“NEU! is one of the most important bands of the 20th century, and a personal favorite of GT’s,” the band said in a statement. “Their influence on psych, rock, punk, and electronic music is enormous. The lineage of so many great bands can be traced back to NEU!. We are thrilled to be part of this compilation. I like to think that the U.S. / U.K created Rock music, but the Germans made it forever weird. Thanks, NEU!”
Brutus – Liar
Belgian hard-rock trio Brutus returned last month with a heavy-hitting new song, “Dust” — their first new music since the 2020 standalone track “Sand.” Now, Brutus is back with another song — the equally explosive “Liar” — and news of a new album, Unison Life, arriving on October 21. It’s their third album overall, following 2019’s Nest. “Liar” also has a music video, which the band filmed in Morocco.
Opening up about Unison Life, singer Stefanie Mannaerts says: “I wanted every song to feel like the last song we’ll ever write. It killed me inside because it’s almost an impossibly high standard, but that was my personal goal for this album. It was a two-year quest of trying to do better.”
Off! – War Above Los Angeles
OFF!, the band led by singer Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, ex-Black Flag) and guitarist Dimitri Coats (ex-Burning Brides), have announced their first album in eight years. The LP, titled Free LSD, will arrive on September 30th, and features the just-released new single “War Above Los Angeles.”
Free LSD marks a new era for the group, who recently welcomed new drummer Justin Brown (Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Herbie Hancock) and new bassist Autry Fulbright II (…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead) to the lineup.
The band will support the new album with a fall North American tour. The outing kicks off October 24th in Phoenix, Arizona, and runs through a December 17th gig in Los Angeles. Tickets for select shows are available via Ticketmaster beginning Friday (July 29th), with a pre-sale starting Thursday at 10 a.m. local time.
Morris said of the new album, “After making music for as long as I have, it was time to use a palette that includes lime green, turquoise, and magenta instead of the typical colors and shades that were involved in all of the other breakneck and car chase scenarios. Miles Davis with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters as opposed to [Descendents’] Milo Goes to College.”
The “War Above Los Angeles” video stars the band alongside Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow, pro skater Don Nguyen, model Chloe Dykstra, Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro, and others. It offers a taste of a feature film, also titled Free LSD, that the band is currently working on.
The Wonder Years – Low Tide
American pop-punk staples The Wonder Years have released a self-reflective anthem taking stock of fears and anxieties on the passed pandemic months.
The band’s new hit, Low Tide, will appear on their massively-anticipated seventh studio record The Hum Goes On Forever. (September 23)
Vocalist Dan Campbell has described the band's new song as his "pandemic depression song". Written in snapshots over the course of several months, Low Tide captures a fraction of the many questions and fears that ran through theirs – and likely several other artists and creatives – minds over the last few years.
"It’s searching for some semblance of normalcy through small, newly formed rituals. It’s being unsure if I’ll ever get to do the thing I love again, if live music will ever come back. It’s deciding to just give up and then deciding not to give up and then deciding to give up again in alternating intervals. It’s watching old movies and unconsciously thinking, 'Oh my god, where are your masks?' when people are in public places because a deep anxiety now exists within me that may never fully leave. You know, all the normal stuff."
Vampire Weekend – Harmony Hall
Deafheaven – In Blur
Mogwai – I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead
Three of the small handful of non-Korean acts performing at this weekend’s Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon. Vampire Weekend headline the main stage on Saturday, Deafhaven and Mogwai head the bill on the second stage on Saturday/Sunday respectively. Japanese Breakfast is the only real other Western name of note. It’s slim pickings but that’s to be expected after the pandemic-forced hiatus. Tickets are still available (I didn’t check, but why wouldn’t they be).
Ginger Wildheart and the Sinners – Lately, Always
Few rock n’ roll musicians come to mind who you can say work harder and accomplish more in the process than Ginger Wildheart. From single to single, album to album, tour to tour, and project to project, this man consistently delivers the goods. And, just when you think you’ve heard the latest from Wildheart, he surprises you with new music, like today, with the unveiling of Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners’ brand new single and music video for “Lately, Always.”
The song will be included on an upcoming self-titled album that’s been given an October 7th release date via Little Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. Ginger and his Sinners’ bandmates have been hard at work on this new record since forming in the summer of 2019, so it is with great satisfaction that they now have the pleasure of unveiling it to the world.