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Cookin' with gas on a Thursday night as per yoozjsh with Danno providing the funk & soul heat while Dan Lloyd obliterates all before him with the rock bombs.
"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.
Nov 4, 2021
The Drop with Danno
The Isley Brothers – Here We Go Again, Pt 1 & 2
Todd Rundgren & The Roots – Godiva Girl
Kowloon – The Sun
Otis Kane feat India Shawn – Only You (Revised)
Sectiontoo feat Bird Language & Ghost Funk Orchestra – Walk Right
THEHONESTGUY – Lost To The Summer
Arvin Ghasami – The Preacher
Bill Frisell – 1968
Common Saints – Dreams
Fabich feat Fika – Midnight
Bathe – Bicoastal
Freddie Hubbard – Pensativa – Live at Club Marchal, NYC 1965)
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight, and we are ready to waft everything as it is time for our Sampled & AMPED weekly, with this Thursday evening laid out in its own particular fashion as November 4, 2021. This is Danno on the microphone magic from studio 2 GFN HQ in downtown Gwangju, how do you do? As is the case most any Thursday night after 8 and prior to Dan Lloyd’s power & personality hour, we let all the aromas emanate with our Sampled funk & soul first hour. We got new tunes this week from Otis Kane, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Fika and so many more along with our own touches of old school biz. Naturally after we hit 9 bells, Dan Lloyd has all the new rock you can take while still staying within CDC guidelines, with fresh cuts out from Franz Ferdinand, Geese, and of course The War On Drugs (what an album, man). But that’s all for later and right now we celebrate the 30th anniversary of some of our very favorites being inducted into the Rock Hall, but for now here we go again as THIS is The Drop.
The Isley Brothers – Here We Go Again Pt 1 & 2
The Drop has pressed the red button and the merry-go-round of newness spins away and we have officially begun this week’s Sampled funk & soul soiree. Danno here of course, with lots of new stuff to check out from major and on-the-rise artists this week, but for now it’s all about the history and that was our TIGHT (or) feature to begin the show tonight.
That was The Isley Brothers with both parts of Here We Go Again, which still smooths its way forward below these words I speak to you, released on Go All The Way in 1980. And we played that because today marks the 30th anniversary of the famed Ohio brothers being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame along with a sloo of legends including Jimi Hendrix, Bobby Blue Bland, Booker T & The MG’s, Johnny Cash, along with Sam & Dave. This was the rock hall’s 7th class of inductees and all of those are hard to argue with, most of them there’s no question as to worthiness.
And of course, this was what made choosing the opener exceedingly difficult tonight for our funk & soul show, I could have easily played something from any of those artists to open that could have worked, but we do have a certain aesthetic with the other new tunes to rock tonight, so no slight to anyone listed there, it was merely a choice of flow.
And we’ll talk more about this year’s rock hall inductees in hour 2 with Dan Lloyd once the weekly chaos commences with our AMPED feature.
#9870 (50/100)…SM…podcast.
Now, as we just discussed, let’s get to some of the new & recent for this week’s Sampled sesh. Up next we have rock hall inductee Todd Rundgren teaming up with The Roots and then we’ll follow that up with Kowloon & Otis Kane to get all City of Angels about it. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday night.
____
The Drop returns this evening as we stretch & spin towards the finality of our first quarter. Danno here of course, assuring the rpm’s are just right no pitch changes, and we are in the thick of our Sampled funk & soul Thursday hour presently, with Dan Lloyd approaching for our 2nd hour rock feast which starts after we hit the top of the clock again. For now, let’s run down that first triad of tunes...
Todd Rundgren & The Roots – Godiva Girl (…the newly minted Rock Hall inductee teams up with The Roots, and we’ll get into the background of that in just a sec. This is the first single to the artist’s upcoming Space Force LP, which is due out next year and features a variety of collabs with the likes of Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Narcy, Sparks, and others. This tune specifically was inspired by Rundgren playing with the band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon previously in 2011.)
Kowloon – The Sun (…this is the latest from LA-based Kowloon, and a tune we didn’t sleep on but just couldn’t find the right spot to play last week. But as usual, Todd Rundgren saves the day. Been a busy 2021 for Kowloon with several great singles releases, and hoping to hear more from him soon.)
Otis Kane feat India Shawn – Only You (Revised) (…another week, another great couple of bits from LA’s Otis Kane, who is seriously on the rise. He just got featured on a hmmmm…let’s say Three Stars commercial, and now we have this, which is a little retouch of the original.)
Approaching the first jump tonight, let’s try to get in two more tunes on the air here that will be there in full on the podcast version. Up next is rapper sectiontoo teaming up with Bird Language and Ghost Funk Orchestra on a super nice new cut called Walk Right, and we’ll close with THEHONESTGUY and a tune called Lost to the Summer. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday night.
Sectiontoo feat Bird Language & Ghost Funk Orchestra – Walk Right*
THEHONESTGUY – Lost to the Summer
II.
The Drop continues and we are into the 2nd quarter of this evening’s game of audio mirrors after another super nice late fall day. What’s going on tonight Drop Gangsters (KOR)? Danno here naturally, spinning the stankola since it is Thursday, and for the same reason Dan Lloyd will join us with all his rock favorites for parts 3 & 4 later on. For now though, let’s run down that pair of openers to our 2nd fourth...
Arvin Ghasemi – The Preacher (…this was a pleasant discovery this week, and a very indie artist kind of just making his way. Not a lot of background here, but big up to the feature on the New Funk & Soul Weekly Spotify playlist for the discovery.)
Bill Frisell – 1968 (…this appears on a 2004 LP called Unspeakable, but the artist has been around since the 1980’s while working with ECM records as he came up. Great jazz guitarist, do check if you enjoyed that bit of biz.)
Now, moving onto the next block we have plenty of new biz to go through, with Common Saints up next to be followed by Fabich and Bathe. Of course, we’ll discuss all of this good newness side opposite the soundings. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday.
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Back on The Drop for the final airbreak of the first half tonight. Danno here, going through our usual eclectic selections for our Sampled funk & soul first hour sesh, and Dan Lloyd joins us in just a bit for our weekly AMPED rock sortee as well, which starts after 9pm. Now, as far as what we just let swerve in the atmosphere, that was...
Common Saints – Dreams (…for those unfamiliar, this is the new alterego of Charlie J. Perry. He’s been a producer for the likes of BTS, Jorja Smith, and many others. Common Saints is inspired by what he calls the golden age of studio sounds from 1960 to 1985.)
Fabich feat Fika – Midnight (…an interesting track here that the recently minted friends recorded live in London with zero samples or other trickery. Fika recently released a very good collab EP with vocalist Bambie called Coffee & Clouds, if you’d like to hear more from them.)
Bathe - Bicoastal (…like Fika, another duo right here but hailing from Brooklyn. This is the title track to their sophomore LP, which just came out on October 15. I read a review of the album the headline of which kind of summed up their sound perfectly, saying, “Bathe wants to make music you can live in.” Exactly.)
So, to finish the first half we have our new edition of The Damyang Drop coming out this evening, so I wanted to highlight a live recording from 1965 by Freddie Hubbard called Pensativa. This is a super long 22 minute experience, and we’ll let it roll on the podcast version as the crowd shouts and howls at Club Marchal. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled & AMPED Thursday and it is halftime.
Freddie Hubbard – Pensativa (Live at Club Marchal NYC 1965)
III & IV AMPED
Frank Turner – Non Serviam
Franz Ferdinand – Billy Goodbye
Comeback Kid – Heavy Steps
Spoon – The Hardest Cut
Porcupine Tree - Harridan
Foo Fighters – My Hero
Geese - Projector
Kasabian – ALYGATYR
Yard Act – Land of the Blind
The War On Drugs – Harmonia's Dream
Frank Turner – Non Serviam
Frank Turner is pulling no punches on his latest song, though you might want to let your limbs fly after taking a listen to "Non Serviam." The track clocks in at just under two minutes, but that's plenty of time to get you riled up with a feverish rant that could easily start more than a few pits at shows. Turner lands a few punches, taking on those not ready to meet the fight to stand for your rights head on. Born out of frustration, simply put the song lays it all on the table.
"Wasn't kidding when I said this album goes in a bit harder," stated Turner upon announcing the song's release on social media. Indeed it does pack more of a punch, which is something that is expected to be the case with a majority of the material from his FTHC album, expected to arrive on Feb. 11.
Speaking earlier this year via a livestream with fans, Turner teased, "The whole vibe of this record sonically is to go to recording in a more aggressive direction," later remarking that he's also written more songs for this new album than he's done in years.
Franz Ferdinand – Billy Goodbye
Franz Ferdinand have announced a greatest hits collection entitled Hits to the Head. Out March 11th, 2022 via Domino, the album compiles the best of the Scottish rockers’ 20-year career while also adding two new songs to their discography. To mark the occasion, the band has shared the first of the new tracks, “Billy Goodbye.” Stream the song below.
Hits to the Head follows 2018’s Always Ascending. At 20 tracks, the compilation follows Franz Ferdinand from their aughts post-punk revival success to the present day, from first single “Darts of Pleasure” and breakout hit “Take Me Out” to deep cuts like “Outsiders” and “Glimpse of Love.”
In a statement, lead singer Alex Kapranos compared compiling greatest hits to preparing for a show, explaining, “It’s the same as writing a set-list for a festival: you want to play the songs you know people want to hear. The hits. Bring the hits to the head. The heart. The feet. That means obvious singles, but also songs you know have a special meaning for both band and audience like “Outsiders.” We also added two new songs, recorded last year: “Billy Goodbye” and “Curious,” both co-produced at the last stage with Stuart Price. I have friends who believe you’re somehow not a ‘real’ fan if you own a best of rather than a discography. I disagree. I think of my parents’ record collection as a kid. I loved their compilation LPs. I am so grateful that they had Changes or Rolled Gold. Those LPs were my entrance point. My introduction.”
Comeback Kid – Heavy Steps
Comeback Kid have announced their seventh album.
The follow-up to 2017's 'Outsider' is called 'Heavy Steps' and will arrive on January 21 via Nuclear Blast worldwide, and New Damage Records in Canada.
Written and recorded at Private Ear Recording Studio in the band's originating city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the record finds the hardcore veterans realigning with producer John Paul Peters, who worked on their debut LP, 'Turn It Around'.
There's also contributions from Grammy Award-winning mixer and longtime fan Will Putney, along with Gojira's Joe Duplantier.
To celebrate the news, the Canadian hardcore veterans have shared the record's title track and its comedic, Kevin Keegan-directed accompanying video. Packed with heavy, aggressive riffs and punky angst, the song follows the previously unveiled cut No Easy Way Out. Vocalist Andrew Neufeld said:
"I think of our new single Heavy Steps as a bold statement of a riff right off the bat, and lyrically coming from an unhinged perspective about tearing through life. Instinct over reason - without even realizing how easily our worlds could implode from under our feet. A bit of a "just test me" type sentiment is being echoed in this song."
Spoon – The Hardest Cut
Twenty-five years on, Spoon is still keeping things fresh. The band’s most recent new album, 2017’s Hot Thoughts, found the Texas rockers digging into dance music and electronics; before that, 2014’s career-high They Want My Soul featured lush, baroque arrangements like “Inside Out.” Now, the band is pivoting again, turning to guitar-forward classic rock on its upcoming tenth album, Lucifer on the Sofa, out February 11, 2022. “It’s the sound of classic rock as written by a guy who never did get Eric Clapton,” lead singer-songwriter Britt Daniel said in a statement. The first offering, “The Hardest Cut,” makes good on that promise. It’s one of Spoon’s hardest-rocking songs ever, pairing heavy detuned guitars and a jaunty solo (inspired by ZZ Top, per Daniel) with another of the band’s expectedly catchy choruses. The eerie rock-concert–meets–slasher-film music video also makes good on the song’s title, arriving with near-perfect timing just days before Halloween. It’s almost enough to forgive all that time without new Spoon.
Porcupine Tree - Harridan
English prog rockers Porcupine Tree have announced their new album CLOSURE/CONTINUATION, out June 24th, 2022 via Music for Nations/Megaforce Records. Marking the band’s first new music in more than a dozen years, it’s preceded by the lead single “Harridan.”
Now comprised of Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri, and Gavin Harrison, Porcupine Tree last released the Grammy-nominated The Incident in 2009. They went on hiatus following their biggest live show to date at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2010.
In a press statement, the group explained they first started working on songs appearing on the new album shortly after dropping The Incident:
“‘Harridan’ and a few of the other new songs have been in play since shortly after the release of The Incident. They initially lived on a hard drive in a slowly growing computer file marked PT2012, later renamed PT2015, PT2018, and so on. There were times when we even forgot they were there, and times when they nagged us to finish them to see where they would take us. Listening to the finished pieces, it was clear that this wasn’t like any of our work outside of the band — the combined DNA of the people behind the music meant these tracks were forming what was undeniably, unmistakably, obviously a Porcupine Tree record. You’ll hear all of that DNA flowing right through ‘Harridan.'”
Foo Fighters – My Hero
Congrats to the Foo Fighters, who have now entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band were revealed as nominees last fall, their first eligible year for induction, and were ultimately named to the Rock Hall induction class earlier this year. Doing the honors of inducting the group was Sir Paul McCartney, who used his induction speech to draw some parallels between his own career trajectory and that of Dave Grohl. "We had a great time with our groups, but eventually tragedy happened and my group broke up. Same happened with Dave," stated McCartney at one point. "His group broke up under tragic circumstances. So the question is, what do you do now? We both were presented with that question. In my case, I said, 'Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.' So I did that. Dave’s group broke up, what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me," McCartney humorously questioned.
Geese - Projector
Title track from the debut album, released last week. NME called it one of the year's most thrilling rock debuts. It's certainly accomplished for a band so young. This song is very Strokes-esque in terms of the guitar playing and singer Cameron Winter's vocal stylings, but the album reveals there is more to the band's sound than just aping their New York contemporaries.
Kasabian – ALYGATYR
Kasabian have shared their new single ALYGATYR.
The Leicester band recently made a comeback to the stage and now they have shared a slice of their new material, which marks the first since the departure of former frontman Tom Meighan.
Written by Serge Pizzorno, produced by Serge and Fraser T Smith, and mixed by Spike Stent, ALYGATYR represents an exciting new chapter for the band.
The single sees Serge up front delivering just over three minutes of the adrenaline-fuelled anthem, which still has that classic Kasabian trademark swagger.
Yard Act – Land of the Blind
Next year, UK post-punk crew Yard Act will release their debut album, The Overload. So far, we’ve heard the album’s title track, and now we have a follow-up, “Land Of The Blind,” which also has a music video.
Here’s what lead vocalist James Smith had to say about the new single:
“Land Of The Blind” is a song about the art of illusion and how self-confidence can really inspire conviction in a trick. Confidence is such a powerful tool and we are so often willing to believe what we are told by the most confident people in the room because the alternative of doubting them is to exhaust ourselves labouring the point by trying to talk louder than them. Nobody wants that. Most people just want to get on with enjoying their short lives with as little stress as they possibly can. So, exhausting as it still is, closing your eyes whilst you let the mad bastards do their stupid tricks often seems the most reasonable price to pay.
The War On Drugs – Harmonia's Dream
One of the many standouts from the excellent I Don't Live Here Anymore, which has received near-universal praise from critics. It doesn't stray too far from the band's other releases and still owes a debt of gratitude to Springsteen, Petty, Simple Minds etc, but there are few acts making this kind of grandiose, heartfelt rock these days and none do it better than TWOD.