U Don’t Know

Perpetuating the modern attempt to re-contextualize music through sampling, Programmed’s prime attraction is its floaty and bizarre soundtrack quality, which isn’t a stretch given the pair’s fascination with risk-taking production à la experimental techno label Warp Records, combined with Mills’ background making sample CDs of the percussion-loop variety. “Cyclons in Love” outdoes Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” at its own freaky game, as a lilting acoustic guitar feeds off drums, samples and vocoders. “Invisible Pedestrian” pulsates fluttering snares, swelling flange and stretches of Moog next to a moody bass riff, while “I Remember Johnny,” a blunted chillout classic if there ever was one, employs waves of reverb and echo as unintelligible, distorted vocals make it more (in)human. But it’s not just such obtuse tinkering that holds the record together; delicate pop tracks such as “Private Road” and “Swollen” (featuring the silky vocals of friend and collaborator Zoe) sit comfortably next to the album’s less straightforward moments without sounding out of place. (Stacy Osbaum)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw)Finally someone’s gotten it right. Though funk compilations are everywhere now, no one’s really tried to properly package an album that pays tribute to the music and to the artists responsible for crafting it. Many anthologies seem more like exercises in ego-preening on the part of the compilers, with almost no information given on the original musicians — as much as their songs are valued, the progenitors are left to fade into obscurity. Here’s the long-overdue corrective: The Funky 16 Corners, assembled by L.A.’s funk wunderkind Eothen “Egon” Alapatt.

The 22 cuts here represent some of the most intense, uproarious, sublime and inspired sides to emerge from the soul movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Most are
taken from forgotten, independent-label 7-inchers such as the Highlighters Band’s frenetic dance-floor mover “Funky 16 Corners” or James Reese and the Progressions’ soul-fried “Let’s Go (It’s Summertime).” From Houston’s Kashmere Stage Band — the greatest high school band ever — comes their anthem, “Kashmere,” a genius arrangement of drum snaps and scorching brass, and for more mellow fare, check Billy Wooten’s rich and warm cover of “In the Rain.” One of the bonus tracks includes Cut Chemist’s jaw-dropping “Bunky’s Pick,” a seven-minute mega-mix built off of the anthology’s inclusions.

But the music is just half the story. Alapatt interviewed members of every band represented and includes extensive liner notes on each song’s genealogy and the groups’ biographies. Add in publicity stills of the bands in all their souled-out glory, and Funky 16 Corners becomes an unearthed time capsule of invaluable worth and dedication, setting the new benchmark for what all compilations — funk or otherwise — should aspire to. (Oliver Wang)

AFunky 16 Corners tribute will be held at Leonardo’s Night Club, 831 S. La Brea Ave., on Wednesday, November 14. The show features Breakestra with original members of the Highlighters Band, Leroy and the Drivers, and Ernie and the Top Notes, as well as DJs Cut Chemist, J-Rocc, Egon and Peanut Butter Wolf.

RESISTANT
Ancient Future (Seventh Generation)

Photo by Sandra De La Loza

Good art is often political. A John Coltrane solo or a Jackson Pollock painting makes more difference than a Jesse Jackson speech (and slogans make lousy music and blockheaded posters), because art can dodge the deceit and cliché of words to strike in subtle ways. This Resistant CD has both art and slogans. They never work together, but the art succeeds separately.

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Resistant is one L.A. modern-metal band that can splash considerable funk onto its groove, and sounds best when it does. Band members “Vic, Ralph, Anthony and Katina” spill over with creative ideas, like the heavy, howling bridge of “Ball and Chain,” the ghostly, moaning intro to “Feathered Serpent,” and the way Native American chants and wonky Clavinet meld with metal guitar riffs on “Ancient Future.” Dig the muscular studio sound (recorded by hard-rock vet Schneebi and mastered by Mark Wheaton) and Anthony E.’s striking mythical-symbolic cover.

There’s also much that’s ordinary. The croaky rant-raps make the whole thing seem one-dimensional (when in fact it’s not). Too much double kick drum robs the sound of dynamics. Worst are the lyrics. “The people united will never be defeated.” “Politicians are for sale.” “Leeches sucking blood for business.” But: “We don’t have to tell you the truth/you already know so well.”

That’s right. (Greg Burk)

NYDIA ROJAS
Nydia (Hollywood)

Photo by Albert Sanchez

Local prodigy Nydia Rojas has been singing the best of ranchera music since she was 5. A leading light of the mariachi renaissance that has been taking place on this side of the border, Rojas is undoubtedly among the best vocalists in a field of great female singers. She’s been recording since she was 16, belting new songs as well as the classics of ranchera legend José Alfredo Jiménez. Now 21, she has just released Nydia, her first venture into pop.