TDR Mix of the Week : Dam Funk
Dam-Funk is the man behind the current boogie craze that has been infecting the music message boards, blogs, magazines, but most importantly the clubs. It seems like you can’t go to any hip club or event and not hear some boogie or modern soul being spun by some new upstart DJ. So what makes this boogie sound so damn infectious? Well, who doesn’t like Prince? Or P Funk? Many could chalk up Dam’s success to the 80’s nostalgia trip which many in the music industry seem to have been riding for at least the last few years, but that is a narrow view which omits all the details. Although his DJ sets are an authentic portrait of a certain time in the early 80’s where Slave, Prince and other lesser known artists dominated black airwaves, the music he makes is another animal indeed.
Dam’s personal productions are hard slabs of synth heavy grooves that recall LA sunsets, smoking joints by the Pacific Ocean, and late night drives into the oblivion of the Los Angeles maze. He is a keyboardist by trade and you can hear it in these tracks as he bends notes, arpeggiates chords and rides the space funk train over beats that would make Roger and Zapp proud. Dam Funk is an innovator and an adept promoter of his music, how else could this boogie sound have gotten so much press in so little time? Well, he has been lovingly collecting this music for many years and his legendary nights at the Funkmosphere in Los Angeles are a testament to that. It’s not surprising Madlib and Co. signed him to Stones Throw; it has been a nice addition to their already impressive roster. He put together this mix for BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, all original productions of his own and it is a treat. Get familiar.
