Alan Wilkis is an electro/funk/rock artist out of Brooklyn, New York whose tracks on his new EP ‘Pink and Purple‘ are reminiscent of Prince playing with Cybotron. Hand claps and synth bass cascade over pure pop seduction. The first track ‘Snuggle Up to Nail Down’ has the artist harmonizing with himself through a talk box with the finest 80′s synths grooving and glitching in the background. The next track ‘N.I.C.E’ sounds a bit like Rick James with Prince on synth bass. Yes I just used Prince again as a reference point. ‘Gotta Get You Back’ uses a good old fashion clean hook ala Stevie Wonder and some baroque harpsichord breakdowns. The Stevie Wonder vibe continues onto the title track ‘Pink and Purple’ until the track explodes into some 80′s solo style guitar riffing. ‘Dance with You’ continues the party in 80′s pop bliss style with ascending dance funk melodies.The final track ‘Time Machine’ sounds like a solo ballad from Martin Gore from Depeche Mode. Overall if you’re looking to get a house party started with an electro-funk slant, Alan Wilkis’ ‘Pink and Purple’ will not dissapoint, it’s electro-funk with a retro-futuristic edge.
June 17, 2009
Funk Up Your Life with Alan Wilkis!
August 1, 2007
It’s Not Delivery, It’s Chromeo
With everyone from Justice to Kavinski aping the electro-funk idealized 80′s sound it’s time for it’s true masters to descend and retake the throne. That’s right, Chromeo are back, with all their trademark vocoder and funky smoothness. Dave 1 and P-Thugg have crafted an album that, dare I say exceeds their debut. Everything from the saxophone riffs to the transcendent keyboard work “Fancy Footwork” is a lesson in getting down, the ultra funky way.
Right off the bat Chromeo explode with the pompousness of a rap group telling stories of girls co-opted into bed because of their infatuations with older men (i.e. Dave 1). If you listen through the non stop involuntary dance provoking beats you’ll notice that a lot of effort has been put into making the tracks on this album actual songs, not just a collection of mind blowing beats. It’s true that you can hear all their influences as they come about, from Michael Jackson, to Herbie Hancock, to Rick James, to Prince it doesn’t make them any less great. If there was a battle for funkiest breakdown, “Call Me Up” would dominate. The Prince-tastic “Outta Sight” will have you turning purple out on the dance floor. Heck, Chromeo even pull off a full on power ballad in “Mama’s Boy”. This goes to show that right now, there is nobody funkier than Chromeo.
July 7, 2007
Acceptable in the 80′s
Calvin Harris is a fly spectacled up and coming electro dance/funk musician that recently was a featured artist on Myspace, and rightly so, since his infectious dance anthems echo the late Rick James while seeming to inhabit the space between power pop slams and twinkling electro funk jams. I don’t know what it is about music in 2007, but there’s so much of it that’s so good, especially the new artists like Calvin Harris. The resurgence in electro-dance music this year is as much quality as it is quality.
Anyway, back to Mr. Harris, his music glides on 80′s inspired nostalgia and a variety of electronic instrumentation like computer voices and a virtual bunker full of synthesizers. The bass in particular rises and falls to induce maximum dancefloor accessibility. What stands out the most though is the intense personality that he conveys through his alternating classy British singing voice and flirtatious falsetto. The track “The Girls” features some of that flirtatiousness as he describes all of the different types of women he likes, needless to say the list is quite complete. Another song that explodes with woozy dancefloor drive is the nostalgic “Acceptable in 80′s” which utilizes the awkward hits and backwards synths that might remind you of Thomas Dolby. Calvin Harris isn’t just a nonstop party monster, he takes the time to slow it down and play some jams for the ladies like smooth, smooth “Love Souvenir” that could easily be mistaken for Beck when he’s seducing Jenny and her sister. The sweeping rhythmic ballad “Electro Man” shows how much range an electro artist can have while still inhabiting that precious space we like to call “Electro”. That and it sounds like a David Bowie techno remix, so how can you go wrong? You can say what you want about Calvin Harris, but the man knows how to harness the power of the 808 cowbell, and that power is mighty.
The Girls Video (Best Video since the Rakes’ “22 Grand Job”):
MP3 – Acceptable in the 80′s – Calvin Harris
MP3 – The Girls – Calvin Harris
