DJ Assault - MrMuthafukka

DJ Assault, MrMuthaFukka excerpt (YSI link)

I realize that this week has been a nice chance to establish what this blog's all about, what sort of music everyone can expect down the road. Pound for Pound For Dummies, what have you. For the perfect follow-up to our look at Chicago ghettohouse, we head to Detroit (shout out to JH-B and my bol Hank Greenberg) and the world of ghettotech. While he's not the only dude working in this genre (and his tracks probably aren't even the best), DJ Assault has to be one of the main people responsible for bringing it out of Detroit to the rest of the world.

MrMuthaFukka is the perfect intro, a CD devoted to the best of the Assault Rifle Records label that Assault and Mr. 'De founded. It's a decent mix, covers lots of the most famous tracks to come out. The ending is a disappointment, as Assault turns things over to a new female vocalist signing who she sings over jungle beats (No, I'm not kidding). From there, it only gets worse, as there's another breakbeat-y speed rap track, nearly 4 minutes of Assault talking dirty in a whisper-y voice that will have you cringing or vomiting and some terrible rap songs. The rest of the CD is a nice intro to the Assault mixtape, with lots of stark, filthy funk tunes, classics like "Ass N Titties," "Asses Jigglin" and "Hoez Get Naked," pointless interludes and Assault's g-d awful rapping.

I've taken a good stretch from an otherwise average mix to give everyone a taste of ghettotech and its mix sound, which have surprisingly varied sounds. Check out Assault's own site to buy more of his stuff, including the 12" singles that everyone needs in their life.

Disco D -Fuck Me On The Dancefloor

Disco D, "Fuck Me On The Dancefloor" (YSI link)

Disco D, "You Need Another Drink" (YSI link)

Disco D, "You Need Another Drink (dirty dub)" (YSI link)

One year and a day ago, Dave Shayman took his own life. I've taken this hard, despite not knowing the guy, just as someone who respected and admired the music of Disco D and has struggled with mental illness. I don't have anything more to say about this a year later, it still seems senseless and sad and makes me wish that we had a country more willing to confront and treat mental illness. In lieu of a lack of words, I wanted to pay respects by putting up one his most famous singles, the Fuck Me On The Dancefloor 12," remind people of his extraordinary talent.

For me, this was the stuff I loved most. I know that his hip-hop productions were probably more skilled and brought him more attention, but the ghettotech releases are not surprisingly where I came to know about Disco D and still brings me back. One listen to "Fuck Me On The Dancefloor" and I think you will hear how he was bringing a hybrid of those genres here, with Princess Superstar rapping, D adding scratches throughout and generally bringing a little more bounce than the harder, straight ghettotech sound. "Need Another Drink" is my personal favorite, a little more traditional with the minimal drums and the repeating vocals. Disco adds this great sort of burping bassline though that gives this one a little extra funkiness that you don't hear with a lot of this Detroit stuff.

I know that this isn't an adequate tribute for one person's life, but not sure there's anything else to do but keep his music out there, keep his spirit alive and remind others that there are too many people leaving us way too soon.

Detroit Grand Pubahs - Sandwiches

Pastrami and rye! We can make sandwiches!

Detroit Grand Pubahs, "Sandwiches (original 12" mix)" (YSI link)

Detroit Grand Pubahs, "Sandwiches (Krafty Kuts mix)" (YSI link)

Detroit Grand Pubahs, "Sandwiches (Bloated "Quarter Pounder" mix)" (YSI link)

Detroit Grand Pubahs, "Sandwiches (Bloated "Evil Bread" dub)"

Time for some late-night posting, can't think of a better time of night to put up Detroit Grand Pubah's "Sandwiches," to be honest. I feel like this bootyesque song should be playing at some strip club right now, albeit a very strange one, where, I'm picturing, the strippers and the pervy guys are all on mushrooms. Not totally why I'm imagining that, guess it's the helium vocals that give me a tripped out sense. I started listening to this one again recently, after hearing it on the Claude VonStroke Essential Mix, and it's been on straight repeat for days. It's proof that it ain't all lush techno in Detroit; this here picks up the booty house sound with a jackin' beat and less punishing sound than the ghettotech one. It's one of those wonderfully simple songs that finds a place somewhere in your brain cortex and never leaves.

The remixes don't really come close to the original 12" mix, but they're nice additions. The Krafty Kuts mix is my favorite, as it adds some delayed synths and a more breakbeat feel which picks the pace up. I couldn't find much info about the artist called Bloated, as he or she only had a few remixes in 1999 and 2000. It's a shame, as s/he comes with two original takes that veer quite far from the original. The "Quarter Pounder" mix turns into an electro-funk take, with this little guitar lick giving it a little 70s funk porno funk vibe. The rubbery bass and shuffling drums never let up, making this a nice extended version. The "Evil Bread" does feature some delay stuff and vocal trickery, but it's got a pretty 4/4 beat preventing from being the dub you might expect.

P.S. Who wants to come with me to the new Second Ave. Deli or Ben's next week? We can talk about disco and bass and housing issues and the awesome Celebrity Rehab show on VH-1! Yeah! It'll be fun.

Model 500 - No UFO's

Model 500, "No UFO's (vocal)" (YSI link)

Model 500, "No UFO's (instrumental)" (YSI link)

I hinted at a new theme this week and it begins now. We're gonna pay tribute to one of the great American cities and one of the spiritual homes for Pound for Pound, Detroit. I'm a little embarrassed that I haven't done this sooner, but the extra time has given me a chance to dig a little deeper into the music that has come out of the city in the past two decades. I want to dedicate all of these posts to one of its native daughters, JH-B, and all of the people who haven't run and still live in that city and try to bring it back to its former glory.

I can't think of a better place to start our exploration than with one of the most important artists in the history of electronic & dance music and a Pound for Pound legend, Juan Atkins. Considered by most to be the driving force behind the development of the Detroit techno sound, Atkins' vision and drive would envelop the entire city and change the face of electronic music forever. We'll hopefully discuss this more in time, dig deeper into the early history of Detroit techno. If anyone out there would like to add on or provide some guidance for me, I'd love to hear from you.

Atkins recorded under many aliases, but the Model 500 one might be the most influential in techno terms. Originally released in 1985, "No UFO's" was the first release on Atkins' own Metroplex and the second 12" Atkins put out under the moniker. I feel like techno is the most intimidating of electronic genres; I mean, it has always been for me. I imagine hard, relentless beats and a sexless world, overrun by microgenres and stoicism. For anyone else who has always felt intimidated, this might be a good starting place, at the roots. The vocal version is a classic, futuristic music that takes you like 40 years in the future when we are all flying around and have personal robots. A lifeless voice talks about paranoid conspiracies, while a sick, rubbery bassline melts your face.

Let me end with a cool quote about Detroit and its history from Atkins that I came across in this brief, but brilliant, interview:

"Berry Gordy built the Motown sound on the same principles as the conveyor belt system at Ford's. Today their plants don't work that way -- they use robots and computers to make the cars. I'm probably more interested in Ford's robots than in Berry Gordy's music."