#14 Parliament: Mothership Connection
It seem the heat may finally be breaking. After 3 or 4 days of near 100 degree weather here in our Nations Capital, it might finally be time to cool down. So how does one cool down in D.C.? Well with Funk music of course! Now I must admit, I don't have much funk in my collection. As you can see from my previous posts and frequently used labels, I tend to lean toward the rock side of things. But good tunes is good tunes. I wasn't that aware of George Clinton or Parliament until the movie PCU came onto my radar about 1997. I know, that's pretty sad that my gateway to funk was a movie about a bunch of preppy college kids, but whatever. As Beanie from Old School says "Columbus wasn't looking for America, my man, but that turned out to be pretty okay for everyone." On to the music!
This album is a journey though interplanetary funk, and since you will be punching many frequent flyer miles, it starts just the way it should, with a nice introduction and a few instructions on what you should be doing to fully enjoy the album. Its basically the funk equivalent of the instructions a flight attendant gives at the start of a trip on good ole Southwest Airlines. The lyrics for this song go on and on and on. The music is pretty tight though. Utilizing the full compliment of instruments we hear drums, horns, guitars, keyboards, synth and Bootsy Collins slappin' an envelope filter bass. Next up is "Star Child" which introduces George Clinton's alter ego for the album, Star Child. Honestly, story-wise, I have no clue what the hell is going on, but who cares...funk doesn't have to make sense. It kinda sounds like just a room full of people partying into the early hours of the morning and apparently they've invited you, for some reason. The rhythm remains very steady and just allows the vocals and horns to explore the intergalactic journey. If you so desire, you can get down to the real theme of the album, George Clinton has described it as placing African American's in places that seemed far out in the 1970's, including outer-space, he was after all, a self described Star Trek fan. The third track "Unfunky UFO" kicks in with strong vocals and another solid groove. The lyrics (from what I can tell) seem to imply that funk, can save the world, without, the world will die. I don't know about you, but I fear this lack of funk more than global warming. Mainly this is because George Clinton makes a stronger case than Al Gore ever did. I mean come on, he's got Bootsy Collins backin' him up...case closed! Anyway...where was I?
Oh yeah, track four..."Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication," and yes, I did copy that title from Wikipedia. I'm not typing that on my own or having some horrible attempt at auto correct ruin it. The second side begins with synthesizers flying in all directions and some interesting bass vocals. Under all this is a group of backing vocalists putting out the general rhythm of the song. The root of the song actually stems from a simple three note pattern of keyboard notes playing over and over, but you'd never know it casually listening. That's what makes Parliament so interesting, you hear something different every time you listen to this album. The chorus of the song takes a strong walking bass line and rides it all the way to the bank. What's that mean? IT MEANS IT GETS RESULTS! Track five has the simplest title on the album; "Handcuffs." This tracks struts down the street in a confident manner, possibly with a cane, just for effect. While the Rolling Stones 'swayed' down the street in a drunken stupor, "Handcuffs" makes it a much more impressive strut that commands a little more respect of our traveler. Next we roll into a song that brings back the complex titles: "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)." The bassline of this song is pretty awesome, so please, pay close attention, there will be a test later. In a few parts of the song, the bass and the drums are all that holds it together. But wow, you've never heard two instruments do so much. The album closes with "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" another bass heavy song that seems to turn up Bootsy just a little bit more. Well it seems we've reached the end, I hope you enjoyed flying on WEFUNK airlines, and we hope you'll choose WEFUNK for your next intergalactic journey.
The interesting thing about this album is the seemingly repetitive nature...repetitive to the passive listener, but give this album its due, something is always changing. While the basic rhythm does repeat and I'm sure the drummer at times is suffering from repetitive stress disorder, the rest of the band is always adding new elements and their own little pieces of flair. However you listen to this album it can deliver what you need...as a soundtrack to an evening of dancin' around the house, it offers solid grooves, rhythm and a non-stop party. As an interesting musical odyssey, it gives you complex instrumentation that changes after almost every line. If you made a list of every little nuance and small detail of the music you'd require about 500 plays and around 100 volumes of notepads. Any music that keeps you on your toes that much is surely worth listening to.
Strongest Song: Handcuffs
Weakest Song: FALSE
Song You Know: Give Up the Funk
Why You Might Hate It: you hate paying attention and dancing.
Buy
It? A great vinyl purchase, any album with this much bass deserves analog listening.
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