In the words of Madeline Kahn’s character Lily von Schtupp in the movie Blazing Saddles, “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome, c’mon in.” Come along as we conclude our quest “backwards down the number line” in search of numerically titled albums available for checkout in The Seattle Public Library’s BiblioCommons catalog. For those of you just joining us, here are the links to parts one and two.
The Budos Band III – The Budos Band
Brimming with booming bass lines, complex rhythms and heavy horns, this instrumental funk album rolls nicely from the first to the final track, with each song priming your ears for what’s coming up next. The band fuses various components of jazz, funk, soul, and psychedelic rock to produce an intricate yet somewhat darkened musical soundscape with many different instruments occupying the low end of the frequency spectrum. On “Black Venom,” the guitar and bass play and repeat the same basic melody whilst an eerie swirling organ fits in behind the horns which take the lead for much of the song.
Highlights: “Black Venom” “River Serpentine” and “Budos Dirge”
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two – Beastie Boys
In 2011, the Beastie Boys blasted back onto the scene and into listener’s eardrums with Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, a sequel to an album that unfortunately never …mmm dropped. Sadly, this was the last album released by the band prior to the passing of founding member, Adam “MCA” Yauch in May of this year. On the album’s opening track “Make Some Noise,” we’re greeted with a heavily distorted noodling organ that drops into an old-school beat that really hits hard. As the album progresses the three emcees (Mike D, Adrock and MCA) deftly maneuver and muscle for rank on top of DJ Mix Master Mike’s beats, trading flows and finishing one another’s rhyming couplets with the same characteristic swagger and ease I’ve come to expect from the Beasties. From the futuristic instrumental funk of “Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament” to the simple braggadocio on “Long Burn the Fire” many of the tracks on the album envelop fresh takes on musical styles featured on past releases and would feel quite at home on previous records such as Check Your Head, Paul’s Boutique, or Hello Nasty.
Highlights: “Make Some Noise” “Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament” and “Long Burn the Fire”
One Night Stand: Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 – Sam Cooke
Our countdown concludes with yet another artist who left us much too soon, Mr. Soul, Sam Cooke. Performed in front of a raucous yet captive audience, this album captures the legendary performer at the height of his talents, about two years prior to that ill-fated night in December 1964 at the Hacienda Motel. The band never misses a beat whilst Cooke lives up to his lofty moniker, holding nothing back and truly bearing his soul, the raw emotion exploding from his vocal chords with monster truck force. The performance flows beautifully from one song to the next especially at the album’s close as “Somebody Have Mercy” segues into “Bring it on Home to Me” before Cooke carries the momentum directly into the powerful “Nothing Can Change This Love.”
Highlights: “Feel It (Don’t Fight It)” “Somebody Have Mercy” and “Bring it on Home to Me”
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