I’m bouncing to the states in less than 24 hours. I’m filled with anxiety and trying to flush at least a bit of that anxiety with a modicum of whiskey. Not too much though. Certainly don’t want to fly with a hangover. Just enough to weaken my liver a bit so when I drink on the plane tomorrow I can pass the fuck out as quickly as possible.
I really hate flying.
As I said previously, I’m going to try my damnedest to get at least a pair of posts out when I’m trapped in America. It won’t be easy though, between the nonstop family visits, jet lag, work I’ll still be doing remotely, record shopping and COPIOUS amounts of coping mechanism alcohol I’ll be consuming, I suspect it will be hard for me to find the time.
So, on the off chance that I can’t get another post out the door for another month, let’s get funky.
Dexter Wansel
Life On Mars (Paul Simpson Funkin’ On Mars Mix)
Theme From The Planets (Paul Simpson Extended Mix)
THIS. IS. THE. FUNKIEST. SHIT.
I know I will be the first and last person to ever say this about the work of Dexter Wansel, but his best stuff really reminds me of the music from the video game De Blob. That speaks less to the quality of the music of De Blob (which is actually amazing) and more to the fact that I don’t know jack about jazz-funk, especially jazz-funk from the states. My jazz-funk knowledge is limited solely to some oddball Japanese releases I’ve picked up over the years, and maybe some Herbie Hancock.
Since I know the musical tastes of the people who frequent this blog most, I’m going to assume that you’re not all that familiar with the work of Dexter Wansel. That’s cool. I’m not all that familiar with the work of Dexter Wansel. I do like saying Dexter Wansel though. Wansel. WANsel. WAAAAAAAAAAAANsel. It’s a fun name to say.
I swear I’m not high, just a little drunk.
I first discovered Wansel (waaaaaaaaaaaa- sorry I’ll stop) relatively recently, in the same way that I discover the majority of older acts that I listen to these days; I picked up his record semi-randomly at a record store, gave it a quick spin, and liked what I heard.
The record in question was 1978’s Voyager, his third album overall. That album is holy shit great. Dope bass. DOPE. The bass on the title track will steal your car, crash it into your work, and punch your boss in the face. That’s how dope it is.
DOPE.
You’re fucking lucky. That album is on iTunes for a steal, and I assume it’s on streaming services too. You need to listen to that motherfucker right now. It’s dope.
These songs are not on Voyager. They were originally on his debut album, Life On Mars. These mixes were done for a special limited-edition Record Store Day release. Since I have yet to see these tracks pop up on any digital service, I felt they were fair game to share.
These tracks are also dope. They’re not “Voyager” levels of dope. (YO THAT SONG IS DOPE). But they’re still rad as hell. Wansel plays synthesizer on these, and I guess that’s what’s supposed to be the focus here. But for me, and just like on “Voyager” what really sticks out to me is the bass. It just fucking murders me it’s so good.
The bass player on these tracks is Derrick Graves. Like Wansel, he did a lot of work for Philadelphia International Records, cropping up on albums by artists like Billy Paul and Leon Huff. Unlike Wansel though, he never got his chance to shine as a solo performer. Shame.
Enjoy the dope funk. Let it give you strength. Use it to smite your enemies and cast out your foes.