Over the last year, a number of great re-edit twelves have been released by the label Small World Disco. This re-edit series has featured some solid edits from some up-and-coming re-edit masterminds including LTJ, Nicholas, Memory Man, and many others. Here is one of my favorite edits from the label in "The Wild Wild", which is a re-working of Barrabas' early seventies Latin Funk classic "Wild Safari". This edit was released back in May on the labels fifth release and was put together by someone who goes under the alias The Ivory Boy. I highly recommend checking out this release as well as all of the label's releases, as they continue to put out quality records. Enjoy!
It's Friday so let's keep it simple and sweet with the disco classic "Woman" from one of my all-time favorite groups in Barrabas. Going through the archive pages of this site, I was very shocked to find that I've never featured this song in a post until now. The song "Woman", was a huge Loft and Gallery classic back in the early to late seventies, and is probably the most recognized song from all of the group's releases. The track has that overall signature Barrabas sound, blending elements of disco, rock, and Latin instrumentation together to produce one of the most influential and played songs of the seventies. Enjoy your weekend!
One thing I find extremely hard to do is to declare all-time favorites when it comes to artists/groups, albums, and songs. For example, I know that Arthur Russell is my all-time favorite artist, however when it comes to my top five, it starts to get kind of hazy. The more I think about it however, the more that I've concluded that one of my top five favorites is the funky Latin rock band Barrabas. I've posted their music on this site many times and I find they are one of those groups that truly blurs the lines between many of my favorite music genres including disco, Latin funk/jazz, along with heavy Afro-hitting percussion rhythms. Today, I thought I would share another one of my favorite tracks of theirs in "Take It All". This funky 1975 cut represents one of the group's more hard-to-find songs to hunt down. I first heard it on Vampi Soul's 2005 Barrabas-retrospective compilation titled Musica Caliente. The double-vinyl album serves as sort of a "greatest hits" type of release for the group however, in fair criticism, some of the group's best material is missing from the release including "Woman" and "On The Road Again" among others. The other thing I question when comes to the Musica Caliente record is the accuracy when it comes to which album each song was originally included on. I own most of Barrabas' original albums and some of the back-cover information seems to be slightly inaccurate. For instance, "Take It All" was supposedly released on an album titled Desperately and according to my knowledge Desperately is a single released by the group and not an album. Regardless, the overall Vampi Soul release is solid and helps outline many of Barrabas' best and at times rarest tracks like "Take It All". Even with what I feel like are some song credit inaccuracies, I still believe Musica Caliente is a record definitely worth owning. Enjoy!
Since I do have a huge collection of music, mp3's, and mainly records, I sometimes like to go through the archives of this blog to see what I have posted and what I haven't. Recently I was going through past posts and I was shocked to find that I had never posted Barrabas' 1972 funky disco classic "Wild Safari". This track, which is a personal favorite of mine, is just one of the many classic cuts off the group's amazing self-titled record which happens to also include the loft classic "Woman" (A top five favorite of mine). The 1972 LP, is by far one of my most prized records from my collection. "Wild Safari" is the type of track that represents everything that I love so much about the group that wrote it. Gritty vocals, funky latin grooves, and a bit of a classic 70's rock feel. A sound that Barrabas definately mastered during the seventies. Overall, an amazing track from an amazing band. What more do you need?!
Over the last year, a number of great re-edit twelves have been released by the label Small World Disco. This re-edit series has featured some solid edits from some up-and-coming re-edit masterminds including LTJ, Nicholas, Memory Man, and many others. Here is one of my favorite edits from the label in "The Wild Wild", which is a re-working of Barrabas' early seventies Latin Funk classic "Wild Safari". This edit was released back in May on the labels fifth release and was put together by someone who goes under the alias The Ivory Boy. I highly recommend checking out this release as well as all of the label's releases, as they continue to put out quality records. Enjoy!
