The gospel of Funk with Prophet

Here’s to another big week of music! Read on, click through to our Spotify playlist and enjoy it all on 2SER.

SERvin’ Up! – w/c May 14, 2018

Beach House – 7 (Feature Album)
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Prophet – Wanna Be Your Man
Blank Realm – Last Seen
La Luz – Floating Features
Good Morning – Prize // Reward
Wooden Shjips – V.
Sarah Mary Chadwick – Sugar Still Melts in the Rain
Gold Connections – Popular Fiction
Jessica Risker – I See You Among the Stars
Leon Bridges – Good Thing

Let’s start off the elusive and underground funk master out of San Francisco who calls himself Prophet. Garnering a cult following amongst funk aficionados and vinyl collectors is his 1984 album ‘Right Time’. With only around 1000 copies ever being pressed, it’s become a rare and prized find. You can count Stones Throw Records founder Chris Manak (aka Peanut Butter Wolf) as a Prophet fan and add in a chance meeting between the two, we now have a Wanna Be Your Man, a new Prophet record almost 35 years later. Hear effervescent boogie and funktronica with an undeniable 80s sheen, bubbling with little oddball melodies, synth-driven hooks and manic bass lines. Think early Prince x Dam Funk x Madlib, the latter less of a surprise when you’ve got Mndsgn on production duties too.

It’s been a few years since we last heard from Brisbane’s Blank Realm but they’ve returned with a new record called Last Seen. It’s an adventurous and bold album, moving away from the jangle-rock of its predecessors but somehow not entirely unexpected. Hear textured and gothic electronica with a healthy dose of drone and ambient. At times it’s fairly jarring but incredibly well balanced with sprawling synths and reverbed guitars moving around warped and atmospheric retro drum machines. You know when artists change direction and sometimes it doesn’t quite work out? This isn’t one of those instances. A welcome change indeed.

<a href="http://hobbiesgalore.bandcamp.com/album/last-seen">Last Seen by Blank Realm</a>

Jessica Risker who originally hails from Chicago just released a stunning second album called I See You Among the Stars. It sounds like a drifting, psych-folk lullaby but by no means sleep inducing. There’s a real comforting feeling throughout with a couple of ominous and melancholic moments but totally immersive. If you’re a fan of storytelling artists like Nick Drake or Sibylle Baier, you will dig this.