THROWBACK 1973 || The Southside Movement "I've Been Watchin' You"

"I've Been Watchin' You" is perhaps best known for the plethora of hip hop songs the opening riff has been sampled for: Brotha Lynch Hung's "24 Deep", Diamond D's "It's Nothin'", Beastie Boys' "So What'cha Want"... the list goes on.

Starting off in Chicago as the backing band for (even more obscure) soul duo Simtec & Wylie, the Southside Movement recorded their self-titled debut in 1973 for Wand Records. The next year's follow up, Movin', produced another oft-sampled track in "Save the World". After releasing a third album in 1975, the band dissipated.

Gary Clark Jr.: "Numb" / "Ain't Messin' Round"

If "Numb" happens to be your first taste of Gary Clark Jr. you might be inclined to write the lad off as a late-to-the-party Black Keys knock off. Big mistake. "Ain't Messin' Round" - actually the first single off Clark's new album, Blak and Blu - shows the guitar slinger people have referred to as the "next Jimi Hendrix" in more of a modern soul vein, sort of a classy cross between 90's Lenny Kravitz and fellow Austinite Black Joe Lewis.

"Numb":

"Ain't Messin' Round":

The O'My's: "HoneyDip"

Ain't no pimpin' like some 70's pimpin'. The O'My's heard us perpetratin' 'bout how they don't make 'em like that anymore and they were like "oh yeah, mahfackas? Peep THIS!"

It would actually almost be worth losing your girl just to have that frame-worthy note from Milky.

You can get that Chicago Style mixtape here. First taste is on me.

KILLER COVERS || Bettye LaVette: "I'm Not the One"

These lyric videos are getting visually sophisticated enough that you wonder why they don't just go ahead and produce some legit visuals. Anyway...

Bettye LaVette is looking to further establish herself as a key interpreter of modern music with an album of covers sometime later in the fall. With announced renditions by the likes of Neil Young, K.D. Lang and Bob Dylan it's good to see her stretching beyond a predictable old school R&B palette. That said, a Black Keys cover is something you'd expect her to kill effortlessly, and that she does. That she does.

KILLER COVERS || Joss Stone: "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People"

With everyone from Duffy to Adele evoking the 60's, Joss Stone is back to remind her fellow UK singers and the world at large that she was there first. Her debut album consisted entirely of soul and funk covers from the 60's and early 70's - save for a rendition of the White Stripes' then-recent "Fell in Love with a [Boy]" - and now she's back to her roots with Soul Sessions Vol. 2. First single out the box is "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People", a dusty Chi-Lites barnburner from the early Black Power days. Look for the record July 31 on Stone'd / S-Curve Records.

KILLER COVERS || Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: "Baby"

As much as any number of current bands are doing retro sounds like 60s girl pop and 70s soul right, there's a certain amount of modernization that slips in during the songwriting process; they never really sound like a song that was both written and recorded in the era indie-band-du-jour is going for... they may get the latter correct, but it's hard to shake off all the influences that have emerged in the 30-40 years since.

Jazzanova: "Believer (Funkhaus Sessions)"

Them Krauts know how to get down. Well, sometimes. They have a way of twisting other country's art forms into something cold and inhuman, but Jazzanova aren't your typical gabber, Krautrock, etc etc. I think Guru and Brand New Heavies were both attempting their own variations on this template, but Jazzanova tend to eschew the hip hop and house influences, instead doubling down on the soul and disco, live instrumentation similarly escalating the authentic jazz funk flourishes. They've made me a believer.

THEESatisfaction: "QueenS"

THEESatisfaction is not - as the name might suggest - a Billy Childish project, nor would it be a lot cooler if it was. They are a Seattle duo creating swirling, vertigo-inducing funk/soul/rap combinations of pure psychedelic intent. "QueenS" is not about the NYC borough but instead a reference to their own self-empowerment motto, "Queens Supreme". Whatever. Just get lost in the discombulation of this head bobbing motherfucker while snacking on those neo-vintage visuals.

Pretty Lights: "We Must Go On"

Pretty Lights is the nom de plume of Derek Vincent Smith, a Colorado lad who seems to mostly DJ raves even though there's a distinctive hip hop/R&B feel to his instrumental jams.  He self-releases his tracks on a pure donation basis via Pretty Lights Music, so naturally "We Must Go On" is on the table for as much (or little) as you care to ante up for at the posted link.


Pretty Lights - We Must Go On (official music video) from Pretty Lights Music on Vimeo.