Friday, October 30, 2009

Sly and the Family Stone “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” (1971)

The greatest funk album ever recorded, which puts it way up there for best album, period. It’s done more than any other single pop album to change the way I listen to music, and even two years after first hearing it (yeah, I came to the riot late), I’m in awe of how it works - after all, it really shouldn’t, it’s simply too fucked up. Insular, decadent to the death, angry to exhaustion, with a bass guitar so upfront it’s unlistenable for quite some time, until you realize this is part of the album’s statement of purpose: all the crap that comes out of suburban subwoofers owes a debt to the dank, dirty vibe of the bass on this album. –Will

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