Freak Power In Dub - The Fried Funk Food EP

boomp3.com

No bio here cuz if'n you don't know who Norman Cook is, you've either been under a rock or dead for years. If it's the latter, and you've recently noticed an increase of brains in your diet, please do the right thing and walk into a rotating helicopter blade. If it's the former, then check out the link and get a clue, boo.

Let's make something perfectly clear. I bought The Housemartins' "London 0 Hull 4" on import when it came out while I was living in the wilds of Canuckistan. I purchased "The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death" on import. I found Cook's name attached to a re-mix on the James Brown "Payback (The Final Mixdown)" EP in '88 and then noticed his name on an Eric B & Rakim single I had and thought "damn, that skinny goofy bass player from the Housemartins has a helluva funky touch!" I bought Beats International's "Let Them Bingo," "Echo Chamber" and "Excursion On The Version" immediately upon their releases and played them to death. Soon after I started playing out, I picked up anything by Freakpower and The Mighty Dub Katz on 12" or LP. I even picked up a couple Pizzamans (ugh). Then when "Everybody Loves A 303" popped up in the shop, it was clear the man was a force to be reckoned and soon after, as a DJ I reckon I was practically forced to buy his output for the floor (twist my rubber arm, as they say).

But I would trade them all in for a new full-length Freak Power In Dub album. For me, these six glorious tracks epitomise the dubbed-out psychedelic instrumental hip hop productions that were categorised tritely by the British music press as "Trip Hop." Cook takes his trademark sound sensibilities through an emotional range far beyond the grasp of his club-oriented material, creating expansive vistas with sonic atmospherics while the circuitous logic of the tracks unfold. IMHO this is the high-water mark in the genre and, along with DJ Shadow's first few Mo' Wax singles and his "Endtroducing" LP, one of its definitive examples. Grab it below and you can hear what can be done by one in a home studio with their wax, minimal gear, a big heart and a good ear.


FREAK POWER IN DUB
The Funk Fried Food EP
60 MB
192 CBR LAME mp3
VINYL RIP rip from white label

A1 Turn On, Tune In, Find Joy
A2 At Your Own Pace
A3 Sugar Lump
B1 Freakpower Is A Beautiful Thing, Baby
B2 My Heart Sings
B3 Where I'm Going

OR

69 MB
192/224/256/320 CBR LAME mp3
CD RIPS from various sources & covers from discogs.com

1 Turn On, Tune In, Find Joy
2 At Your Own Pace
3 Sugar Lump*
4 Freakpower Is A Beautiful Thing, Baby
5 My Heart Sings
6 Where I'm Going**

* Not on bonus disc, inserted in correct order to replicate vinyl track listing.
** Didn't have on any comps so re-used the vinyl rip - levels slightly higher than the rest.