Not that we expect any of y’all to remember this, but we left you hanging a couple of months back. See, we dug up a copy of Lee Mason’s “Shady Blues”, which we first fell in love with as a much-used hip-hop sample. And at the conclusion of that long-ago post, we promised to “follow up soon with a couple of posts on contemporary cuts that rely on Mason’s lazy groove.”
But as is our occasional wont, alas, we forgot all about that promise—we blame an overly hectic summer of work, work, work. But now that we’re enjoying a pre-Labor Day lull, we thought we’d make good on our vow by sharing Pacewon’s “I Declare War.” If you’re more of a visual sort, the somewhat odd video can be viewed here. Be forewarned that the music in the vid doesn’t kick in until the one-minute mark, and that it features an inexplicable appearance by Jon Lovitz.
We’re not done with “Shady Blues,” by the way. There’s a great Lootpack tune that borrows Mason’s riff, too. We’ll have it to you at some point in the not-too-distant future. Promise.
p m // Sep 5, 2009 at 12:34 am
as much as i love the drunken flute stylings of the original, the lootpack track improves on it — adding the swoony soul intro, the sirens, and the loopy, looping lyrics.
i like the lootpack track best as mixed out of rjd2 on the belle and sebastian ‘late night tales’ mix (http://www.latenight-tales.co.uk/product/belle-and-sebastian/). you might not expect a twee anglo indie band to come up with such an impressively deep and eclectic mix, but there it is. worth your time and/or money to track down, no doubt.
Brendan I. Koerner // Sep 8, 2009 at 10:40 am
@p m: Thanks a mil for the B&S rec. I was a fan of theirs back during my D.C. days some ten years ago, but I’ve lost track of their more recent projects. Gotta check out that “Late Night Tales” mix.