Up today is another collaborative split from The Debo Band and Kiddid making things his own on the remix B-Side. Just saw that Debo has a double album coming out on Subpop in about a month, crazy departure for that label but good to hear these guys spreading out to new audiences and across two discs...it all started here with Electric Cowbell spreading the Debo... one single at a time.
The A-Side, "Gedawo" was recorded live in Ethiopia 2010. I love this heavy distorted sounding bass groove, super dirty, like something from Mothers Milk, without even knowing it that was an early introduction to funk. It wasn't a stretch from there to the source of Funkadelic or Parliment. It's the full use of an entire orchestra in something like this that's infectious, the feel of everyone invited to the session getting involved weather they wanted to or not follows through the the very listening to something like this. This instrumentation in a self propelling groove...this energy just taking over. Bursts of choreographed backup vocals and against Bruck Tesfaye's quivering... almost falsetto vocal. A classical element opposite this heavily wah'd guitar, a super funk combination of structured free form improvised jazz with these undeniable grooves. An intense horn section...the complete meltdown sound totally in control.
The B-Side, A remix of the track from Kiddid emphasizes the dub reggae elements, the classic counter rhythm in between the beat. He's got a heavy synth or electronic groove under heavy echo'd vocal from the first side. The almost falsetto vocal sounding extra alien when doubled and bounced around like this over the more minimal instrumentation. This bassline fuzzing out in the lower end, isolated horns make a more subtle entrance on this side, being all about that humming, floor shaking bass. An organ electronic taking the place of that guitar strum.
Nice dropout...A minor interlude of birds chirping and sample for the big drop back in, teasing out an entirely new instrumnetal section from the horns, just a slight glitch edge towards the end. It's swinging way away from the organic origins, and a halting handclap beat that I don't even remember from the other side. Chopping up new sections that isn't going so far into removing it from the source, and still ending up with something entirely new.
Sold Out from Electric Cowbell (I was slow getting to this) so check out these ditro's: Crosstalk (Chicago, IL), Carrot Top (Chicago, IL)Fat Beats (Brooklyn, NY), Revolver (San Francisco, CA), Ernie B’s (El Dorado Hills, CA).
Debo Band returns to the Electric Cowbell roster with another hit out of the park! “Gedawo” is an Ethio-funk classic by the great singer Ayalew Mesfin who recorded several hits in the 1970s. Recorded live in Ethiopia, this version features the background vocals, clapping, and traditional drumming of the group Fendika, Debo’s vibrant collaborators from Addis Ababa. A perfect vehicle for charismatic Debo-frontman Bruck Tesfaye, Gedawo is a rousing dance anthem performed by a contemporary 15-piece funk powerhouse. In stark contrast, Kiddid’s B-side “Gedubwo Mix” swaps drum kit and sousaphone for drum machine and square-wave, flipping the tune on its head into digi-dub territory. A chugging Tubby-esque take on the raucous original. Comes in medium weight 7″ brown paper sleeve with full-color vintage postage stamp sticker of the group on the sleeve.
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