A South Bronx Story

How many bands can claim to have a pivotal early influence on post-punk AND hip-hop? ESG certainly can. Formed in the late 70’s Bronx by the four Scroggins sisters and a rotation of friends, ESG created an ultra-minimal, ridiculously funky sound. In the process, they participated in the post-punk circles of New York and England, and their music became some of the most ubiquitously sampled in hip-hop history. (Bits of “UFO” have appeared in hundreds of other songs.) Seriously, this is some of the coolest music ever made. Play this to feel moody and get funky! (NOTE: I’ve added two songs to the compilation, so this CD includes the band’s 7” on Factory, the album Come Away With ESG, and then some.) Favorites: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 18. No FCCs.

1. *(3:12)—Slow and smooth. Hangs on two notes. “You’re no good! Wooo!”
2. *(2:48)—Mid-tempo. Same two notes as the first track, but here it’s full on rock-‘n’-roll, just with no guitars.
3. *(2:56)—Instrumental. Medium-fast. The classic. Trippy siren sounds and whooshes, descending bass, sweet noir guitar.
4. (2:39)—Fast. Upbeat and funky, with a slight noir tinge.
5. (4:18)—Mid-tempo. An alternate version of track 2, this time longer, jammer, and—as stated in the title—“spaced out.”
6. (3:03)—Instrumental. Fast. Lots of cool extra percussion and false endings.
7. *(2:55)—Fast. Great chorus: “Uuup! Dowwwn! Uup! Dowwwn!” Extended outro.
8. (3:14)—Slow. More of a reggae feel. “We’ll have a good time. Oh yeah!”
9. *(4:32)—Fast. Driving and catchy as all hell. About going to the park and dancing all night.
10. (2:54)—Instrumental. Fast. Cool horn sounds and tambourine. Extremely spare use of guitar.
11. *(1:54)—Instrumental. Fast. Insanely cool dark alleyway chase scene music. You can trace a direct line from this to Interpol, but this is funkier.
12. (2:05)—Medium-slow, lumbering. High-pitched keyboard tones.
13. *(4:08)—Fast. Full-on aggressive dis song for all the ridiculous soon-to-be ex-boyfriends in the world.
14. *(2:35)—Fast and groovy. Really well placed funk guitar and shouting. “If you want to dance, get funky with me.”
15. (2:56)—Sexy slow jam. More fleshed out sound, including some keyboards.
16. (4:06)—Fast but laid-back and more jam-oriented.
17. (2:21)—Fast. Another dis track. “I said you, you, you make no sense at all.”
18. *(2:17)—Fast. Unrelenting, joyous, catchy shouting about “The beat!” Great handclaps, too.