Greatest Hips Vol. Ii

Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band
Reviewed by Sadie O., 9/30/09
Live funk jams, recorded mostly in the South. Musicianship is generally terrific – and very funky – but I’ve got a beef with the inclusion of way too much applause (I guess it ties it together into a “live album”, but it means each song starts with applause, which is crap for radio), and I imagine the vocals must be a lot more compelling in a club setting – on record I really wish they’d stuck to all instrumentals. Fortunately, most of the tracks are just that.
FCCs on track 12. I like 5 and 7 best
1. 5:26 **starts with applause and live intro for about 20 secs, then gets into serious midtempo guitar and horn-based funk strut. Bloopy wah-wah. The music is terrific – I’m not as crazy about the vocals/lyrics. Switches suddenly to New Orleans jelly roll for last minute or so.
2. 5:05 ***bass-led midtempo super-funk – nice. Gets kinda psycho-dubby. Fades midway to rather soft bass solo – don’t know how much of this folks will catch on their car stereos…
3. 5:28 *downtempo and relaxed jazzy groove with rather too many vocals.. Gets all out into a rather messy jam, then tidies up for the ending.
4. 3:38 **dandy little march with lots of horns. Instrumental with lots of wild horn and guitar solos.
5. 3:47 ****somewhat downtempo bass-heavy funk grind with wah-wah guitar. Bit of thwack ‘n’ pop bass midway, then it goes uptempo. Turns into a rather sloppy big jam.
6. 7:03 *rather downtempo and relaxed soul groove. Some vocals, but mostly instrumental jam. Gets pretty psychedelic.
7. 5:39 ****low-key, spacey, bass and jaw harp. Builds into midtempo funk instrumental.
8. 5:08 **starts with a lot of bass noodling and talk. Midtempo funk strut with vocals. Wish they’d left it an instrumental…
9. 5:34 *starts with way too much crowd noise, then low-key bass and wah-wah and bongos… Turns into uptempo guitar jam after a minute and a half. Then back again. Etc.
10. 4:56 **my goodness yes, it’s kinda reggae, not so much dub. fades in slowly from the usual applause noise. Interesting horn-based jam.
11. 5:36 ***midtempo funk with wanky-finger guitar noodling.
12. 5:18 FCC: “shit” (a few times) ***bass-heavy slow funk crawl. Guest hip-hop vocals. psychedelic keyboard solo.
13. 6:56 **double-time bass and guitar – kinda jazzy-noisy more than funky. It’s giving me a headache, so I know which of you guys is gonna love it. Slows down and goes electro-spacey halfway through.