(Stones Throw)

www.stonesthrow.com

If you thought the West Coast beat movement ends with The Beat Junkies, Flying Lotus and Madlib, guess again. A jump down the rabbit hole of mixtape-oriented Blogger sites will unleash a whole host of like-minded groove savants just waiting in the wings to explode onto the national spotlight, including the likes of the Gaslamp Killer, Ras G, Jneiro Jarel and Kumtah, just to name a few.  

The latest figure to blow up is Dâm-Funk, a Los Angeles-based DJ/composer and one-time gangsta rap session musician who is so lovingly hailed as the "Ambassador of Boogie Funk" to those that frequent his Monday night Funkmosphere parties at the popular Culver City spot Carbon. His sound is as relaxed as his hair, deeply rooted in the early ‘80s electro-funk he spins at his weekly residency and in full effect on his anticipated studio debut as an artist on the ever-reliable Stones Throw imprint. Peanut Butter Wolf and the gang must be serious fans of this guy to release something as mammoth as Toeachizown as his first official release. But Dâm (pronounced Dame) delivers in spades, delivering a whopping 5-LP box set (or 2-CD collection) loaded with some of the most blunted G-funk since Dre introduced Snoop to the world.

This largely instrumental cycle, boasting such outstandingly first term Reagan-era retro workouts as the near-10 minute "Brookside Park", "Flying V Ride" and "Spacecapades" are tailor made for cruising down your local strip with your ballcap tipped low and an Owl hanging out of your mouth. It doesn't even matter if you are from Los Angeles, because Toeachizown will essentially transform even the most desolate rural road you are driving on into Crenshaw Boulevard in a matter of seconds. Any fan of the Oberheim-and-LinnDrum-generated Boogie funk sound both obvious (George Clinton a la Computer Games, early Prince, Zapp, Slave) and obscure (D-Train, Luther, anything off the Chocolate Cholly's label) will pound this down like a sonic 40 of St. Ides. And if you're feeling this, Dâm has got hours of beat tapes, live mixes and radio sessions available for free online. You just have to know where to look, because this cat will have your head nodding for days, literally.

Standout Tracks: "Brookside Park", "Fantasy", "Flying V Ride", "Spacecapades" RON HART