Special Series

Funk Archaeology

The fruits of Egon's worldwide crate-digging: Rare funk, soul, psychedelia and hip-hop.

browse by date
subscribe
share

A detail from the cover of Minoru Muraoka's collaboration with Herbie Mann, Gagaku and Beyond. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of the artist

Music Articles

The Shakuhachi Jazz Of Minoru Muraoka

April 3, 2012 • Hear five haunting songs from the late '60s to early '70s. We file them under jazz only by default.

Gimme Gimme Records in Manhattan's East Village, Egon's source for an affordable copy of Charles 'Cha Cha' Shaw's Kingdom Come. Sean O'Sullivan/flickr.com hide caption

itoggle caption Sean O'Sullivan/flickr.com

Music Articles

It's A Buyer's Market: Crate-Digging On $100 A Day

January 27, 2012 • Set loose in New York's East Village, Egon takes to the bins of offbeat record stores to hunt down five obscure finds for under $100.

Music Articles

Fast Rap: Tongue-Twisting Bangers

October 21, 2008 • Fast Rap, a style of hyperactive and multisyllabic rap spewed over uptempo beats, is nearly extinct. Listen to five classic early-'90s songs that exemplify the trend, from artists such as Percee P, Lonnie O, Organized Konfusion and Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth.

Madlib (left) and Stanton Davis loading up the car. Eothen Alapatt hide caption

itoggle caption Eothen Alapatt

Music Articles

Excavating Stanton Davis' Storage Unit Funk

November 28, 2011 • Hear the fruits of a record-canvassing mission co-piloted by Madlib.

Music Articles

Funk Before War In Angola

September 24, 2010 • As far back as the 1960s, there was a thriving recording industry in Angola. But the music released before the country's independence from Portugal and brutal civil war sounded nothing like the David Bowie and Barbara Streisand schlock that was hocked to the Portuguese people.

A sign for Bubbha Thomas' free jazz classes, taken in 1972. Courtesy of Bubbha Thomas hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Bubbha Thomas

Music Articles

Summer School Funk: Five Tracks Out Of 1970s Houston

September 30, 2011 • Teenagers in the city's Summer Jazz Workshops made deep jazz and raw funk way beyond their years.

El Rego meets Miriam Makeba at Cotonou Airport in 1973. hide caption

itoggle caption

Music Articles

Benin's Godfather Of Funk: El Rego

November 25, 2009 • The recording scene of 1960s and '70s Benin rivaled that of neighboring Ghana and Nigeria, but its musicians never quite drew the spotlight. Now, European compilers have rediscovered Benin's musical heroes, and El Rego is one of the funkiest.

Music Articles

The Soul Of James Brown

October 16, 2008 • It should come as no surprise that James Brown has inspired countless tributes and covers, both good and bad. Explore five of the most unusual and exceptional examples, from inspired tributes to psychedelic reinventions.

A detail from the cover of Tom Zé's Grande Liquidāçao. Courtesy of Mr. Bongo. hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Mr. Bongo.

Best Music Of 2011

Psych Rock Redefined: The Reissues Of 2011

December 29, 2011 • This year saw a series of record companies further a loosely aligned, mutually agreed-upon mission to extend psychedelia's reaches. Tie-dyed shirts, Zapp comics and LSD aren't necessary, but an open-mindedness toward the unknown certainly is.

Barış Manço, from the cover of his album Dunden Bugune. Courtesy of Guerssen Records hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Guerssen Records

Music Articles

5 Songs From The Zenith Of Turkish Progressive Rock

March 29, 2011 • Peers of Baris Manco made innovative Turkish rock in the 1970s, but none released such a wide variety of music or became so celebrated in the decades that followed. NPR Music's globetrotting crate-digger spins a few psychedelic favorites from Turkey.

Lula Cortes, from the cover of his album Rosa De Sangue. Courtesy of Rozenblit/Time Lag Records hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Rozenblit/Time Lag Records

Music Articles

Brazilian Psych-Rock In Memory Of Lula Cortes

March 28, 2011 • In the 1970s in Recife, Brazil, a scene coalesced around a musician named Lula Cortes. An offshoot of the psychedelic rock scene happening around the world at the time, the movement created a handful of labels that recorded, produced and distributed some of the most beautiful music ever, perfect for hot summer nights.

NPR thanks our sponsors

Become an NPR sponsor

Support comes from: