they don't make funk like they used to

I was chatting to a workmate today about a 1970's funk outfit by the name of Creative Source . I'd made a mix cd for him last week and he really liked that particular tune. I came home tonight and put it on the turntable and a certain amount of nostalgia flowed.

I first heard the tune in London maybe 8 or 9 years ago. I was over there visiting a friend who promoted a night in a club called Plastic People (I think that was the name). Anyhow another chap from Dublin was playing in the club that night. The individual in question was Billy Scurry, a DJ here in Dublin. A group of us met up the next evening and one thing led to another, certain substances were imbibed and next thing I know we were stuffing my housemate into the boot of a car.

To cut a long story short, I ended up spending an evening on psychedelic substances listening to two albums that Billy had bought. Anyone who is worrying about my housemate can rest easy, it turns out we only put him in the boot because there was no room in the car.

The two albums in question were 'Strange Games & Things' and 'Strange Games & Funky Things' on a label called BBE. They're both compilations of soul and funk classics.

As I lamented the fact that they don't make great soul tunes anymore, I remembered that I had bought some seven inches a couple of days ago and had not listened to them. One of them was 'This Time', a new release by DJ Shadow that you can listen to here on his myspace. It appears he might be back to his best.

You might be wondering about the picture at the top of the post. I was talking to someone else today about those bits of string that GAA supporters wear. What's it all about? And why do they tie their sweaty bits of string to the rear view mirror in their car? Answers on a postcard please.