Even if Dam-Funk had never recorded a note, his role as keeper of funk’s flame would be secure. With the ease of information afforded to us by the Internet, we assume that all music is out there and codified and Spotified. Dam is here to remind us of what we have overlooked. Until he started making noise a few years ago, boogie funk was a largely slept-on genre — the province of jokes about sequins and codpieces. Through his own music, DJ sets, and his mixes, he’s helped remind us that everyone from Slave and Aura to more obscure artists like Adrian Gurvitz deserve as much shine as anyone making music in the morning in America era.
Needless to say, no one was really riding for the gospel boogie funk that was soaring out of churches during the period. I’ve heard a few ancient church blues compilations and one or two non-secular soul from the 70s anthologies, but very little from the 80s. Not only do his Spiritual Flight mixes cull the best of that ecumenical funk, they act as their own inspiration. Even the most avowed atheist could find something levitative in these hydraulic grooves. Dam has been public about the turmoil of his 2012 and you can hear that this mix means something. This is not a collection of sounds slapped together to sound good. These are liturgies and acts of absolution, consecrated funk, soul in the original definition. Amen.
Both the new Spiritual Flight and the original edition are below the jump — along with a handful of new/old cuts that Dam has put up on his Soundcloud. No more benedictions need be said.
Download:
MP3: Dam-Funk – Spiritual Flight Mix II
~ Spiritual Flight Vol. II ~ A DāM-FunK Mix ~
1. PASSAGE ~ I See The Light ~ A&M | 1981
2. OMNI ~ Warriors ~ Mercury | 1984
3. THE YDOC’s ~ It’s Your Choice ~ Posiga | 1987
4. FEDERATION OF LOVE ~ You’ve Changed My Life ~ LVW | 1989
5. THE FORDS ~ He’s My Closest Friend ~ Tyscot | 1986
6. THE KING’s MEN ~ It’s Testifying Time ~ BSS International | 1984
7. THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP ~ Can’t Get Enough ~ Stax | 1980
8. THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP ~ It’s Your Time ~ Myrrh | 1983
9. DONN THOMAS ~ Any Other Love ~ Myrrh | 1981
10. WHITE HEAT ~ Hold On ~ Myrrh | 1982
11. NORM CALVIN and the TRUTHSEEKERS ~ Faith Medley ~ TSM Records | 1986
12. D.J. ROGERS ~ I Told Him I Would Sing ~ Hope Song Records | 1982
13. LARNELLE ~ To Be Like Him ~ Benson Records | 1980
14. The FANTASTIC VIOLINAIRES Feat. Robert Blair ~ Telephone ~ Malaco | 1984
15. EDDIE BRADFORD ~ He Keeps Me ~ Edd-Ra Records | 1988
16. LOUIS FARRAKHAN ~ Let Us Unite ~ A.V.C. Records | 1984
17. GOOGIE and TOM COPPOLA ~ Joyous Flame (*Special DāM-FunK added String-Synth version)
All music was mixed live via the original wax pressings owned by: DāM-FunK. No mp3’s or borrowed music was used in the recording of this mix.
Peace & all the best 2 U, as we all resist the negative forces of this world that we co-exist in and continue 2 polish our armor against the darkness, as we collectively grow into our individual & personal: Spiritual Flight.
With respect & love for all ‘universal’ kind.
– D-F
