Funky Skunk is the latest full-length mix cd from DJ Shadow. It was part of the Public Works project that Shadow and Shepard Fairey put out late in 2005. The cd was just one part of the super-limited Public Works Box Set which also included a print, a book, and some limited-edition Shepard Fairey screen printed t-shirts. The whole kit was a big ticket item and the mix disc became a hot commodiy on the file sharing networks.
The cd was properly released (outside of the box) last month and I’ve been working hard at trying to get into it. Unlike a lot of the Shadow mixes I’ve heard, “Funky Skunk” is not all rare funk and soul. It’s a lot of new-ish hip hop and that’s where I’ve run into trouble with it. The new-to-new mixes work well and the old-to-old mixes are stellar (as usual) but when he drops from old funk to Birdman it doesn’t click for me.
The bummer for you guys is that, since Funky Skunk is one hour-long track, I don’t have a sample to offer up. I dug around for you guys and found this
Keak Da Sneak songwhich is probably over a Shadow beat. Keak is from Oakland so it would make sense that they would appear together. It sounds good and it could have certainly been a part of the mix.
ronan | 05-Mar-06 at 8:58 pm | Permalink
I thought this was pretty good, listened to it a few times over the past couple of weeks. The biggest bummer is the format tho, there are a few natural breaks in there that could have been split into tracks, even just a few like “Brothers gonna work it out” would have been cool.
Got another Jazz in Paris boxset yesterday, very nice indeed.