Funk-up Supreme: The John Tropea

John Tropea's 1977 funk jams off Short Trip To Space are so perfectly filling my rainy day in Chicago. The bass line on "The funk you see, is the funk you do" is just making me cringe it's so dirty. And "Can't hide love" might be the sleekest-sexy disco influenced funk track I've heard all year. If it's a downer day, snag this smooth funk release and groove the rest of it away.

Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (2011)

Charles, along with his Menahan Street Band play vintage soul here on his debut album. Daptone Records picked him up after hearing his James Brown tribute shows at a bar near the label. Charles had been janitoring in the label's basement for years. Touring with the likes of Lee Fields (whose style is pretty similar) he represents the modern soul/funk scene that tries to emulate the sound of the 60s/70s "golden" period of the music.

It's a solid collection of tunes ranging from James Brown gut-punch funk tracks to slowed down, dreamy ballads, and the album as a whole captures such a vintage sound. Check out NPR Music's recent program on the man for some further stories, news, etc. Find the album in the comments.

James Brown's Funky Christmas

My buddies and I all sort of got into James Brown Christmas songs last year, with his album James Brown's Christmas. This year I've found James Brown's Funky Christmas which is essentially a collection of the best cuts from his 3 prior Christmas albums. It's a versatile compilation that stands as the hippest xmas album of all time as far as I know. It's for the most part his own material, and shows how much the guy gets into the holiday season. How can anyone resist? Let's hear about your favorite Christmas albums in the comments, is there a funkier Christmas album?

Breakestra - The Live Mix, Part 2 (2000)

You're all going to love this. Short, flowing samples of funk/soul delight from this 10 piece "orchestra".

A 9 part suite begins the album and fresh, throwback sounds characterize what's left.

Link groovin in comments, dont miss this one!