Five On It: November 2008's Essentials

This one is a killer, we covered some serious beats this past month and I've whitled them down to the best of the best for November's edition of Five On It.

We start with a cross-generation party starter: George Clinton's bugged out canine anthem 'Atomic Dog' (which originally appeared on our Halloween post covering 'We Can't Be Stopped' by the Geto Boys). In our second look at Large Professor's production work, we covered Grand Funk Railroad's rock funk break track 'Nothings the Same' from their album 'Closer to Home'. Grand Funk have a bad rep, but they have some serious beats in their back catalog. 'Apache' by the Incredible Bongo Band was covered in an in depth two part post on this blog. 'Apache' is as essential as it gets, you have to get this one if its not part of your DJing arsenal. The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas' is just one of the J.B.'s breakbeat necessities produced under the Godfather of Soul, James Brown (this break was mentioned on the first part of our look at 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde). In the third part of 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde', we first mentioned Skull Snaps' huge 'It's a New Day', another absolutely critical beat for producers.

The Lowdown:
George Clinton 'Atomic Dog'
from 'Computer Games' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD)
Grand Funk Railroad 'Nothings the Same'
from 'Closer to Home' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Incredible Bongo Band 'Apache'
from 'Bongo Rock' (1973) (MP3/CD)
The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas'
from 'Food For Thought' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Skull Snaps 'It's a New Day'
from 'Skull Snaps' (1973) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

BONUS CUTS:
Skull Snaps' self-titled, hard to find album is not limited to 'It's a New Day', it's full of quality samples. A young Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po as Organized Konfusion (with a guest spot from O.C.) rap over Skull Snaps' 'Tresspassin'' on 'Fudge Pudge'.