Funk rock
Funk rock | |
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Stylistic origins: | Funk Rock music |
Cultural origins: | Early 1970s, United States |
Typical instruments: | Bass guitar - Electric guitar - Drums - Keyboard - Vocals |
Mainstream popularity: | Moderate |
Subgenres | |
Funkcore - Funk metal - Punk-funk |
Funk rock (also typed as funk-rock) is a music genre that fuses funk and rock elements. It was formed in the early 1970s by musicians such as Jimi Hendrix.
Contents |
Characteristics
Funk rock is a fusion of rock and funk. Many instruments may be incorporated into the music, but the overall sound is defined by a definite bass or drum beat and electric guitars. The bass and drum rhythms are influenced by funk music, while the guitar is rock-influenced, usually with distortion.
Genre history
Jimi Hendrix was the first well-known recording artist to combine the rhythms and riffs of early funk to his psychedelic rock sound. Perhaps the earliest example is his song "Little Miss Lover" (1967). His live album Band of Gypsys features funky riffs and rhythms throughout (especially the song "Power of Soul") and his unfinished album also included a couple of funk-rock songs such as "Freedom", "Izabella", "Straight Ahead", and "Voodoo Child", which many consider to have the funkiest opening riff of its era. Other pioneers of funk-rock evolved in the 1970s in the music of the British rock-band Trapeze, The Rolling Stones ( Miss You & Hot Stuff ), Led Zeppelin (The Crunge) & singer David Bowie with his hit song "Fame". American artists Frank Zappa and Gary Wright (My Love is Alive, good example of early Synth-funk as well), along with bands like Graham Central Station, Rufus, Mother's Finest, Funkadelic & the Isley Brothers ( The Heat Is On & 3 + 3 albums ) all experimented with the blending of Funk & Rock rhythms. The Big Boys, Xavion( An Afro-American group whose Asylum/Mirage LP in '84 pre-dated Living Colour) & Rick James along with New Wave mainstays Blondie & the Talking Heads created their own sound mix of Punk Funk in the early 1980s. One famous funk rock song of the period was Another One Bites the Dust by British Rock icons Queen.
The genre's representatives from the late 1980s to present day include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, Fishbone, Primus, Living Colour, Spin Doctors & Maroon 5, as well as Prince & spinoffs The Time & one hit wonders Mazarati, who all have created, expanded and defined the Funk Rock style.
In the early 1990s, several bands combined funky rhythms with Heavy Metal guitar sounds, resulting in "Funk metal", where the emphasis is in using much Heavier distorted guitar sounds in the mix. Funk Rock employs more of a lighter (crunch) distorted Guitar sound, and the musical emphasis tends to be more Beat driven with prominent Bass lines, more rhythmic in the R&B sense.
Subgenres
Funkcore
Funkcore is a fusion of hardcore punk and funk created in the 1980s. Hard, loud and fast guitars are featured, but unlike in most rock music, it does not overpower the bass, which is heavy and driving. Drums are often funk-influenced, but with intense hardcore-styled pounding. Synthesizers or horn sections sometimes make an appearance, although they are not integral. Two examples of funkcore bands are Jungle Fever and Adequate Seven.
Punk-Funk
Punk-Funk (or funk-punk, better known as disco punk) it's a mix of punk or post-punk songs with funk elements. Some times, the punk influence is replaced by an alternative rock influence. The first appeareance of this subgenre was in 1979, when Gang Of Four released their debut album, Entertainment!. In the 1980s, bands such as Talking Heads, Blondie and The Clash makes the punk-funk become more famous. The style was revitalized by the new york underground scene, such as The Rapture, Radio 4, Liars, !!!, Out Hud and LCD Soundsystem starts to mix the usually punk funk with house, dub and hip-hop.
Funk metal
Funk metal (sometimes typeset differently such as funk-metal) is a fusion genre of music which emerged in the 1980s. It typically incorporates elements of funk and heavy metal. It features hard-driving heavy metal guitar riffs, the pounding bass rhythms characteristic of funk, and sometimes hip hop-style rhymes into an alternative rock approach to songwriting. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, and Faith No More are three funk metal bands.
Bands
- 24-7 Spyz
- 311
- Adequate Seven
- The Alter Boys
- Bang Tango
- Bootsauce
- Buckethead
- Clutch
- Chronic Future
- Dink
- Dan Reed Network
- Electric Boys
- Extreme
- Faith No More
- Fishbone
- Gargamel!
- Grinspoon
- Guano Apes
- I Mother Earth
- Incubus
- Infectious Grooves
- Jane's Addiction
- Jimi Hendrix
- Jimmie's Chicken Shack
- Jungle Fever
- L.A.P.D.
- Le Shed
- Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade
- Living Colour
- Lucy Brown
- Mind Funk
- Mr. Bungle
- Mucky Pup
- Orange 9mm
- Phunk Junkeez
- Primus
- Prince
- Psychefunkapus
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Rage Against the Machine
- Senser
- Shootyz Groove
- Skunk Anansie
- Slipknot (-1997 Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat)
- Smokin' Suckaz wit Logic
- Snot
- Suicidal Tendencies
- Trapeze
- TSOL
- White Trash
See also
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Soul music - Afrobeat - Deep Funk - Funk Carioca - Funkcore - Funk metal - Funktronica - Funk-rock - G-funk - Go-go - Funk - Minneapolis sound - Nu-funk - P-Funk - Rare groove - Funk musicians |