AltFunk Double Post: Dorado and Jepetto

Dorado: Sky Cooper & Joe Trump

Do you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, G. Love & Special Sauce, or Parliament? If you answered “yes” to any or all of those bands then you’ll probably like Dorado, an alternative funk group from Portland, Oregon. The band was formed in 2002 by Australian singer/guitarist Sky Cooper and New York City session drummer Joe Trump who has worked with a variety of artists such as the industrial super group Pigface and Curtis Mayfield.

Dorado’s debut album Dorado Sound is an extremely enjoyable listening experience. Whether you like a smooth, mellow, and bluesy kind of funk or something a little more upbeat that will get people on their feet and dancing, this album will deliver. The first track, “Working Sunday,” is a testament it’s quality. Someone once told me that the first track is the most important track on an album because it can either draw the listener in and make them want to listen to more or bore them and cause them to lose interest. “Working Sunday” is definitely a great an exciting yet laid back opening track that sets the mood for the rest of the album and keeps the listener’s ears tuned in.

This interest is maintained through the sheer amount of stylistic variety found throughout the album. Dorado manages to stray away from the typical altfunk formula and allows other genres to sneak their influence in. “Hear Me,” for example, has a much more obvious hip-hop influence with its heavy amounts of scratching intertwined within the funky rhythms. “Take Some Time” even includes the country twang of a banjo in its mix of instruments. “African Appalachian” is something entirely unique in itself. It’s a mix of old-timey bluegrass like in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, acoustic blues, and African tribal drumming. The combination works surprisingly well to create a very intriguing and flavorful instrumental.

Overall, Dorado Sound is the kind of album where it’s really hard to pick and choose favorite songs because they’re all so good. It’s just consistently strong throughout and there’s a little bit of something new in each track that contributes to the whole dynamic listening experience. I highly recommend that you go out and check out this album.

Purchase Dorado Sound by Dorado

Dorado – Working Sunday
Dorado – Hear Me
Dorado – Over the Hill

To learn more about Dorado visit their MySpace page.

***EXTRA KRUD***

Jepetto

Since today’s post is about an altfunk band, I thought I’d talk about another altfunk band that was local to Maryland until they broke up a few years ago. They were one of the more famous local bands in the Baltimore/Washington area. They were known for their really high energy live shows. Unfortunately, I never got to go to one, but I heard all the excitement filled stories. And several people told me that I looked a lot like their bassist (the guy on the left in the photo above). My brother was told the same thing by different people at different times. Maybe we’ve got a long lost sibling or something.

Anyway, Jepetto made some really good music during their time together. Their stuff’s got a lot more punk in it than Dorado’s music. Their debut album 12:33 is definitely a lot of fun to listen to. Unfortunately, it’s probably pretty hard to find it nowadays, even in Maryland. You’d be better off trying to get their second, more widely available album Inkbox. The songs I’ll be providing are from their first album and a demo version of the song “Underground” (at least I think it’s a demo version).

Purchase Inkbox by Jepetto

Jepetto – Drip
Jepetto – Groove Juice
Jepetto – Urge
Jepetto – Generation X
Jepetto – Underground
Jepetto – Underground (Demo)

If you really do want to buy 12:33, you can get it for $15 or more at Amazon. It can get kind of expensive it seems. I guess because it’s become a rarity. Lucky thing I already got it.