Look-Ka Py Py

Released

If you don’t know anything about The Meters and their early days on Josie, fear not. You can’t fuck this one up. They made three albums with producer Allen Toussaint on Josie, before moving to Reprise and opening for The Rolling Stones, and all three are absolutely beyond beyond. If the JBs were the great distance funk band, The Meters were the diamond cutters, writing pop-length instrumentals that absolutely confound time and space. You know drummer Zigaboo Modeliste from Amerie’s “1 Thing,” a chop of the break on “Oh, Calcutta!” here, and that’s just a fraction of the lightworld Modeliste can wring from second line New Orleans drumming. That approach is heavy on snare syncopation, which Modeliste moved to the whole kit. The rest of the band is just as good. You’ll never hear a drum set the same way after spending an hour with Zig. The absolute rearranger of your internal compass.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Suggestions
Imagination cover

Imagination

Gladys Knight & the Pips
Tell Mama cover

Tell Mama

Etta James
Thank You for One More Day cover

Thank You for One More Day

The Dixie Hummingbirds
Whipped Cream & Other Delights cover

Whipped Cream & Other Delights

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
The Ultimate Collection cover

The Ultimate Collection

Smokey Robinson, The Miracles
Stand! cover

Stand!

Sly & the Family Stone
No Dreams cover

No Dreams

Noveller
Optimo cover

Optimo

Liquid Liquid