Andy Loore (aka Janko Nilovic): Opium Du Diable + Mixed Drums
From Ambiance Rhythmes Vol. 5 (Neuilly, 1970)
Andy Loore is one of the nearly dozen pseudonyms used by French composer Janko Nilovic, arguably that country’s finest purveyor of funky library-style recordings in the 1960s and ’70s. These two songs come off of one of his more obscure recordings – a 1970 10″ (yeah, weird, right?) for the library imprint Neuilly and the entire side B is basically a series of sick drum, bass and organ workouts. As befits a song that translates into “Opium of the Devil,” “Opium Du Diable” has a slow, druggy feel to it in the beginning and then gradually switches up into more of a psychedelic, mod-soul tune once the organ winds its way in. (Drugs were apparently big on Nilovic’s mind since this same EP also has a song called “Enfer Et Marijuana” on it).
For pure minimalist funk though, it’s hard to find too many songs better than “Mixed Drums,” a tune most have either heard through the Beatnuts’ using it for “It’s the Nuts” or else on one of the Dusty Fingers volumes that comped it. As one of my friends like to put it, “this tune is hip-hop before there was a hip-hop.” I feel that.
chatter