Customer Reviews

Look-Ka Py Py

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would be outright lying if I denied the fact that this album changed my life and the way I look at music, the way I feel music. This is the album that made me take up the hammond B-3. This is the album that made me clap my hands on the two instead of the one. This album is the typification of instrumental funk, but unlike James Brown's relentless-groove all-aboard specials you get an ample handful of small, perfect morsels, each of them an example of control, poise, and musicianship. Never have I heard funk express so many seperate emotions as on this album. There are no favorites on this album; it's all impeccable. If this doesn't change your life you've eiher already heard it or you're dead.

To paraphrase a recent truck commercial, "it's a big, tough funk album. What's not to like?"

If you're a modern music producer, please do yourself a favor and listen to the drums on this album. They're back a bit in the mix but still pop, the snare doesn't sound like the grand canyon but it's got a ring to it, and the cymbals stay out of the way of everything else while still aggressive. Quite frankly, just about every modern drum "sound" I've heard, from rock to the anemic junk that passes for funk these days to jazz, is a gutless wonder by comparison. That "metallic" snare sound that's so popular these days (on rock recordings by everyone from Pearl Jam to 311 to No Doubt to every so-called "punk" band on the radio) sucks. It just does, it's not musical, it's too "open" to focus a groove. Get over it, please, and let us know when you've got it right. Whoever produces Queens of The Stone Age or Cake can chill, though, 'cause you're close. A bit more snap and some high-end blap and you're there. Can you imagine how absolutely tough a good punk band would sound with a drum kit recorded like the Meters recorded their drum kit?

I think you get the gist that I like this album. I've lived with it for a long time now and it's never out of the crate (i.e., DJ crate). I find excuses to play cuts off this thing everywhere -- weddings, house parties, whatever. If the DJ saved your life, he probably did it with a song from this record on one that sampled it or the other two Meters albums ("The Meters", "Struttin'") from this era.

Someone wake me up when a modern "rock" or "funk" band sounds and plays half this good. Pay attention to the grooves on "Funky Miracle", "Look Ka Ka Py Py", and "Pungee". That stuff's much harder to play than it sounds, no one I've heard does it right besides the Meters themselves.

There are imitation funk bands out there these days trying to cop the old-school sound, but they don't have the chops to pull it off. Do yourself a favor and savor the real thing. The Meters is it, and this album is definitively it.

The Meters were the most underrrated band to emerge out of the late 60s/early 70s funk explosion.

This is music that would not only inform 70s r&b but would filter into the jazz of the day. And the band was just amazing -funky guitar and organ riffs, and a beautifully understated but stunningly precise rhythm section.

If you like newer funk, such as the instrumental Beastie Boys stuff or the less heavy, more funky Red Hot Chili Peppers tunes BUY THIS. This is where it all came from. The influence this album has had cannot be overestimated.

I initially bought this album after hearing it on the speakers in one of my favorite (vinyl) record stores. I had never heard the Meters before but simply thought it was exactly the kind of upbeat groovy stuff that would be perfect for parties, drinking Abita beer and hanging out in the sunshine. This is true, but I have subsequently been blown away by how amazing this CD is.

I bought it over 10 years ago and this album has never sat long on the shelf. It seems like the grooves that were laid down on Look-Ka-Py-Py just never get old. It's very funky, a little cheesy (in a good way), and everyone seems to dig it. These guys are fantastic musicians, too.

This album is a classic and (arguably) the best of the Meters collection- a great 1st Meters album!

I can't say enough about this disc. They're all instrumentals with deceptively simple structures but definitely not in the interactions between the players. Syncopated drumming, guitars that chop, scrape and all of sudden strum beautiful chords. Unbelievably placed guitar chords at that. Great old school organ. Sparse but absolutely necessary. Funky bass. I love this band if that isn't obvious. No wonder they got so good that Dr. John asked them to be his rhythm section on In The Right Place in 1973. Also pick up that CD and hear them in top form.

All these comments here have made my day. It's a joy to read how much the Meters' music has influenced so many people just like me. While I have yet to buy each individual Meters album, I have been listening to the "Funkify Your Life" box set for years and it has definitely changed the way I think about and play music. While I'll never be able to play drums the way Zig does, I can only hope that some of his funk and soul have influenced my playing and have helped me move away from the Neil Peart influences I grew up on (love ya' Neil but I gotta grow up sometime!). I only wish I'd grown up in New Orleans so I could have seen brilliant musicians like the Meters when they were in their prime.

I've also been checking out "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" where the Meters back up Robert Palmer. One of the great records of all time!

Dig.

I can't say I played the 1999 Sundazed - the first US label to reissue the classic Meters catalog - right before this newer (2001) European compact disc, but I feel I got the 1999 version under my skin. Curiosity of a completist fan led me to check out the import. They're pretty close. The Sundazed seems a little more faithfull to the Josie master - the import under review is close, but definitely 'cleaner', in my book a negative. No hiss after song fades. But still, the original warmth is mostly intact. The import IS shorter, by thirty seconds total, meaning a couple seconds per track. (Another reason to get the Sundazed). Other notes: the bonus tracks thru the first five albums are identical. No mono single mixes? (i.e. the mono 'Chicken Strut' on Rhino's 2-cd comp from 1995) available? Oh well, the cover art you ask? Neither is an exact replica, but both capture the essence of the original, and WAIT the import offers the Josie label repro'd on the disc (Sundazed goes for single repros in their booklets, tho their 'fourth Josie' set, "Zony Mash" which collects 1968 - 71 non album singles and outtakes, can be had cheap on virgin vinyl with that original Josie lkabel too.
Verdict: buy domestic!

Matching the first album in its rawness and funk intensity LOOK-KA PY PY is the perfect companion to THE METERS, their debut album, and is a must buy. These two albums are my favourite and they both come with some additional tracks.

One of the best vibes out there! Short (37 min) but very rewarding album, deserves multiple listens. Surprizing how none of The Meters' tracks made it on any funk's greatest hits... Sound quality is the only disappointment, it is sort of muffled. Sundazed could do a better job remastering this essential records. Still, highly recommended.