ARTIST: Liquid Liquid
TITLE: Slip In and Out of Phenomenom
YEAR RELEASED: Compilation
CHART ACTION: Nooooooo
SINGLES: All tracks were singles or EPs
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Cavern was used in a sample
LINEUP: Salvatore Principato, Dennis Young, Richard McGuire, Scott Hartley
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A no-wave funk, dub, and dance outfit inspired later dance rock bands and one track was the basis for one of the best known early hip-hop tracks
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: They were name checked by the Rapture and LCD Soundsystem, and were mentioned in the same breath as ESG, A Certain Ratio, and Konk, Liquid Liquid’s sparse, percussion heavy funk was part of the no-wave scene as well as a burgeoning underground dance scene in New York.
The sparseness of the tracks (mostly bass, drums, and percussion with some other instruments and vocals as another instrument) allows you to focus on the grooves, and the grooves were intense.
If you love the groove and the sparse funk of early 80’s underground dance, this is revelatory.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: “White Lines” By Grandmaster Flash used “Cavern” as a basis for the track. This also includes almost everything they recorded except for a 1984 single.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE A-: This may be too sparse for some, but it’s the basic building blocks of the 2000’s dance rock scene in NYC.