Beef Wellington
Feel Fantabulous
Eighth Dimension
Believe it or not, musically, Orlando has more to offer than Disney World boy bands. On the club side, so far the rest of the country has been exposed to Q-Burns and a touch of BMF on his Shadow Mixmasters disc. The pleasant surprise of the latter was this creamy funk by this group called Beef Wellington.
Well, the Beef ain’t a group, but a Jason Lee look-alike named Brendan Wood, who, like so many in the past 30 years, has an unquestioning obsession with the funk. With the help of what must be some of MCO’s heppest cats (particularly Alex Sarton’s sexy siren songs and Swamburger’s highly versatile rhyme flows), Wellington gives a vital, unique, new twist on the music that simply refuses to turn over in its grave. Wood blends funk, jazz, hip-hop, and electronic elements into a tasty concoction that goes down smooth.
“Feel Fantabulous” and “Dedication” have a buttery soul that makes you smile and nod your head. “Beefstreet,” with its didgeridoo-ed chanting, explosive percussion, and old Afrika Bambaata bleeps, is simply genius. Although “All I Need” is an ’80s “funk” misfire, “Where’s The Beef?” is a humorous, kitschy neo-Bootsy-Morris-Day Reagan-era send-up that’ll have you rolling. And you’ll simply love “Slightly Elevated.”
I tell you what: if Wellington & Posse are even remotely representative of what Orlando has to offer the world, who the hell needs Epcot?
Eighth Dimension: http://www.eighthdimension.com
