Put insanity and a bushy-tailed ferret-like creature together and what do you get – Madboy/Mink. The Mumbai-based funk-nu disco duo, well known for their distinctly unique mash up of dirty electro and funk with old school Harlem swing, put their best foot forward in their latest offering in the form of a debut EP – All Ball .
Labelled the terror twins of funk and swing, Madboy/Mink is the coming together of Imaad Shah and Saba Azad. With scintillating live gigs at major festivals and soulful performances at underground parties, the duo present a pure and unpretentious love of music in their post-mod electro cabaret experience collection.
All Ball is an intensely nostalgic mash up of 70’s old-school funk and disco meeting a 20’s Harlem swing style. With cabaret, swing jazz, musical theatre, dirty electro, synth funk and post punk and new wave influences being part of their repertoire in their five-track EP, the post-modern artistes present something that is entirely new and ingenious to their soundscape.
Delivering what they love to call a ballistic genre, their trademark sound owes allegiance to no particular genre and goes back and forth from the manic early music eras to futuristic soul music trends. Launched early this month, the groove magicians cast an eclectic spell in this compilation.
Kicking off with ‘Alley Cats’, the EP begins almost poignantly in traditional cabaret, ragtime jazz and overturns their boiling cauldron of mash up music onto the listeners. Surprisingly addictive, Mink’s vocals are ethereally exuberant while Madboy fires a vibrant energy-loaded shotgun with his evocative strong sound.
Their most celebrated single ‘Lemonade’ is next. The girl-boy duo pays tribute to their love and admiration for the sounds and ideas from the past with infusions from their most contemporary experimentalism in this mutational track. Drawing from their huge passion for deep funk, the song emerges in rooted funk and soul, but quickly evolves to primal and unpretentious dance music with the swing groove.
An infectious foot-tapping ‘Taste Your Kiss’ follows. The middle track is a swingy, soulful and dance-based energy roller-coaster. Simple and unrealistically offbeat lyrics meandering on the border of craziness flow through the buoyant classic. Effectively shutting out any form of edgy ruddiness, the song has Mink’s bubbly vocals sing along to an easy two-by-four drum swing with fantastic saxophone interludes and acoustic guitar leadins.
‘Funkenstein’ is a rhythmic funk-riddled mix. The song echoes with easily-catchy lyrics as Mink sings “the groove goes on, on and on, on and on, and on”. The song dabbles in a familiar motif of sounds with upbeat sparkling sounds.
‘Pimp The Disco’ takes the music to the street. The flamboyant song has a whole lot happening – dance reggae, disco, funk, swing, cabaret and what not. What begins as a cutesy little girly hangover groove leaves a distinct impact in its latter half where the massive base line festers before chunky melodies and bright vocals lifts the spirit.
All Ball is a sure repeat listener for its incredible mash-up fiesta. The EP is available for free download at >www.madboymink.bandcamp.com/album/all-ball
