This was the album that got me thinking about this project in the first place. Thinking about New Year's resolutions and realizing that I've been reading about and collecting music for awhile now, I figured it was high time I started enjoying the fruits of my labor. So I scrolled through my iPod looking for an as-yet-unheard album with a solid reputation. Funkadelic's Maggot Brain caught my eye. Seeing that the first track was more than ten minutes long and knowing my own preferences for music other than "jam" and "funk," I was dubious. I was relieved to find the music not only accessible, but downright enjoyable. Over the course of this year, I'm sure I will come across "difficult" albums that reveal themselves slowly, gradually opening up layers of complexity and nuance. But this isn't one of them. It's just plain good from the get go. The first song is the title track and apparently its special quality comes from George Clinton telling guitarist Eddie Hazel to "play as if your momma just died." Next you get "Can You Get To That" with an acoustic melody so infectious you'd think George Harrison sat in on the studio session (and the melody is sampled by Sleigh Bells for "Rill Rill," too.) For an album with only seven songs, there are plenty of memorable highlights: the iconic bassline of "Hit It and Quit It," the call-and-answer vocals in "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks," and what sounds like someone bending the notes of a motherfuckin' triangle on "Back In Our Minds." Grade: B+
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