Cardboard Collector by stoic (2:50)

• Genres: Breaks, Funk, Hip Hop
• Released: June 2010
• Uploaded: on 6/6/10.

Straight raw kung-fu b-boy jam. Been meaning to make a track like this for awhile -- inspired equally between The Jimmy Castor Bunch, The Incredible Bongo Band, Soul Sonic Force, and Dave Paul's "Revenge of the B-Boy" records.

The obvious influence is Babe Ruth's "The Mexican". The guitar and keyboard parts are unashamedly rooted from that song. Initially, I didn't plan on emulating the fancy guitar runs, but they turned into a nice vacation project. It was also a challenge to find believable horn sounds (and play them w/out the cheesy synth artifacts). I think they turned out alright.

One bit of breakbeat trivia I learned recently: The signature guitar melody from "The Mexican" (later re-popularized in "Planet Rock" for my generation) is originally from an old Clint Eastwood western -- For a Few More Dollars, theme by Ennio Morricone. Word.

Recorded in Reason 2.5 w/ *tons* of editing. Parts "played" ("entered" more like it) with a Korg NanoKey (and keyboard/mouse, ctrl-C/ctrl-V). Some voice and percussion samples from YouTube. Everything else is Reason.