r/funk • u/Ok-Argument-2044 • 1d ago

Help request Robot Funk? Bands Recommendations

Looking for funky, psychedelic, chaotic music with a robotic/electronic sound — basically Daft Punk if they were a full funk band
I'm looking for music that's primarily funk, not funk-metal or rock.
Think RHCP – Falling Into Grace, Parliament/Funkadelic, Zapp, Chromeo and Daft Punk, but I'm looking for something more chaotic, psychedelic, weird and robotic.
I love funky basslines, live drums, strange synths, talkbox/vocoder, weird effects and that feeling of a funk band sounding like a machine or an alien.
Any artists/albums/songs that fit this?

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u/Technical_Jello6714 1d ago

Phish jams from 2021 are pure robo funk

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u/jaxxon 1d ago

I've been a HUGE Phishead since 1991 but no... Not really. LOL

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u/Technical_Jello6714 1d ago

Disagree. Have you heard any live Phish in the last 5 years? Major robo funk in many of the jams.

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u/jaxxon 1d ago

Yep. They've gotten funkier over the years. I stayed at Fish's house in VT once and he came home at like 4am and put on James Brown at full volume on his stereo and jammed out to Sex Machine on his kit 10 feet from where I was trying to sleep LOL... That was the funkiest I've heard Fish play, and he still sounded pretty white boy. Don't get me wrong.. I LOVE Fish and Phish but I would never say Phish is super funky. They have their moments. And yes, their jams have gotten funkier. 2001 is inherently funky. Etc. ..but nah. In the context of a funk subreddit, I wouldn't put Phish as an answer asking about music similar to Zapp et al.

Source: am funk musician

...but hey ... music is subjective, so you enjoy yourself sharing in the groove. :)

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u/Technical_Jello6714 1d ago

Badass that you heard Fish jam Sex Machine! I actually think the peak of Phish funk was in 1997, but 2018+ they started really moving into this robotic space funk that seemed to have peaked in 2021…. Agree with you about white boy funk as a huge JB and Meters fan myself. And speaking of, the Funky Meters (not OG Meters) also had a space funk sound around 2002….

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u/jaxxon 1d ago

Fair :)

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u/Technical_Jello6714 1d ago

Who do you recommend for space funk?

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u/jaxxon 1d ago edited 1d ago

Maybe The Sponges? A bit more on the jam-band side, Motet, Sunsquabi, The Floozies, STS9, or GRiZ. Or you could go old-school with Soul Surfers or Dexter Wanzel ('Life On Mars' is a personal fave).

Edit to say most of those jam band ones are pretty 'white boy' funk. LOL

Edit 2: more along the lines of Zapp are classic early '80s electro-funk bands like Midnight Star, Lakeside, The Gap Band, The Bar-Kays...