Yin Yang
Some artists' works complement each other so well that one can feel incomplete without the other: Beatles/Stones, Billie Holiday/Ella Fitzgerald, Biggie/2Pac, Sonic Youth/Pixies, etc. Which are your favourite complementing discographies, and why?
For me, it's James Brown/George Clinton, funk masters who took on the genre from almost opposite angles. James Brown's funk is very physical, very hard, a mood that's reflected in his lyrics: "Get into it, get involved!", "brother, don't leave homework undone!", and "I can't stop singing!" There's a prevalent toughness to his sound, as well as a tightness: not a single instrument ever feels out of line, probably reflective of the strict discipline he imposed on his band. It's music that makes you want to work hard and build up a sweat.
George Clinton took Parliament-Funkadelic onto a whole different kind of funk, despite many of the band's members being former members of the J.B's. He goes for a much more psychedelic and playful angle, incorporating sci-fi themes and nursery rhymes into his sound. Whereas James Brown had everything tight, Clinton was much more loose, his funk rolling out and sprawling all over the place. It's music to groove and relax to. Clinton's own words sums up their overall vibe quite nicely: "Free your mind and your ass will follow".
I feel it's really important to have music that complements each other in this way: I've got James Brown for when I need to get shit done and George Clinton for when I need to kick back. What do you have in your life that's similar?
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