Funki Porcini is the stage name of English musician and film maker James Braddell. His music is a combination of downtempo, breakbeat and nu jazz with highlights of samples and time-stretched vocals. The name "Funki Porcini" is a twist on "Funghi Porcini", the Italian name of the mushroom Boletus edulis, commonly known as "penny bun".
He spent ten years in Italy making music for film and television. Thereafter, he returned to England. In 1994 he signed to independent record labelNinja Tune and set up his own studio, The Uterus Goldmine.
For his fourth album, Fast Asleep, Braddell worked with Team Alcohol (a.k.a. Rupert Small) to produce visual interpretations of eight tracks, which are included on the album's accompanying DVD.
He has also recorded as a member of 9 Lazy 9 (a.k.a. 8 Lazy Bastards), under the pseudonym Giacomo Braddellini; and released the EP "Float On" (1995), as a member of short-lived band Purr, along with DJ N4Eric (a.k.a. Toona) and Stuart Warren-Hill of Hexstatic. Recently he has been making films and animation and has worked on the scores to two films by Tony Grisoni; Syncing and The Pizza Miracle.
Unitone HiFi – "Guiding Star (Funki Porcini Remix)" from Rewound + Rerubbed (1996, Incoming!, Cat. no: INC!LP 3402/INC!CD 3308, 2x12"/CD)
The Mike Flowers Pops – "Freebass (Cocaine Donut)" from The Freebase Connection: The Mike Flowers Pops meets Aphex Twin (29 July 1996, Lo Recordings, Cat. no: LOEP 02/LOEP 02 CD, 12"/CDS)
Pierre Henry & Michel Colombier – "Jericho Jerk (Funki Porcini Mix)" from Metamorphose – Messe Pour Le Temps Présent (1997, FFRR Records (US)/Philips Records (France), Cat. no: 456 294-2/456 650–1;456 294–2;456 640–2, CD, Compilation)
Barbara Gogan with Hector Zazou – "Cradle Your Soul (Funki Porcini Mix)" from Made on Earth (Remixes) (1997, SSR Records, Cat. no: SSR 179, 12")
Margoo – "Villain (Funki Porcini Remix)" from Ariane 5 EP (1997, Lo Recordings, Cat. no: LOEP 04, 12")
Sounds From The Ground – "Over There (Purr Remix)" from Sound Information 3 (1998, Echo Beach, Cat. no: EB020, CD, Compilation)
Le Tone – "Joli Dragon (Funki Porcini Remix)" from Joli Dragon (1999, Creation Records, Cat. no: , 12")
Toxic Lounge – "When Sorrows Came (Funki Porcini's Toxic Hammond)" from When Sorrows Came (29 August 2000, Klein Records, Cat. no: KL 015, 12")
DJ Mixes
"Megamix" (56:03) from Soundclash Present Undo (disc 2: Breaking Off With Funki Porcini) – (1999, Soundclash, Cat. no: SOUND CDLP 01, 2xCD, Compilation + Mixed CD)
Samples
"What Are You Looking At?", the opening track on Fast Asleep, features a vocal sample from the 1956 science fiction film Them!:
"Gentlemen, science is agreed, that if something isn't done and done quickly, man as the dominant species of Earth will be extinct within a year."
The track 123,3,4 from The Ultimately Empty Million Pounds uses samples from Ornette Coleman's album The Shape of Jazz to Come.
"Let's See What Carmen Can Do" features a sample of Bob Barker from the TV show, "The Price Is Right", commenting while spinning the Big Wheel – which beeps as the numbers pass by.
The track "Long Road" features a sample of the movie Where Danger Lives, wherein the protagonist, played by Robert Mitchum, is saying to the girl with whom he is on the run "it's a long road, there's no turning back".
Songs
The Great Drive ByFast Asleep · 2002 PurrfectLove - Pussycats & Carwrecks · 1996 King AshabanapalHed Phone Sex · 1995
