gizgoogmai 2007-11-21
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
For over a decade, Brit-rock has proclaimed its green credentials by recycling at least 50% of its material and repackaging it as if it were completely original.
By contrast, contemporary Afro-American music's sample culture fetishises reconditioned old licks and beats, while offering much more genuine novelty.
Joseph "Amp" Fiddler is the exception who proves the rule.
A Detroit veteran of George Clinton's p-funk unit, his second solo album, but for a cod-ragga toast on "I Need You", could well have teleported in from the mid-1970s.
Referencing Gil Scott-Heron in the jazz-funk meditation "Right Where You Are", August Darnell in the zoot-suited "If I Don't", Marvin Gaye in "Hustle", Sly Stone in the bone-dry click-track drums, p-funk in the rubber bass and synths, and Shuggie Otis in the spare, stoned melodiousness, Amp also boasts a fine, smoky singing voice and a way-cool pimp hat.
If Jamiroquai could concoct a hit career out of a lot less, why not this retro rare-groover?
