Wednesday, October 01, 2014

NEW RELEASES: PRINCE & 3RDEYEGIRL - PLECTRUMELECTRUM; FELA KUTI 7-LP BOX SET; VADOU GAME - APIAFO

PRINCE & 3RDEYEGIRL - PLECTRUMELECTRUM

One of a pair of Prince records released on the same day – and this one that finds him in a lean, hard-hitting funk rock mode that we always love from him – and deservedly sharing credit with his 3rdeyegirl group. It's honestly a lot of fun to hear Prince having this much fun himself, in a small combo psych-rock-soul guitar mode – letting his Hendrix and Maggot Brain-era Funkadelic imflunces fly, and recalling his his own trailblazing 80s style. The 3rdeyegirl trio of Donna Grantis, Hannah "Ford" Welton and Ida Nielson more sharp indeed. Nice stuff! Titles include "Wow", "Pretzelbodylogic", "Aintturninaround", "Plectrumelectrum", "Whitecaps", "Fixurlifeup", "Boytrouble", "Stopthistrain", "Anotherlove", "Tictactoe", Marz" and "Funkinroll".~ Dusty Groove

FELA KUTI  - LONDON SCENE / SHAKARA /AFRODISIAC /GENTLEMEN / UPSIDE DOWN / ZOMBIE / ITT (7-LP BOX SET)

A stunning set of work from the legendary Fela Kuti – seven full albums, served up in an ultra-limited box set – all hand-chosen by the equally legendary Brian Eno! Eno was a key supporter of Afro Funk in the 70s, and it's no surprise that just about every record here is one of Fela's standout classics – albums that include his excellent early UK recordings on London Scene, through Nigerian classics that include Shakara, Afrodisiac, Gentlemen, Upside Down, and Zombie – as well as the massively political, album-length jam of ITT (International Thief Thief)! Every album comes with the original record art too – and the set's one of the heaviest funk packages you could ever hope to find. ~ Dusty Groove


VADOU GAME - APIAFO

A cool contemporary group with roots in Tojo – hotbed of African voodoo culture, which is a strong inspiration on their sound! The music takes an older style of voodoo chants, and fuses it onto a more funk-based approach – one that draws on inspirations from 70s west African funk, but in a way that's more subtle than most of the other contemporary groups – a mode that still uses horns, but really strips down the sound a lot, so that the hypnotic vocal passages really take center stage! The production is great – very much in a vintage mode – and these guys are way than just another Afro Funk group, and have instead really stumbled onto something fresh and vital. Titles include "Wrong Road", "Ata Calling", "No Problem", "Dangerous Bees", "No Way To Go", "I Need A Job", and "Meva".  ~ Dusty Groove


No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...