Various - 37th State

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 19 / 2 / 2011

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Nigerian funk is paid tribute to by a wealth of the current crop of UK funksters, dubbers and hiphoppers alike. Afro funk was made popular by Fela Kuti and his heritage shows on Tony Allen's 'Best Bet' in fine fashion. King Sunny Adé and Chief Ebenezer Obey, two giants who are, however, lesser known now, are kind of excluded as an influnce on this 2CD, so it's more about Fela Kuti than about Nigeria. There are soulful brass arrangements and stomping rhythms, yet it is not as hypnotizing as the original 1970s afro-funk was. '37th State' focuses strongly on vocals. On 'Time' by Breis works like wonder. Sounding more genuinely Nigerian, Breis finds that fine balance between the afro-funk groove and melodic vocals. Breis and Tony Allen deliver the rootsiest contributions on disc one. Disc two takes you to the arrivals and here you'll find some longer jams. There are stunning and contemporary remixes that link the retro afro-funk to computer generated beats. Greg Cerrone and Ge-ology remix Ty, Keziah Jones and Slum Village. The new brew is my pick. Unlike disc one, it's groundbreaking.

Track Listing:-

1 Fire
2 Leaving You
3 Best Bet
4 All Get Down
5 Invisible Hands
6 Mo Gba
7 Concentration
8 Time
9 Searching
10 Alaye
11 Ladies UK
12 Tic Toc
13 Throw Away Your Hands
14 Why
15 Bombayjazz
16 Found
17 Invisible Hands (Yam Who Remix)
18 All Get Down (Ge-Ology Remix 2)
19 Invisible Hands (Greg Cerrone Remix 1)
20 Not Leaving Wit Cha (Jimmy Douglas Remix)
21 All Get Down (Ge-Ology Remix 1)
22 Invisible Hands (Greg Cerrone Remix 2)

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