1. Faith
2. If I Don't
3. Right Where You Are
4. Find My Way
5. Empower
6. Afro Strut
7. I Need You
8. You Could Be Mine
9. Heaven
10. Afro Butt
11. Seven Mile
12. Funky Monday
13. Ridin'
14. Hustle
15. Dope
Since its release in 2004 Amp Fiddler's debut album Waltz Of A Ghetto
Fly has grown in stature as a record combining several elements of
Detroit's musical heritage, namely soul, funk and techno.
Afro Strut is if
anything even better, and looks set to be a more immediate success, for it
achieves a most impressive musical coherence in its song-based structures,
with the stars of the show once again the voice and keyboard-playing
fingers of its principal artist.
Before going solo Joseph Fiddler had already amassed a host of musical
highs though his keyboard playing, working in techno with Moodyman,
funking out on stage with Prince and George Clinton - a
formidable duo of beats references - and working closely with Slum
Village.
Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly took many of these references on board, and Afro
Strut continues a natural progression while reining in the potential for
improvised excesses. The roots of the music lie in the keyboard playing,
where Amp often achieves a coolness familiar to techno music, serving as a
steady reference point under which there are funkier goings-on in the bass
region, with Amp's naturally rich, slightly smoky baritone on top.
However this doesn't mean the music is polished within an inch of its
life, and nor does it lack originality. The Dixieland infusion of If I
Don't refutes this superbly, with the clever double negative of the lyrics
given a real swing with brushes of clarinet counterpoint and an
effortlessly funky groove.
Clearly proud of his home city, Fiddler makes a direct reference to the
Seven Mile district where he grew up - not the infamous Eight Mile of
Eminem, but on this hearing an area full of verve, captured with
stuttering beats, funky yet indecisive as to whether they should break into
full blown four to the floor house. Meanwhile all sorts of vocal effects
are subtly let into the consciousness, moving left then right.
Two previous collaborators are on hand once more, with Only Child
the force behind the warm single Right Where You Are and Ridin', while
Raphael Saadiq produces the imperious Faith. Fiddler's duet with
Stephanie McKay has a soft spirituality on Heaven, while Afro
funkster Terry Green appears on the two brief variants of the title
track that punctuate the centre of the record. Stevie Wonder,
meanwhile, makes an implied appearance in Funky Monday.
At times I was reminded of Jamie Lidell's departure from techno
to wide-eyed soul on his Multiply album, but this is more authentic -
smooth, cool and irresistibly funky music that gets better and better the
more you hear it. Amp Fiddler has every right to strut - he's made a very
fine record, one of the best soulful long players you'll hear this
year.