Amp Fiddler - Afro Strut (Genuine)

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.

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