Ok, I’m not always the brightest bulb on the tree; I didn’t even know that Amp Fiddler was not the name of this new album by veteran rhythm section Rasta men Sly & Robbie, but instead a musical recording artist in his own right whose resume includes being part of George Clinton’s Parfliament/Funkadelic! (How would I know that, anyway?) However, thanks to Stephen over at the! K7 label group, I now know that Inspiration Information is the name of the album, and the music is a product of the happy collaboration between Amp Fiddler/Sly & Robbie.
“Drama Inside” and “Vibrationship” caught my attention as I had to look to make sure that the vocal wasn’t some never-before-heard Marvin Gaye tune! It even sounded like that old pro baller Mel Farr and company in the background. Amp seems to play with this homage of emulation throughout the album. At times, even the funky syncopated beat is like something off of one of the sessions that might have mystically lead to the creation of a”Let’s Get It On” or “Ego-Trippin’ Out”.
The best groove on this album comes from “U” which remained track four on both the preliminary and Final versions of the album that I received. Here is where, set to a lively pace, the totally into the croonin’ flow of lead singer Joseph “Amp” Fiddler, a solid central Caribbean beat, and I- Tree style background vocals combine to make this one move so nicely against your eardrums. “Callin’ on the phone for U/Telling my friends about U, Baby it’s all about U.” I can see her response in the way her hips sway in the foreground with the white sand and incoming tide creeping in the background and my head nods to the beat. Come back from that daydream, is how “Serious” reclaims continuity after a couple of tracks that laden the initial momentum. I’m further impressed that they added the final two of the thirteen songs to round-out the feeling. In that vein especially is “This World” to put the bow on it by reminding that these are composers who are conscious about the Earth. So that is what the sum-total of learning some new information each day is, and in my retarded case, painted with a robust three-and-a-half renovate-the-people’s-house to neutral or leave it alone stars. ‘nuff respect.
Released October 28, 2008 on Strut/!k7 Records.
