Faith / If I Don't (feat Corinne Bailey Rae) / Not / Find My Way / Afro Strut (Interlude) / Hustle / You Could Be Mine (feat Neco Washington) / Right Where You Are / Hey Joe / Ridin' / Scared / Afro Butt (Interlude) / Heaven (feat Stephanie McKay) / Come See Me

WALL OF SOUND / PIAS

A slight rejiggling of his AFRO STRUT album from a few months ago, this US EDITION of the record adds a few new additions and tweaks to the original version.  As keyboard player for Parliament/Funkadelic in his mid twenties, Detroit soulster Joseph Amp Fiddler is no stranger to bringing on the funk, something made extremely apparent on the previous record.

AFRO STRUT is a funked up collection of songs that straddle soul, pop, funk and RnB with stylish ease, from the opening soulful funk of FAITH with its Lenny Kravitz meets Prince strut to IF I DON'T with its fifties doo-wop kitsch that pits Amp Fiddler somewhere close to what Outkast are delivering on their latest material, somewhere between the soundtrack to Disney's The Aristocats and Boyz II Men.  Collaborating with UK songstress Corinne Bailey Rae here, IF I DON'T is given a fresh perspective; her soulful vocals adding texture to the song and lifting it beyond what Amp Fiddler achieved with the previously released album version; a funky pop song for the upcoming summer months, IF I DON'T could well be Amp Fiddlers finest moment in quite some time.

Elsewhere, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE is a little watered down sounding and predictable compared to what's come before; this time round Amp Fiddler seemingly more Jamiroquai than Funkadelic.  Delivering a soulful baritone over an identi-kit bass and guitar groove, there's little here beyond the mildly catchy chorus to really capture the imagination, a disappointing return all told and something of a disappointing and muted return; a song that struggles to reach the heights of Amp Fiddler's previous work.  The equally conservative sounding FIND MY WAY finds Amp Fiddler coming over all far too slick and smooth, the kind of over produced RnB that gives the impression of someone sleepwalking through the motions.

With YOU COULD BE MINE FEAT. NECO WASHINGTON its more of the blandly predictable, all dull beats, tiresomely smooth soul vocals and the aura of the ordinary; HEAVEN and HUSTLE falling into this same category with depressingly predictable ease.

RIDIN' and COME SEE ME end things on a bland sounding climax of identi-kit RnB smoothness and slickly produced boredom.

AFRO STRUT is a record that despite the brief lapse into something more energised and interesting, is a parade of dull soul posturing and outpouring of every RnB and funk cliché in the book.  A record best avoided then really.

BIOGRAPHY

Joseph 'Amp' Fiddler made his name with 2004's critically-acclaimed WALTZ OF A GHETTO FLY, an album which seeped like molasses into the heart of anyone with an ear for genuine, underground music.  AFRO STRUT is the follow up to that record and a sign that his assured and open-minded approach to his own sound has engendered a stylistic leap forward, creating in the process a diverse and ambitious second album.  By referencing many of the great contemporary black music movements be it Jazz, Doo-Wop, Afrobeat, soul or hip-hop, AFRO STRUT is, like its predecessor, without modern day comparison.  The collusion of a lifetime of influences and experiences that are drawn on, used, discarded and Amp-lified across twelve slices of raw funk.

LINE UP

Amp Fiddler

DISCOGRAPHY

WALTZ OF A GHETTO FLY (Genuine>2004)

Intro 

I Believe In You 

Dreamin’ 

Superficial 

Possibilities 

Soul Divine 

You Played Me 

Eye To Eye 

Love & War 

If You Can’t Get Me Off Your Mind 

Unconditional Eyes 

This Is How 

Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly

RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE (Wall Of Sound>2006)

Edit

Tom Middleton Lub Remix (Edit)

Tom Middleton Biz Remix (Edit)

2AM Remix

Hot Chip Remix

Extended Version

Tom Middleton Lub Remix

Tom Middleton Biz Remix

AFRO STRUT (Wall Of Sound>2006)

Faith

If I Don't

Right Where You Are

Find My Way

Empower

Afro Strut (Skit)

I Need You

You Could Be Mine

Heaven

Afro Butt (Skit)

Seven Mile

Funky Monday

Ridin'

Hustle

IF I DON'T (Wall Of Sound>2007)

If I Don't (Radio Version)

If I Don't (Instrumental)

AFRO STRUT (US EDITION) (Genuine Records>2007)

Faith

If I Don't (feat Corinne Bailey Rae)

Not

Find My Way

Afro Strut (Interlude)

Hustle

You Could Be Mine (feat Neco Washington)

Right Where You Are

Hey Joe

Ridin'

Scared

Afro Butt (Interlude)

Heaven (feat Stephanie McKay)

Come See Me

LINKS

Wall Of Sound>www.piaswos.com

FURTHER LISTENING

Parliament

Funkadelic

Hot Chip