Albums which feature the genres Soul, Funk and Disco and don’t contain old material, are quite rare these days-not even to mention that qualitatively outstanding material is even rarer. So it is very fine to finally hold a piece of music in my hands, that fulfils all the above said-we are of course speaking of the debut album of FSQ on Soul Clap. The lineup of featured artists and vocalists is rather amazing, thanx to the background of the band.
FSQ was started by George Clintons nephew Sa’d, and Chuck who met in the mid 90s as touring members of George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic. Together with 8 times Grammy nominated G Koop, they became FSQ – a production team committed to creating original funk of supreme quality. Boston based guitar hero Chas Bronz, Philadelphia drummer One Era and New York audio engineer Morgan Wiley joined a few years later.
‘Reprise Tonight’ features Philadelphia disco and jazz vocalist Denise King, a stripped back 95 bpm funk groove, with a west coast bounce. On ‘Vibe Out Now’ there’s super wet analog synths and funky rhythm guitars. On ‘Dancefloor Democracy’, Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton and his son Trey Lewd handle the vocals. Guitars are by Trey and original Funkadelic bass player Billy Bass Nelson. ‘Peel Back’ features Nona Hendryx who helped write the lyrics, and layers of 80s boogie funk with Bernie Worrell inspired synths. ‘What They Don’t Know’ has Dolette McDonald member of Talking Heads. ‘11am’ features the legendary Fonda Rae, the voice behind big solo hits like ‘Touch Me’ and ‘Over Like a Fat Rat’. ‘Reprise Tonight (Disco Remix)’ concludes the album adding a deep funk guitar driven groove, multiple percussion build ups, and saxophone solos. The artwork is by original P-Funk artist R. Stozo!
Altogether this is an amazing album for both-listening and dancing!
4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by MANNIX
