STR4TA
Aspects
Brownswood Recordings
Buy Here | Listen Below
[READ our new interview with Gilles Peterson here]
The Brit Funk era of the late 1970s and early 1980s is a criminally undervalued and neglected slice of musical and cultural life in the United Kingdom. Inspired by the likes of Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith and Idris Muhammad, young Black men and women—the first-born generation of Windrush era immigrants—danced nights away in clubs and created an underground culture that bred much of what followed. Eventually those who loved the music imported from America came to pick up their own instruments and create their own version of it.
Key among these innovators was Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. As a founding member of Freeez, Light of The World and Incognito, he epitomizes the genre and has mined the rich seam of jazz funk music for those groups and many others within his sphere of influence. Back in the day, one of the DJs who played and loved the music was a young Gilles Peterson, now global tastemaker and fountain of musical excellence. So it makes sense that they should team up as STR4TA to revitalize the genre and reintroduce it to a new generation with their just-released album Aspects.
And revitalize it they do. The familiar touchstones are all present—the fluid bass lines, the flourish of scratch guitar riffs, the sprinkling of starlight keys and the upbeat positivity of the lyrical content. As sure as Spring brings new hope and optimism, so this Brit Funk shines like a beacon of truth and wonder with a dance floor filled with possibilities.
The album flows beautifully from one song to the next with subtle shifts in mood, rhythm and attitude all tied together beautifully by Bluey’s well-honed musical sensibilities. Lyrically, things are limited, simple but in line with the overwhelmingly positive vibe of the album—a little dark to go with the light might lift things further though, by way of the contrast.
Opener “Aspects” is the most driven dance beat amongst the offerings, while “Dance Desire” has the skittish hi-hats and saxophone most readily in keeping with the early 1980s vibe that the two gentlemen helped to shape and bring to those with open ears. “We Like It” similarly transports to that same time frame, sprinkled liberally as it is with fantastical flourishes of shooting star keys—the advent of astral projection is a distinct possibility.
Each track has something delightful, be it the bubbling funk bass of “Steppers Crusade,” the helium-light melody of “After The Rain” or the subtle differences of rhythm that permeate the second half of the record. It truly does evoke the great Brit Funk records of not just Bluey’s work with the aforementioned groups, but also Hi Tension, early Level 42 and others.
While it is slightly one-paced and singular in its tone, it is done with enough style, panache and unbridled joy to carry it across its 50-minute running time and provide not just a time capsule to days gone by but also a hint to a future more funk-filled than you may have imagined.
Notable Tracks: “Aspects” | “Steppers Crusade” | “We Like It”
BUY Aspects Here
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