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POETS OF RHYTHM: Anthology 1992-2003 (2013)

[RATING: 5] Global overlords of retro funk and soul, NY’s Daptone Records, here pay homage to a band instrumental (thank you, I’m here all week!) in inspiring the whole Desco/ Daptone project to take flight – not to mention the global retro funk scene in the nineties. The band in question is legendary German underground funky soul outfit The Poets Of Rhythm – a.k.a. Bus People Express, Whitefield Brothers, Organized Raw Funk, The Woo-Woos, Soul Saints Orchestra, Bo Baral’s Excursionists of Perception, The Pan-Atlantics and other aliases. Hey – they were big on pseudonyms. The homage comes in the form of a massive double LP of the band’s output between 1992 and 2003 in its many guises.

The band’s founder members Bo Baral a.k.a. Boris Geiger, B. Baral, B. Barale, B. Borale, B.Borale, Baral, Bo, Bo Borale, Boris Boral and JJ Whitefield a.k.a J.J., Jan Weissenfeldt, and Jaws not to mention Jan Whitefield, J. Whitefield, J.A. Whitefield, J.Whitfield, Jay Whitefield, JW, Whitefield (I think it’s clear why the band had so many pseudonyms) were originally inspired by George Clinton, then James Brown. Subsequently, they discovered The Meters and their trio of major influences was complete. Ultimately though, if you want to try and pin down their sound – it’s broadly like an amalgam of early Meters stuff and gear from The Propositions occasionally adorned with Baral’s JB-like vocals. They gave themselves plenty of room to manouevre however and their output veered from raw dancefloor filth to psychedelic and even jazzy and afrobeat voyages. And that’s what you’re getting here. Eighteen tracks of it from the band under various of their guises, including the previously unreleased Path Of Life. Pure funky poetry y’all!
(Out 30 September on Daptone Records)

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