The Cold Busted label make yet another not-infrequent subversion of their mission to purvey quality downtempo music to the world with the decidedly lively, upbeat Funkadelic Stereo Adventures – i.e. the latest release from the man named after what must surely be his permanent creative locus – Funky Destination.
Croatian Vladimir Sivc (for it is he), a.k.a Mr Louie, has crafted a ten-track instrumental psychedelic trip that owes at least as much to the sixties as it does to the seventies. Which is to say that it nods to mods as well as paying tribute to P-funk – and quite a lot inbetween. Opener Ocean Of My Mind – mixes ethereal soul jazz vocal samples with hectic breaks, while I Got Soul employs a Rhodes motif over fat bass and Blue Note-ish breaks. Sweet Of Love on the other hand is in straight blaxploitation car chase theme territory while The Journey is a piccolo-toting psych-trip out on Pacific Coast Highway.
Un-traditionally, the best tracks are stuffed away in the second half of the album. Psychedelic Spaghetti is an epic Les Baxter-ish effort, Havana (unsurprisingly) finds clattering latin breaks to the fore, Where Are The Blues Brothers (surprisingly) is a Big Boss Man style mod groove, Uh Yeah is whirling Propellerheads type breaks and lastly Mr Brown’s Theme pitches JB-style breaks against (finally!) P-funk-ish Eddie Hazel guitar antics. Funkadelic Stereo Adventures then – a musical journey to enjoy from Funky Destination.
(Out now on Cold Busted)