UPTOWN FUNK EMPIRE – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

This extended set from purveyor of renaissance neo-funk Uptown Funk Empire (aka Bruno Hovart, of France) conforms to the most predictable funk cliche with its title: The Empire Strikes Back.  But if 70’s funk is indeed an empire, then Hovart has successfully resurrected it.  The sounds that he weaves through his funk-scape; whether freshly recorded or cleverly sampled, are authentic and easy on the ear.  It’s the kind of music that fills seaside resort dance-floors after cocktail hour, electric piano-driven, pop-bass and tap-and-snap disco drums and the obligatory “boogie”, “booty”, “dance” and vocoder-infused vocal chants.  Boogie sounds a bit like the spine of The Avalanches as seen through the lens of Chic; We Stand At The Back Of The Bus has the distinct reek of blaxploitation-era Curtis Mayfield, glued together by a tightly-sequenced take on the Funky Drummer beat.  It’s all very smartly woven together – guest vocalists Juan Rozoff and Noel McKoy, Ange-Laure Fandoh and Janice Leca lend a vein of genuine soul to these otherwise tidy but stock-standard funk grooves.  So at face value, this is a holiday background release, but if you listen closer, it’s quite classy.

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