Customer Reviews

When the Funk Hits the Fan

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My title may be extreme to some of you, but I really do feel this way. By the time, this album actually came out, there were countless Maxwell wannabes, D'Angelo had virutally disappeared, and female R&B was being dominated by a skinny, headwrap, wearin' sista from Texas. In all honesty, everyone was starting to sound like everyone else.

If I hadn't stumbled into Tower Records and decided to check this one out on the listening station, I would've never known about this album. It's a great ALBUM...meaning it's great from start to finish. And because this is a "concept" album (an overused term, but anyway...) a film without pictures so to speak, you almost HAVE to listen to the album from start to finish. In all honesty, I owned the album for several months before I learned to appreciate it as a great album.

The song that made me purchase the album was "When the Funk Starts to Swing", a sweet slice of jazz-funk harkening back to the heyday of CTI records. Once I actually started listening to the album in its entirety a realized that every song on this ablum--save one--is a standout cut and has its own identity. The previously mentioned tune is one of my favorites, along with "Jimmy Leans Back", "Gettin' Into It", and "When the Funk Hits the Fan" (a dance-club take on "When the Funk Starts to Swing").

The one weak spot on this otherwise glorious album is "The Reason", which unimaginatively lays vocals over a sample of Boz Scaggs, "Lowdown." The real gem is that you get to hear a clip of King Britt's "original mix" of "The Reason" just before the "lowdown" version starts. The "original mix" can be found on the Sylk 130 "The Reason" EP. Why they didn't use this far more superior version of the song on the album is beyond me. "The Reason" EP is definitely worth seeking out for this song as well as an extended version of "When the Funk Hits the Fan."

Anyway, this snafu not withstanding, this is still THE last great album in black music for the 1990s.

This CD is a gem, it's nothing like the usual stuff you hear. Get it, kick back, and let it take you where it takes you. I mention King Britt to people and they draw a blank. Let them here the CD and they immediatly want to borrow it. You know what I say, "Naw my brother you gotta go out and get your own."

This CD was given to me by a person who read some of my CD reviews. I heard the track "When The Funk Hits The Fan" a couple of years ago but never knew who made it. This was a great trade because I'm always in to new underground music and this one is excellent. A touch of acid, funk, and soul cover CD and I'm my ears were blessed by it's sounds. A great CD for collection of good music.

oNe

You'll remember chillin' on the stoop of your best friend's house in tenth grade, listening to a boombox straining some musical sounds through the air... even if you never did that.

The tracks Britt (aka Sylk, it's one in the same) creates here are infused with a deep soul. Male vocals and easy rapping stand tall on some tracks, but there are never any hos or bling-bling in this rap.

Female vocals take center stage, and they're a decidedly different feel than the masculine tracks. Very poetic, some deeply sung as if from a smoky jazz club.

This is music for people who grew up in the majority of the US, not a scrubbed-up suburb version or the down-and-dirty ghetto place. There are elements of both those here, with a track like Taggin' and Braggin' obviously talking about committing small crime, in this case graffiti.

However, most of the issues here are overtaken by the groove: buy this album for its flow. Standout tracks include the aforementioned Taggin', the wonderful, true-to-its-roots "DJ Saved My Life" cover, the super-groovy title track, and a wonderfully-sampled The Reason.

Some of the tracks are a little too serious in their poetry, but if you're into that, you'll love it (namely, "A Day in the Life," and "E.R.A"). Break out the beatnik berets and start a-snappin' your fingers.

Overall, however, this album is all about a great groove, and it keeps it going on lots of nicely-crafted tracks. A great discovery for those sick of modern rap and something closer to Tribe and De La Soul, but with not as much of a ghetto, street edge.

This CD is just too phat to describe. The lyrics get deep and it's hip-hop, jazz, bee-bop, funk, you name it, as the styles only get richer. I like it more and more as I enjoy the CD and it's been more than a year since I've had it. Nice!

I didn't know anything about funk, jazz or bues. Never listened to it and it never interested me. Until I heard the first tracks of this album, it was really an eye-opener. All of a sudden I was intrested in this genre, it's so relaxed, so groovy. The album is sort of a sountrack of funk. I heard that this King Britt character is some kind of techno dj? Anyway I can't wait till his next album is available. My final question: Is there anything cooler than this album? Maybe a 300 dollar sunglasses, or dating Cameron Diaz? Answer; No. So feel the funk, throw away your Ray-ban, dump Cameron Diaz, and buy this record.

This seems like a great cd but unfortunately my copy is for kids or something and all the "swearing" is swerved out. It's extremely irritating and keeps me from enjoying the tunes. Very disappointing and it doesn't seem to say that it's the "clean" version anywhere on it.

Somehow I never heard this CD, which is good and bad. Bad because I could have been grooving to it for the past ten years, but good because now it's fresh and blowing me away. If you like old school soul/funk, buy this disc - seriously, get in your car, on your bike, or just click "add to the cart", whatever, but get this into your collection - amazing!

... a slacker dude I worked with brought in an Ovum sampler and the extended mix of *Incident on the Couch* was on it. It blew me. A week later i got paid and I hustled down to Borders Books & Music for my fix and I came home with this joint in my bag.

Fast forward ten years and a female friend (who reviews r&b music for a living) had recently become a friends-with-benefits and I played this for her and she was impressed. Ten years later and this funk/jazz/hip-hop tinted classic is still in rotation.

Alright, look. This is one of the greatest CD's I have ever heard, bar none. It is smoothness incarnate. Just listening to this CD makes you cooler. Swear.