Interdimensional Transmissions co-founder, highly respected DJ, and dance music historian Brendan M. Gillen (BMG) curated this long-in-the-making set of edits, remixes, and reworks of
Funkadelic classics. Considering how much of a direct influence
P-Funk has had on Detroit's music scene (including but not limited to house, techno, hip-hop, soul, and garage rock), a Detroit-centric tribute seems only natural. Everyone who contributed to this album is highly regarded by the Detroit dance elite, and the only reason legends such as
Theo Parrish and
Carl Craig are absent is because they didn't think their mixes were up to par, demonstrating the amount of reverence Detroiters have for
Funkadelic's music and cultural importance. The mixes that do appear here stay true to the originals, sparingly adding any additional sounds (
P-Funk alumni
Amp Fiddler plays keyboard parts on a few of these mixes) and generally accentuating the grooves and making the tracks more DJ-friendly, or else emphasizing their trippy, interstellar qualities. Marcellus Pittman's "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" (listed as "Get Your Ass Off and Jam") has fun dicing up and looping the curse-heavy chorus, and Gay Marvine speeds up "Undisco Kidd," focusing on its bubbly bassline, and makes it work as an actual disco track.
The Dirtbombs continue their decades-long streak of brilliant covers, performing a mean, sloppy, solo-heavy "Super Stupid" and going completely off the rails.
Anthony Shake Shakir and T Dancer take "Standing on the Verge" apart, adding plenty of suspenseful pauses and some heavy electro breaks.
Claude Young, Jr. offers two radically different takes on
Maggot Brain's unity-themed anthem "You and Your Folks." The "Club Mix" is a dark, spacious house track, while the "Dub" actually retains more of the groove and lyrics of the original. There isn't any way to improve on
Eddie Hazel's profoundly moving, rightfully legendary "Maggot Brain" guitar solo, so all BMG does is minimally pipe back in some of the additional instruments that were included on an alternate mix, covering everything with a spacy, ethereal glow. While by no means a replacement for the originals, this is a fine collection highlighting several of
Funkadelic's many aspects, serving as a party celebrating
P-Funk and the Detroit music scene. ~ Paul Simpson