TITLE: From The Rooftops
LABEL: ESL Music
REVIEW: Straight outta Washington DC (and yes, they have played in Richmond at least once so far), The Funk Ark is a mid-sized combo playing original instrumentals that are influenced by vintage funk, afrobeat and Latin soul. This is their first full-length recording; it’s on Thievery Corporation’s ESL Music imprint. Like a few other American bands of the same vintage (The Budos Band, Grupo Fantasma and Bronx River Parkway come immediately to my mind), The Funk Ark keeps their songs short (the longest track here is 5:16), sweet (there are catchy hooks and pithy solos throughout) and highly danceable. In Nigeria, Femi Kuti’s Positive Force is playing afrobeat the same way -- maybe this is afrobeat for the iPod generation? In any case, The Funk Ark delivers an enjoyable set that fans of the aforementioned bands are going to want to seek out. Nothing fancy here -- just ten tracks, each one on the good foot and you’ll be hungry for more after the first listen.
REVIEWER: Bill Lupoletti
TOP TRACKS: 2 4 6 7 10
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 1 3 5 8
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