Messin With Sly:Imitations,Interpolations And The Inspiration Of Sly Stone

待望の完全復活初来日公演を実現させたリヴィング・レジェンド、スライ・ストーンのトリビュート・アルバム。彼の代表曲の数々を、Breakestraをはじめ、kashmere Tage Band、L.A.Carnivalといったツボを心得たメンツがカヴァーした、コア筋をも唸らせるマニアック・カヴァーも含む多様な音源をコンパイル。

With the obvious exception of James Brown, there are few artists who broke more ground in R&B and paved the way for funk with greater imagination than Sly Stone. Between 1967 and 1971, Stone wrote and recorded music that was exciting, innovative, thoughtful, and challenging, and even managed to have hits at the same time, a testament both to the talent of Stone and his superb band as well as the willingness of audiences to embrace something so innovative during that heady time. So it makes perfect sense that someone would want to assemble a Sly Stone tribute album, and Messin' wth Sly: Imitations, Interpolations and the Inspiration of Sly Stone pulls together 16 covers of classic jams from Sly's songbook, many of which appear to have been chosen for their eccentricity and obscurity. There's a certain novelty in hearing He 6, a South Korean garage band, perform stripped-down and rhythmically challenged versions of "Stand!," "Sing a Simple Song," and "Dance to the Music"; not one but two high-school ensembles pop up here; and the rough recording of "Are You Ready?" by the obscure L.A. Carnival confirms the existence of funk in Nebraska during the early '70s. Gougoush were an R&B act from Iran, but even though their recording of "I Want to Take You Higher" is historically and sociologically interesting, they sound more like a lounge act than a fierce funk unit. Messin' with Sly sometimes sounds like a sincere and well-executed homage to one of the great men of R&B, while at other times featuring entries that are curious and/or baffling. Collectors of confounding obscurities will be intrigued. ~ Mark Deming|