FSQ “Reprise Tonight” LP - The Wire UK Magazine Review
FSQ receives a wonderful review for our “Reprise Tonight” album (Soul Clap Records) in The Wire UK magazine by music writer John Morrison. Find it on page 63 of the October 2020 edition, The Wire Issue 440. Morrison applauds FSQ boldly stating that “the band has the creative chops to craft club ready variations on classic funk”
Review of FSQ’s “Reprise Tonight” album by John Morrison in October 2020 edition of The Wire UK - issue 440 ; Morrison writes FSQ “take George Clinton’s sound and distill it down to it’s most light hearted inoffensive elements”
Text of review from The Wire UK, October 2020 Edition, Issue 440
Smudge All Stars
Smudge All Stars
Pegdoll DL
FSQ
Reprise Tonight
Soul Clap DL/LP
With their dynamic fusion of James Brown’s funk rhythms, the acid-tinged psychedelic soul of Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix, and the communal, call-andresponse vocal characteristics of doo-wop, George Clinton and ParliamentFunkadelic would’ve gone down as one of the singular voices in modern music on their sound alone. But consider the fact that Clinton and his cohorts augmented their unique musical approach with a complex and imaginative mythology made up of Funky UFOs, prophetic star children and futuristic motherships ready to descend to Earth and transport the funky and the willing to some cosmic Utopia. It was this madcap approach to worldbuilding, coupled with their cutting edge yet populist sound, that lay at the core of P-funk’s genius. Theirs is a formula that was imitated in its time and remains a touchstone for musicians today.
Led by drummer/producer Richie Stevens (son of pioneering British jazz and improv drummer John Stevens), Smudge All Stars create their own colourful world that borrows from the blueprint Clinton established. Their debut album opens with a curveball. The whimsical harpsichord intro of “Brutal Funk” quickly gives way to a bass heavy anthem complete with P-funk gang vocals. With guest appearances from Lee Perry, Omar, Fred Wesley and George Clinton himself, Stevens has assembled a winning, intergenerational cast of funkateers, putting their own spin on Clinton’s fun, bizarre aesthetic and timeless sound.
A branch from the same musical tree, FSQ is a trio made up of Chuck ‘Da Fonk’ Fishman, Sa’d ‘The Hourchild’ Ali and producer/multi-instrumentalist G Koop, who take Clinton’s sound and distill it down to it’s most light-hearted, inoffensive elements. Their debut Reprise Tonight sports another all-star cast of guests that includes Fonda Rae, Denise King, Nona Hendryx and, again, Clinton himself. FSQ push the funk into some seriously dancefloor-ready, disco-inspired territory. “Vibe Out Now” is a tight slice of funky new wave with soaring fuzz guitars while “11:00 AM” is a smoking midtempo party track.
When Clinton joins the party for “Dancefloor Democracy”, his grainy, distinctive voice is dropped in the middle of a swirling, electronic dance track proving that the band has the creative chops to craft club-ready variations on classic funk. — John Morrison