Wintertijd

No Groove Where I Come From

I have discovered a brilliant record store in Ra'anana, called The Third Ear. The owner is a huge Steely Dan fan, has Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns on sale as a default and to top it off he knew what I was talking about when I wanted to order William Shatner's "Has Been". As a matter of fact, these people have given me a few good tips already, but more about that later. Now the other day I was having a smoke with one of the employees, and we were talking about P-Funk and the sorry-ass state of groove in Israel. I asked him "So what do *you* think about the Israeli music scene?". He just smiled, took a drag off of his cigarette and said "We don't talk about it in this store. It just don't exist". Amen to that.

So yesterday I walk into the store, and they're playing a modern take on P-funk. I ask the dude what it was he was playing, and to my complete bewilderment he answered it was Israeli. We all stood there and marveled at that for a while. One customer asked if he had heard that correctly, and all that. Much hilarity ensued. Apparently there is a Gentleman named Ophir Kutiel who calls 'mself Kutiman. He plays keys, guitar, bass and, most of all, drums. The guy sat down in his home studio with a couple of friends that are into groove as well, and cut a self-titled album that consists of thirteen cuts, on which he plays most of the instruments. He gets vocal backing from a couple of people and there's a few horn-players that supply much needed wind to the album.

This is also the weak aspect of the Album. Kutiman is not a lyricist. He is not a singer. He lays down grooves, but somehow the thing feels unfinished. It's decidedly funky in places, but it's missing something. The whole album is too much a product of one dude sitting down and giving his interpretation of what Funk should be, but he's no Stevie Wonder or Johnny Guitar Watson. Having said that, it is the grooviest thing I have heard coming out of Israel to date. And that makes him one out of three Israeli artists that for one reason or another are worth listening to. Obviously, it's also true that the budget he has most likely received to make this album is such that he couldn't indulge in Isaac Hayes' scope of arranging exactly either. So all in all, this home-grown funk album is definitely worthwhile. On some tracks there's too much emphasis on P-funkish synth diddles. They're a one man show. Consequently I really think the album shines on cuts where he really uses those horn players and some vocals.All in all an excellent first foray into cutting a full length album of funky stuff. Somebody just needs to give this guy Mo' Money.

If you consider the Artist was born and raised in the most arid of countries when it comes to Funk, Soul, Groove and R&B, you'll appreciate it even more. For there is No Groove Where He Comes From. So I decided to post the so aptly named fourth track of the album, No Groove Where I Come From. It's a five minute funk extravaganza with chanting, horns, freaky synths, a very decent bridge and a colossal ending. Enjoy!

Posted by Chris at November 10, 2007 10:42 PM