You know, if Pitchfork is finally catching up with the rest of the world (me) in terms of culture and taste, I can’t fault them for being right. The funk-soul brother name of Kutiman, hailing from Israel, has been a supreme favorite of mine since I heard his single “No Reason For You” on Melting Pot Music last summer, and kudos to the publication we all love to hate for knowing the good shit when they hear it. Their review of Kutiman, the self-titled debut from said funk-soul brother, is a well-deserved accolade for a freshman effort.

This is the pure definition of psychedelic interstellar afro-beat jazz funk, horns, crazy Hammond B-3 keyboards, straight-up junkie rhythms from 1971 banging up the block from outer space to the human race and back again. With guest vocal effects from Karolina, Chaka Moon and Elran Dekel, we get an enhancement to what is already a nearly perfect recording. Furthermore, what I would like to call “the Stanley Turrentine/Ahmad Jamal/Yusef Lateef factor” is all over this joint, a form of high praise that I think is well merited once you get to listen (if you know anything about those cats).

The best part is that while the individual sections of this record are wonderful, it’s much better as a complete work. There’s no filler here, no rush jobs or cutting and pasting — this is some handcrafted, vintage funk/soul shit that will stay with you long after the first listen. So if you are down with the notions and the concepts, then the practice and the performance is here for you to lay your dreams in. Kutiman is set to take on the world, and it’s time you climbed aboard and slid into the groove.

Kutiman - Music Is Ruling My World (featuring Karolina)
Kutiman - No Reason For You (featuring Elran Dekel)

You can purchase Kutiman’s S/T album from Amazon (CD or MP3) by clicking here.