Album Review

An astute student of p-funk and a studio hand for everyone from Warren Zevon to Too Short, Detroit's Amp Fiddler splits the difference between vibrant Seventies funk and contemporary dance music on his debut, Waltz of a Ghetto Fly. Behind the boards, he creates mellifluous soulscapes that bubble and snap. As a singer, though, he's all restraint, with a vocal rasp that rarely seems to operate at full power. It doesn't need to, however, on tracks such as the bitter love song "You Played Me" or the wailing, Afrobeat-influenced "Love and War." "Superficial" puts sneering vocals and an exuberant post-disco track side-by-side; if the object of his scorn isn't paying close attention, she might mistake it for a serenade.
- JON CARAMANICA

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