And Out – Kutiman

No Groove Where I Come From – Kutiman f/ Elran Dekel

both from the Kutiman’s self-titled debut album on Melting Pot Music (2007).

Music Is Ruling My Life (DJ Day Remix) – Kutiman

from the 12″ on Melting Pot Music (2007).

Working a website like Ear Fuzz has many blessings, and the most tangible if not necessarily the best is all the kind folks at record labels who are willing to feed the compulsion hunger to hear new music by sharing their releases. I hate to say it, but sometimes I can get complacent about how great a system this is when I have gone through a stack (both real and virtual) of tunes that didn’t do much for me. However, my thin veneer of jaded music commentator quickly fell away when the lovely folks of Melting Pot Music sent me their latest CD, the self-titled album by Israeli musician Kutiman (ne Ophir Kutiel).

Melting Pot has been putting outstanding music into beathead’s waiting hands since 2002; all of it with an over-riding sense of funkiness. The label’s artists are a world wide diaspora (New Zealand, Israel, Germany, USA, etc) and come in with excellent hard funk (Lefties Soul Connection), instrumental hip hop (A-Ko), and even an classic sing/rap Mos Def sound-a-like (note: a good thing) (Miles Bonny). Kutiman actually brings a large number of styles to the table in his album. A mix of electronic production and Kutiman’s own multi-instrumental skills, “And Out” captures the old mid-70s jazz-funk sound very well layering noodley organ riffs and synthesizer scales over punchy, cymbal-laden drum fills. This is probably my favorite track on the album.

“No Groove Where I Come From” is leans more to the funky soul side with a minute long instrumental lead in that gets kind of spacey before vocalist Elran Dekel and various horns start their interplay. Great flute and drums throughout. Finally, to make up for our 2 week absence, I’ve added a third track today which is the great DJ Day’s (another MPM artist) remix of “Music Is Ruling My Life,” which can be found on the single release. Day keeps many of the elements of Kutiman’s original intact, including the ridiculously bouncy+slinky bassline. This remix in particular has been constant aural companion lately to keep me warm as the weather sours. Lots of good stuff from a young artist and an exciting young label.