It may be an unknown and as yet unexplored territory, but some Krauts certainly knew how to cook up a serious groove and put the D into Funk. Just take The Poets Of Rhythm and The Whitefield Brothers - two groups from Munich that immerged themselves so deep into the rare grooves of James Brown's People label catalogue that it became part of their DNA. The Whitefield Brothers' "Rampage" sounds like it was recorded in a funky shack in Louisiana in the late 60s. No wonder that DJ Shadow and Lyrics Born are keen to work with them nowadays. Hamburg's Lee Armstrong Express and Augsburg's Twen are cut from the same breed and no less impressive. Stabbing horns, hard poppin' drums and grinding organs galore. Hit me!

The earliest entry on the compilation hails from 1972 and is cooked up by über-drummer Charly Antolini. "Jumping" from his much sought-after album "Atomic Drums" is a funky break-beat feast made in heaven. The same goes for "Kirschblüte" by Veronika Fischer & Band - an awesome, Philly-infused syncopation work-out, originally only released as a 7" flip-side in 1975, sounding like The Commodores lost in Leipzig. Hallelujah.

When the energy of punk met the rhythmic sophistication of funk, it often made for outstanding results. Berlin's "No New York"-styled collective Zatopek (feat. Sven Regener of Element Of Crime fame) is a prime example: Driven by a great horn section, they explore the same territory as early 80s contemporaries Pigbag and James White & The Contortions. The fantastic Family 5 (featuring ex Fehlfarben punk demi-god Peter Hein on vocals) rode a similar path. Their rare debut 12" "Bring Deinen Körper Auf Die Party" (Take Your Body To The Party, 1981) is an insanely driven piece of post-punk funk. Addictive stuff. German post-punk legends Fehlfarben even went one step further. The stunning 12" version of their single "14 Tage" (14 Days) from 1982 is the closest a German band ever came to the sound of Chic, Defunkt, and Change - incl. a killer bass line worthy of Bernard Edwards.

The discofied side of funk is represented by Ganymed's spacy 7-minute magnum opus "Future World" (1979) and the incredibly switched-on "Stop Talking Bull", a rocking collaboration by Discotizer & Supermax (Discotizer = rap mad men 5 Sterne Deluxe). Disco overlord Giorgio Moroder makes a laid-back appearance with his one-off project Stolen Property - with a slow burnin', super-kool cover of "Low Rider" by War. Even Boney M. got funky once. Oh yes, and how! Their completely unknown and completely atypical B-side "Dancing In The Streets" (1978) sounds as good as any Miami funk tune served by KC & The Sunshine Band or Kool & The Gang. Dig.

During the 70s, even some old school bandleaders got in the game and infused their sound with a dose of F.U.N.K. The sophisticated fusion sound of James Last's "Bolero '75" could give Deodato a serious run for his money. Terrific! Andy Minkacz & Orchestra score with "Intercontinental Meetings", a sexy Philly Sound groover highly reminiscent of American 70s cop-show themes. Bert Kaempfert's long-time collaborator Herbert Rehbein is the man behind Su Kramer's totally unique space boogie "Magic Dance" (1978). The track - built around a loopy funk rhythm - was later sampled to great effect by German hip hop act Deichkind for their hit single "Bon Voyage".

Lovers of deep P-Funk from the school of Parliament/Funkadelic will be delighted by the contributions of Cheeseslider and Montana Chromeboy - pure uncut funk nuggets full of Larry Graham-styled slap bass and mad vocals beamed in straight from the mothership. Or as Biz Markie once said: "It don't get no funkier than that!"

Packaging & Liner Notes
CD: 2-Fold Digipack. Superb 16 page booklet containing original cover art and track-by-track notes.

LP: Gatefold Sleeve.