Libra Stripes CD

This is a Funk Record.

The structure of funk reflects the social ideals of those making it. The simple yet disciplined form of funk carries within it a message of freedom, unity, cooperation, and equality. It cannot be made without these qualities being present in the hearts and souls of the band members. Playing your part in a way that shows that you are digging your partner’s (or dancer's) contribution strengthens the social and musical bond. In this delicate web of intricate rhythms, each musician must subjugate his own ego for the good of the collective. He or she must share and give in equal proportion. The music percolates among the group in The Now and an inner potency is born out of the space. Inside the space lives the full spectrum of human emotion. And in going beyond the space, humans have the potential to reach higher and deeper as a people than with any other art form. Funk transports and transforms us from the inside. Those who partake know that when the groove is right and everyone is riding it out together, we are aligned with something ancient and arcane. The groove is…THERE! The silence between the sound opens up and grows wider. Time and space wobble and blur. They are altered, blasted apart and then reformed into something colorful, wild, and alive.

Funk possesses the unique ability to be a message music and a party music at the same time. When discussing this music (like dancing about architecture), it might serve us to consider funk music as a kind of folk music. The ascended masters of Jazz, Soul, Rhythm and Blues, our musical ancestors, introduced most of what we now consider to be elements of funk to popular culture, but it’s legacy as an honest art form for everyday folks is evident in the sheer volume of influence it has had on music and culture since then. Funk is a people’s music, and this record has woven within it the necessary elements to initiate revelers in the ancient ritual of dancing. It's as if a river of ancestral rhythms and grooves courses through these artists to quench our thirst for something real.

Today, the rhythm and earnestness of True Funk can be heard in all corners of the world. This album is evidence that the innocence and purity of the original message remains strong. Affectation and phoniness can’t seem to take hold as long as the unenlightened or uninitiated players aren’t trying to wah-wah their way through one-dimensional cartoon-like clichés. Plastic afro wigs and ‘booty’ references only help to reinforce racist stereotypes and obstruct funk from realizing it’s true potential as an uplifting music for all the people of the world.

Polyrhythmics is a band of musicians still stoking the fire of True Funk, musicians who actually bring their instruments into a room and actually play the music together. It is important to note that these musicians are not trying to emulate or recreate something that has already been done. Nor are they deserving of simplistic descriptions like ‘retro’ ‘classic’ or ‘throwback.’ These musicians are simply making their music together, today, in The Now, and doing it with dignity, authenticity, and reverence. The album you are now holding in your hands is a testament to our individual and collective yearning for music that speaks to deeper human truths.

Inevitably, we will find our way back to it...and it will be here for us when we do.

Tracklist:

1. Libra Stripes
2. Pupusa Strut
3. Moon Cabbage
4. Chingador
5. Snake in the Grass
6. Bobo
7. Skin the Fat
8. Retrobotic
9. Mr. Wasabi Rides Again

*Please use caution with USPS Media Mail. This method is offered as an old school budget service for physical music, but highly discouraged, as it poses a greater risk for delays and damage.