Reviewed by Helen Stephenson
Having never heard of Solex, Cristina Martinez or Jon Spencer, ‘Amsterdam Throwdown, Kingstreet Showdown’ was a bit of a wildcard for me. So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself listening to some funky beats as the opening track ‘Bon Bon’ got into its stride. ‘Bon Bon’ rolled straight into ‘Fire Fire’, and I was hooked. This isn’t just plain funk, this is off-the-wall, ‘yeah stick that sample of that erotic-sounding posh woman in’ music, which is always going to catch you off guard and personally I couldn’t be more pleased than if I had just been given a free head massage. ‘Galaxy Man’ thrilled me equally, and by this point I was searching around to find out if these guys will be touring the UK any time soon (sadly they are not). It was at this point that I discovered this snatch of a press release on the Solex website:
‘Punk rock royalty Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez have joined forces with Dutch electronic heroine Elisabeth Esselink, for the most exciting collaboration/confrontation since The Jetsons meet The Flinstones. Imagine if you will, a fisticuffs of funk, garage and soul between Captain Beefheart and Ike & Tina, with a sprinkling of hip-hop courtesy of Mike Ladd.’
Well I hope that helped you out. Press releases are often more of a hindrance than a help. Try not to be misled by the bit about punk rock, this isn’t even close to punk rock. This is funk, and by Jove it's funky.
This is the kind of music that I love stumbling across in a venue I’ve never heard of and finding myself delighted beyond belief. ‘Amsterdam Throwdown, Kingstreet Showdown’ is, quite simply, a treat. The one sad note to add though, is that there does not appear to be a UK tour lined up to go alongside this release.
5/5
www.solex.net
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