Poets of Rhythm

Before the Daptone crew was channelling the classic grooves of '60s/'70s funk and soul with the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, or collections of rare 45s were released on a monthly basis, not to mention the overt commercialization of the music in ads for everything from sneakers to soda, some German cats named the Poets of Rhythm were laying the blueprint for the next century's funk revival with an analog-drenched, the J.B.'s-/Meters-inspired sound a decade before the fact. Compiled by Daptone staff and members of the group, The Anthology offers cuts like 1992's rollicking "Funky Train" and the garage-y, lo-fi exuberance of "South Carolina," which, like the best of the later Daptone work (Daptone co-founder Gabe Roth was a fan of the band) avoid sounding like tacky knock-offs due to the obvious reverence and instrumental prowess involved. Yet in a cruel twist of irony, the Poets of Rhythm's second album was rejected by the Desco label (a forerunner of Daptone) because of its psychedelic and African influences. However, moody, lysergic excursions like 1991's "Discern/Define" and the previously unreleased "Path of Life" prove especially revelatory.