King Britt: Re-Members Only : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On 1998's When the Funk Hits the Fan, King Britt and his Philadelphia-based Sylk 180 collective spent an entire disc rejoicing in the Seventies. Now they've opted to tackle the Eighties. Re-Members Only harks back to a time when house had just emerged from its disco roots, and Top Forty took its cue from synth pop. For his guest collaborators, Britt has gone straight to the source, calling on Alison Moyet (Yaz), Martin Fry (ABC) and even smooth jazzman Grover Washington Jr. But by subtly introducing more contemporary elements --modern-day production, for instance -- into his nostalgia, he's updated this Eighties sound into something fit for the current decade. Britt and his Sylk 180 may have set out to honor an era long since past. What they've done, however, is celebrate the timelessness of good, emotive music.

(NINA PEARLMAN)