Darkest Light: The Best of the Lafayette Afro Rock Band

Darkest Light crams The Layfayette Afro Rock Band's greatest moments into 78 bursting-at-the-seams minutes. The result is a thorough dose of muscular funk rock that'll complement any collection that plays host to the likes of Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone and Mandrill. Although the group failed to become a household name in their lifetime, their music has achieved a posthumous fame of sorts as rich pickings for samples used by Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, LL Cool J and Public Enemy.

Such is the flexing of musical deltoids, triceps and biceps that after 15 tracks, the listener may feel like they need a lie down in a darkened room. The workout initially feels pretty relentless. Gradually, though, exhausting first impressions are succeeded by an awareness of slightly mellower numbers like Hihache and the oceanic There's Time To Change. The latter track, along with a steroid-pumped version of Manu Dibango's signature Soul Makossa and Congo, are the only vocal songs, the rest are instrumentals.

The music is blessed with all the trappings of classic 70s funk: the sort of brass section that no-one in their right mind would cross, wah wah-enhanced guitar and armour-plated bass. The group might contend for title of funkiest band you never heard of. Unfortunately, that claim's already been made on behalf of Catalyst, another 70s group working similar stylistic territory.

The band formed in 1971 and eventually broke up eleven years later. Early on in their career they relocated to France where they absorbed a variety of influences that resulted in the Cuban feel of Ozan Koukle and the Cameroon strains of the aforementioned Soul Makossa.