Although the Acid Jazz operation sprang out of the late 80s as a vibrantly funky alternative to the house music revolution, it still carried a fair amount of retro-homaging chin-stroking from the rare groove movement which preceded it. Mother Earth were a London-based nucleus of musicians joined by scene stalwarts such as organ maestro James Taylor, and even Leftfield’s Paul Daley, revisiting his percussionist roots, to embark on funky jams which sometimes morphed into songs such as Look To The Light, whose female-sung alternative version is coolly superior to the original’s earnest spoken-word monologue.
Sometimes the organ-dominated workouts on the band’s 1992 debut created an effective hybrid of 70s blaxploitation soundtrack and late 60s West Coast acid rock, as on the title track, which heists Santana’s I’m A Man and emerges with a better female-sung version, again in the extras. Rapper Wildski pops up on Knowledge, which comes with the requisite instrumental. The set also features the band’s debut single, Hope You’re Feeling Better, recalling their late 60s American namesake with its blues-rock backdrop. Maybe the toe-curling version of George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord and some of the other excursions can be explained by another track title: Bad Ass Weed.
