Dam-Funk
Invite the Light
(Stones Throw)

At 20 tracks and nearly two hours long, Damon Riddick shares an amalgam of eccentric sounds on his latest, Invite the Light. Think bedroom, lo-fi, woozy funk, bass-heavy G-funk, and electro funk for starters. But Dam-Funk has always been one to go far left of straight-ahead sounds and Invite the Light is the L.A.-based musician and producer’s first solo project since 2009’s Toeachizown.

With cameos by his 7 Days of Funk associate Snoop Dogg, Ohio Players and P-Funk legend Junie Morrison, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and singer-producer Leon Sylvers III, it’s hard to not like the album as a whole. It’s ambitious with little radio plays, but one could assume that that’s not Dam’s goal; he seems to just be about getting the music out there for all to experience. Invite the Light is not only ambiguous in sounds, but in guest appearances too. Indie pop’s Ariel Pink appears on the woozy funk-laden “Acting” and Sylvers III is featured on “Glyde 2nyte” (he produced ’80s R&B group Shalamar’s hit album Big Fun, which included major R&B single “The Second Time Around” and is probably how Shalamar’s Jody Watley appears alongside newcomers Kid Sister, JimiJames, Nite Jewel and Novena Carmel on the laidback “Virtuous Progression”).

Either way, take your time and appreciate Invite the Light and check out “Scatin’ (Toward the Light),” “I’m Just Tryna’ Survive (In the Big City)”, “Missing U,” and “We Continue.” You just might enjoy it.