Customer Reviews

shinjuku ZULU

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Heard this CD cranked up in a buddie's ride and just ordered five discs. Listened to all the tracks and felt like I thumbed my way through Kuala Lumpur, hung out in the back of a sweaty ancient mosque, then danced my a$$ off in a dank Toronto underground club. Can't really explain the trip. Just know that I want to go back. Been informed that those in the know call this act "The Ku Lu Crew". If their tunes like "Brando" or "Dervish" don't get your heart pumpin', call the ambulance. You flat-lined. PS: I feel like a star struck girl sending a love letter to David Cassidy.

A friend lent me this CD with a smile on his face. I think he knew I was going to like it... Alot!

At its best, fine art is supposed to enrich our lives and inspire emotion. shinjukuZULU accomplishes this with distinctive and stylish elegance. Each track inspires and I find myself listening over and over. I could tell you about the harmonious vocals, catchy riffs and intense drums but it just doesn't convey the subtlety found in this crafted work. Borrow it, Beg it, or Buy it. You'll just have to hear it, so that you can feel it.

Imagine Buddha Bar meets Moby meets Kylie Minogue... This CD is comprised of downtempo dub and uptempo dance tracks with pop, African, and middle eastern vocal influences. "That Groove", a dance song similar to the "Professional Widow" remix, is the most commercial track on the CD. "Sweetness Likes the Reverb" is a hauntingly beautiful acapella dub track, reminiscent in feel to "Song of the Siren" by the Cocteau Twins. "Segue" moves from breakbeat to house, with a soaring African chorus, and "Cyclmen" and "Dervish" have middle-eastern chants... smart, accessible music for the 22 century...

If you like Thievery Corporation, or the style of music found on the Buddha Bar CDs, check out Shinjuku Zulu. On his two releases ("Shinjuku Zulu" and "Vicarious Chimera") he mixes uptempo and downtempo tracks with multiple vocalists (from rap to pop to blues to reggae) and multiple styles, from aboriginal chants over dance beats to Air-like instrumentation with haunting vocals. On his latest CD "Vicarious Chimera", a notable track is "Shanghai Masai", which is like M.I.A. meeting Missy Elliot, and "Scarborough Fair (A True Dub of Mine)", which is a trippy, dubbed-out take on the traditional song made famous by Simon & Garfunkel. Notable from his first release, "Shinjuku Zulu" is "That Groove", a great dance pop track, and "Sweetness Likes the Reverb" which could be described as acapellatronica, or vocal dub, and pre-dates Bjorks "Medulla". Shinjuku Zulu also records under the name K.I.A.; notable tracks from those releases are "Mrs. Major Tom", a ballad from "Adieu Shinjuku Zulu", and "Music Is My DNA", a cut which incorporates Latin vibes, Eastern-bloc folk vocals, disco and reggae. (You can hear/get all these tracks on iTunes).

If you like Thievery Corporation, or the style of music found on the Buddha Bar CDs, check out Shinjuku Zulu. On his two releases ("Shinjuku Zulu" and "Vicarious Chimera") he mixes uptempo and downtempo tracks with multiple vocalists (from rap to pop to blues to reggae) and multiple styles, from aboriginal chants over dance beats to Air-like instrumentation with haunting vocals. On his latest CD "Vicarious Chimera", a notable track is "Shanghai Masai", which is like M.I.A. meeting Missy Elliot, and "Scarborough Fair (A True Dub of Mine)", which is a trippy, dubbed-out take on the traditional song made famous by Simon & Garfunkel. Notable from his first release, "Shinjuku Zulu" is "That Groove", a great dance pop track, and "Sweetness Likes the Reverb" which could be described as acapellatronica, or vocal dub, and pre-dates Bjorks "Medulla". Shinjuku Zulu also records under the name K.I.A.; notable tracks from those releases are "Mrs. Major Tom", a ballad from "Adieu Shinjuku Zulu", and "Music Is My DNA", a cut which incorporates Latin vibes, Eastern-bloc folk vocals, disco and reggae. (You can hear/get all these tracks on iTunes).