- Paul Oakenfold's Bunkka is his long awaited first "artist" album and is named after the recording studio it was recorded at. After the single release of the brilliantly enchanting southern sun (respect to dj tiesto rmx) I was expecting something more dance music oriented.
As Oakenfold intended however, this crosses over and blurs musical genres in and is supposedly his representation of his entire music career. As such it features different artists from many genres, including Australian Carla Werner, Ice Cube, Nelly Furtado and Tricky's sticky fingers.
I have heard he put out a version of this album all club remixes to be spun in by djs, however stock standard this album is indeed an artist's work, rather than anything designed to be spun. I found I liked a lot of these tracks on artistic and listening value, but definitely not dance appeal.
'Southern sun', with four versions on the album is just waiting to be chopped up and remixed, thank god dj tiesto. Thank god they put that version in.
'Time of your Life' is a dark deep track sung by the ex frontman for Jane's addiction and Porno for Pyros, founder of the Lollapalooza festival. Not my thing but you must wonder at the talented people Paul Oakenfold is able to collaborate with.
Track 4 is a enchanting track and is named appropriately as 'hypnotized', Tiff Lacey's lyrics are gorgeous, and I think it is a tribute to Oakenfold's theory on this album as providing the music, then having the artist work with him to actually finalise the lyrics and vocals to produce a coherent product.
Having listened to Ice Cube since the 80's, I believe he has well and truly fallen off. He has obviously made his money and can't be bothered thinking of meaningful lyrics and proper rhyme skills. Ice Cube's track 'Get em Up' will therefor appeal to some, however they are all recycled lyrics, otherwise the track is elevator music.
'Motion', Grant Lee Phillips is a nice track, ambient and sounding very.... well.. its new. This album is meant to stir genres. I like it.
Nelly Furtado and Tricky's contribution is 'The Harder They Come' (the harder they fall) has a good theory behind it. It's been pub tested. However my jury is still out. It will definitely be playing in the background from my system somewhere... just how often or how loud.. well.
There are four tracks on the album that are Southern Sun remixes. Truth be known I'm in love with the lyrics and the singing.. I find it worthy of being considered majick. As such, the beats don't bother me, tiesto kills the other remixes, but I love the vocals, lyrics and melody of the words so I'd listen to all 4 versions on the album.
The few tracks I haven’t mentioned already don't really rate with me. 'Zoo York', 'Nixon's Spirit', 'Hold your hand' and 'Starry Eyed Suprise'. One sounds like straight out of Tony Hawke Skating, 'Hold your hand' might be well avoided if feeling generally depressed, after a night out, or both. But having said that, with all fairness it did touch me in the spirit of the message, and so the last one might sneak onto my system occasionally.
Advice; Don't expect that it is a dance cd filled with club tracks.
Verdict; Get it, it's worth having in the collection.
Full track-listing:
01 Ready Steady Go (ft.Asher D)
02 Southern Sun (ft. Carla Werner)
03 Time Of Your Life (ft. Perry Farrell)
04 Hypnotized (ft. Tiff Lacey)
05 Zoo York
06 Nixon's Spirit (ft. Hunter S.Thompson)
07 Hold Your Hand (ft. Emiliana Torrini)
08 Starry Eyed Surprise (ft. Shifty Shellshock)
09 Get Em Up (ft. Ice Cube)
10 Motion (ft. Grant Lee Phillips)
11 The Harder They Come (ft. Nelly Furtado, Tricky)
12 Southern Sun (ft. Gabriel Dresden unplugged Mix)
13 Southern Sun (ft. Solar Stone Chill OutMix)
14 Southern Sun (DJ Tiesto Mix)