Paul OakenfoldBunkka
Maverick Records
With a discography from here to next week, Paul Oakenfold has used his golden touch on the turntables and with a couple signature tracks to make the world move in global harmony. Although, this Londoner has never produced an album in which tracks were self composed… until now!
Bunkka opens with a bang! Crossing many genres, Oakenfold provides listeners a new sound to his “Perfecto” touch.
In a collection of 11 songs, Oakenfold has something for most modern music listeners, from Rap/Rock to Trance. Track one, “Ready Steady Go”, fuses Big Beat with Electrobreaks, which can be compared to the sound of Crystal Method’s “Keep Hope Alive” heard in the movie The Replacement Killers. “Ready Steady Go” features the vocals of Asher D., which may remind one of a less energetic Flavor Flav, rambunctious MC from the group Public Enemy.
Track number six, “Nixon’s Spirit”, is a beatnik-style poem recited by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ author Hunter S. Thompson. Listening to the trip hop mechanics accompanied with Thompson’s haunting voice may remind one of Baz Luhrman’s hit “Everbody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).”
“Get Em Up” is a revision of the song Oakenfold and Ice Cube released last year on the Blade 2 soundtrack, titled “Right Here, Right Now.” Minus the hard driving guitars and harsh basslines heard in the original song, Oakenfold offers listeners a toned down version in Bunkka.
Other famous talent featured on Bunkka are: Nelly Furtado, Tricky, Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town, Jane’s Addiction frontman turned dj Perry Farrell, and Grant Lee Phillips of the band Grant Lee Buffalo. Oakenfold also includes undiscovered talent such as vocalist Carla Werner, as featured in the progressive trance club hit “Southern Sun.”
The stand out track on Bunkka is the downtempo sounds of “Zoo York,” which samples the Bhangra voice of Bally Sagoo. The combination of the trip hop beat, the voice and the string section make the song very soothing to one’s ears.
If you are expecting this album to be like one of his mixed cd’s like Global Undergound:New York (1999) or his Moonshine Records release Journeys by Studio DJ: Paul Oakenfold (1994), this album may not have what you are looking for. Although, if you are looking for a new sound, Bunkka has a couple diamond in the rough tracks in it, making it worth picking up!