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MP3 K.i.a. - Adieu, Shinjuku Zulu
14 MP3 Songs
ELECTRONIC: Pop Crossover, ELECTRONIC: Dance
Details:
*NOTE: individual tracks are available for purchase digitally: iTunes, Napster,etc
GENETICALLY MODIFIED MUSIC...
Splice a strand of chain-gang melody into a breakbeat sequence.
Insert square-dance calls into the code of some collaged beats and add a banjo.
Take the allelujah-gene from a 17th-century choral song and place it into the DNA of dancehall reggae.
K.I.A., in his studio ''lab'', has done precisely this on his new CD, ''Adieu Shinjuku Zulu'', creating transgenic pop electronica with the help of a multitude of singers. ''Almighty Beat'', featuring a soulful voice surrounded by big beats and bass, is a soaring track about salvation. ''Box-the-Gnat'' is a folk-''e'' love song, with a collage of footstomps, handclaps, electronic rhythms, and square-dance lyrics sung beautifully by Courtney Farquhar. ''Allelujah'' takes dub to a different transcendent level featuring soothing choral vocals--the genesis of the song was wondering what dub would sound like had it been invented in Europe in the 17th century.
Many of K.I.A.''s songs start as an idea or a question. For ''Mrs. Major Tom'' he wanted to continue the story of the character in Bowie''s ''Ground Control'' and ''Ashes to Ashes'' but tell it from the perspective of the wife. Achingly sung by Larissa Gomes, it adds layers of meaning to the Major Tom story, but also exists as it''s own haunting track. With ''E-Yeah'' the idea was to create an epic, hypnotic, dance track using a Middle-Eastern chant as the vocal. Another track (''Operafrica'') combines--you got it--African and Operatic styles.
But music ain''t rocket science. It''s not just about the idea: ultimately, K.I.A. wants to create moving songs that are accessible but forward-looking; contemporary yet timeless.
K.I.A. has lived in Calgary, Tokyo, Los Angeles and currently Toronto; he''s also traveled extensively. This internationalist vibe is very evident in the music; many tracks on "Adieu, Shinjuku Zulu" have an exotic feel, often with an African or Eastern chant element. He''s expanding on the sound he created on first CD, released under the name shinjuku ZULU, (which received critical praise from the Gazette, the Herald, etc., and was in the Globe and Mail''s top ten discs of the year.) This time, though, he''s using more lyrics and a cast of thousand--including many live percussionists and vocalists whom he recorded at his home studio.
K.I.A. is also a successful visual artist. (His most recent solo show in Toronto got great reviews from the Toronto Star, etc.) His enormous paintings, like the music, explore technological and tribal themes. Painted on movable panels, they can be ''remixed'' or reconfigured into new shapes and meaning just like his music: ''Happiness like Motion'' is a breaks version of the acappella lullaby ''Sweetness likes the Reverb'' from the CD he recorded as Shinjuku Zulu.
K.I.A.''s songs (''Eyeah'', ''Losing My Mind'', ''Allelujah'', etc.) have been featured in a variety of tv and film productions, including Queer as Folk, Felicity, Popstars, MTV programs, etc.
Discography:
as K.I.A.:
"Sonorous Susurrus" (CDx2)
"Adieu Shinjuku Zulu"
as shinjuku zulu:
"Shinjuku Zulu"
"Chimera"
File Data