It's rare that I hear a record and feel like every single song on itmakes me want to shut up and dance, but that's exactly what the debutfull-length by Susumu Mukai’s Zongamin does to me. It very well may bethe pop club album of the year, because it's this type of music thatgets the bodies and booties on the dancefloor. Zongamin's auralpastiche is an amalgam of myriad styles and musical configurations.Dance and club music created with live and electronic instrumentsalike, using latin, funk, jazz, rock, and techno rhythms, and allblended together into a formula that stutters, grooves, tweaks andslams. I took it all in one listen, just giving in to whatever washedover the speakers next. It wasn't easy: not any two songs on the recordhave the same flavor, and it's hard to give in to the whole enchilada.That's not a huge surprise for a first effort, as if Mukai is trying tofind a voice and gives his all in multiple directions. Something tellsme, though, that Mukai intended Zongamin to sound this disjointed ashis vision of what pop music should be: a place where anything andeverything is allowed. "Serious Trouble" gets the party started withits discobass and stroll style, but gives in to the drive of "Spiral,"easily the best track. "Painless," "Double Dostiev" and "Whiplash"makes for a great album centerpiece, clubbing it up, twisting andfreaking, then serving the almighty pummel into submission. After that,the album gets plain strange, with the differing styles fluctuating toextremes. The good news is that the record is an accomplished debutfrom a very talented artist. The bad news is he's being pulled in toomany directions at once, but would probably be tied down too much by asingular style. One thing is certain: Zongamin is an original voice,definitely the product of many influences, that can certainly generatemore than a few earnest gyrations.Read More
