Bunkka

1	Ready Steady Go by Asher D
2	Southern Sun by Carla Werner
3	Time Of Your Life by Perry Farrell
4	Hypnotised by Tiff Lacey
5	Zoo York
6	Nixon's Spirit by Hunter S. Thompson
7	Hold Your Hand by Emiliana Torrini
8	Starry Eyed Surprise by Shifty Shellshock
9	Get Em Up by Ice Cube
10	Motion by Grant Lee Phillips
11	The Harder They Come by Nelly Furtado & Tricky

Barnes & Noble

He's assumed many guises -- trance DJ, producer (Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches), remixer (U2's "Beautiful Day"), and mix-disc king (Tranceport, Perfecto Presents: Another World), among them -- but with the genre-melding Bunkka, Paul Oakenfold proves his mettle as a track originator. Drawing on his passion for rock, hip-hop, and airy pop, Oakenfold crafts fluid sonic backdrops for a host of varied vocalists, from Ice Cube to Nelly Furtado to gonzo headcase Hunter S. Thompson. Rather than build tracks to suit the artist's image, as the Chemical Brothers have successfully done, Oakie tinkers with styles, blending as he sees fit. For example, the pulsing synths surrounding Grant Lee Phillips's swooning vocals on "Motion" will surprise fans of the rocker's moody guitar ballads, and the eyebrow-raising pairing of Nelly Furtado and Tricky on "The Harder They Come" (not the Jimmy Cliff tune) is a sultry, strings-laced workout more reminiscent of Massive Attack than Furtado's soaring radio single, "I'm Like a Bird." Also on the Massive tip is "Hold Your Hand," a dark, Björk-like tune featuring vocals from Emiliana Torrini. Elsewhere, Oakenfold's ear for hip-hop production elevates the new wave-tinged "Get Em Up," featuring a typically tart delivery from Ice Cube and a familiar Fatboy Slim sample, and the light bounce of "Starry Eyed Surprise," rapped by the gravelly voiced Shifty Shellshock and studded with old-school scratching. And chunky rock guitars and a hard beat fuel the lead cut, "Ready Steady Go," featuring vocals from Asher D of Britain's So Solid Crew. Even with his mile-long resume, Paul Oakenfold has found new ways to expand his musical repertoire. Can pop chart smash be next? Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

Oakenfold a producer? Well, he may not release much other than mix albums (exceptions being the Swordfish soundtrack and scattered singles), but Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne once formed one of the most highly touted remixing teams in dance music -- though Perfecto is now known to British teenagers strictly as a label, not a sound aesthetic. So when a man who's not only the biggest DJ on earth but the producer of one of the greatest LPs of the '90s (Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches) finally decides to turn in a full production LP, notice must be paid. Unfortunately, Oakenfold isn't much of a pioneer any more, and though it's clear his ear for a solid production hasn't deserted him, Bunkka sees him following the trends instead of pushing them. With a new partner, Andy Gray, Oakenfold shows often that he has the production gloss all taken care of, but track after track here tries, and fails, to capitalize on a familiar sound or a style, from stylish big-beat pastiche ("Ready Steady Go") to robotic experimentalism ā la Radiohead ("Motion," with Grant Lee Phillips) to evocative female singer/songwriter electronica ("Southern Sun," "Hypnotised," "Hold Your Hand"). A pair of hip-hop tracks, the sublime "Starry-Eyed Surprise" and Ice Cube's hardcore "Get Em Up," are great productions, but "Zoo York" and the Hunter S. Thompson spoken-word feature "Nixon's Spirit" are potted examples of the very blandest ethnic fusion. With so much attention being paid to the production, the songs, unfortunately, just can't compete. John Bush

Urb

Bunkka has the savvy and brass tacks to challenge even the Jedi master of music/marketing synergy, Moby.

Mixer

A deep, dark and dirty affair. [9]