MONDO GROSSO
MG4R (Sony)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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So much music is being made like this by remix DJs that it's hard to tell the original material from the new dance mixes of old music. That factor alone is what detracts from this newest release from Shinichi Osawa, a.k.a. Mondo Grosso, Japan's premiere composer of acid jazz - I just have a hard time telling this apart from a lot of the things the DJ labels are sending me now, even though this is a real band with real vocalists in it. These songs are extremely likeable, all happy and upbeat, leaning quite a bit towards the Latin dance house style of being, partly due, of course, to the vocals of Brazil's Ed Motta and non-Brazilian Tania Maria. To confuse things further, these original songs are then remixed by both Osawa as well as other well-known club DJs, including Smith & Mighty and ZINC. Like I said, it's fun to listen to, but it's obvious this music's designed more for dancing to than being fodder for a musical appreciation class.

© 2002 - Holly Day