K.I.A.

Kirby Ian Anderson, better known as K.I.A., first achieved prominence as a visual artist, using moveable panels to create "remixable" mammoth collages. The Torontonian - by way of Calgary, Tokyo and Los Angeles - takes a similar approach with his music, contrasting such disparate styles as medieval choral music ("Alleluia"), opera ("Operafrica") and banjo bluegrass ("Box the Gnat") and added breakbeat, dub effects and electronic rhythms. Named as a kiss-off to his former recording moniker, Adieu, Shinjuku Zulu comes together with precision -"E-yeah" mixes Indian vocalisations with an early rave beat, while the slight diva-ness of "Mrs. Tom" is outweighed by the realisation she's singing as the wife of Bowie's Major Tom ("floating on sine waves in inner space/awaiting a signal of grace/from ground control to lost control/ballet to battle/ halo to hole"). While the syncopated club-bumper "Losing My Mind" is spot-on, many of Larissa Gomes' vocals are simply too traditional and tired to match K.I.A.'s intriguing cut and paste soundscapes.