Yeah, Yoshimi. Keep battling those pink robots.

The track entitled "IOA" is a bright-shining beam of goodness and glee. It'll make you wiggle too.

Hoof-Gang toast with Faun butter...delicious! Shinto bedrock in the 21st century ;}

Have you ever wondered what experimental Japanese music sounds like? Or how they get their inspiration? OOiOO’s Taiga is an excellent example of these questions. Past albums from this group have a different sound than the previous CD, a wide variety of instruments, uncontrollable rhythm, and Taiga’s ability to stay true to its experimental pop/rock roots. This makes this Japanese band a great part of any CD collection. OOiOO is known for making music that is out of the ordinary. They manage to keep Taiga different from the previous albums and give it a more unique sound. For instance, Feather Float by OOiOO had a more 70s’, psychedelic, and progressive sound. The album Kila Kila Kila had a grungy, punk-rock, and 70s’sound. This current release was written and produced by same artist from the other albums (Yoshimi P-we), whom I might add is a musical genius. Taiga is much different from the rest of OOiOO’s albums in the way it sounds. For example, they chant Japanese lyrics over tribal African percussion beats. Listen carefully to the tracks on the CD; some may hear a wide variety of instruments. For example, tracks one and seven, titled “UMA” and “UMO” are clearly the best examples of Afro-beats/African drumming mixed with Japanese-style drumming called Oroshi (rapid drum roll). Actually, throughout the entire album these drumming styles are presented and the standard acoustic drum kit. There are some normal instruments that are used in the making of this CD, such as vox (vocals), electric guitar, electric bass, synthesizer, and seven piece drumkit. There are also some unusual instruments present in the CD like the steel pan drums which are heard in “GRS”. “KMS” is an upbeat, nine minute song with a rolling rhythmic conga drum beat. We can’t forget about “SAI” (approx. 15mins) the longest song on the CD. “SAI” is the most interesting song of all, because of all the abundance of instruments it took to create the song. OOiOO is still responsible for making Taiga into a fantastic CD. Many songs listed on the CD are filled with rhythm. Most all songs should contain some sort of rhythm, but more specifically the band incorporates something that resembles a walking bass line. If you are unaware of a walking bass line, it is a line slurred (also called legato) quarter notes. This gives the sound of walking up the music scales. The bass guitar and drum are responsible for keeping the rhythm in time. Beautiful trumpet melodies depict birds flying through blue skies. Funky-groove riffs are the key elements in setting the paces and danceability of each song. OOiOO’s Taiga doesn’t really sick to one true genre; rather the album span the genres. But OOiOO does manage to keep the title of experimental-rock music. On the album alone, I believe that they have a little hint of pop because most of the songs have a verse and a chorus that loop or is repeated throughout the song. Among pop music, OOiOO’s CD has jazzy Afro-tribal beat progressive rock, and noise .However, at time it’s difficult to categorize the song on the CD. Overall, I give Taiga five out-of five stars. Because it has a unique sound, a variety of instruments, great rhythm and melody, and stays true to its experimental pop/rock roots. Obviously, you can see how I feel about OOiOO and Taiga, I wan t other to see how great OOiOO really is because of there musical talents, independence, and variety as musicians. In addition, if anyone has the chance to see OOiOO live, please GO!