If you’ve ever looked at Billboard’s international charts and wondered what truly progressive pop radio in Japan or India might sound like, then this compilation will provide a clue. The predominantly Indian, Indonesian, and Japanese artists featured here on this sixth edition of Putumayo’s global “Lounge” series, are living and producing music in various parts of the world, and their cosmopolitan urban lifestyles are reflected in instrumentation that blends digitized electronica with traditional folk instruments and themes. Among the nicest surprises in this sequence of mellow fusions are the jazzy shamisen riffs on ‘Fukaki Umi No Kanata’, the jaunty Japanese reggae of Ancient Future’s ‘Ja Nam’, and the way wellness guru Deepak Chopra deploys Indian kirtans and gamelan gongs against a funky back beat on ‘Oceans of Ecstasy’.
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