Shiokaze is a very well mixed album, balancing laid back beats with more uptempo dance beats. None of it felt disjointed. ”Umi No Oto” was a great “chill” track featuring the beautiful vocals of Japanese vocalist SHIZU which has a bit of a trip hop intro and then glides along a gentle groove with flowing string sounds in the background. VERY relaxing. A perfect track for a chillin’ after a long night out is the darker “Hoshi” which also had “SHIZU’s” whispering vocals and were accompanied by a sultry saxophone part, a great upright bass sound, and just the right amount of scratches to keep the trip-hop feel going. On the more uptempo dance side, “Stratos 57″ has some gentle synth waves which keep the track relaxing and almost hypnotic, but there is a great beat to it with some interesting muted trumpet and bluesy keyboard throughout. I also really liked the opener called “Ki Ite Mite” which is a nice dance track, but still had a hint of the beautiful mellowness that is to follow on some of the other tracks. The bass beat is the hardest hitting on the album though, so it really gets you going.
