Putumayo presents asian lounge.zip. Putumayo celebrates Carnival and its alter ego, Mardi Gras, the annual street parties that light up city streets from Rio to New Orleans. Featured Sound Files.

Putumayo visited India and East Asia for its 2002 compilation, where artists like and blended traditional instruments with scratchy hip-hop grooves and lush ambient sounds. Free thick cursive fonts. 2005's isn't as adventurous. Selections from new age healer ('Oceans of Ecstasy,' from his 2002 collection ) and (the kitschy ethno-disco of 'Eastern Journey') seem like safe picks, particularly when Putumayo's geographical frame is so large.

Gameshark codes hoshigami no satsuki. Likewise, whether it's on his own ('Funky Guru') or with a fellow multi-instrumentalist ( on 'Water Down the Ganges'), the results are pretty similar, and pretty standard for the hundreds of chillout comps blending Western electronic elements with Eastern instrumentation and traditions. On the plus side a lilting female vocal helps build some character into the otherwise conventional trip-hop of 'Koyal,' and the shamisen on 'Fukaki Umi No Kanata' is nice even if the track's lounge-tronica backgrounds aren't. Overall is sufficient for the casual fan -- it sustains a recognizably fusionist groove, and provides background information for anyone wishing to explore further. But that doesn't let the set off the hook for not exploring further itself.