David Visan - Buddha-Bar, Vol. IV [Unibox] (CD)

All Music Guide

The fourth volume in the Buddha Bar series is a double-disc collection of bland, faux-evocative ethnic fusion. Fans of world music or electronica will find stray tracks worth hearing; for world aficionados, the songs by Gotan Project ("Una Musica Brutal"), Nitin Sawhney ("Moonrise"), and Guadualupe Pineda y Los Tres Ases ("Historia de un Amor") are worth hearing once, though why a Mexican group earns an appearance here is just as puzzling as the fact that Cuban salsa star Celia Cruz is heard doing a cover of "I Will Survive." David Visan, the compiler (and brother of the "inspiration" for Buddha Bar, restaraunteur Carlos Visan), contributes an okay production with a bizarre title ("Irish Coffee"). Of the electronica-slanted productions, Llorca's "The Novel Sound" is a great track struggling to keep head above water amidst a sea of confusing licensing oddities.

- John Bush, All Music Guide