Djamel Hammadi's
Park Hyatt Tokyo mix CD was inspired by the stark beauty of one of Tokyo's most impressive architectural feats, which was also the inspiration and backdrop for Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation. Coincidentally or not, Hammadi's mix has some of the same ethereally lovely feel as the film's soundtrack, particularly on the pretty electronic pop of Cocosuma & Jen H Ka's "(Tapping) The Source - Moonage Day Dreamix (Swingset Remix)." However,
Park Hyatt Tokyo is more about downtempo electronica than
Lost in Translation's watercolor dream pop. Troublemakers' "Get Misunderstood,"
Jersey Street's "After the Rain," and
East West Connection and
Terry Callier's "Tomorrow in Your Eyes (East West Original Remix)" all have an underlying funkiness and soulfulness that owe more to trip-hop and acid jazz than shoegazer-inspired guitar and electronic pieces that dominated the film's music. The mix is very stylish, almost imposingly so; as a whole it does indeed sound like the kind of music that should be playing in the elevators of some impossibly swank hotel (or failing that, in a pricey salon). Along with the Cocosuma track,
Joseph Malik's "Melodies" and
Cortex's "La Rue" have a little more personality than some of Hammadi's other selections, breaking up the sleek anonymity that the mix suffers from occasionally. Hammadi makes a wise choice by picking
Teddy Pendergrass' "It's Time for Love" to close
Park Hyatt Tokyo, since the track mixes the stylishness reflected in the rest of the compilation with a warmth and individuality that should have been more prominent. At any rate, it's an album that exudes almost as much glamour as the place that inspired it. ~ Heather Phares