You've probably read about the latest hype gadget, but here it is: the Chinese duo FM3 (its member Christiaan Virant, to be exact) found a Buddha Machine (a "battery-operated meditation device" playing a sequence of loops, with one-touch control parameters) in Beijing, decided to adapt it with their own sounds, and spread a certain number of modified versions around. Many musicians, including Brian Eno, soon went crazy for it, and here we have the first sampler of Buddha Machine-based compositions. Being after all a loop playing device, don't expect anything particularly new technically-wise: it's minimal/repetitive music like any other, the true difference laying - as always - in the quality and fantasy of each performer. Wang Fan seems to stick to an almost pure layering of drones, while Thomas Fehlmann, Robert Henke (of Monolake/Ableton fame, and composer of a recent Buddha Machine-based cd) and sunn0))) lean on ambient, Adrian Sherwood and Doug Wimbish on eerie trip-hop/dub rhythms, Es on Coil-esque cosmic music, Alog on an almost exclusively vocal composition, etc. And of course leftfield beat-based electronica is represented as well (Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Gudrun Gut, Mapstation). Blixa Bargeld stands alone in terms of weirdness with the bird tweets of "Little Yellow", but the most convincing interpretations come from the above mentioned Henke and sunn0))), together with the feedback-driven track by Minit and Sun City Girls' ghostly psychedelia. A curious and entertaining sample, though honestly with only few truly outstanding moments.