Glass of wine, a hot bath & a bit of chillout music. The soft sounds of chillout house really do work, a lot come from the soundtracks from a variety of movies but for the most part you have some very talented artists working on Chillout albums.
I'll be reviewing all the new music cd's I listen to, so watch this space!!
CHILLOUT SESSION: IBIZA SUNSETS - Various
Plenty of classics here no doubt about that, the Ministry Chill Out is probably opening up the casual dance market to artists and tracks they wouldn't have heard before. This selection mines alot of obvious choices from acid house past (Frankie Knuckles, Beloved, Sueno Latino), the Madchester House scene (Stone Roses, Heller & Farley on The Farm, Primal Scream), and just some plain classic purveyors of chill and electronica (Aphex Twin/Polygon Window, The Orb, Future Sound Of London). So top marks on selection, REALLY good tracks. So why isn't this the best Chill Out CD of all time? Well its this, it just seems to lack soul.
Probably created by someone who has plucked out ALL the obvious chill classics with an eye on the money making and not on the love for the music. The mixing is a bit shambolic in sections, key clashes and absolutely no imagination. Its a bit sickening when DJs who craft a decent mix, perhaps without the headline acts but STILL with quality, get overlooked and this is seen as the pinnacle of chill. It wasn't always this way. Ministry's Late Night Sessions mixes were absolute chill quality. So please, dump the computers and the track listings by marketing and get real DJs back in.
So if you're a casual dance fan buyer, give it a try, you will probably like it. Just make sure you go further, check out the artists on here and see what else they do. If you fancy a bit more substance to your chill out, perhaps head off to the (still commercially viable) Back To Mine series with the likes of Faithless, Everything But The Girl, Nick Warren, Groove Armarda, Danny Tenaglia at the controls.
As an avid chill-out fan, I have, in my time, bought all sorts of chill-out compilations in the search for musical gold, i.e. a cd full of magical tunes, that inspire me into thinking heaven does exist!
I must admit I have very often been disappointed. Bland boring tunes, the one-song-runs-into-the-next syndrome, stuff that doesn't make you chill at all or the same song on 50 different cds (even it's very good, everything has a limit).
I must admit I am very pleasantly surprised by these 2 cds. The tunes are different, have good hooks and some I am sure will become absolute classics in my collection. If you have a lot of chill stuff and want some more, get this. Excellent stuff, well recommended.
CHILLOUT SESSION: IBIZA SUNSETS - Various
