Chill-Out
I also play a lot of chill-out and down tempo music, which you will often hear at Planet Angel or at "post-club" parties. I've just compiled my fifth chill-out CD, titled 'Gently Down the Stream Vol.5 - Shikara Express'.
E-mail me to obtain any of these CD's - please note that these have been recorded as DJ demo CDs and that I am not attempting to make money from what is essentially copyrighted material.
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Gently Down the Stream
[80 minute CD/minidisc]
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Recorded September 2000. This is the first chill-out CD that i've compiled to date. Given that I seem to play a lot of chill-out music at the end of parties, and now at Planet Angel we are doing an hour of pre-club chill-out, I thought it appropiate to compile a CD featuring a few of my favourite downbeat classics. This is an 80 minute seemless blend of atmospheric, downbeat global vibes. Gentle drum and bass from Zohar and Cosmic Voyage combine with breathtaking ambient soundscapes from renowned world-music artists such as James Asher, Salif Keita and Nitin Sawhney, mingled amongst classic Whirl-Y-Gig tunes from Banco-de-Gaia, Lick the Toad, B-Tribe and Montepulciano. The balance between the established artists and the new artists such as Lick the Toad, Rados, Zohar and Cosmic Voyage works beautifully, where each track compliments each another and works so well to produce such a fantastic journey through global ambient-dance music.
Gently Down the Stream Vol.2 - Back on the River
[80 minute CD/minidisc]
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Recorded December 2000. 'Back on the River' is the second in this chill-out series of mix CD's, inspired from all the really positive feedback that i've received from my first chill-out CD, 'Gently Down the Stream'. Following in its footsteps, this 80 minute mix features a range of downbeat global vibes blended with everything from the kitsch laden 'Mambo Craze' by DePhazz to the powerful and haunting operatic style vocals of 'Sanvean' by Dead Can Dance. Again I have mixed old and new, and hence gems like 'Only You' by Praise (from the 1991 Fiet Tempra tv advert, featuring the wonderful vocals of Mariam Stockly) and Moodswings cover of Bob Marleys 'Redemption Song' sit side by side with new releases such 'We Need Your Vote' by Joi and 'Kota' by Bonobo (from the album Animal Magic).
Gently Down the Stream Vol.3 - Drifting Home
[80 minute CD/minidisc]
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Recorded November 2001. It's nearly a year since I recorded 'Back on the River' so I thought it was about time to produce the third instalment in this chill-out series. Kicking off with what has to be the most bizarre source for a piece of music in my collection, 'Land-Kur 1'. This is actually part of the soundtrack written for the Swiss synchronised Swimmers "Acapulco 11". Different, maybe, but its a great opening track. Then into the down-tempo version of this years slightly late summer anthem, 'Guitarra G', which is a gorgeous Spanish guitar number. Then into the Bonobo remix of 'Turtle', an instantly recognisable track with whistling in it (currently featuring on a TV advert, although I can't remember which one). 'Esther Alien' is a recent acquisition (thanks Charlie!) and being slightly upbeat gives the mix a bit of direction. Rados, along with Nitin Sawhney, are the only two artists to feature on all three of my GDTS mixes; this says something in itself. Since I introduced Paul Riordan (from Rados) to Whirl-Y-Gig 'Immortal Sound' has been used regularly as a parachute track and is a firm favourite of mine. 'Pesto' by Blueprint is a long soundscape, dipping the vibe suitably before the more upbeat, cheeky number from 'Got-Ta-Scatta', one of those end of night tunes that puts a smile on your face. The Boyz From Brazil keep up the tempo with a remix of 'Vintem' which features the same melody as that in Lemon Jelly's 'A Tune for Jack'. I then drop the tempo right back down with the spacey Accadia Ambient Mix of 'Into the Dawn'. And then the aptly titled 'Laid Back', an oldie from the Space Raiders, before finishing off with a couple of classics, the first of which is 'Eternity'. This is a powerful tune by Orion, sounding slightly Moby'esque and, apart from the fade-out at the end, it's one of those moments of perfection. The penultimate track is one that I stole from Monkey Pilots play list; 'Meditations on Pachelbel's Canon' by Continuo is a stylish re-working of the classical piece 'Canon in D Major' by German composer Johann Pachelbel. And to finish off I've added the short piece 'Footsteps', which is actually a Rishile School choir in Soweto singing a song penned by Nitin Sawhney. I first played this whilst everybody was flaked out one sunny afternoon at the Reading WOMAD Festival 2001 - it fitted with the vibe of the festival and hence was the perfect end to this mix.
Gently Down the Stream Vol.4 - Life is but a Dream
[80 minute CD/minidisc]
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Recorded July 2002. Back by popular demand, its volume 4 of the Gently Down the Stream series. I wasn't going to compile this CD until the end of the year, but people kept asking me when I was going to do another chill out CD - so here it is. 'Homebase' by dZihan & Kamien, a duo that are rapidly becoming popular due to their tracks being licensed to all the global type compilations that are currently fashionable, provides a gentle opening. From 'Homebase' in sweeps the majestic and grandiose '1001 Dreams' by Euphoria, one of the highlights of the Arabian Travels compilation on Six Degrees Records. Then it's into a spot of laid back jazzy lounge music, courtesy of Dephazz, with their title track from the excellent 'Death by Chocolate' album. This mixes beautifully into 'West Pier' by Club Montepulciano's in-house band, Lemon. If you know of Lemon or Club M then you'll be right to expect a spot of zesty tongue in cheekiness. Next up is a sunrise classic in the making, if only the producer of this track would make himself known. 'Night Manouvers' by Explorer (aka Gavin Milch) is from a 3 track demo that was left with one of our crew at our night club, Planet Angel. The demo knocked my socks off - and typically there were no contact details with the CD. So hopefully by having this track on the CD it will be heard by Gavin or by a friend of Gavins (if so, please get in contact with me!). This blends so smoothly into an unreleased track by Friends, Lovers and Family. It's a powerful piece, featuring a gorgeous piano melody that floats over gentle percussion and sweeping electronica. Next up is 'Private Sunshine' by the jazzy lounge outfit that is Ashley Slater. This remix is typical of Slater's incredible vocals and is my summer "down by the river" tune of the year. 'Cleaning Fluid' is a collaboration by the Suns of Arqa and Youth, also known as the Kumba Mela Experiment. It's a magical down-tempo global affair, combining a gorgeous dub groove with the thought provoking ragga "peace and love, peace and happiness" vocals of Brother Culture. Bonobo's 'Terapin', from the album 'Animal Magic', is now a classic chill out tune and has been a favourite of mine for the last couple of years. Back into global territory with Zohar's Middle Eastern'esque 'Ehad', reworked here by Rob Da Bank from the Sunday Best crew. The original version of this tune is more upbeat, featuring on the album 'One Three Seven', but here acoustic guitar floats over the dreamy piano melody, haunting vocals and cascading harps, backed by orchestra strings and eerie fx. This is the slightly darker section of the CD, if you hadn't noticed! Into Zohar blends the Persian folk tune 'Kokab', re-worked by Lord Vanger for the Operatica project. Whilst this starts on a haunting note it breaks into a more uplifting and upbeat vibe halfway though the track. Shantel's instrumental and aptly titled 'Whatever' bridges the gap between moody and blissful, the latter of which is provided by B-Tribe's sublime acoustic guitar track, 'Spiritual Spiritual', from the album of the same name. And to close is one of TGU's lesser known remixes, 'Embala Em' by Clementina & Clara Nunes. Here the vibe is upbeat and global; a euphoric note to end on. Overall the vibe of this mix CD compliments the other volumes in the series, yet once again manages to retain a character and journey of its own. Let me know what you think.
Many thanks to David Hodge for the copy of the original photo used in the cover art (taken in Kashmir in 1993).
Gently Down the Stream Vol.5 - Shikara Express
[80 minute CD/minidisc]
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Recorded July 2004. It's been exactly two years since I recorded volume 4 in the Gently Down the Stream series and hence volume 5 is long overdue. I was recently asked to play a chill-out set at Planet Angel Chilled which prompted me to compile a set of more recent tunes, which naturally evolved into 'Shikara Express'. The set seemed to come together really quickly, taking no more than a few hours to compile. I then proceeded to spend two weeks trying to improve on this, only to realise that what i'd first achieved was actually the finished product and was easily my most complete chill-out CD in this Gently Down the Stream series to date.
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