Customer Reviews

Cafe Roma: Italian Chill Out (Dig)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This CD is the best out of my chill out collection (including Paris Chill Out, Lounge Cafe, Chill Out Session, etc.). Imagine being in a cafe anywhere in town during a light rain. The sky's dark, but not too dark because the street lights are not lit up. You just ordered your Mocha Latte and you are preparing yourself to sit down on the suede-plush one-seater-sofas near one of the windows looking out at the crowd and the view. The music will capture this exact ambiance. You'll feel comfortable, stylish, and smarter listening to those beautiful Italian tune and lyrics.

Unlike Smooth Jazz, this CD gives you another perfect milieu. With Jazz, you'll feel calm. With Italian Chill Out, you'll feel coy. About one-third of the CD are on lyrics, but the tune of every song will capture your ears better than any chill outs out there. Both CDs are excellent, although I always put CD #1 on a rainy day and CD #2 on a perfect sunny day. Before you go out on a Friday night, put on CD #2 and you'll definitely dress, look, and feel better. The music ravels your inhibitions to a lively day or night. If you rather sit alone and enjoy yourself on a Friday night, shake or stir some martini and sit where you won't move an inch for the next hour.

Simply beautiful.

When I purchased this cd I was somewhat hesitate because some of the chillout cds I've purchased in the past were somewhat spacey music. But this cd is excellent - First disc 1 is warm and colorful with a consistent tempo and great Italian vocals. Its the type of music that you can just sit and have a glass of wine, chat, or simply have people over for dinner. The guitar work is excellent with that samba rhymthic feeling. Most of all it is very jazzy with a laid back type of sound. Overall, I rate this as a#10 in my book. If your a fan of brazilian sounds, jazz, and a house chill out type of sound, this is the cd for you. Disc 2 continues with this same type of ambience. However, the tunes are not as smooth as disc 1 but it still is great. Artist Like Belladona, Duran Y Garcia -(my favorite artist tune #10 dream love has a house type groove), and Omh gura set this cd off. My favorite tracks are track 4,7,8 and of course 9 which is the Da'breakers which I've heard on other compilations. This cd is not repetitious and is very original. Lots of flute playing and great keyboard work. Make purchasing this cd a priority it's absolutely great!!!! Don't let the chill out category fool you. It's has a great smooth groove to it.

Never heard of the musical catergory Chill Out before. But I was in Barnes and Noble last week and heard this great sound coming from the Music/DVD section. I went over and asked the clerk about the album (Cafe Roma) and she ran down the CD and the genre for me. Well, she was cute so I purchased the CD.

I went home to mull over my weakness while listening to this new sound. I have been listening to this CD and no other for 5 days straight. It sorta reminds me of all those cool light jazz sounds from the 60's but with some contemporary influences. It's great.

Water Music comes out with their dive into the Italian chill/cafe scene with this cd, hoping to pull in a few people that are (and maybe are not) fans of the various French series like Costes, Paris Lounge, Buddha Bar, Saint Germain Cafe, etc. etc. etc. This one came out I believe in the end of 2002.

To be honest, this isn't a bad release. It's two discs that feature the big names in Italian nu-jazz, heavily dominated by Irma and Idizioni/Ishtar (Schema). The artists included range from Banda Favela to Nicola Conte to S-Tone Inc., The Dining Rooms, Montefiori Cocktail, Duran Y Garcia and many many more. Some of these cuts are pretty good, actually - check out the cut "It's Samba", and anyone that's a Joao Gilberto/Caetano Veloso fan will recognize the "Aquelle Abraco" samples in that one which makes this sort of nostalgic. And in general you can get a feel of Brazilian bossa influences through the music.

All in all, I'd recommend this if you're unsure of Schema or Irma, but rest assured those two are terrific labels, IMO the best for this genre as is proven by their contributions to this compilation. If you do dig this, I would recommend checking out Schema's Break & Bossa series - particularly the 5th and 6th editions - those are stellar. Also check out Irma Group's Sister Bossa series OR Pyramide/Cafe Noir's "Bossa" compilations. Just be careful of duplication - Schema is pretty unique, but Irma and Cafe Noir I think are related, hence you will have some same tracks on the cd's.

This CD, in my opinion, has 11 good songs out of 26. There is a lot of filler, so I can see why some people have given harsh reviews. However, how often do you get 11 good songs on a CD? Programming this while listening to it is recommended as some of these songs can get repetitive for sure. However, the good songs can be absolutely tremendous. Superb.

For example, on CD#2 songs #2,3,9 & 12 are unbelievably fantastic.

My advice: Buy the CD, listen to it a few times and mark the songs that you like with a pencil on the back of the CD so you can program it the next time you listen to it. If you program the top 10 songs, it can sound like the best CD you will buy this year.

i was given this cd last christmas, expecting it to be all commercialized, material chill out...omg, i was sooooo wrong!!!! these 2 cds are amazing as they have the ability to pull you out of any reality an put you in an european cafe or lounge!! these cds are awesome, for anyone who enjoys chillout music!!!!!

When I first purchased this cd I was somewhat hesitate because the chillout genre can be very unpredictable. However, this cd is excellent. First, disc 1 is warm and colorful with a consistent tempo and great Italian, sultry vocals. It's the type of music that you can just sit and have a glass of wine, chat, or simply have people over for dinner. The guitar work is excellent with a samba rhythmic feeling. Most of all it is very jazzy with a laid back type of ambience. Overall, I rate this as a #10 in my book. If your a fan of brazilian sounds, jazz, and chill out house, this is the cd for you. Disc 2 continues with this same type of ambience. The tunes are just as smooth and the tempo is consistent with the first disc, but it continues to be a fabulous compilation of songs. Artist Like Belladonna, Duran Y Garcia -(my favorite artist tune #10 dream love has a house type groove), and OHM GURA set this cd off. My favorite songs are tracks 4,7,8 and of course 9 which is the Da'breakers (DISC 1). This cd is not repetitious and is very original. Lots of flute, sax, and guitar playing as well as colorful keyboard work. Most of these artist come from the Irma Record Label. On track 11 (disc 1) the guitar is excellent. Make purchasing this cd a priority. It's absolutely great! Don't let the chill out category fool you. It has a great smooth groove to it. Also, on Disc 2 every song flows beautifully - don't have a particular favorite. They all rate #1. You won't be disappointed with this compiliation. This cd is truly an Italian chillout experience! Go by it today!

I discovered this CD by accident in Borders book store. If you are looking for a nice, cool and stylish chillout CD, this is the one! Nowadays, there are so many under the name "chillout" that almost anything is under this word. House and trance is mixed together... After searching most of the chillout series CD, I bought this one on a spot. It has some nice vocals, some cool back ground music, and is not too much of the same style. Enjoy! I wish there were more chillouts like this one!

This two disc set has two distinct feels. The first falls neatly into the trance genre, and hits hard with tracks like Cosi Ti Amo, Meu Amor, Breeze, and La Plage. Other tracks on the disc manage pace and keep you immersed in an upbeat but relaxed feeling. Even in colder weather this disc's songs place me in Spring mindset and I can nearly feel the sun and cool breeze on my face.

The second disc feels more strongly electronic, but remains on the border of trance. Music therein falls somewhere between what you'd hear in a lounge and what you'd listen to relaxing at home.

To echo another critic, this 2-CD set has a few good tracks, but mostly consists of bland electronica. On Disc 2, tracks 2, 3, 9, and 12 are exceptional - eloquently combining Brazilian/Latin beats and acid jazzy, electronic riffs. Those tracks almost justify the purchase of Disc 2 by itself. However, Disc 1 is pretty much completely unremarkable and it will collect dust on your shelf after one or two plays.