Customer Reviews

The Chill Out Album: The Essential Late Night Mix

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Compilations are a mixed bag. You've got your "best of.." albums and then you've got you mixed-artist albums (generally with a theme attached). The worst are obviously those that are mostly filler if not all filler and the best, well, the best realize a variety of styles while not sacrificing its original concept....

This critique is for the whole Chillout series and it is worth purchasing.

Now to say that this album is "ambient" would be false for it not entirely ambient (however, it is indeed atmospheric). A better descriptive word, perhaps, would be "nightime"... this two-CD set consists of luscious, mellow grooves that are non-obtrusive (i.e. you can play it at party where it sets the mood rather than disrupts it) and moving (i.e. you'll catch yourself bobbing your head if you're not careful).

The mix is downright interesting. It is only here you'll find the Bullitt theme song and Bjork together.

The whole series is great...

This compilation is the best I have ever heard. Every track is energetic and upbeat. This set will never leave my changer. This is truly the Chill Out Album.

Don't let the name trick you. The chill out album has a magnificent variety of hyper techno style music (everything but the girl) and some laid back "chilling out" types of songs (sneaker pimps, massive attack).While its not exactly mainstream, this 2 disc cd offers a new style of techno music, that I found exteremly likeable, even though im not a techno maven....catch my drift? either way, this cd is well worth your time.

The subtitle of this album, "The Essential Late Night Mix" is the perfect self-description. Whether you're actually listening to the album or just want it in the player to set the ambience, it really is a wonderful experience. If you get the chance, pick up volume II also. It's too bad this isn't available domestically.

Whoever put the CD together had a stroke of genius. From the minute you hear Deep Dish, you've got 2 hours of a pure vibe to enjoy.

For 10 years this album keeps rising to the top of my stack. Rarely have I heard such a wonderful mix. I have tried to find the name of the person at Telstar TV who put it together but with no luck....

This was a great Chillout compilation at the time. Trademarked in 1999, I believe this could be the first of the series: "The Chillout Album", one of TelStar' releases into the market before it became saturated with MOS rip-offs. It isn't to be confused with "The Chillout Room" or "The Chillout Mix", either, as the "Mix" was released by Virgin, the other by... I don't remember.

How does it stack up? Pretty darn well! Mind you, the 'recent' tracks at the time were from 1998-1997, around then. But the wide aray of cuts come from many different time periods. One of those stand-out tracks being the title theme to Steve McQueen's "Bullitt", as done by soundtrack maestro Lalo Schifrin. I dig it - even though it's close to 40 years old! Then you have tracks from the nineties too, like a classic Nightmares on Wax cut, "Nights Interlude". Too bad though - "NOW" was grossly overplayed in the chillout era. The All Seeing I kicks in too with a nice remake of "Beat Goes On". I remember the intro to the remake on some commercial (forget what it was) in England back in 98' too. And this is just CD1. CD2 is actually the one I prefer. It's got a wide range of tracks! David Holme's "Rodney Yates" is a mellowed out cut with a nice undertone to it while Etienne De Crecy's popular (at least in the 90's) "Prix Choc" kicks it up next. But the gems, IMO, are Rae & Christian's soulful "Spellbound", which just has such a bounce to the R&B beat to it, how can you not bob your head? The elusive and underated Ballistic Brother's come in with an afrocentric 'made for vinyl' cut, "Blacker". It's preceeded by "The Jackal", a song that Nathan Haines "Squire for Hire" made me think of.

I like this double disc set, but would have to say to err on the side of caution in deciding on buying it because it's a bit dated, and IMO way overpriced. While I like the cuts, I don't think it warrants the price-tag it has here... and I got this one, yes, a good 5 or 6 years ago. Then not all of the songs got me either... "The Gift" was chopped in size, and of all Moloko songs, why "Fun for Me", which is IMO one of their worst? But still, there are several tracks here that I've enjoyed. If you dig this, and price isn't an issue, then be sure to check out the other 4 releases from the series that came out afterwards. But I'd recommend the Ultra series as a better priced alternative... although one difference between this and that one is that the Ultra series is mixed while this one is not.

Some new and classic stuff. A quality addition to your collection that's worth the import price tag.

This CD became an instant favorite with the variety of music it offers. I've enjoyed listening to as I drive, work and relax at home. Despite it's heavy price tag, each song is unique enough to make it all worthwile. ENJOY!

you'll like this. Some songs you'll know - i.e., Praise you by Fat Boy Slim - and some you won't, but they'll all stick in your head, and before you know it, you'll find that it's fun, worthwhile music. Great background tunes to have on while at work - very peppy and soothing at once. Also great to have on in the car on a Friday night. Yes, the price is a bit much, but the songs and the way they're mixed are well worth it. It's a hard to find disc, which should tell you something right there. Now just go buy it.