Customer Reviews

Hed Kandi: Serve Chilled 59

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hed Kandi loyalists will no doubt be rejoicing to hear their old favorite series Serve Chilled is back, but I bet they'll be even more surprised to hear it's even better than the previous Serve Chilled albums!!--at least in my opinion.

The first CD starts things out with a mystic oriental garden sound, but quickly transforms into a hot, sun drenched beat. The second song "Bohemian Sunset" is probably my favorite of disk 1, it's got a hot beat, ambient jungle/ocean/island sound effects that all mix up to be the perfect song to listen to while lounging around a pool or any other summer celebratory activity! The good songs don't stop at track 2 though, "Beautiful Otherness," "Dream of You," "Hi-Fi Love," and "Alone" are all some of my other favorites. But remember, just because I don't mention every track as amazing doesn't mean they aren't, the specific tracks are just the Amazing, Out of This World, Hed Kandi Exclusive Awesomeness hits, while the rest are more like The Really Really Really Good Songs.

On to the second CD, my favorite. This disk is introduced with a fairly short (2:36) track by Henry Manicini (the genius behind the Pink Panther Theme) his old symphony is enhanced and matches the mood of the rest of the CD flawlessly. The next song "This is Not A Love Song" is perhaps one of my all-time Kandi favorites on any CD, much less this incredible album. It's got hot vocals and a great loungey beat. "Get A Life"'s got great male vocals and is another fave. Track 3, "Slowly," is the highlight of the entire album. I could listen to it over and over again all day long. Other great songs on the second cd are: "Sweet Feeling," "Manana," "Love Affair," "Pacific Memories," and "Rise Hour." No bad songs exist on either CD however.

My final thoughts on this is: WOW!! The last few Hed Kandi dance albums kinda left me unsatisfied, but after listening to a few samples from this album at hedkandi.com I knew I had to have it--thank goodness I didn't let it pass by! Hed Kandi has never proved to me more that they are at the absolute Top of Chill Out/Lounge albums than after this latest Serve Chilled success.

I was a pretty vocal advocate of Hed Kandi's "Serve Chilled" series. I tried out a few of their other compilations too, Winter Chill and Beach House specifically. But neither really grabbed me the way the Serve Chilled series did. Maybe it was because of the time I got the first one... towards the end of 2000, I saw it in the Virgin store in Vegas while there for business and picked it up having recognized S-Tone Inc. and some others. I loved volume one, especially disc two which I listen to very often with jams from Ballistic Brothers, Jhelisa, Fourth World, etc. I quickly became a fan of volume two before volume three ranked amongs my favorite compilations. So hearing that "Serve Chilled" was returning, I was very happy about the decision.

After all of that, when I checked this one out, I wasn't really disappointed but it didn't pick-up where vol 3 left off some 5 years ago. It starts out nice enough with a great 4Hero track (those guys are quality!) and the Lars Bartkuhn track is a nice surprise too. It wasn't my favorite track of his (Treasure Everywhere is) but I like Lars' music and his approach. But then there's pretty cool soulful track by Secret Stealth that has a neat beat and feel to it. Very promising start! But that's really it for disc one IMO, outside of the interesting "Crazy Girls" which gets you more for it's originality.

Disc two comes on and I'm taken back to the fantastic disc twos of the franchise. This one starts out well with Henry Mancini's "Lujon", a song that was done over by a few "chillout" groups in the early 2000's. I want to say it was "Ocean Beach Cybophonia" by Black Mighty Orchestra. Another stand-out was Crazy Penis' (horrid name, I know) "Sweet Feeling". The name and the song together... pretty poor. But it is a nice song. Sandboy's "Viver", given a remake by Butti 49 is very nice and laid back - a real throwback to the great times in the series. Sung in portuguese but with a real modern vibe to it and splashes of orchestration. It's been on a few other comps too. Finally, Defender's cut was alright... a bit redundant after the first minute and it ultimately goes nowhere. But it has a unique sort of mid-80's feel to it.

So this was a decent return for the HK Serve Chilled Series but not awe-inspiring or as memorable as the 99-2001 editions. I wanted to give this one 3 stars but couldn't change it. Like all the other releases of theirs that I own, it's got loads and loads of filler that drag it down. In fact it follows the blue-print of its predecessors perfectly... mediocre disk one with a few stand-outs and superior disc two that still has a few crummy & boring songs. But HedKandi's approach was always top rate - they didn't follow the run of the mill series' bent on making a quick buck (even though they still want to) like M.O.S. or Ultra. The songs are always the full edit and there's no cross-fading here - just full tracks which always gives the series a full star in my book. 3 stars - a good summer album, but be very wary of the filler & it's not nearly as strong, in the end, as volumes 1 and 3 which are sadly out of print.

If you're looking for a great chill, poolside, or even a great evening late-night low -key album this is it. I have 7 Hed Kandi CD's and this is my favorite, along with, but a totaly contrast to, the twisted disco set. I can't recommend this album enough.

I bought the new Serve Chilled album. Like the other reviewer below, it was nice to have something different after Hed Kandi's last few dance albums, which have been a little disapointing. I like that Hed Kandi is now bringing back older compilation series that I thought were long gone. Now if only they could bring back Deeper, I would be very happy! Serve Chilled is a nice collection of chillout tunes that are more upbeat than the dark and acoustic tracks from their Winter Chill compilations (which I also love). Nice summer listening!

Wow, this record hooked me. I was a litlle bit scared about the fact that Ministry of Sound (MOS) is the new owner of Hed Kandi, I mean, MOS is great label with a lot of excellent records, but... Hed Kandi is a new cult that have devotes everywere; but after hearing this one, the only thing left to say is, congratulations MOS, this record is everything Hed Kandi is... I mean, is elegant, is music to love, is music to chill, to have a great time. Dont miss this lounge experience, is pure gold to your senses.

I got this CD at a yoga studio's music section a few years ago. Still love it as much as ever. Kind of a downtempo, relaxed vibe, but not like the old school new age music your parents listened to. Very nice background for a flowing yoga class or party, where people will be talking over the music. Really sets the vibe for either.

Disclosure: I love chill & downtempo. This was my first Hed Kandi purchase. CD1 is awesome. CD2 not chill enough for me...didn't like it...too much lounge & not enough chill. So I spent 21 bucks for CD1, essentially. Wish I had the option of buying the first disc only....

This is the second Hed Kandi Serve Chilled compilation I've purchased. My introduction was Hed Kandi Served Chill Vol 2 (NuCool Series.) I enjoy this compilation. My acid test is playing it while at work. If I choose "repeat" it's a winner. I like the mellowness of the music and how it enables me to maintain a relaxed mindset while "losing" my mind doing system's testing. I rated it 4-star because Vol 2 is a hard act to follow.

I really like this CD. It's great background music for a cocktail party or just studying and relaxing. I've had comments from party guests about the music I was playing. They liked it too. It isn't good for driving music because it will put you to sleep.

I know this is an expensive import, but it has 2 CDs full of great music.