Customer Reviews

Hotel Costes: Best of Costes

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

 

 

This is a generally well assembled selection from the Hotel Costes series, however, it lacks the thoughful arrangement and mixing that make the series a true gem. The transitions between songs are clunky though not jarring, and rather uninspired - but then again - this is a best of compilation, so it's exactly what I expected. I suggest that anyone interested in this item pick one of the original seven volumes and enjoy... they're all excellent choices. The one major reason to buy this disc is for the "exclusive" Madonna remix unavailable elsewhere. If you're a Madonna fan like I am, Stephane's remix of "What it Feels Like for a Girl" is well worth the price of admission, however it feels like a marketing ploy (very well executed, mind you) to get an extra buck or two out of people that own the whole series already but want the Madonna track.

i don't have the other hotel costes cd's, but this collection is lush, stylish, and mellow. if you like chillout electronica with a european twist, then you'll enjoy this compilation. the first song, sympathique, doesn't fit the chillout genre, but is a great campy french edith-piaf-like song. the madonna remix is great as well. my favorite song is "surround me with your love" excellent groove. perfect music to unwind or to listen to as you work.

Stephane Pompougnac's (best of...) compilation of the Hotel Costes series has a few definite good choices on here (Adore, No Communication/No Love, London In The Rain) but some of the songs don't seem to qualify as 'the best', such as 'Clementine', 'Surrond me with your love' and 'S.O.S.' which are not that good (that's just my opinion) I say that 'IN BLACK OF NIGHT'(COSTES 6), 'PONGER STAR'(COSTES 5) and 'PLEASE DON'T LEAVE'(COSTES 7) should be on there instead of the other 3. Ah well... it still pretty good!

I love the Hotel Costes series so I thought the Best of Hotel Costes would be a good idea. I was a tad dissapointed but not enough to bury it in my archives and never listen to it again. It does lack some of the mixing that is part of the strength of the other Hortel Costes discs but it is still a very good compilation. As an introduction or if you don't want the others this will suffice.The opening track by the excellent Pink Martini entitled "Symathique"(taken from the disc of the same name)sets the table for the European sound. By the time you check out "Amour" by Rogue Rogue the pace will have you settled into the groove. These jazzy- soul laid back grooves are way cool. The standard "My Funny Valentine is reworked to create a dreamy sexy groove by Muff Muff that is hard to resist; it is mellow lovers mix for getting close to that special someone. Other stanouts include Shirley Bassy remixed version of "Where Do I Begin" that featurers the GoldFingeresque vocals to a syncopated downtempo beat for haunting results. The bossa nova infused songs mix with catchy songs like "One Night in Rio" that is a hilarious story. Trinity's version of the Simon and Garfunkel classic "Sounds of Silence" is updated for the I-Pod generation with nice spacey effects. The closing track is one the best by Stephanie P as she reinterprets the cover by Madonna "What it Feels Like For a Girl" to create a midtempo new classic although use of some of the other lyrics might have made it better? If you haven't heard the other Hotel Costes discs you might try this one but you'll be missing out the whole experience without the other volumes.

I have been a fan of the Hotel Costes series for a while, and this one is unbelievable. Stephane did a great job of picking diverse and beautiful songs and blending them well together. If you love the series you'll never stop playing this CD!

i liked all the songs picked for this album, def a good compilation, its just i didnt like how he mixed them. some of them sounded kinda sloppy and some were way too repetitive. if these songs were mixed the same way they were on the previous costes albums this wouldve def gotten five stars.

This is the only CD of Hotel Costes I have, and I do like its spirit, although I do not like all of its songs. Every time I listen to it, I automatically image a Paris' bar with stylish and sexy men and women in a wealthy and cozy interior.

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers that this disc does not really flow like the other CDs in the series. Since several of the cuts are from Hotel Costes Quatre, I recommend starting there. For myself, I prefer Quatre, followed by vol. 9. You might like those, too, if your tastes tend toward lounge, Brazilian, French, maybe a little hip hop, and witty vocals. But most importantly, you'll get that thoughtful and well-executed mix that seems to be lacking in the more crudely edited "Best of" compilation.

So why did I rate this 4 stars? We all have our hangups. Mine is "One night in Rio". And Amazon won't let me rate this 3 1/2 stars

I told myself I wouldn't post any music reviews, because everybody likes something different. Well, I'll just say that if you sampled the songs on "Best of..." and like "London in the Rain", then try sampling the tracks from vol. 4 (hotel costes quatre). Of course, you'll see completely opposite suggestions from some other reviewers--hey, it's their musical taste, not mine. Personally, hotel costes quatre is one of my favorite CDs, and I feel it has the best transitions from song to song, which is something I found lacking on this CD. But more importantly, two of the songs from quatre ("London in the Rain" and "Cafe de Flore") are on this one, so do check it out before you buy. And if you end up really liking vol. 4, then try vol. 9, too.

I have most of the Hotel Costes cds and this cd is really bad. It is not a good selection of the other cds, very disappointed!!