Various Artists - The Art Of Chill (Platipus Records)

To what extent is it necessary to be entirely strung out before you can chill out? Does the concept of chill out exist solely within a dialectical relation to getting cranked up (thesis), and strung out (antithesis)? Is chill out a modem phenomenon? Or can it be seen as a timeless one? Can we speak meaningfully of chilling out as an art? Or is it an art only in the sense that love or war can also be viewed as arts? Are the sleeve notes for this compilation of the finest contemporary chill out going to consist entirely of questions? And if this is the case will they themselves require their own equivalent chill out, in the form of a lot of answers?

To this question let me say, emphatically, yes.

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The melodic and atmospheric roots of club trance and progressive house lie in the layered sounds of 70's and early-80's psychedelic ambient ala Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. So it's only fitting that iconic UK trance and progressive label Platipus Records launched the first volume of this downtempo series by focusing on ambient material and remixes from its own artists.

For those who care for electronic music history, the first of Platipus's Art Of Chill compilations is the sound of trance leaving the beats of clubland behind and returning to the source. For anyone else it's simply a terrific after-party or late night swim in a deep, multi-coloured ocean of sound. Its studded with downtempo gems that dip into the Platipus catalogue as far back as eight years. Melodic, ethereal tracks like Union Jack's "Water Drums" and Kansai's ambient mix of "Rococco" are both stunning in their own gentle way. The better known Sinead O'Conner and Binary Finary both shine via previously unheard remixes of their tunes "Troy" and the Binary Finary trance anthem "1998" as re-imagined in cold deep space by Neo & Farina. Although a handful of tracks here have appeared on many other comps, the quality of the Platipus content puts this album up there with the best ambient trance collections around.

The pleasant but non-essential Art Of Chill 2 (2005) is far more generic, throwing in just about every strain of downtempo across another two disc set. Thanks to screamingly obvious inclusions like FC Kahuna's "Hayling" and Bent's "Swollen" it simply doesn't distinguish itself enough from many other comps on the market.

Fortunately the series gets well and truly back on track with Art Of Chill 3, a rich, mind-altering mix complied by old hippie techno-ambient rockers System 7 aka Miquette Giraudy and Steve Hillage. It's a colourful, harmonious and at times surreal blend of warm dubby lounge, Hillage's own electronica (as System 7 and Mirror System), current psy-chill tracks from names like Shulman and Blutech, and folksy detours through India and the Far East. An undoubted highlight is System 7's own "Kupuri", a slow-building shamanic groove of rare hypnotic power with Hillage's famous gliss guitar soaring sweetly overhead.

Art Of Chill 4 from 2007 was complied by Alex Paterson of The Orb and was hands-down the best thing he'd put his name to since The Orb's glory days of the early 90's. Given his love of sampling and encyclopedic knowledge of all things ambient he proves the perfect choice to create a highly distinctive mix. It's nothing less than a two hour trip through Paterson's extraordinary personal music collection from the 70's onwards with an emphasis on atmospheric ambience, soundtracks, pretty landscapes and stoned, quirky downbeats. Several new Orb tracks are also effective. Given the chance to run amok with his record collection, Paterson shows a surprising lack of self-indulgence. The album gels beautifully and its the most ambitious entry in the series.

----- Reviewed by Mike G - ambientmusicguide.com

Volume 5 of the compilation (Mixed by Bent) is not included in the above review but definitely deserves a mention, this is nothing like previous Art of Chill releases. This mix offers up alternative, piano, instrumental and classical chill out. With Big guns such as Craig Armstrong and Kirsty Hawkshaw supporting nicely, its the likes of Ben Benjamin, Nonostar and Helios that do this mix justice. CD1 goes very classical, and CD2 opts for a more ‘Art of Chill’ sound. An essential mix for anybody wanting to chill the fuck out. Looking forward to the next compilation!

Download Link - Mediafire - Art of Chill Vol. 1
Download Link - Mediafire - Art of Chill Vol. 2
Download Link - Mediafire - Art of Chill Vol. 3
Download Link - Mediafire - Art of Chill Vol. 4
Download Link - Mediafire - Art of Chill Vol. 5

Tipsy - Trip Tease (1997)/Uh-Oh (2001)

Tipsy first appeared on the San Francisco music scene in 1996 with a cartoonish mix of cut-up charity shop vinyl, twangy guitar and weird spacerock electronics.

Dave Gardner was an obsessive record collector who had gotten involved in the mid-80s avant/industrial/noise crowd in the San Francisco bay area, using tapes, record players, cheap samplers & broken guitars. He recorded a couple of albums and played with a dozen or so bands; during this time (while living at an art/music collective space) he first met Hawaii-born Tim Digulla.

Tim eventually moved to San Francisco, worked with robot performance group Survival Research Labs and recorded with the psychedelic spacerockers Imajinary Friends (on Bomp) before ending up with Naut Humon's Sound Traffic Control studio/soundsystem.

After hearing some low-fi cassette tracks mixing easy listening with harsh electronics that Dave was working on, Naut offered to sponsor an album on the then-new Asphodel label his wife had, and suggested Tim and Dave record together.

After a couple years work, they released the retro-lounge-themed TRIP TEASE (1997) which mixed cut-up exotica & electronics with real instruments in a slickly surreal, obsessively detailed way. By a lucky coincidence, it was released at the height of the brief lounge fad and turned out to be a surprise pop success, showing up in the background everywhere; indie movie soundtracks, international ads for beer, TV (MTV's Real World, the Sopranos, Sex in the City), the corner bar.

Working with producer/engineer/guitarist Alex Oropeza (Broken Horse, Tarnation), they recorded their next album, the excessively eclectic, dreamily cinematic, almost unclassifiable UH-OH (2001) with a set of renowned guest musicians, including classical percussionist William Winant, and the late Vince Welnick (Grateful Dead) among many others.

After years of changing membership, the live version of Tipsy eventually stabilized. In person, they are a much noisier, more unrestrained thing.

Download Link - Mediafire - Trip Tease (1997)

Download Link - Mediafire - Uh-Oh! (2001)

Steve Douglas - The Music of Cheops (1976)

So, I found another LP where the music was also recorded in the Great Pyramid! I had been totally under the impression the Paul Horn - Inside the Great Pyramid was the only album of its kind. Now I wonder if there were more albums recorded in the Great Pyramid and if so, how many. Hmmmm.....

Throughout most of his career, Steve Douglas (1938-1993) has been a session musician playing sax on recordings of some of the biggest names and notables in pop and rock music including The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Duane Eddy, The Righteous Brothers, The Ramones, etc. Douglas was a part of hit maker Phil Spector's "Wrecking Crew", a group of session musicians Spector used for his sessions. Douglas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 in the Sideman category.

Douglas also plays the flute which he does on this album in addition to the sax. The Music of Cheops was recorded on February 10, 14, and 15, 1976, all during at night. Douglas composed and played all the music in the King's Chamber, a room that is 34 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 19 feet high. From listening to the record, the room sounds like an awe-inspiring acoustic space where the echoes give the music an otherworldly sound, a sound that probably could only be achieved in such as space as the King's Chamber.

His Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bio actually mentions this album. According to the notes in his bio, Douglas wanted to keep a low profile because of health problems in the early 1970s. Apparently, he didn't record many sessions during that time. He recorded his own music. Curiously, his bio does not mention what other albums he released. The Music of Cheops sounds like something that Douglas made just for himself, the kind of music he wanted to play. It seems like he wanted to get away or needed to get away from the intense environment of the music industry. It's meditative serene music similar to Paul Horn's, but Douglas is more free flowing. His music goes in different directions and he does more to take advantage of the space by exploring and producing more sounds from his instruments. He also was there before Horn by a few months!

Tracklist:

The Pyramid [side 1]

1. Pharoah's Piper {4:34}
2. Impressions from the IVth Dynasty: A. Pyramid Power {1:44}
3. Impressions from the IVth Dynasty: B. Nubian Lament {1:32}
4. Impressions from the IVth Dynasty: C. Flight of Horus {0:57}
5. Impressions from the IVth Dynasty: D. Reflections Along the Nile {4:00}
6. Impressions from the IVth Dynasty: E. Procession {2:18}

The Sphinx [side 2]

1. Time Capsule - 1976 A.D. - 2860 B.C. {1:54}
2. Meditations at Luxor {5:47}
3. Journey from Atlantis {8:09}
4. Ascent {0:54}

Download Link - Mediafire

Disclaimer: There is a lot of crackle and surface noise on side 1. I am seeking a better copy. If I ever find one or able to get a hold of one, I'll re-upload side 1. At least, you'll know what the music is like. I think side 2 sound fine.

Paul Horn - Inside The Great Pyramid (1976)

In 1968, Flute player Paul Horn recorded his playing from inside the Taj Mahal. Beginning a series of "Inside" recordings that Horn would release over subsequent years. This "Inside" series of albums including Inside the Cathedral, Inside Canyon de Chelly and Inside Monument Valley, and perhaps most significant, this album Inside the Great Pyramid. 

This album was recorded in three rooms of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh (Cheops). Sides one and two were recorded in the King's Chamber and side three was recorded in the Queen's Chamber. Side four was actually recorded in the Burial Chamber of another pyramid (Kephren). Horn was attempting to obtain a spiritual experience from playing in the pyramids as well as record his playing including the unique echoes, in the pyramids' rooms, generated by his playing.

Horn started out as a jazz musician playing mainly what is described as "cool jazz" then went to India in 1967 to study trancendental meditation. This experience would mark a new direction in his career as he started to create more new age or meditative style of music starting with his Inside album from Taj Mahal.

In the first week of May 1976, Horn went to Cairo with his recording engineer. Horn and his recording engineer accompanied a group touring the pyramids and other Egyptian ancient structures and monuments. Horn only had a few days available to get permission to play in the Great Pyramid after closing hours. Horn eventually was granted permission to go in the Great Pyramid on the evening of May 6th, 1976 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Horn's recording engineer had one tape recorder and a microphone which were used to record Horn's playing. The music Horn created that evening was totally improvised. He interacted with the echoes as if he was playing with another musician. The next evening Horn and his recording engineer were granted permission to go after closing hours in the pyrmaids Kephren and Mycerinus and Horn's playing was recorded in these pyramids.

Inside the Great Pyramid was originally released as a 2-LP album with a booklet that was used as a source to provide some of the information in this post. This booklet is contained in scans in a folder in the first .rar file and provides some interesting reading material. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

Side One - Initiation

1. Invocation {0:41}
2. Psalm 1 {4:06}
3. Psalm 2 {2:10}
4. Psalm 3 {2:18}
5. Psalm 4 {2:49}
6. Psalm 5 {3:18}
7. Psalm 6 {2:20}
8. Psalm 7 {4:04}

Side Two - Meditation

1. Psalm 1 {3:45}
2. Psalm 2 {1:17}
3. Psalm 3 {4:55}
4. Psalm 4 {2:57}
5. Psalm 5 {2:59}
6. Psalm 6 {5:08}

Side Three - Enlightenment

1. Psalm 1 {4:01}
2. Psalm 2 {4:07}
3. Psalm 3 {2:28}
4. Psalm 4 {3:04}
5. Psalm 5 {4:26}
6. Psalm 6 {0:53}

Side Four - Fulfillment

1. Psalm 1 {5:07}
2. Psalm 2 {3:21}
3. Psalm 3 {1:52}
4. Psalm 4 {3:43}
5. Psalm 5 {2:11}
6. Psalm 6 {1:24}
7. Psalm 7 {2:15}
8. Psalm 8 {1:21}

Download Link - Mediafire (Pt. 1)                 Download Link - Mediafire (Pt. 2)