Level 42 Digest for Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

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Topics for Wednesday, June 27, 2007

    1.  Re: Lounge/Chill - Peter Quintus
    2.  Hotel Lounge/Chill - Lolitaj @ aol.com
    3.  Electrolounge... - Daniel James

1. Re: Lounge/Chill
From:	Peter Quintus <peter @ indis.nl>
Date:	Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:54:47 +0300	[top]
Hi, I've just started getting into this sort of stuff myself recently, but it's such a minefield when you are buying blind. A quick trawl through Amazon and the lists that people create gave me a few clues so I picked up an album called Ariels by a UK band called BENT, and I got a ZERO 7 cd called When It Falls which is very nice. Also picked up a compilation called LATE LOUNGE. Can anyone recommend anything along those lines, I don't want anything remotely dance orientated or clubby but some nice lounge/jazz/electronic slow type relaxing stuff, which the Zero 7 album seems to be the closest thing I've found You might want to search for Cafe del Mar, Buddha Bar, indeed Hotel Costes. There are also many good comilations available with titles like Oriental Garden, the World of Buddha Beats, Chill out Ibiza etc. You also might want to check out a Scandinavian DJ called DJ River ( http://www.djriver.com), for instance the 'Room' sessions, a bit older but very loungy and free to download! Cheers, Peter ------ New address from May 1: InDis - Hyacintenveld 44 - NL - 4613 DK Bergen op Zoom - The Netherlands - http://www.indis.nl eSolutions Made Simple Interested in optimizing your communication ? Do you want to send the right message at the right time ? Access the power of emailing with eTarget! More information via http://www.eTarget.org ------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed, and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any person other than the one for whom it is intended, is prohibited from inspecting, retransmitting, disseminating or making any other use of this information, and from relying on it for the purposes of any action. If you have received this information in error, please contact the sender and then delete the material. -------

2. Hotel Lounge/Chill
From:	Lolitaj @ aol.com <Lolitaj @ aol.com>
Date:	Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:22:42 EDT	[top]
I love this stuff! I play it all the time and have found some great compilations - both online and by 'diggin in the crates' at the import sections of Virgin/HMV in NYC, as well as when I'm over in the UK and other countries. My fave compilation series: Hotel Costes [I own 1-5; fave songs are London in the Rain and April in Paris - sublime!] *The French DJs in general seem to have some of the best mixes Carte Blanche [Eric introduced me to this series, and I'm hooked!] Bare Essentials [Aquanote and Blue Six are the star groups] I also find that some of the neo-soul artists have really good chill-like songs. They are often treasures because you sometimes don't expect them within the walls of the CDs they are enclosed in. These songs tend to have a very overt funk bassline, but everything else about them is lounge/chill [lingering warm chords, use of horns, great drum parts, etc.]. D'Angelo [before he became totally drugged out], Maxwell, Dwele and some Erykah Badu songs are examples of this. Check out a song called A Pimp's Dream by Dwele - it has become my current new favorite song. Great horn arrangements, GREAT chords on the keyboard, lots of background vox [that are all his voice], spare but funky bassline, and a languid beat. Some of the 70's rare groove and passive funk songs are of this ilk as well, so I would also recommend looking at compilations of that material - you will find some gems and often the chill music is a derivation of songs from that time. Many of the old skool disco house songs are remixes of some of the 70s songs of this type. Good stations to listen to for new material are The Crate or Chill from XM and the Neo-Soul channel on AOL. My all time favorite chill song is by a group called Arvid and the song is entitled Try [Fenomenon Remix - their spelling]. It is just the perfect combo of funk [great bassline], warm chords, syncopated drumline. I make my own compilations from the compilations and random songs I find, and the latest one is called Funky Warm Tones '07 - its a mix of 70s classics, chill, neo-soul and some random stuff. For those of you who care about stuff like this, the tracklist: A.N.G.E.L - Dwele Day at a Time - Dwele Ain't Got Time Fa Nuthin' - The Futures [70s song] A Pimp's Dream - Dwele Sly - Christian McBride/Mark Whitfield/Nicolas Payton [acoustic cover of Herbie Hancock song] We - Kindred the Family Soul Man With Nothing to Lose - Geno Young Voices Inside My Head - The Police Hang Up Your Hang Ups - Herbie Hancock [this song is fantastic! GREAT HORNS! Very Tower of Power-like] Try - Arvid Haven't You Heard - Patrice Rushen Paradise - Change I Know You, I Live You - Chaka Khan [song has great horn arrangements and a slammin' bassline] I will stop now, because I could go on and on about this. I will just say this: if you are a fan of Incognito, it is an easy step into this genre as well, so definitely give it a go. The only downside is that purchasing full CDs in a store [which one doesn't have to do anymore] makes the overall quality touch and go, as sometimes I would pay $30 for an imported CD and find that I only actually liked 2 songs on it. So, I would suggest that if you are a newbie to this, stick to well regarded compilations at first [like the three I mentioned, which are chill staples] until you get to know some of the DJs and artists - or alternatively purchase the tracks online and then you are not saddled with paying for tracks you don't like. My two pence. Lolita See what's free at AOL.com.

3. Electrolounge...
From:	Daniel James <djames @ speakeasy.net>
Date:	Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:14:29 -0700	[top]
I've just started getting into this sort of stuff myself recently, but it's such a minefield when you are buying blind. A quick trawl through Amazon and the lists that people create gave me a few clues so I picked up an album called Ariels by a UK band called BENT, and I got a ZERO 7 cd called When It Falls which is very nice. Also picked up a compilation called LATE LOUNGE. Well if you like When It Falls, you'll love Simple Things (which has two of the best chill songs in the history of chill: In the Waiting Line and Destiny). I love that stuff. I've recently come across a compliation of good chill/lounge stuff called Hotel Costes. Old news to anybody who likes this sort of music I'm sure, but I just discovered it recently and it's pretty fantastic IMO. BTW I still listen to Lakeside on a regular basis, it's also pretty fantastic. Oh yes, Eric's Lakeside has long been one of my favorite compilations. I've passed it on to a few friends (with his blessing) who have all enjoyed it as well. As for Hotel Costes, there are at least eight albums in the series. I remember Winston mentioning the series to me once and I picked up my first one in a great shop in The Lanes in Brighton on one of my trips over to the UK a few years ago. Other things to look at if you're into the loungy/downtempo stuff are the Cafe Del Mar series, and the OM series. My favorites have been the Carte Blanche series (you can sample these at naked-music.com). In fact, I love pretty much every album I've bought on the Naked Music label, but they tend to lean more toward deep house. Other great electronica acts are Air, Kaskade (not to be confused with the crap 'band' Cascada that somehow keeps climbing up the iTunes charts), BT (ESCM is great), and Robert Miles (23am is an absolute masterpiece). I'm still on my first cup of joe, but I'm sure more music will come to me as the day goes on... Loads of us here have been sharing our new finds with each other though, so I'll be there will be some great recommendations coming for others.

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