Quality Relaxation (Compiled by PKS)

( Chill Tribe , Jun. 2005 )



1. Entheogenic - Walk On Air 6:54
2. Elysium - Fairytale 7:38
3. Shulman - The Unexpected Visitor (CBL Carbonator Rmx) 7:02
4. Ishq - En Soph 9:56
5. Jaïa - Missing 8:11
6. Cell - Secret Wedding 9:15 
7. PhasePhour - Unpronounced Numbers 6:53 
8. Elysium Vs. Space Cat - Dub Connection 9:30
9. Altitudes - Altitude 1 6:40
10. Blue Planet Corporation - Wild City 6:49

Chill Tribe Records is a new Norwegian based label and is being run by old-time music reviewer and DJ Per Kristian Slagsvold, also known as PKS. The first thing that you notice is the icy cover which goes so well with the musical content that stays almost all the way on the smooth and laidback mood. The track list promises a lot but does it answers the expectations? Let’s hear…
Entheogenic starts with Walk On Air which unfortunately doesn’t differ much from their previous tunes. Although a little less complex and more straightforward, which suits as compilation opener but I guess that I was waiting for something better. Elysium continues next with Fairytale (T2) and it’s very cool tribal downtempo tune. The production is very tight and you can hear the gentle percussion arrangement in amazing clarity. The melodies are very sweet and melancholic with a very winterish feeling to them. Shulman’s The Unexpected Visitor (T3) is remixed next by Carbon Based Lifeform. This is the first time I hear their work and I was very anxious to hear how they treated Shulman’s classic from their second album. To my great surprise CBL stripped almost all the melodies of the original tune and left only one flute line on which they added their tribal deep 4x4 beat. For me, this is the essence of proper remixing work and the guys totally succeeded to transform the tune into something totally different and worthy as well. Ishq takes 4th slot and unleashes his trademark meditative soundscapes. If you know Ishq you should know what to expect, that is a beatless track with some floating sounds and some soothing samples of waterfalls. I know a lot of people appreciate this kind of music, but meditation is not something I practice recently so I prefer to skip this tune. Jaïa is one of the few French representatives on the compilation. He just released a comeback album on Digital Structures which I personally didn’t hear yet but after hearing this tune I can’t wait to hear the album as well. This tunes sounds like a theme for closing credits for some big budget war movie. The climax that is reached in the 6th minute is larger than life, the female vocals and the strings are breathtaking. Great! Cell (T6) is another French representative on the compilation and he’s equipped with the same Sample CD that Shpongle used in their 2nd album. Although usually it doesn’t really disturb me, but here it’s just too prominent. The shift from downtempo to straight 4x4 rhythm with pumping bassline sounds too awkward. And the Shpongle flute on top is awkward even more. PhasePhour are next with Unpronounced Numbers. And this is definitely one of the biggest surprises for me in this compilation. The Norwegian duo slams here very soft and drifting tune with funky percussion with deep and spacious groove. Warm and tasty tune.
Elysium and Space Cat team together in the next tune which is called Dub Connection. If my memory doesn’t fail me, similarly named track appeared on Yoyo Records’ Life is… compilation back in 2001. But this is supposed to be a totally different tune. Anyways it does sound very different from other tunes in the compilation. Very dubby and loungy in some sort. Not really my cup of tea. Altitudes are next (T9) and they are actually a collaboration between Yannis Kamarinos of Jaïa and Gabriel Masurel of Blue Planet Corporation. This one has some IDM’ish flavor to it, with a lot of little percussion games and evolving melody on top. Definitely interesting effort. The closure is delivered by Blue Planet Corporation that starts with a loop that sounds too much like Soul 2 Soul (Back to life…) and some corny rap vocal samples throughout the track. Quite an amusing track when you get used to it. A bit like Black Eyed Peas on jam session without the annoying vocalists, and some mushrooms in the breakfast.

Recomendation: Some big names here. Some of them deliver and some of them deliver fillers. But the bottom line is that it’s good. Tracks 2(!),3(!),5(!!),7 and 9 are far beyond the average these days and the 8 pages booklet is very well designed and fun to read.

Review by : Pavel.