Natural Born Chillers
Top level Music reviews Chill out/ambient reviews

Author: Per Kristian Slagsvold

Publishing date: 13.12.2004 19:10

Review by PKS
Aleph Zero is out with their first compilation...

Aleph Zero Records in Israel run by Shahar and Shulman, has proved to be a high quality chill label, with their first two releases by Bluetech and Shulman. Now they are out with the first compilation with some of their favourite acts from around the world.


Natural Born Chillers (Aleph Zero Records) 2004 (AlephZ03)

1. Ishq – Alaya
2. Anahata – Shakti
3. Zen Mechanics – A New Philosophy
4. Jirah – Disconnect
5. Agalactia – Monochrome Rainbow Pixie
6. Cosmic Fools – Be Yourself
7. J. Viewz – Estha
8. Son Kite – On Air (Midival Punditz Remix)
9. Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan – Ya Bouy (Shulman Remix)
10. Eastern Spirit – Under Water (Part One)

First out is a new track by a pioneer in the ambient scene, Ishq (Matt Hillier) from the UK. He has been making music since the early nineties, and released music on Kinetix Records. In 2001 he released a very strong album (Orchid) on Interchill and Dakini Records. Here we get another floating masterpiece. Deep and totally relaxing, with some beautiful vocals. Fantastic as always from this guy. Track 2 is by a new artist called Anahata. This one goes a little bit more experimental, with some weird beats and melodies. Still relaxing and with a bit melancholic vibe. Track 3 is by Zen Mechanics (Wouter Thomassen) who has released some strong full on tracks too. Here we get a pretty tribal track. The tribal drums goes in a relaxed tempo, and we get some beautiful floating sound scapes. You also get some guitar sounds in a quite different way. After a while we get some fat dubby beats too. Perfect for the chill out area. Track 4 is by Jirah (Tim McCall) from the United States. He has released some really refreshing full on music on various labels too. Nice to hear a chilled track by him. Here we get eastern vibes, dubby beats and psychedelic sounds, all going in a pleasant chilled tempo. One of my favourite tracks on this compilation. Track 5 is by Agalactia (Philip Khripkov). This one starts with some beautiful flute and continues into a dubby soundscape, with a lot of Ott inspirations. Also som Irish, happy melodies. Nice one.

Track 6 is by another new artist called Cosmic Fools. This one has a funky guitar. This reminds me a little bit of chilled psychedelic rock from the seventies, but in a kind of new electronic, modern version. We also get some female pop vocals in there, which I find a bit cheesy, but might fit in the right moment. Track 7 is by the talented j.views (Jonathan Dagan), which is one half of Violet Vision… He gives us a very Indian sounding track, with female Indian vocals, sitar and a relaxed down tempo beats. Nice track, but pretty easy digestible. Then we get the On Air track by Swedish Son Kite, which has been played all over the world in several different versions this year. Here we get a remix by someone called Midival Punditz. The vocals you find the original is there, but it is added some sitar and chilled dubby beats instead of the progressive trance drift. Track 9 is originally made by the very respected Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Steve Shehan, but here we get a great remix done by Shulman. Intense, happy, Arabic vibes. The last track is by an artist called Eastern Spirit. This one slows down and goes more floating. A nice finish on the compilation.

This album has some really nice tracks. I missed a bit more of the usual talented chill out producers, but the new artists they have picked for this compilation sure seem to have something going on. Aleph Zero is becoming one of my favourite labels these days.
PK (shivapks@hotmail.com)


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Topic: Author:
Time:
Natural Born Chillers
Death Posture 16.12.2004 10:34
Complete enjoyment for ears and mind…

Though this is only the third release by the Israeli chill label Aleph Zero, Yaniv Shulman & Shahar Bar-Itzhak have already gained massive respect and admiration throughout the world wide trance community for the two outstanding album releases by Shulman and Bluetech. I’m proud to own both, and I consider them highly valuable parts of my chill-out collection… With such a high quality level, my expectation for this, the first Aleph Zero compilation, were high… Let’s find out if they were met…

#01: Ishq – Alaya
Alright – prepare to chill out… And I mean reeeeeally chill out! Frozen really! Ishq is the ambient collective from Cornwall (U.K.) headed by Matt Hillier, and after the critically acclaimed and re-released album Orchid, here’s another quality tune… This is active meditation – virtually beatless, soothing ambient… The sound of the elements: Wind & water… Birds in the background… Subtle choir work… - All ingredients in a very nice, very mellow, breathtaking journey of a track…

#02: Anahata – Shakti
This compilation is a continuous mix, so we slip seamlessly into the next track by Anahata known from some of the old R.T.T.S. Ambient Meditation compilations… We dig a little deeper now, adding more percussion, electro bits and hints of dub… But definitely still downtempo… Check out the characteristic reverb effect used throughout the track… Nice little track!

#03: Zen Mechanics – A New Philosophy
“You start thinking as a new person, and a new philosophy grows inside. You don’t just watch the earth; you start thinking about its problems...” Next up is Zen Mechanics a.k.a. Wouter Thomassen delivering a lengthy track with long organic, floating pads & deep tribal/ritual influences… Subtle synths and dubby beats… I like how this track constantly evolves, yet it maintains its overall spacey feeling… Sweet!

#04: Jirah - Disconnect
Jirah released his melodic full-on debut album last year on USTA, but here we’re treated to a more mellow side of his production skills… Nice guitar-action, electro-dub, subtle percussion and distinct ethnic influences… This is high quality downtempo psy-electronica…

#05: Agalactia – Monochrome Rainbow Pixie
Remember the Agalactia track from the Psychedelic Sparks compilation that was conceived as a result of a track contest @ psynews.org a couple of years back? I haven’t heard anything from Philip Khripkov since then, but he sure hasn’t lost his touch… This track is a palette of dub, electro, chill, electronica, ethnic beats, etc… The pace has quickened and we’re exposed to loads of different genres here, though the focus is still on downtempo… That’s one hell of a flute… And those Irish influences towards the end are very uplifting – it has me smiling! ;o)

#06: Cosmic Fools – Be Yourself
“A wizard is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to.” AFAIK this is the debut for Cosmic Fools… I have no idea who’s behind that moniker, but what I do know is that is one hell of a debut… The first part of the track is something as rare as darkish, yet uplifting downtempo… I really like the soft, gentle melodies on top a very deep, groovy foundation… The female singing is also a nice touch – and even the LOTR samples are pretty cool. Nice track for sure – and remember to “be yourself, let your conscious lead you and follow your heart…”

#07: J.Viewz – Estha
J.Viewz is the alter-ego of Jonathan Dagan from critically acclaimed Israeli downbeat sensation Violet Vision… Everything I’ve heard that he’s been involved in was great and so is this… More string-action here, flute, thick Eastern influences and female, ethnic vocals… Nice – though way too short!

#08: Son Kite – On Air (MIDIval PunditZ Remix)
Son Kite’s On Air is on of my fav’e progressive tunes from 2004 – and this mix by US breaks-n-ambient duo MIDIval PunditZ was included on the single released prior to the album… I immediately fell in love with the remix back then, and kudos to Aleph Zero for including it on this compilation… It fits perfectly! This is nice blend of all kinds of stuff… Dubby breaks, Oriental chanting, Raja flute, sitar, mellow tribal percussion… With the added-value nostalgic Son Kite groove intact! Very nice track!

#09: Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan – Ya Bouy (Shulman Remix)
To my knowledge Turkish ney master Mr. Tekbilek is pretty well-know in the Arab world-music scene and has had tracks featured on well-known ambient compilations like Buddha Bar and Back To Mine… And now, here’s a Shulman remix – and what a track! This is ambient world music with thick, thick Eastern influences and an overall phat ethnic groove… Reminds me of Asura or Kaya Project at times… Very good! According to Shulman, the instrument played here is some kind of Turkish wind instrument similar to the Indian shenhai… Amazing track!

#10: Eastern Spirit – Under Water (Part One)
Last up is Eastern Spirit which also is an up-and-coming act… We’re doing aquatic acrobatics here and the sound of the wet element is indeed present here… As the first track, this is soothing, relaxing, and beautiful ambient… The flute, the deep groove and the long floating pads create a very harmonic platform and underlines the closing statements of a dynamic, stunning journey…

Aleph Zero has done it again… Released the third consecutive masterpiece… That’s a pretty damn good statistic, and there is no doubt in my mind that this compilation will enjoy immediate success throughout the world wide chill-out community – it really deserves it! I will not hesitate to call this compilation essential for any fan of intelligent, soothing, downtempo journey-music and I’m thrilled to give this my highest recommendation… Go get it!

Favourites: 1, 3, 4, 5(!), 6, 8(!), 9(!), 10
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