Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Mr Scruff



During my chillout sessions or sometimes during a workout I’ll check out Pandora radio to help aid my search for the chillin’ tracks. On my David Holmes (a Chillout Scene favorite) station, I encountered some great tracks by Mr Scruff.


Mr Scruff (real name Andy Carthy) uses a lot of piano, jazz, and soulful vocal samples in his tracks. He ends up creating a great retro sound very similar to David Holmes' which is again why I was drawn to his music.


I sampled a few tracks from his MySpace page most of which were taken from his latest album "Ninja Tuna" (an awesome name, by the way).


"Music Takes Me Up" features a groovin' melody provided by piano/keys and great vocal work by Alice Russell.


"Kalimba" sounds like it would fit right in on the Ocean's 12 soundtrack. This upbeat track really gets you moving with a fantastic disco-like string melody and a rich bass line. The congas and percussion are what made me think immediately of David Holmes work on the O12 soundtrack. The frenetic pace of the track also brings the listener to a world of high class criminals out on another job and on the run. Maybe not the best track to relax to, but it's quite enjoyable and would be a great one for getting ready to go out on the town.



"Donkey Ride" which features Quantic has a wonderful piano part at the beginning which then moves to a groovy piano/key alternating melody. This track also features a bossa-like feel and gets pretty crazy at the end with a lot of vocals, piano, and everything else coming together but then slowly fades out to end the song. I think this one is a very eclectic track, but after a few listens the groove really took over and I appreciated it that much more.


"Champion Nibble" is another high energy track that features some funky guitar and and a smokin' sax melody. I also loved the organ/synth part towards the end!


"Get a Move On" was featured on Ultra Chilled 05. I immediately loved the vocal samples and 40's sounding "big band" wind instrumental melody. It's a nice, medium paced track with a steady beat and again really captures the retro sound that Mr Scruff excels with invoking in his music.


Mr Scruff even has his own brand of teas you can drink while chillin’ out. Check out his tea company at www.makeusabrew.com.


I really enjoy Mr Scruff's work and will be picking up "Ninja Tuna" very soon to enjoy over and over. You should too if you enjoy the rich, retro-sounding tracks as much as I did!


Keep chillin'


-Chris

chilloutscene@gmail.com

www.twitter.com/chilloutscene

www.facebook.com/chilloutscene




Monday, March 1, 2010

The Candlepark Stars


Before I started this blog, I mainly listened to the electronic style of chillout tracks I first discovered on the Ultra or Ministry of Sound compilations. Since then, I have used a variety of methods for discovering new styles of "chillout" music. One of those "new" styles of music I discovered was post-rock and one of the bands in that genre to immediately catch my attention was "The Candlepark Stars." This band from Austin, Texas plays beautiful post-rock music and is perfect music for chillin' out to.

Now, what is post-rock? I think the best way to describe it is ambient music played with rock instruments rather than the typical electronic fare. Sigur Rios might be the most well known band in the genre and had some awe inspiring work on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. I could probably dedicate an entire post to all of the different bands I've found in the genre, however, I chose these guys because they participate in social media very well. Every time I've communicated with them on Twitter or Facebook, they've responded in kind.

Their latest album is called "Shimmer and Gold" and they feature a few of these tracks on MySpace and Last.Fm.

"All the Stars in the Sky" is an amazing nine minute work which I believe is their best (out of many great tracks I've heard). It begins slowly with a soft intro alternating between guitar picking and a simple guitar melody and builds and builds to feature striking piano chords which then wilt away into a delightfully mellow ending. This was also the first track I had ever heard by the group and it made me think it could be in the closing credits of a film featuring a love story.

"You are Beautiful and Amazing" is a fitting track for this album since it pretty much describes the feel of the whole thing! There is an almost ghostly keyboard intro which makes random appearances throughout. This track has a great guitar melody that seems to almost sing a vocal part. The warm piano accompaniment drives us to an almost abrupt ending. This was unique because they do a lot of outtros that slowly fade out, so it was a bit of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one.

"Los Angeles" stuck out to me not only because I used to live in the area so I was curious as to what it sounded like, but also because of the beautiful high note melody on the guitar. This one made me think of driving the PCH with the sun setting behind the Pacific Ocean creating a magnificent orange sky. Since it also is the closing track, it also puts a nice "sunset" on the album to perhaps move on to listening to another album of theirs, the EP "Very Big Sky."

Their sound definitely creates a plethora of feelings and different imagery when listening. At one moment I was on the verge of tears and the next I was enjoying myself just thinking about how great life is. Now if it just would warm up here in the midwest, I could go outside and enjoy their music under the stars.

Check them out on their website at www.candleparkstars.com or on iTunes!

Keep chillin'

Chris


Chris@chilloutscene.com

Monday, February 15, 2010

Gold Lounge - Michele Effe



Facebook provided me with the opportunity to be friends with chillout artist Michele Effe. I'm glad to help promote any artist that I think has produced great chillout music and Michele is no exception. Gold Lounge is the name of his latest project and I had a chance to check out some selections from his music on his website (www.goldloungemusic.com) and MySpace pages. His latest releases are EP's- "Earth Breathe" and "Liquid Sun."

Liquid Sun (check out video HERE) is a great ambient track. It features a bit of a dark intro featuring bass hits but begins to build nicely into a beautiful ambient track. Once the song reached it's apex, the listener is treated to a massive wall of sound produced with guitar and synth chords. Just gorgeous!

"Only a Dream" is a beautiful downtempo trance-like track. The intro is very eerie; as if the listener is drifting off to sleep and beginning their dream. A simple melody continues the dream-like state with a ghostly female voice saying "Only a Dream" A great piano part joins in during the middle of the track producing a bit of urgency and emotion. The outtro features a bit of a funky guitar part as the listener perhaps awakes realizing this great track was only but a dream.

I loved the drum track on "Close Your Eyes." It's still downtempo, but keeps a nice pace and continues to drive the track forward. I should say, however, I loved everything about this track. I immediately obeyed the sexy female voice whispering, "Close Your Eyes" and just chilled out this track. The melody is pretty simple with some two or three notes guiding the rest of the song along with strings and perhaps a lute sound in the background. The sound of strings really added to the large sound that is common in a lot of his songs.

Michele seems to favor tracks that slowly build and then produce waves of sounds on top of each other to then crash upon the listener. On his MySpace page, he mentions his sound is similar to Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, Boards of Canada, or Boozo Bajou. I think the heavy use of keyboard/computer and the arrangement of his songs are quite similar to Ulrich Schnauss. This is a good thing!

I think Michele really knows what a great chillout track is made of and he uses all of those elements in his music, which makes it truly enjoyable to listen to. I highly recommend listening to Gold Lounge!

Thanks for your friendship, Michele.

Keep chillin'

Chris

chris@chilloutscene.com
twitter.com/chilloutscene

Monday, January 18, 2010

Lovespirals- Future Past

Recently I sat down and chilled out to "Future Past" by Lovespirals. Anji Bee at the Chillcast (mentioned previously here at ChilloutScene.com) and also the wonderfully awesome voice of Lovespirals hooked me up with a copy of their latest album for review. I must say it is a delightfully chill album.

Lovespirals features Ryan Lum on drums, keyboard, as well as guitar and the previously mentioned Anji Bee providing her heavenly vocals. This is their 4th full-length album and the first one I've heard all the way through. After giving this one a turn, however, I really want to hear more of their previous work!

Here's a breakdown of some of my favorite tracks-

The first track "Home" has a great minimalistic sound to it. It has a wonderful Zero 7-like feel, especially in the tone Ryan selected for the keys as well as the accompanying acoustic guitar chords and synth effects in the background. It features a great solo on the keys as well. Anji's layered vox add the frosting to this delicious cupcake of a track.

"Love" is a more uptempo house track. It's still on the lighter side, but it's proof that Lovespirals can do more than just slow stuff. Ryan's guitar work on this track starts a trend of fabulously bluesy riffs and compliment this track nicely. It's featured mostly as an accompaniment throughout the song but the solo towards the end really had me hooked!

"Meanwhile, Irreplaceable Time Flees" is a sultry instrumental track towards the end of the album. The ambient track includes some bluesy guitar by Ryan again. I thought it was a very similar style to Eric Clapton's work on the original Lethal Weapon soundtrack. SO good. This track leads nicely into the next one- "Insignificant." Anji's layered vocals are very well done on this track and help continue the sexy/bluesy vibe started by "Meanwhile..." The off beat drums create a bit more complicated beat but it works very nicely with the rest of the music.

Finally, I really enjoyed the ballad "Sinking" which references the troubles in life and that they can't be that bad compared to people living in poverty. From the sound of ocean waves at the beginning to the soulful organ sound on the keys, this track creates another great bluesy track. Ryan's smokin' guitar playing continues to amaze me on this one as well.

Overall, I really like Lovespirals' sound on this album, especially since it is similar to one of my favorite chillout artists, Zero 7. I think Ryan's bluesy guitar playing is what makes them unique and makes them even more interesting than Zero 7 since they don't just stick to acoustic guitar parts and electronic drum and bass tracks. Anji's vocals also set Lovespirals apart from other artists as even the quieter parts are nice and smooth, rather than whispery. She makes her voice appear so delicate that it could fade away if any quieter, but it remains nice, smooth, and chill.

Check out Future Past right away HERE....I highly recommend it!

Keep chillin'

Chris
chris@chilloutscene.com

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