Cyantific - Empty Streets (2009)

Matt Whitehead and Jon Stanley, known as Cyantific have recently released this dreamy, minimalistic tune, which can be found on 'Hospital Mix 7' and 'Sick Music'. I instantly noticed resemblance to the work of dubstep producer Burial, yet I must say that I respect Cyantific deeply, for actually creating a piece of music which differs from the average liquid funk sound you would be expecting to hear on Hospital. This tune offers you a techy beat just rollin away with dreamy lyrical samples flawlessly blended together. So simple, yet so powerful - easily among the best hospital releases this year.

Toshinori Kondo and DJ Krush - Ki-Oku(1996)

Fu-Yu
How does one communicate without words? What happens when you meet a stranger who speaks a different language from yours, but you've got something important to say to them? The Japanese duo of DJ Krush and Toshinori Kondo seem to have the definitve answer with this album. From its beginning to the end, the message weaved into the music is crystal clear: look into the future without forgetting where you came from, and, most importantly, chill out.


Shoh-Ka
DJ Krush's mellow grooves intertwine beautifully with the avant-garde jazz trumpet skills of Toshinori Kondo, creating a mosaic that's both light and deep: below the surface of the tracks, there is an amazing current of ambience, whether it's the trumpet echoing through, or electronic sounds that one would hear on a Boards Of Canada track. The album name, Ki-Oku, means "Memory", and all the track names are Japanese, with the exception of Sun Is Shining, an instrumental cover of a Bob Marley song. The whole album feels almost as though it's a broadcast from another world, simply telling us all to take it easy for a change.


Mu-Chu

Seamill - Matka (2009)

Seamill is a music project by two friends of mine. Their first production, Matka, is originally a 30 minute track, but was later crafted into this much shorter and listenable 7 minute journey.

Matka has great depth and compositional quality. Give yourself 7 minutes of deep and honest attention, in order to properly perceive the atmospherical layers and structure in this trip.

I'm very glad about participating in the final stages of the production, as well as doing the cover artwork, and I hope to hear more from Seamill in the future.

Tycho - The Daydream

Being in the same league as Ulrich Schnauss, Scott Hansen widely known as Tycho brings us the warm, optimistic sound.

Bonobo - Days To Come (2006)

Ketto, track number five on Days To Come

As electronic music grows more popular, there are more and more mediocre artists to sift through and try to find amazing things like this. Days To Come is the latest release from Simon Green, a British DJ who is much more widely known as Bonobo... And what an incredible find it is.

Released on October 31, 2006 on Ninja Tune, this album is pure quality. The tracks are laced with various string instruments, and samples of traditional percussion so acoustic that one could call it something other than electronic music. The breakbeats and bass drops don't seem to agree with that and bring back the hip-hop feel to the tracks, but that's a big part of what makes this album so good. Some of the tracks have vocals by Bajka on them, her earthly style adds a further touch of the past to this perfect balance of past and future, tradition and experimentation.

Walk In The Sky, with vocals from Bajka

Nightmares on Wax - You Wish

Possibly the strongest track on the album "In A Space Outta Sound" by George Evelyn.

De-Phazz - Steps Ahead

I was looking through some De-Phazz tracks and really it's all sublime, but this one has more of a dark triphop feel to it. Different, in a good way. Enjoy.

Quantic - Time Is The Enemy

Today I bring you ...



How can this tune be so good?

And yeah, the lounge is getting damn lazy, stay tuned though, something wicked this way comes!!!

The Cinematic Orchestra

Another very interesting group signed on Ninja Tune.
The group basically consists of five people playing a variety of instruments, and a turntablist. It's a dreamy and soulful elegance going through their tracks. Inprovisational music weaved together with eletronic samples, modified and rearranged into an inspiring emotional nu-jazz trip. Man, check it out...


All That You Give (ft. Fontella Bass)


To Build a Home


Horizon

Free The Robots - Lonely Traveller(2007)

Free the Robots, a hip-hop/jazz/electronica duo from Santa Ana, California, bring the sound of decades of jazz together with an intelligent and introspective hip-hop sound. This is one of the tracks off the self-titled EP that the project released in 2007. Cool scratches, obscure voice samples and soft jazz-influenced melodies topped with a hefty beat, it doesn't get much better than this.

"Goin' to a realm you've never been in" is an incredibly accurate description of their style. Highly recommended. This song takes you places.

The Herbaliser - Something Wicked This Way Comes (2002)

"The Hard Stuff"


"Battle of Bongo Hill"


"Time 2 Built"

The Herbaliser is a very consistent duo - try any of their albums, and you'll find quality. And that's probably what makes them one of the greatest names on the Ninja Tune label today. With loads of successful albums and EP's right in the bag, this group has got consistency and experience. I love when the style in music seems so confident in itself, when artists stay true to themselves, instead of trying to alter their intentional, original sound with the purpose of reaching a wider audience.

What is the album all about? I think it's about simplicity. It doesn't really need more than jazzy samples, basslines and well-crafted hip-hop beats to make successful chillout tracks. Half of the tracks or so has lyrics in them, I chose two tracks without, but that's just me. Go check the album out - check out their other albums, it's all good...

Nomak - Recalm (2008)

Intro and Outro on "Recalm"


Onepeace - Nomak ft. Aaron Phiri

His first album "Calm" earned him a position among very similar artists such as the japanese nu-jazz artist Nujabes, as well as hip-hop producers Fat Jon and Kero One. While not being even nearly as known as Nujabes, his sound is actually very unique, and different from Nujabes, if one listens closely. Traditional hip-hop beats layered with soulful jazz atmosphere and vocals. Jazz or hip-hop - these soulful pieces incorporates elements from both worlds.

The Winter Chill at Subway Lounge

What's up everybody, Stan here. It doesn't matter whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or any other winter holiday, we all know nothing beats listening to some damn good tunes on a lazy winter day. This is what this post is all about, just a few (ch)ill tracks to make you feel good this holiday season.



DJ Shadow - Six Days, on The Private Press


Riton - Put That On My Mama, on Beats Du Jour


DJ Krush & Mos Def - Shinjiro, on Milight




Kruder & Dorfmeister - 1st of tha Month, on The K&D Sessions

Hope you like these. Take it easy, keep it real, happy holidays!

Quincy Jones - Summer In The City (1973)

It surprises me how far you can go past in time and still get those crispy, jazzy breaks. A sound that emerged back then, but today breathes through the airways of trip-hop, lounge and nu-jazz.

With samples that were later used by Nightmares On Wax and The Pharcyde, this is a great example of the root, the foundation of todays breaks and jazz-influenced electronic music.

Despite the name, I think this music fits nicely to the quiet relaxed winter days.

Does this remind you of something? Well try:


Massive Attack - Exchange


Nightmares on Wax - Les Nuits


The Pharcyde - Passin Me By

Merry Christmas, happy holidays - and enjoy the vibes.

Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place (2003)

Monday - Paracetamol, the fourth track on A Strangely Isolated Place
When one thinks of Germany, one hardly thinks of happy electronic music. Darker genres like industrial, trance, and drum'n'bass are the first things that come to mind. Enter Ulrich Schnauss, breaking this mold with some of the happiest and laid back tracks I have ever heard. Ambient soundscapes and chill broken beats are commonplace, in fact the whole release seems to be permeated with what seems to be infinite optimism. It's an incredibly epic and powerful sound that has a certain energy to it - it calms, it inspires and it motivates. It opens your eyes to the endless possibilities of our world, and reminds you of all the amazing things you can find if you just take a good look around.


Track number three, A Letter From Home

Zero 7 - Simple Things (2001)

The opening track, "I Have Seen"

Zero 7 consists of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker from the UK. The style is tricky to describe, but I'd say it's a mixture of downtempo and pop. "Simple Things" is a great little bunch of music. About half of the tracks has vocals, with some great fillers inbetween. The fillers aren't boring - actually it all fits together, and seems very well-crafted. What you get on this album is indeed simple, as the title implies - but it is brilliant nonetheless! Mostly recommended!


Destiny, featuring the vocals of Sia Furler and Sophie Barker

I hope you like what you hear

Now, this project is still new, and there aren't a lot of readers yet, but we really want to keep on going with it.

Taken from RJD2's album Deadringer - "Some of the stuff I like very much, some of the stuff I quite like, and I don't hate any of it. I can't decide which piece to start with, so I wont start with any of the pieces, I've already started. I hope you like what you hear."

We would just like to say thanks to the readers. Every single reader makes it a whole lot more meaningful for us to write and share. Keep listening to good music, and help us spread the word! Take care.

Oh I forgot something you can listen to...

A Forest Mighty Black - Rebirth
A Forest Mighty Black - Tides

Martin

Fingathing - And The Big Red Nebula Band (2004)

The first track of the album, Walk In Space

Fingathing is quite an interesting duo - Sneaky, a double bass player, and a DJ/turntablist named Peter Parker. The sounds they create are very funky and immediately catchy, there's something in this music from everyone, from hardcore hip-hop heads to people who can't stand hip-hop. The album has a bit of a retro sound to it, and themes of space travel are predominant in the samples that the group uses, creating the warm feeling of reading a vintage 60's comic book while listening to an old tube radio that, let's face it, probably has wood paneling on it.

LTJ Bukem - Journey Inwards (2000)

Danny Williamson is undoubtedly the greatest pioneer of intelligent drum & bass, a style known for its special ambient dreamy atmosphere. This musical journey takes the listener through 14 tracks of continuous jazz-influeced vibes. This quality mixture of raw, heavy basslines and the distinctive sound of a Rhodes keyboard, creates a quite simple but lethal cocktail.

The CD version is split in two, with the LP version being quadruple. Essentially, the first CD relies on the typical uptempo d&b pace, while the second is characterized by downtempo breakbeats and even vocals in the track "Sunrain". I have chosen two tracks here. Journey Inwards, which is the first track on the album, and Inner Guidance - a relaxed downtempo track from disc two.


Journey Inwards


Inner Guidance

Bentley Rhythm Ace - Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out! (1997)

Bentley Rhythm Ace is a lesser known electronica group. Most known for this one track "Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out!", which came with their first album. To be honest, I don't think their albums are worth digging too much into, but this one track made it through, and became a very popular single. Funky big-beat style, very similar to Propellerheads.