Time out. Out of time. Jazz which flirts with the very concept of time. ‘Take Five’ is a track written in 5/4 time and it’s exquisite. Your sub-concious tries to follow along but fails as the rhythms are unusual and fresh. In fact the whole album has a very crisp and fresh jazz sound which at the time must have been staggering, as it still sounds good today.

Having just seen Keith Jarrett live last night at the royal festival hall in London I thought it would be fitting to post another Keith Jarrett album to keep you all entertained. While it’s not the Koln Concert this album is still spectacular, in particular the first 30 mins of the first track is really beautiful music which will carry you away. Even if you’re not into jazz I strongly suggest that you look into Keith Jarrett - I think you’ll find it crosses genres.

Reggae. Only with a touch of funk. Lovely percussive melodies, not too much vocals and heavy, lazy funky music. I suggest you serve this album with plenty of chill and a big cloud of smoke, of whichever substance takes your fancy. Particular favourite from the album is ‘make dub not war’ which is a lovely slow shuffling track which makes you feel like you’re in the Caribbean.

Like rabbits made of velvet. Only in sound waves. Quality british folk music brought to fame by that T-mobile ad, most of you will be familiar with ‘just another diamond day’ but this album is actually just as good and has some lovely tracks on it. Lookaftering. A great word for what this album does to you - it lookafters you in the long winter days.

Sunshine music for the soul. An ambitious project from Future Loop Foundation - and the DVD isn’t wholly worth watching (though it was entertaining enough I doubt I’ll watch it again) but the music is sensational. Tracks like ‘everything as it should be’ and ‘the sea and the sky’ are stand-out tracks for me. Wonderful summer music (so nicely timed for a November blog post right?) this should be a staple album for any bigchillers or indeed and summer-time festival goers.

[x] Obscure name [x] weird album cover [ ] rock and roll [x] beautiful music

I know very little about King of Woolworths except that his music is beautiful and life-affirming. Firmly in the electronica end of chillout this album is none-the-less definitely worth checking out. Lovely calming beats underpin sweeping orchestral music which will carry you away into day-dreams faster than you can say whatthefuckisgoingonwithtrackfive? Which is the album’s only downfall - a weirdly atmospheric monologue about some woman explaining to the police why how she was attacked by her husband (if I remember correctly - something like that anyway). Still, that aside the album is awesome and highly recommended.

Shake everything you’ve got. The title of the opening track on Maceo Parker’s ‘Life on Planet Groove’ and also a command line interface to your inner funk. Having once played saxaphone for James Brown Maceo knows a thing or two about funk and in this live recording it’s all preserved for the comfort of your own home. The building momentum of the opening track is so infectious that it’s almost guaranteed to get people dancing no matter what their mood.

As it happens my first listening of ‘Life on Planet Groove’ came via a friend’s headphones about 6 mins into the opening track when he forced me to listen to the epic drum solo which turns into the drummer and Maceo (on sax) free-styling in tandem. While it’s not the most technical of solos the music is right up there in my favourite drum solos ever simply because of it’s infectious and funky nature - every time I listen to it it makes me shake everything I’ve got. Enough said.

Oh - and Maceo is still kicking around as well, I saw him live at the Pigalle club in London not too long ago and he was magical. Highly recommended - he’s a real entertainer on stage!

If you ever meet someone who doesn’t like chillout music or who decides that all chillout music is ‘the same’ then you should first poke them in the eye. You should then force them to listen to Contact Note by Jon Hopkins. This is chilled music but it’s richly textured, it’s varied, it’s funky and it’s beautiful. The opening two tracks are truly beautiful music which will calm even the hardest soul (and you they might need calming after being stabbed in the eye) but before long the music starts to shift and take on a more sinister edge with some bass and low tones coming in to scare you. And that’s when this album starts to come into it’s own - the beats start to drift in amongst the chilled music and what develops is a richly textured shifting pattern of head nodding beats inbetween the graceful and beautiful melodies.

If you ever get the chance to see Jon Hopkins live then do so at all costs. He’s so, so much more than ‘just a man and a laptop’ - prepare yourself for dancing though! He’s also got a new album out sometime soon which I’m very excited about.

What. An. Amazing. Voice. When I first heard this album the alluring voice coupled with attention-grabbing lyrics just made me sit up and take note. And this kind of music isn’t usually my kind of thing - this is probably the last time you’ll see an ‘indie’ album on this blog. But my - what an incredible album. Songs that will transport you away, lure you into a world of modern day film-noir. Progressive tunes with melodies that sweep you away and build to magnificent crescendos I really love this album.

Oh sure, stick an Air album on there why don’t you - go all mainstream on me. Listen you little fucker, Air are cool and I’m not going to hear otherwise from you. Yeah I agree, moon safari has been played to death and ruined by the advertising industry as a whole (though the elevator music people are to blame too - I’ve got my eye on you people. Mark my words) but Air did some amazing stuff outside of Moon Safari. Case in point? Premiers Symptomes. Just exquisite chilled music which will transport you to a land of funk but where everyone moves at 1/3 the normal speed. The only thing I would say - don’t both listening to the last two tracks. I’ve deleted them from my library and just listen to the album as a 5-track album.