1. Aya – ‘Nobody Knows Me’ – Naked Music
This beautiful song transports you to the coolest chill-out club at midnight somewhere in New York. The stunning production on this tune incorporates a real understatedly funky and dubby bass line – the treble has been completely killed, just like it should be.
2. Barry White (Remixed by Groove Armada) – ‘Playing Your Game’ – Mercury
This track has the ultimate laid back combination of groove and dreamy rhodes piano chord changes. You can dance to it or sit back and take it easy. Oh, and it has one of the tightest and tastiest drum fills running throughout the tune..
3. Massive Attack – ‘Inertia Creeps’ – Virgin
What needs to be said about this band really?! It’s the natural/tribal feel of the drums from Andy Gangadeen on this track that does it for me. Hypnotic as a pendulum it draws you in together with its dark and nasty synths. It manages to be both mysterious and beautiful.
4. Roots Manuva – ‘Movements’ – Big Dada Recordings
This is chilled-out UK hip-hop at its best. The unorthodox, lazy style of Roots’ rhyming alongside the droning quality of the track makes for a perfect lounge tune.
5. The Stix Feat. Corinne Bailey Rae -‘Young & Foolish’ – Centric Records
This is a tastefully jazz-influenced and vocal led tune which meanders around a soulful, summer melody. I especially like the trippy, syncopated drum programming.
6. Herbie Hancock – ‘Palm Grease’ – Columbia
It’s hard not to start smiling when you hear the drum-groove intro to this tune. This is laid-back 70’s fusion at its best incorporating the funkiest clavinet line. It manages to both provide something musically intelligent and a spacey funk soundtrack to dance to.
7. Tanzmann & Voight (Sander Kleinenberg) – ‘Dining Room’ – Renaissance Recordings
Quality, uplifting progressive house. This is a fine choice of Sander’s and is the track I think gets the 2nd CD of ‘This Is Everybody Too’ really going. Note especially the intertwining dreamy synth lines that drift along like a breeze above the skippy drum beat…bliss.
8. Nightmares On Wax – ‘Argah Noah’
I consider this the most chilled out and trippy tune that NOW have ever recorded. This one is always pulled out at the end of a proper chill-out evening. It helps to send you to that special, distant place..
Sunhatch – ‘Can’t Get Better Than This’ will be released on May 9th on DTPM Recordings.
