The latest in the Ultra Chilled series is the fourth in the stream of ambient and chillout compilations from US based Ultra Records. This time around, we have a number of cool, chill, new tracks which would make any lounge sessions a better one.

David Waxman has put together the 4th in the series of the much acclaimed Ultra Chilled series, putting together some of the finer tracks of the chillout / ambient genre of the past couple of years. Spread of 2 discs, this release is out now through Ultra Records.

Tracklist:

Disc 1

1. N.E.R.D. - Provider (Zero 7 Mix)
2. Wax Poetic ft. Norah Jones - Angels
3. Goldfrapp - Hairy Trees
4. Sarah Brightman - Beautiful
5. Polaroid - So Damn Beautiful (Chris Coco Mix)
6. Bent - Beautiful Otherness
7. Baz - Never Ending Story
8. Kelli Ali - Sunlight in the Rain
9. Open Door - breathe
10. Erland Oye - Prego Amore
11. Magnet - Last Day of Summer
12. Postal Service - This Place is a Prison

Disc 2

1. Weekend Players - Jericho
2. Miro - The Cure
3. Lamb - Gabriel
4. Caia - Remembrance
5. Mutiny - Keep Love
6. Ben Onono - Badagry Beach
7. Ananda Project - Justice, Mercy
8. Tosca - Oscar
9. Gotan Project - Triptico
10. Chungking - Bubble Love
11. Beats International - Invasion of the Estate Agents
12. The Orb - Tower 23

We all know of the Ultra Chilled series as one which puts together some of the finest sounds in the ambient and chillout world. Having listened through the three previous compilations, I was eagerly anticipating the 4th offering.

N.E.R.D's Provider is perhaps not the best start to the album as it just doesn't seem to fit in, or perhaps it just wasn't what I expected...

Angels is a collaboration between Wax Poetic and singer Norah Jones and crosses Norah's usual style of music slightly with its infusion of hiphop elements and blues-like combinations. A mild and fine followup to Provider and refreshing to the ears.

The next track, even with its rather odd title of Hairy Trees, the track is a scenic and beautiful production from Goldfrapp, accompanied by the surreal vocals Alison Goldfrapp. A top notch track erased my memories of Provider and put me in a state of bliss.

To top it off, Sarah Brightman's remake of Mandalay's Beautiful is indeed, beautiful... The original has been one of my favourite tracks of all-time and this remake almost paralleled the original, and although not, quite, it was an enjoyable listening experience.

Polaroid's So Damn Beautiful was released some years ago and I remember it's initial release only on a few compilation albums. Although I do prefer the original mix, David Waxman's choice of using Chris Coco's remix is definitely complementary to the mix thus far.

A name which has become increasingly in the spotlight is Bent, who over the past several years have pushed forward some cool trippy eclectic chillout tracks, and Beautiful Otherness is no exception to that criteria. As much as many of us hate male vocals, this one is perfectly combined with the chilled funk beats and I've been in a chilled mood since Hairy Trees till now.

The way Baz's Never Ending Story moulds in with its cool trippy beats and warm vocals give this guitar tainted track a latin and blues feel before flowing into Kelli Ali's Sunlight in the Rain; a track which I felt could have been better if it had come in the shape of a more less-poppy remix or something. Although Kelli's vocal talents are undisputably good, the track itself on this album seems perhaps a bit out of place next to some of the stronger siblings.

Now, Breathe was a track I did not find appealing at all - in particular, the vocals in this were mildly disturbing and quite nerve wrecking. With that, I quickly skipped to the next track...

Erland Oye's Prego Amore came in as a subtle triphop production, with some trendy movie type bassline sequences and subdued vocals. You'll either hate this one or love it.. and before long, a quick variation in style ensues, in the form of The Last Day of Summer, a xylophone based, retro chilled track, with all the elements of Coldplay, Morcheeba and more in a content and fine penultimate track to the first disc.

The oddly named Postal Service act puts in their finishing touches to the final track in the form of This Place is a Prison, a dubby, subbed out, monotonic track which does justice in ending the first disc.

Disc 2

I was expecting something more of a stylish second half having perused the tracklist prior to my first listen.

Weekend Players and their Jericho track may be a familiar sound to some, with their release on multiple labels last year. A chilled and soulful affair which grasps your attention with its trippy melodics and sweet vocals make this one of the finer moments of the compilation and all I can say about this choice is that I love the track..

Miro is another name which most of us may have heard of, with the act producing for well over the past decade, and The Cure being their latest production is frantically awesome. Reminiscent of old-school Massive Attack, the track is blissfully uplifting and chilled at the same time, bringing out some of the fine sounds of ambience, chillout, triphop and a bit of dance, which would be worthy in any set.

Gabriel, the follup single to Lamb's superb Gorecki comes in on track 3 and continues on the excellent choices so far. Lamb have always been known for their ultra-trippy productions which would suit any chilled evening with a few cocktails and friends around. A sense of self-gratification can be felt through the first triplet of tracks and I'm loving it.

Following on is a track from relatively unheard of artist Caia, with the guitar tainted track Remembrance, a more lighter track which changes the tone somewhat and is a delightful change from the trippy melodics we've heard so far.

And going back to "nature" music, is Mutiny UK's Keep Love which takes on nature's sounds and gives it a bit of a poppy feel with its vocals. Not the best tune of the disc, but by all means, not bad.

Mexican / Hispanic themes structure the next track, in a mesmerising track from Ben Onono titled Badagry Beach, a track originally released in 2001, but has been doing the rounds since then with it's chilling bassline and Eros Ramazzotti like vocals. Refreshingly ethnic but slightly verging away from the flow of the disc, it sets us up for the following, Justice, Mercy from Dave Seaman favourites Ananda Project.

Male vocals continue onwards from the previous and more subtle, soulful production ensues. Very chilled stuff here which matches some of the finer tracks we've heard so far.

Oscar is Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber, better known as one half of Kruder & Dorfmeister, the eclectic beats and drums group which dominated a large part of the UK club scene not too long ago. Richard's new group with Rupert is Tosca, a more chilled, dubby affair which is somewhat different from their normal, less melodic material. Having listened to some of their older productions on K7 records, as well as their remixes for Lamb and Zero 7 to name a few, this is a bit more of a subtle laidback attitude to their productions. I'm sure that most of you Kruder & Dorfmeister fans out there will love this one.

Gotan Project's Triptico is somewhat of a more upbeat production, and is reminscent to some of the more classic French productions these days. Not a bad production in it's entirety, I'm not too sure it goes too well within this CD.

Chungking's Bubble Love is a cool production which signals the end of the compilation in a sweet sort of way.

Moving onto a more trippy and funky production by Beats International, the track brings on a retro style of play, but at the moment I'm a bit confused as to the direction of the 2nd disc.... before finishing off with master gurus The Orb.

Tower Twenty Three finishes the compilation in a relatively strong fashion, but as I just mentioned, disc 2 seemed to jiggle up and down a bit too sporadically for an Ultra Chilled album. I would've expected a bit more flow in the second disc in terms of track selection.

Conclusion:
Otherwise, the 1st disc was definitely up to par, and some of the tracks there were spot on, particularly ones from Sarah Brightman and Polaroid. Disc two started off strong with a series of top notch track choices, but after the middle portion it went a bit downhill. Although I was expecting more from this album, it wasn't bad at all and the number of lesser known tracks used was good, showing some of the finer new productions in line for a release.