After the resounding success of volume one, OneWorldMusic wanted to add another compilation of unique chillout to the market. How did they do? What does it sound like?

Zen Connection 2 (OneWorldMusic)

Ambient/Chillout/Downtempo Album of the month for May 2004

Zen Connection 1 was such a resounding success that OneWorldMusic wanted to release another one, which is volume two. This is very similar in certain respects to volume one because it is still concerned with chillout but it takes a slightly different direction here. Unlike East and West perspectives of CD 1, Leigh Wood decided to go with Yin and Yang. If you have heard about Yin and Yang, you are not alone but if you don’t know too much about it, allow me to give you a quick history lesson. See many centuries ago, the Chinese came up with a philosophy and it was about balancing the opposites. Yin is the female (negative) qualities and Yang is male (positive qualities). It is all about balance, putting the good with the bad and the Chinese said that Yin originates from the Yang and the Yang originates from the Yin. For the Chinese, it is all about balance and harmony and this compilation tries to do that. If you don’t believe in that, that is ok but you do realize that there is bad and good, so it applies in some way to today.

CD 1: Yin
1.Al-pha X – The Wedding Song
2.Fragmentorchestra – Sambita
3.Natacha Atlas – This Realm
4.Ornament – Blue
5.S.L.A.C – Ejderha
6.Phil Thornton – Resolution (Zen Remix)
7.Amanaska – Nomad (Vegabond Mix)
8.Earth Leakage Trip – String Thief
9.Hypnagogue /Chris Shakallis – Orpheus
10.Badmarsh and Shri – Air I Breathe (Kid Loco Mix)
11.Heckle and Jive – Lowdown High
12.Zuell – Amniotic Dream
13.Navdeep feat. Bikram – Jogi

CD 1

1.Alpha X – The Wedding Song

We start here with almost dead silence, which is a crafty way to start an album. A keyboard riff slowly creeps in here, nothing is hitting you over the head. Shortly after, a female vocal enters and it is foreign, the language is unknown but it seems to go with the music. Some scratching sound effects enter, followed by a bass and the drums are in the background. The female vocal comes back but it is more of a chant than a vocal. The song continues in this mold for a while then a beautiful piano comes in later and then the song fades out.

2.Fragmentorchestra – Sambita

Song number two continues the same trend here. The song starts off with an orchestral feel here, with what sounds like a variety of instruments (violins, bass and flutes). It starts off slowly and takes a while to get going. We have some xylophone notes come in and then a heavy steady beat enters the song. The melody is a lush, crisp sonic marvel and you would just love to drift away to. A piano line comes in but it more just a repetition of some notes. A confusing male vocal enters in, a while later but I think it takes away and does not add to this song.

3.Natacha Atlas – This Realm

This song starts out with an almost ambient like feel to it with some electronic sequencer riffs. Some drums come in and they are near the very back of the song and then the best part enters, the female vocal. It reminds you in some ways of Diana Krall, but the song feels more Enigma like. The vocal drives the song and pushes it to different places and then vocal is haunting at times as well. I think that most tunes released fail to use vocals like they should be used and sometimes the vocal does not measure up in terms of quality but this song is not one of those songs.

4.Ornament – Blue

Blue starts with some unknown instruments, which sound more eastern in origin. A bass guitar is played in and out at times. The song has an Indian feel to it at times and I’m not sure if it is because of the feel or because of the sound of the instruments that are used. The song slowly builds around the ambient feel and you get an almost Biosphere feel at times, just not as deep as Biosphere usual work. A little later, you have some weird sound effects that are added to the song and from then on, the track is driven by some bass guitar chords and a drumline to back it.

5.S.L.A.C – Ejderha

Song number five starts with some Indian flutes, which is quickly followed by a foreign female vocal. It slowly builds and we enter another laidback groove for a while, this is truly chillout here. After a few minutes, it goes to the flutes again, which adds to the song, and does not take away from anything here. The vocal comes back in and it adds to the calmness of the song but you don’t understand the language because it is foreign to your ears. Some drum taps comes in then the vocal comes back in again with some claps (every five seconds) and it carries on till the end.

6.Phil Thornton – Resolution (Zen Remix)

On Zen Connection 1 CD 1, we had a Thornton track with a remix and on CD 2, we have another Thornton track with a remix. We start with this eastern instrumentation with a male vocal chanting in a foreign language. The vocal is chanting faintly here and it is slowly moving up and then an English vocal sample comes in saying “I’m trying to get in a little deeper into what I’m doing” and the vocal chant comes back. I’m not a big fan of this vocal and then the sample comes back and then a flute comes in. I just think this song is too much of a stretch into foreign chillout. This song just continues in this slow mood with eastern instrumentation with the chanting till the very end.

7.Amanaska - Nomad (Vagabond Mix)

This is a remix of one of the tracks from the Amanaska song. As I stated in a previous review, this song does not appeal to me because of the foreign vocal. This is not much different from the original song, cept a few changes. Some people will enjoy it but I feel this is not the greatest song to stick in.

8.Earth Leakage Trip – String Thief

We start with the sounds of an altered xylophone with bells and about twenty seonds later, this bass comes in and you hear these luscious strings with the xylophone. Now this is what I call chillout. Some calm drums are added and the whole piece of music surrounds each and every element and you hear this complete sonic marvel. This is a great direction to move in, it distances itself from the seventh track, which I thought went absolutely nowhere.

9.Hypnagogue /Chris Shakallis – Orpheus

We start with some bells, and triangles and some other bell type sounds for the first thirty seconds. We enter into a jazz groove, driven by the line from an acoustic guitar. This beautiful voice that reminds me of Sarah Mclachlan comes in, she is just singing notes with no words. This is well crafted chillout with a steady drumline, just one hit every two seconds. We have a foreign instrument come in that plays and I’ve never heard anything, the only thing that sounds similar is the Australian instrument used on the Amanaska album. It sounds part flute and part foreign instrument. Such a calming track to take your mind away.

10.Badmarsh and Shri – Air I Breathe (Kid Loco Mix)

This track continues the deeper end of chillout music. This is an ambient style song with some weird background instrumentation, which almost sound eastern in origin. A sultry diva vocal, which reminds me of Diana Krall at times. She sings the chorus of “You’re the Air I breathe” and this is almost jazz in places but it works so well, I love it. The vocal drives this song from start to finish.

11.Heckle and Jive – Lowdown High

We start with a nice keyboard and some electronic percussion come in. The drums come in and this riff that sounds so similar in certain respects to Naughty by Nature’s OPP (who thought that you could not fuse influences from other genres into chillout). Whether it works, is a matter of opinion but no matter what you think, they get marks here for trying to make something different. The riff reminds me so much of OPP and I’m not sure why but it is incredible. This can labeled driving chillout and it has that Gilles Peterson feel as well. It has a sample of a laugh that is used near the back at times but this song is just a marvelous sonic journey.

12.Zuell – Amniotic Dream

We start with the sounds of waves hitting the shore and then these drums come in. It is so Ambient with the swirling noises of the water and the just the laidback groove of the song. This builds on the previous songs as well and pushes it further, this is not as deep Ambient say as Biosphere but it is well done.

13.Navdeep feat. Bikram – Jogi

We end CD 1 with “Jogi”, this starts with more eastern instruments and drums. The male vocal is almost chanting and it is near the background here. The vocal then moves into a foreign language song, which I wonder why?. I mean we go in a deeper chillout/ambient direction without foreign based vocals but we hit this and it just makes me lose interest. I think it is because of the foreign vocal and that I cannot understand it.

CD 2 – Yang

1.Talvin Singh – It’s Not Over
2.Honeyroot – Sunrise, Sunset
3.Karsh Kale – Milan
4.Stef – Travels
5.Ramasutra – The Losing Hand
6.Thievery Corporation – Meu Destino
7.Rohan – Filter
8.dZihan and Kamien – Ford Transit
9.Fragile State – Every Day A Story
10.S-Tone Inc. – Limbe
11.Agent 5.1 – Robert
12.Nina and Chris – Agua
13.Small Defence/Riley Lee – No One Steps

1.Talvin Singh – It’s Not Over

The underrated Talvin Singh starts the second CD off. We start with a vocal hum that is very laidback and chilled. Some Indian sounding percussion is added and this foreign female vocal comes in again. You can tell this will start a journey and this is so typical Talvin Singh, taking Indian based music and making it enjoyable. The song progresses a little further and then some flutes come in, they play a few bars, then they vanish for a while, then they enter again. A male vocal comes in, foreign as well and it almost overlaps the female vocal. We continue like this for some time and then we end with an almost mishmash of flutes, chanting and other effects. I love the opening but the end of the song almost leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

2.Honeyroot – Sunrise, Sunset

If Honeyroot sounds familiar to you, that is because Honeyroot’s album was reviewed here, a few months ago. This is one of the better songs on the album and Leigh Wood decided to use it here. We start with a sultry sunny melody with a beach feel. A sample saying “Good Old Song” comes in and the percussion comes in and the sample repeats itself. Some scratching comes in and this lush piano then enters. A guitar strummed comes in a little later and then the song breaksdown. The vocal comes in with “sun”, then a pause then “rise” then another pause then “sun” with yet another pause then “set” and we then hear the complete vocal “Sunrise, Sunset”. It reaches an epic finale and we hear the sample from the beginning, this is really a solid song to push the chillout direction of the CDs.

3.Karsh Kale – Milan

This builds on the chillout direction and “Milan” is the longest song on the compilation. We start with a filtered guitar sound and what sounds like a flute creeps in for a short while then leaves, which is followed by an eastern feel. Some triangle hits and what sounds like wind chimes are added, which progress the soothing feel. The song eventually picks up, when a bass guitar enters and the flute creeps in but it has more effect to the song. You are then surprised by a orchestra that comes in and it is led by the violins, which are playing a glorious melody. It reminds you of Hybrid’s Finished Symphony at times because of the big number of instruments you hear. Around six minutes into the song, the drumline that was in the background speeds up, so much that it completely ruins the song. This was such an amazing work of music, ruined by trying to speed something up.

4.Stef – Travels

“Travels” adds to the direction where the CD is headed, with a more melody driven type chillout. It starts with chimes and then the percussion enters and the vocal comes in but you cannot really tell what language the vocal is in, with the sultry female voice singing it. Upon closer inspection, you realize that it is French, just the fact that the vocal is near the middle and some of the instrumentation drowns some of the vocal out. A few minutes into the song, you get what reminds you of a jazz type influence, I’m not sure what makes it that way but it feels jazzy. A bass comes in shortly thereafter and it slowly moves from the back to the front. It makes great use of the vocal in places and is really something to build on.

5.Ramasutra – The Losing Hand

This song starts with an Indian style instrument and you hear someone plucking the strings and some eastern style drums are added with a light tapping. It then takes off on a more jazz oriented journey. We then have a female vocal that comes in and she is singing in English about poker and the losing hand. She sings it in almost a ballad style and it reminds me yet again of Diana Krall. The song is a great and it tends to take the tempo down a notch or two.

6.Thievery Corporation – Meu Destino

Now Washington DC’s own Thievery Corporation are added to the mix. “Meu Destino” is a bass driven, wind instrument guided tune. A male vocal comes in and he is singing in Spanish. We have the vocal leave after about thirty seconds and we have a folk guitar come in and play a soothing melody and then after about thirty seconds of that, the vocal comes back in till the end.

7. Rohan – Filter

It seems now that the CD 2 is using more the jazzy side of Chillout, rather the deep chillout/ambient style of CD1. It somehow fits very well with this CD and “Filter” is no different. We start with percussion, basically a solid drumline with hits every second. A female vocal is introduced but it is not clean. The song has this jazzy feel in places but also feels out of place at times but the good outweigh the bad.

8. dZihan and Kamien – Ford Transit

This song continues the jazzy feel as most of the previous songs on this CD have. We start with some drum taps, light and not too heavy. A female vocal comes in and starts to sing and this track starts to slowly move till a weird sounding foreign instrument comes in and transforms this into almost driving jazz. About half way into the song, a nice orchestra part comes in, it is not as epic as song number three but effective nevertheless.

9.Fragile State – Every Day A Story

This song is so beautiful, it starts with some notes from what sounds like a wind instrument. The drums are added in quick succession and a guitar plays along in the background of the song. A foreign female vocal enters and she starts to sing but something sounds so familiar, I believe I have heard this before, it reminds me of something that I heard in the Amanaska album. We are led to a more jazz influenced chillout in this song, it is slower in tempo than most of the other songs on this CD but it calmly lets the instruments drive it. As you are getting used to this, some beautiful violins come in and take you off into the sunset, at least that is how I feel.

10.S-Tone Inc. – Limbe

“Limbe” starts with an eastern feel, more of what CD 1 of Volume One was like. Some drums comes in but they give you the funky style, it is probably how they are played. A driving guitar enters and it starts to pick the song up by the ears and drags it. A foreign vocal singing in French about reflections and if you wondered what “Limbe” means, from the Collins French Dictionary, it means something that is never finished. This is a great song that is driven by a great vocal.

11.Agent 5.1 – Robert

This starts with some quiet motor running sample and then a sample of a cat meowing enters and then it goes into a jazzy laidback song. It makes use of brilliant instrumentation, almost orchestral at times. Such a beautiful song and a great addition.

12. Nina and Chris – Agua

This is a real beach song and you get the Spanish feel with the guitar playing in the background. You get a real Spanish vibe here and even more when a female vocal comes in singing what sounds like Spanish to me. It really tries to push the compilation to a fitting conclusion here but there is still one song left to go.

13.Small Defence/Riley Lee – No One Steps

This is epic, it uses some flutes, a nice guitar to drive it and really it ends off the CD well. It has no jazz influence and the flutes really drive the song here and it is a fitting way to end a CD.

Conclusion:
This is a solid compilation and I like this more than the first one here. CD one is more deep chillout with some ambient elements added in and CD two is more jazz influenced chillout with orchestral elements. Oneworldmusic has put out another well thought out compilation and it should be checked out. It offers a lot of stuff that not many people have heard about but it works anyway, my only disappointment with this compilation was the one song that I felt that did not work and adding a remix of “Nomad” did not work and "Milan" where the drums started to speed up about six minutes into it, ruined it. The good outweighs the bad here by a fair margin. This is a great unique take on chillout, check it out.