Jason Boardman
A delightful collection of holistic new age healers lovingly compiled by Chris Coco for the horizontally inclined.
Favorite track: Leap Year.
Here, on the flip side of the first Chill Out Tent compilation (which came out last summer), is the first in a series of ambient collections for time indoors, quiet contemplation and continental drift.
There are ten tracks, nine exclusive to this collection. The artists come from Japan, Ireland, Denmark, UK and Spain.
We begin with ambient sounds, birds and water then flow through various moods and styles. There are deep, pulsing arpeggios, sweet, angelic voices, muted conversations, distant drums and floating guitars, creating a sonic doorway to another place, a different mindset.
Chris Coco launches an ambient project on his label, DSSPR – short for “disappear”. The first compilation is a more than “chilled out” cherry-picking of 10 artists, a few of whom are regular contributors to the imprint. If you’ve been following Chris for a while then names like Samantha Whates and Be.Lanuit will be familiar. All set in serene soundscapes of charming, calming chimes, each track adds something unique to the mix. Be it ethereal song, blue muted horns, or slow waltzing strings, or twisted accordion emerging from a melodic musical mist, heavenly harp glissando, graceful guitar microtones, or tumbling tabla. I think Koubakiki’s Raven Born even features bagpipes. The standouts for me come, first, from Sonlife, whose She Misses You fuses snippets of dialogue – that hint at separation – with pensive bass notes and piano chords. Its poignancy recalling Matthieu Beck’s recent heartfelt “hit”, California. Ataurean’s Hope Springs spirals out a swell of sampled surf, all flickering fragments, in a moment of melancholy urgency. Staring out past the sunset to an uncertain horizon, in a manner to (almost) match Mixmaster Morris’ classic remix of Coldcut’s Autumn Leaves.
Dr. Rob, BanBanTonTon
credits
released February 15, 2023
File under ambient / electronica / pastoral / piano / relaxation / meditation / contemplation
DSPPR (Disappear) is a label run by DJ/producer Chris Coco to share music that he likes and highlight new and emerging artists, as well as some of his own collaborations.
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