The Chill Out Tent Ambient Vol 1

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.

File under ambient / electronica / pastoral / piano / relaxation / meditation / contemplation

https://dsppr.bandcamp.com/album/the-chill-out-tent-ambient-vol-1

The Chill Out Tent Volume 1

Here it is, our debut album! ‘The Chill Out Tent Volume 1‘ – 12 new tracks or versions of some our favourite tunes of the moment, curated lovingly by The Chill Out Tent crew.

The Chill Out Tent is our festival sanctuary, our country retreat, our dream of a better way to live with more sunshine, more sheep, more music, more love. It’s acid house hippy, it’s a blade of grass in your mouth, it’s getting stoned beautifully, it’s all our friends at once, it’s our new secret, favourite place. It’s that fleeting, unforgettable moment, it’s here, it’s now, it’s forever.

What’s the story of this beautiful collection, where did it come from? The compilation album peak happened around the turn of the century with the rise of the curator DJ and the peak of CD sales led to a boom in collections of music, mixed and unmixed. Of course, back then music was still hard to find and an album compiler could share gems from the past that would be really hard to find any other way.

Now, in the streaming age, a compilation of already released tracks, however obscure is effectively the same as a playlist because most music is available digitally somewhere or the other, and most of it on the popular streaming services.

So when we decided to make a Chill Out Tent compilation we had to re-engineer the idea of the compilation. We decided the only way to make it work was for all the tracks to be exclusive and previously unreleased. But because we wanted to share some of our favourite tunes for playing out in fields and listening bars we had to make new versions of some of them. That led to a lot of work for our in-tent producer Chris Coco and some exciting innovations and surprises from some of our current favourite producers who re-imagined their own tracks.

So here it is, our first collection of tunes that aims to reflect the sound of The Chill Out Tent, somewhere to relax, for sure, but also the perfect place for a party that probably starts some time in the afternoon and keeps on building.

The Chill Out Tent Volume 1‘ – Track by Track…

1 Calm – Long Summer Dream (Dub Mix)
Our friend in Tokyo, and one of the first contributors to the Chill Out Tent online events, comes through with a lovely, building sunset moment.

2 Turbotito – To Feel In Love (Projections x Turbotito Version)
With a cheeky reference to a top ranking reggae classic, this new version of Turbotito’s cover of the mighty Lucio Battisti’s classic is a real party starter.

3 SONLIFE – The First (Chris Coco Version)
Here’s Chris Coco’s dance version of what has become a surprise Balearic classic from South London’s finest band, SONLIFE.

4 Blair French – Honey Rooftops (Chris Coco Version – Part 1)
A favourite from last year gets reworked for the dance floor, or at least a grassy field. One of those tunes that always gets a – what’s this! from someone in the crowd when we play it out.

5 Sauco – Sun Goddess (Chris Coco Sunset Mix)
Another firm favourite with The Chill Out Tent crew turned into a sunset classic with an extended guitar part from Nick & Samantha’s Nick Cornu.

6 Hear & Now x Chris Coco – For You (The Chill Out Tent Edit)
A collaboration between the Italian duo Hear & Now and Chris Coco, leaning in a slightly more disco direction from their usual grooves

7 Reggae Disco Rockers – The Whistle Song (Quiet Storm Version)
A reggae cover of Frankie Knuckles’ classic tune, here in a new extended version.

8 Quinn Lamont Luke – Don’t Run Away (Chris Coco Version)
A great song from Cantoma collaborator Quinn, given a Mr Fingers type deep house twist.

9 Projections – Original Cell (Chris Coco Version)
This one’s another Balearic beauty, this time via California, given a lift for an early or late play on one of THOSE nights.

10 Dexter Scott – Break Noise
Some experimental psychedelic breaks and freak beats straight from the south coast of Merrie England from upcoming artist Dexter.

11 Coyote – Home Grown
Everybody’s favourite Is It Balearic? duo with a dubby, bass heavy chug of a groove.


12 Joan Bibiloni – Castanyetes Eivissa / Mar Blava
One of our musical heroes from Mallorca, Joan, puts a real Balearic twist on this atmospheric track for another magic sunset moment to close the album. 

credits

Released July 6, 2022 – Buy / Listen via Bandcamp and all major streaming services

Compiled by Matt Nearest Faraway and Chris Coco
Cover design by Studio Imeus
Impulse control & creative tech by Steve Machin

Listening Parties for ‘The Chill Out Tent Vol 1’

Launch Parties for our Debut Album this Weekend – In Real Life at Spiritland and in the Metaverse!

The Chill Out Tent was born online in the earliest days of lockdown, our collaborators and community are a wonderful collection of like-minded folks from around the world. Since then we’ve brought The Chill Out Tent into the real world with festivals, residencies, and now our first musical offering – ‘The Chill Out Tent Vol. 1’ a compilation album of beautiful exclusive tracks from the global downtempo music community.

As our first gathering was online; a live-stream from London, Oslo and Ibiza, featuring the inaugural Sheepwatch mix (and now classic video). In keeping with our lo-fi / high-tech approach our listening parties for TCOT Vol 1 will be taking place IRL at Spiritland and online at our new lakeside hangout in the metaverse Lake Mañana. Let’s hear more about this from our Chill Out Tent creative technology guru Steve Machin.

The Metaverse you say? Yup, we’ve made our first foray into virtual reality and you are all invited to come, listen to the album, explore the lake, and hang out. All you need is an internet connection, a browser (chrome works best – desktop or mobile) and a sense of adventure. 

It might take a moment to get used to moving around – the lakeside hangout behaves much like a video game – except with added sheep, amazing music, and all our friends from The Chill Out Tent chat room.

Take a moment to get used to the controls, set up your audio / microphone and you avatar / webcam and remember this is very new technology so occasionally hitting the refresh button if you get stuck is usually the best way to resolve any issues.

Some Fun facts about about Lake Mañana

1 – There will be 12 unique sheep (from 16:00 BST) on Sunday, each one plays a different track from the album when you stand near them.

2 – You can walk on the water.

3 – You can upload a photo, or you can use your webcam as a video avatar.

4 – You can explore anywhere you want, and you can’t break anything (although sometimes you might end up inside a mountain)

5 – Like a real place, the sounds are spatial and you can talk to people that are near you.

6 – There will be a free collectible sheep NFT for folks that come along on Sunday.

So, what are you waiting for? There are 3 TCOT Vol. 1 preview tracks waiting for you now so why not head over to https://spaces.vatom.com/@lakemanana and check out our new lakeside hangout. See you by the campfire tomorrow...

PS For those in London, we will be IRL at Spiritland from 1pm this Sunday (3rd July), and from 4pm we will be playing back the full album on that gorgeous sound system. Stop by, listen to the album and collect one of the limited edition golden sheep NFTs that we are making available this Sunday. There will be some augmented reality surprises dropping with the album from 4pm too.

Coyote – Home Grown

Very exciting news klaxon!

Yes, it’s the Is It Balearic? dudes, Coyote, with a dubby, sunny-afternoon-in-a-field workout, ‘Homegrown’. Release date is 11 May 2022, out on Chris Coco’s Disappear label, listen and buy now via Bandcamp.

This is the first fruit from a forthcoming compilation – The Chill Out Tent Vol 1. 

The album features exclusives and versions of some of our favourite tunes to play in a tent in a field in the sunshine. As you can tell from this initial release we’ve pulled in favours from some of our favourite producers to make this a unique and beautiful thing. So it’s only right to start with some genuine home grown loveliness to set the mood for things to come. More on the album soon…

Sign up for our newsletter to hear the news first…

The Chill Out Tent x Hidything 2nd Birthday Ltd Edition T- shirt

Designed by our very talented friends at Hidything to celebrate 2 years of the Chill Out Tent. The design is inspired by the now famous musical animations that Hidything have created for all our online events over the last two years, featuring an idyllic rural landscape dotted with our spirit animal, the noble sheep.

And best of all, it’s been printed using low waste technology by a certified organic company in the UK. Add adventure to your every day with this cool new tee. Available now with worldwide shipping. We’ve also got a long sleeved t-shirt and a beautiful art print all made by our manufacturing partner Teemill / Rapanui.

Order these limited edition t-shirts and prints here – available now

The Chill Out Tent Edition #21 – Second Birthday Celebrations!

We’re back with a special edition of the Chill Out Tent, it’s our second birthday celebration livestream this Sunday 10/4/22 at 19:00 BST on Mixcloud live. This will be our 21st livestream since we started in April 2020 as a lockdown project in response to the global pandemic. Since then we’ve hosted over 150 films, DJ mixes, interviews, live gigs, festivals and listening sessions featuring an amazing community of artists, producers, DJ’s and creatives from all over the world.

The special 2nd birthday livestream will feature the following films and mixes:

  1. Seion – An Evening Of Ambient Music From Japan – The Resonating Sounds Of Silence (featuring Chillax, Lone Star,  Takashi Kokubo, Inomayaland, Ayane Shino) with thanks to Livemine.

2. Plastic Fantastic Sunrise Session – Coyote

3. The Chill Out Tent resident Matt Nearest Faraway at Spiritland Kings Cross, London

4. Sheepwatch Deluxe – The next instalment of our legendary ambient mix from the Chill Out Tent head honcho Chris Coco

The session will also feature music from Chris Coco, SONLIFE, Samantha Whates & Ida Wenøe and Mário Rui Silva

Dr. Rob`s Remedy / 2022_02_15

Based high up in the Japanese mountains, Dr. Rob runs the Ban Ban Ton Ton music blog / website, and writes for Faith Fanzine and Electronic Sound. He has a long running local FM radio show, The Remedy, and is also part of Music For Dreams Radio`s weekly roster. “Live”, he is a member of Tokyo`s Lone Star crew.

Eblen Macari – Arce – Silent River Runs Deep – 2021

Eblen Macari - Ambar

Amazing acoustic acrobatics from Mexican guitarist / composer Eblen Macari. Canada`s Seance Centre reissued his 1987 LP, Música Para Planetarios, a little while back, and last year Japan’s Silent River Runs Deep, with assistance from Kuniyuki Takahashi, remastered 1997`s Ambar for vinyl. While Música Para Planetarios captured a performance for guitars, synths, percussion, and choir, Ambar leaves Eblen`s 6-strings largely unadorned. The playing elegant and emotive, delicately dancing somewhere between Pat Metheny`s ECM stuff – Au Lait, Sueno Con Mexico – and Paco de Lucia`s fiery flamenco flame. 

Sebastien Tellier – La Ritournelle (Session) – Record Makers – 2021

Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle (Session)

That piano riff plays and my life sorta flashes before me. It`s a huge nostalgic cue. Championed by Moonboots at Manchester’s Aficionado, where it became an anthem, I put La Ritournelle on mixtapes that I made for everyone I knew. All of them called – or texted – stopped in their tracks the moment they heard it. Consequently it carries a whole lot of personal cache. It reminds me – big time – of my last few months in the UK, the tangled mess I managed to “weave” before I flew. 

Originally released in 2003, how on Earth did they get Tony Allen on drums? This version is taken from acoustic sessions, issued on CD in 2006. I first heard it on a Phil Mison mix. Last year it finally got pressed to vinyl. 

Caribou – Stevie – Trad Vibe – 2021

Caribou - Stevie

Groovy French jazz-funk / fusion released in 1977 by Alain Mion of Cortex – the folks behind the classic Mary et Jeff. This is the kind of gear that I`d expect my Mind Fair mates – Dean Meredith and Ben Shenton – to discover / uncover and spin on their Rotation Sound System. Just like the Nino And Radiah album they turned me onto. 

Bunny Scott – Kinky Fly – Freestyle – 2021

Bunny Scott - Kinky Fly

A buzzing, fuzzed, Lee Scratch Perry production from 1975 – that sounds as if the whole backing track has been bounced down through a Blaxploitation score wah-wah pedal. Recently pressed on 7” by Freestyle, it`s taken from the album, To Love Somebody, which also features the classic, What’s The Use?

Mutabaruka, I Rainy, Simbad – Catch, Loot, Steal – Rainy City Music – 2022

A mix of modern dub and deep house from Manchester’s Rainy City Music crew. Some serious skanking, with melodica, and poetry from the mighty Mutabaruka – of Dis Poem fame. 

Mutabaruka I Rainy Simbad

Lydia Tomkiw – Hot June Evening – Bureau B – 2021

Lydia Tomkiw - Hot June Evening

Poetry of a different kind, but still sorta dub. Chicago poet, Lydia Tomkiw, with cut of meditative, marimba`d, very classy cold wave ambience – culled from Toulouse Low Trax`s super cool, Bureau B, Kiosque Of Arrows 2 comp. 

Cocteau Twins – Three Swept – Fontana -1993

Cocteau Twins - Three Swept

The B-side to the 1993 single, Bluebeard – an outtake from the sessions for the LP, Four Calendar Cafe. Kinda rare, and a Phil Mison Cafe del Mar spin, this a characteristic Cocteaus breathless loved-up float. Their`s is an inspirational sound, often aped but never quite equalled. Like the Durutti Column record I mentioned last time (Fidelity), this is a little more electronic than their earlier stuff. 

Janko Nilovic – Drug Song – P Vine – 2021

Janko Nilovic - Drug Song

If you’re a vinyl fan / fiend then one of the (many) perks of living in Japan, is that Japanese labels, like P-Vine, are in the habit of regularly pressing hard-to-find classic soul and jazz cuts onto bespoke 45s. This is a fairly recent example – wicked wah-wah-ed flute-driven funk – lifted from the 1975 LP, Soul Impressions. Janko was born in Turkey, but is based in France. His Xenos Cosmos is also a scorcher. 

Large Plants – La Isla Bonita – Ghost Box – 2021

Large Plants - La Isla Bonita

A heavy rock romp, Black Sabbath-esque thrash, through Madonna’s 1987 pop smash, La Isla Bonita. In stark contrast with not only the OG`s Balearic-isms, but also the label, Ghost Box`s usual electronic, hauntological, output. It sounds like it could have been lifted from Dominic Thomas` dynamite Dreams Of San Antonio comp, and is the very opposite of The Cardigans covering Ozzy Osbourne`s Mr. Crowley.

Johnny Clarke – Warrior – Tuff Scout – 2022

Johnny Clarke - Warrior - Tuff Scout

A previously unreleased vocal cut of Aswad`s anthem, Warrior Charge, produced by Mad Professor. The OG is such a South London youth club classic / call to arms / soundtrack to SUS laws and resulting race riots that initially I wasn’t  sure about this new version. However, it`s really grown on me and is actually a cracking “cover”. Perhaps lacking a little of the anger and the dread but still deep and boasting a super nice dubbed-out second half, plus a cool trombone solo. 

Wendell Harrison & Phil Ranelin – What We Need – P Vine

Phil Ranelin - What We Need

P-Vine shine again by pressing Wendell Harrison & Phil Ranelin`s What We Need on a 45. Taken from their 1972 album, Message From The Tribe, it`s a chilled conscious, cooking, Civil Rights, groove. It`s both sad and absolutely mind-blowing that 50 years later the song`s sentiments are still relevant today. Also check Wendell’s Peace Of Mind, and Phil`s Vibes From The Tribe. 

Syl & Brenda Johnson – All I Need Is Someone Like You – Grapevine – 2003

Syl & Brenda Johnson - All I Need Is Someone Like You

Legendary Deep South singer, Syl Johnson, sadly passed away on February 6. His 1967 track, Different Strokes, is one of the most sampled breaks in hip hop, but this is proper “Balearic back room / acid house afters” soul. I’ve no idea when it was recorded, but it was released in 2003. 

Lars Bartkuhn – I Meditate Every Morning – Rush Hour – 2021

Lars Bartkuhn - I Meditate Every Morning

Lars Bartkuhn was part of house trio Needs – whose music from the turn of the millennium to mid-2000s, coincidently, is lined up to be reissued. Solo he recorded the marvelous Massai, for Utopia, in 2017. Teaming up with Jan Henning in 2020, he went ambient adventuring on The First Minute Of A New Day for Seance Centre. I Meditate Every Morning pops and percolates, mid-tempo`d and totally modern, but invoking the vibe of a mid-80s White Isle sunset / sunrise. Cosmic jazz-funk, like the offspring of, say, Herb Alpert`s Rise or Rotation. Buff with birdsong and with a pinch of La Ritournelle-esque piano.

For more musical musings, from Rob, Balearic Mike, Dennis Kane, Cal Gibson, and house music expert, The Insider, please visit Ban Ban Ton Ton.

The Chill Out Tent x Spiritland

We’ve found our home from home. A new fortnightly residency at the iconic Spiritland in London starts on Sunday 20th February. It’s a daytime session starting at lunchtime. Beyond excited to play on the world class sound system and to meet friends old and new. We’ll have DJ’s the Chill Out Tent regulars Chris Coco, Matt Nearest Faraway Place and surprise guests. Superb food & drink of course. See you there…

The Chill Out Tent Guest Mix – Luca Averna

Luca Averna is an Ibiza-based Italian DJ and producer. He is one half of Residentes Baleáricos. Every Saturday, when it’s not rainy or too hot, he goes down to San Jordi market to search for strange and exotic Balearic vinyl. Here, scratches and all, is an hour mix of some of his more esoteric purchases. One for the heads.

We asked Luca about his record collection and his strategy for finding great music in the second hand crates…

‘I have 10,000 records and thousands of  CDs and tapes. I worked for 10 years in a music shop, I went to record shops a lot, I have always bought music. I started when I was teenager to collect tapes from the most famous clubs in Italy and then vinyl and CDs. I collect everything that can excite me from house to jazz. I don’t have a defined favourite genre but only a taste to feed, sometimes only just for the cover. I love to buy cheap records at the market and I am addicted to that adrenaline that is produced when you find gems at a cheap price. In all these years of digging I have developed a certain sense of attraction for good records . Definitely key points for me are the lettering and the cover. I don’t spend a lot of money on a single record, I think that only 2 or 3 times I have spent 50 euro for a record.’

Luca at the market

Residentes Baleáricos have some new music out soon on Higher Love Recordings, a little teaser here…

A successful morning of digging in the crates

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