ØYSTEIN SEVÅG - Keyboards, Producer
LAKKI PATEY - Guitar, Producer
ROBIN TAYLOR-FIRTH - Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Production Consultant
NEW FUNKY GENERATION - Performer
PROFESSOR STRETCH - Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Mixing
JULES EVANS - Keyboards, Programming, Engineer, Mixing, Mixing Engineer
NORBERTO RODRIGUEZ - Reggae, Solo Instrumental, Guitar
BENT - Performer
CATHY BATTISTESSA - Vocals, Producer
PETE YEADON - Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Producer
NATHAN BRAY - Trumpet
JOY ROSE - Arranger, Vocals, Producer
FROS'T - Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
DJ BRUNO - Compilation
MOBY - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
NICK MUIR - Producer
JOHN DIGWEED - Producer
UKO - Producer
STEVE MILLER - Producer
UNDERWOLVES - Arranger, Producer
NED KELLY - Arranger, Producer
LENNART KRARUP - Producer, Engineer, Pre-Production
JON GRAY - Engineer
BRUCE WOOD - Engineer
DAMIEN ASKER-BROWNE - Engineer, Mixing, Mixing Engineer
E.A.S.E. - Mixing
TIM - Mixing Assistant, Assistant
JOSH - Retouching
RICK GUEST - Photography
Seventh volume of the popular dance series. 13 tracks including
'Northern Lights'-Lux, 'Breather 2000' (Arithunda Mix)-Afterlife,
'Whispering Wind'-Moby, 'Easy Rider'-Deep & Wide, 'Sunbeams'-UKO,
'Winter Pagent'-Aromabar, 'Beautiful Strange'-Bedrock and
'Swollen'-Bent. 2000 release. Standard jewel case.
The Cafe del Mar series of compilations is inspired by a cafe of the
same name in Ibiza, centered around sunset watching, and also, like
much of Ibiza, club music. The ambient music on these anthologies is
designed to complement sunset watching, and the collections have
thereby become renowned as repositories of "chill out" music; it's even
been reported that Madonna counts these among her favorite records.
Bush (represented by a N.O.W. remix of "Letting the Cables Sleep") and
Moby (with "Whispering Wind") are the only names likely to be
recognized by most listeners of this volume, which was assembled by
Bruno, a DJ at Cafe Del Mar itself. It's jet-set music with class or,
to be harsher, music for members of the leisure class who can afford to
while away their hours at such expensive resorts, but want their sultry
electronica-cum-Muzak with a tinge of hip artiness. It's only a tinge;
it's relaxing but slick ambient music (some vocal, some instrumental),
the arrangements' electronics and synths sometimes colored by
Mediterranean or South American-sounding guitars and melodies. It's
easy to picture this as the soundtrack to holiday romance films in
which young, rich, and beautiful couples, such as the one pictured on
the sleeve, begin affairs on a spectacularly lit beach at dusk. The
rest of us just have to put this on in the kitchen while we heat our
soup and sulk with envy.
An oasis of calm amidst the turbo-fueled clubbing tornado that is
Ibiza, Café Del Mar is the White Isle's original home of red-eye
chill-out vibes and weepy sunset soundtracks. The series of
compilations bearing the bar's name, meanwhile, have long patented that
authentic sound of Balearic bliss (even claiming Madonna as a huge
fan), and this seventh volume maintains the high standards. Founding DJ
Jose Padilla may have long moved on, but his successor, DJ Bruno, is
clearly well aware of the old adage about not fixing what ain't broke.
There's the usual mix of names well known (Moby, Bedrock, Nightmares On
Wax) and head-scratchingly obscure (Uko, Lux, Aromabar), but the sound
of beautiful music for loved-up and lazy beach bums stays the same.
Frankly, this sounds as good at home as it does on the early-morning
terraces of San Antonio.
Calvin Bush, Amazon.com
Ist die "alte" Magie noch da? Mittlerweile hat sich Bruno Lepetre als
Nachfolger von José Padilla am Café-Pult bestens
eingearbeitet. Café Del Mar Vol 7 bietet kaum mehr
Überraschungen als Vol 5 oder Vol 6, nur noch ein wenig mehr
Vocals. Diese Nachricht dürfte die meisten Hörer freuen, denn
mit exzellenten Exklusiv-Tracks von Moby, Bedrock (John Digweed) und
Deep & Wide (mit Bruno Lepetre himself!) wird ein solides
Ambient-Fundament gelegt, auf dem der ansonsten bunte Stilmix sanft
aufsetzen kann. Die Trackauswahl ist gewohnt eklektisch und reicht von
latin-jazzy Tunes (A New Funky Generation) über
süßlich-melancholische Trip-Popsongs (Bent, Bush, Slow
Pulse) bis zur luftig-leichten Akustikgitarren-Keyboard-Mélange
von Oystein Sevag und Lakki Patey, die eindeutig der Kategorie New Age
zuzuordnen sind. Aber Genregrenzen sind so ziemlich das Letzte, was auf
der Sonnenterrasse des Café Del Mar irgendeine Relevanz besitzt;
auch künstlerischer Anspruch ist kein wirkliches Kriterium. Es
zählen nur die diffusen magischen Vibes, die musikalische "Aura".
Um die eingangs gestellte rhetorische Frage zu beantworten: Ja, sie ist
noch da, schöner denn je, wenn auch vielleicht die Oberfläche
ein wenig zu glatt geriet.