Chill Out

There are those records you wish you could have been in attendance for, to witness the creative process that went into the making of...included in that list would surely be this, the product of the partnership of Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, better known as KLF. It was reportedly after the record had been fully assembled that the members decided that the material seemed to evoke visions of travelling through the Southern states of America (all the more interesting considering they purportedly went into the sessions intent on creating a piece that reflected the feeling one gets after leaving an all-night rave in the UK); thus it is a fictional-musical travelogue that would ideally accompany that journey. “Chill Out” is a seamless piece of music that features snippets of Elvis Presley samples, train horns and railway crossings, Tuvan throat singers, Russian radio broadcasts, bleating sheep, tropical birds, fervent evangelical sermons, Van Halen riffs, and a pedal steel guitar that gives the album a decidedly relaxed, spacy feel. It’s easy to envision a big, white convertible languorously rolling across West Texas, with puffy clouds seemingly suspended in a flawless cobalt sky. I made that drive before I had ever heard this amazing creation; should I ever retrace my steps, I will be sure that this impeccably crafted record is riding shotgun.

I heard about this album on one of those best of lists. I wasn't able to find it streaming anywhere and had to listen to it on youtube. It blew my mind. Nothing like it out there. It is storytelling through music without lyrics or singing. Amazing. I got tired of listening to it on youtube and broke down and bought the CD. Best 25 dollars I have spent in a long time.

I'm not knowledgable about ambient music, yadda yadda yadda, but I loved "The White Room", so I bought this on a whim. If you are a fan of The KLF, you must buy this CD, but I would also say you have to be a fan of The KLF to truly appreciate this CD and understand why the compilation of sounds and KLF melodies comes together in a very cohesive, dreamy way. I agree with [someone] who said that this is great background music for working (I actually do some serious writing to it), and it would make a great CD for a long car trip. And the insane preacher stuff is just classic--[....] Good stuff!

How to listen to this album in 3 easy steps:1.) Go out clubbing.2.) Add "substances".3.) Leave club late, go home, bust a cocktail, lay down, and put on 'Chill Out' by The KLF.

A very awesome KLF classic, very ambient and very surreal and definately a "trippy journey" there is no doubt about it!!

Best condition & best price!!

Perfectly trippy.

The KLF's 1990 album Chill Out opens with the sound of chirping crickets and a babbling brook, and closes with a synthesizer fading into the ominous rumblings of an imminent thunderstorm. The 44 minutes of music in between covers a vast musical pastiche featuring nature sounds, pulsating electronic beats, and dozens of samples, ranging from throat singing to Elvis Presley. The fourteen tracks, with descriptive titles such as "Six Hours to Louisiana, Black Coffee Getting Cold" and "Alone Again With the Dawn Coming Up", evoke the feeling of a long overnight drive through the country. The tracks seamlessly flow together, and musical "images" are often repeated: a train passing by, a chorus of female voices, a deep-voiced man repeating "All the way down the East Coast." By the midpoint of the album, the sounds seem pleasantly familiar, but the ever-increasing prominence of the kick drum hits and electronic noises keeps things interesting. Especially during the album's second half, the group flirts with the dance-club sounds that were popular in the early 90s, but never fully embraces them. This is certainly an ambient album, but don't make the mistake of brushing it off as background music. The first few minutes set the tone for the overall theme of Chill Out. The wistful pedal steel guitar at the end of "Brownsville Turnaround on the Tex-Mex Border" and the ethereal synthesizer chords that echo throughout "Pulling Out of Ricardo and the Dust is Falling Fast" will reappear frequently. The train noises also continue, accompanied by synths that resemble train whistles. Transportation is a major theme of the album, both in the physical and musical sense. The music gradually unfolds itself, constantly building towards something. The first major change comes during "Six Hours to Louisiana" when the first "voices" are heard: a bleating sheep, an incomprehensible voice, and then the otherworldly tones of the throat singer. The seven-minute "Madrugada Eterna" alternates between dreamy steel guitar passages, bellowing electronic noises that pan from left to right, and effects-laden vocal samples. The song meanders along until it closes with a newscaster speaking about a car accident where a young man was killed. This despairing report then fades into the female chorus that opened the album, marking the end of the first section. The second half of the album is marked by a steady transition into more traditional song structures. The first drum sounds come a few minutes into "3 A.M Somewhere Out of Beaumont", appearing to build up and then drifting off into the textural ambience of the background. "Wichita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard" contains syncopated synthesizer chords and breezy arpeggios that will sound familiar to any fan of 1980s music. The way these sounds abruptly cut out into more spoken word samples somehow manages to be smooth and jarring at the same time. Samples of other songs become progressively more prevalent during the last few songs. "A Melody form a Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back" features both the tranquil clarinet from Acker Blik's "Stranger on the Shore" and the delirious guitar shredding of Van Halen's "Eruption". The album ends with the same synthesizer chords that were heard at the beginning, bringing the journey full-circle. Chill Out, in the end, is the perfect title for such an album. The technosonic tools employed are nothing groundbreaking - much of the patchwork aesthetics are influenced by musique concrete, which was pioneered in the 1940s by composers such as Pierre Schaeffer. The KLF, of course, has a few more decades of sounds to work with, and they do indeed select samples from all across the board. This variety gives Chill Out an unpredictability that elevates it above other ambient albums from the same time period.

Have loved this cd for years, never tire of its unique charm. Unlike many purchases from the 90s, which are now banished to the never to be played again cd rack in the back of my wardrobe,this has remained in that all too often short zone where you cant get enough of it and want to play it while dressing, cleaning, decorating, cooking, sitting in the garden with wine, etc. its backgroundy but interesting. the cow bells jangle, radio pips peep,news casters ramble, mad preachers from the bronx rave,trains clang, old floyd songs blend with elvis in the ghetto and earth wind &fire!And those throaty shepherds!tried to "win" this on ebay to no avail, til some seller mentioned Amazon and been hooked since. So glad to get a copy Coz my evil ex got my original and its deleted so not in shops or on i tunes.

Allegedly recorded in one "live" take in their studio, Trancentral, I reckon this is the best example of ambient house you can get hold of. A beautiful patchwork of sound and music that still sounds amazing some 22 years after it was first released. Cauty's other ambient house album, space (by space), is also worth getting hold of, but this is a corker, and in retrospect, is probably The KLFs finest hour.

Great to be able to buy this in the UK as the KLF discontinued this album way back. I think it's an export. Lovely chilling album which influenced the later ambient house of The Orb, Orbital and others.

FANTASTIC

If by the end of the first track you're wondering when the music is going to start, then you've missed the point entirely. If you find youself doing that, simply read the album title again: "Chill Out" - it's a direct order.This is The Orb on [insert your favourite chillout medicine here]. Listen to it at work, on your headphones, and you'll be as calm as a Hindu cow. Suddenly all of the office politics will melt away into the background.Lots of diverse samples from "The White Room", various BBC sound effects albums, Elvis Presley, "Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac and, startlingly, "Eruption" by Van Halen. Lots of nice synths too. No beats though - that would wake you up out of the beautiful place you'll get too.Headphones back on....