ChillOut Map Selections: November 2017

Only the best tracks from ChillOut Map

Alfa Mist - Antiphon

It seems there's a small but exciting scene in London of contemporary jazz, or sophisticated pop inluenced by jazz and mixed with elements of hip hop and chillout. Alfa Mist is superb jazz, he's a friend of Jordan Rakei and the two often play together. He brings to contemporary life the spirit of Miles Davis, smooth, emotional and adventurous at the same time.

Jordan Rakei - Wallflower

Birghtest talent in ages, sounds a bit like Jeff Buckley fronting Steely Dan. Emotional and sophisticated jazzy pop, the whole album is utterly inspired.

Jordan Rakei on Facebook

ChillOut Map Selections: August 2017

Only the best tracks from ChillOut Map

Chill Out Map Selection - March 2017

Only the best tracks from ChillOut Map

Miles Davis - Blue in Green

Lost in Miles. Can't hear anything else right now... Immense genius!

Spymob - Memphis

This should sound so wrong.
The first decade of this century didn't give us many talented bands. I will always remember Spymob as one of the best. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, so check my review of their sophisticated pop masterpiece, Sitting Around Keeping Scores, written 11 years ago. Check the magnificence of Fly Fly Fishing Poles!
I wondered where did they go since then. Well, they went country. And then split, and John Ostby, one of the most talented songwriters ever, became a family therapist. Yes, straightforward country. Now, imagine Steely Dan doing a country album, how bad is that thought alone? Unless they sound like The Beatles and The Beach Boys going to Nashville.
Because no matter how they tried to sound straightforward on Memphis, the sounds are still perfectly crafted and their immense songwriting talent shines on quality tunes like Sometimes It Doesn't Feel Right. Sometimes you hear Paul McCartney, sometimes you hear Brian Wilson, sometimes you even still hear Donald Fagen, you almost never hear the bread and butter predictable melodies you should expect from a country album. There's actually an "alternative country" branch where artists like The Handsome Family successfully apply inventive and emotional melodies to the country standard, but it's not the case of Memphis. It's not alternative, it's still mainstream country, but QUALITY country. Though it sounds immediate it avoids being simplistic and it's more like a timeless classic, emotionally reaching a balance between melancholy and serenity. 

Spymob should have ruled the charts with sophisticated pop. Or they should have conquered Nashville with quality country. They just shouldn't have split, we can only miss them.

In typical forgotten cult fashion, the album doesn't seem to be available for purchase or streaming anywhere, except on their SoundCloud profile, so here it is:

Ganga - Reptile Routine

Haven't heard this in time to include it in The Best Of 2016, it had been released just in its very last week. A very varied and beautiful album from Café del Mar favourites Ganga, spacing from emotional electro pop to their trademark downtempo chillout, featuring David McAlmont amongst the guest singers.

Sanremo 2017

Questa è una sorta di compilation dei tweet postati con l'hashtag #sanremo2017

IL MEGLIO:
Michele Zarrillo raffinato ed emozionante, non delude mai, porta sempre musica di qualità. Mani Nelle Mani è la canzone più bella.
Bravo Samuel, attendo con interesse il suo album! Vedrai è una canzone all'altezza delle più belle dei Subsonica.
Brava Paola Turci rock! Fatti Bella Per Te ha l'impatto e l'approccio fresco come Fatti Avanti Amore di Nek un paio d'anni fa..
Michele Bravi ha sempre quel tono di voce da minorenne, ma Il Diario Degli Errori è una bella canzone e la interpreta pure bene..


Tra le Nuove Proposte, Braschi in Nel Mare Ci Sono I Coccodrilli ha un giro di chitarra e basso stupendo che ricorda gli Smiths!
Bravo Maldestro, Canzone Per Francesca è un brano di spessore. Ritornello struggente e cantautore da tenere d'occhio, un vero talento.

Da notare, tra gli ospiti, la splendida performance di Tiziano Ferro e Carmen Consoli: Il Conforto è un capolavoro, le due voci sembrano fatte per cantare insieme.

OK: Ron era l'unico che meritava il ripescaggio, melodia bella e molto meno banale di quella di tanti giovani. Raige può insegnare due o tre cose a Clementino. Niente male. Vado controcorrente: Alessio Bernabei non è malaccio, un motivetto accattivante e contemporaneo. COSI' COSI': Al Bano è da un po' che porta belle melodie pucciniane.. Peccato che le porta proprio lui! La musica di Francesco Gabbani spacca, ma deve stare attento a non stancare con le filastrocche nonsense. Elodie bellissima voce ma la canzone ha 50 anni. Ermal Meta cinico, punta alla mediocrità vincente per la melodia, anche se il testo è interessante e gli vale il premio della critica.. La musica della canzone di Marco Masini è bellina, ma la sua voce gutturale rovina tutto. Chiara impeccabile a cantare una canzone irrilevante. Sergio Sylvestre (bella voce) riprovaci col soul vero perché sta ballatona è trooooppo pallosa! Notevole invece la cover di Vorrei La Pelle Nera con i Soul System. Sinceramente non capisco il successo della cover di Meta di Amara Terra Mia con la voce da soprano.. Tra le Nuove Proposte, Marianne Mirage porta una bella canzone di Bianconi ma l'interpretazione non convince e neppure la voce doppiata in falsetto. Lele (vincitore) niente di speciale ma si può riascoltare. Canzone con elementi RnB interpretata decentemente.

IL PEGGIO:
Fabrizio Moro punta sulla ballatona a la Vasco che passerà pure in radio ma è tanto banalotta..
Giusy Ferreri, che l'ultima volta aveva portato una bella canzone, stavolta delude, anche come interpretazione.
Clementino mi sei simpatico, ma sembri Checco Zalone che imita un rapper..
Gigi D'Alessio punta su un collage delle ballate del suo repertorio. La prevedibilità fatta musica.
Ludovica Comello scopre la differenza fra cantare con Violetta in autotune e il vero live a Sanremo. Canzone irrilevante, inoltre.
Ritratto il mio giudizio iniziale favorevole su Fiorella Mannoia: testo ipocrita e melodia banale!
Bianca Atzei porta una di quelle canzoni pompose del leader dei Modà.. Chissà se almeno l'anno prossimo ce la risparmiamo..
Ma siccome quest'anno la Paba ha cantato (la canzone peggiore) con Nesli l'anno prossimo ce la becchiamo nei big? No eh?
Tra le Nuove Proposte, Francesco Guasti è un hipster con la voce di Curreri ma non il suo talento. Avanti il prossimo.
Leonardo Lamacchia piuttosto mediocre.
Valeria Farinacci canta con voce tremolante una canzoncina dal testo vagamente surreale. Non convince.
Tommaso Pini si veste come Capossela e canta come Vladimir Luxuria.. Anzi peggio..

The Best Of 2016

01 NEW ORDER - Complete Music

02 SORGE - La Guerra di Domani

03 GABRIELLES WISH - Debunking The Myth Of Being A Slave

04 Marlene Kuntz - Lunga Attesa

05 Pixies - Head Carrier

06 Robert Paul Corless - Volumes

07 Diaframma - Siberia Reloaded 2016

08 Spartiti - Austerità

09 Incognito - In Search Of Better Days

10 Afterhours - Folfiri o Folfox

11 Egle Sommacal - L'Atlante della Polvere
12 G4shi - Stairs
13 Wu Ming Contingent - Schegge di Schrapnel
14 Fourplay - Silver
15 Drake - Views
16 J Balvin - Energia
17 The Rippingtons - True Stories
18 Cerrone - Red Lips
19 Rihanna - ANTI
20 Robert Glasper and Miles Davis - Everything's Beautiful

21 Luke Howard - Two Places 22 Immaginisti - Immaginisti 23 Gregory Porter - Take Me To The Alley (deluxe) 24 David Bowie - Blackstar 25 Zo! - SkyBreak 26 Sia - This Is Acting 27 Pooh - The Collection 5.0 28 Phonte and Eric Roberson - Tigallerro 29 DJ Snake - Encore 30 Future - EVOL 31 Lemongrass - Beauty 32 Crispy Ambulance - Random Textures 33 Morgan e Bluvertigo - I Grandi Successi 34 Elio E Le Storie Tese - Figgatta de Blanc 35 Pet Shop Boys - Super 36 Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble - Under The Tree 37 Drama B - Vybez 38 Laura Mvula - The Dreaming Room 39 Starless - Starless 40 dvsn - SEPT 5TH

41 Kaytranada - 99.9%
42 Hecq - Night Falls
43 Badbadnotgood - IV
44 Ambarchi Pupillo Pilia - Aithein
45 Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti - Inumani
46 Gidge - Lulin
47 All India Radio - The Slow Light
48 Carbon Based Lifeforms - ALT:01
49 Furns - Only Through Your Eyes
50 FM-84 - Atlas

In 2016 there has been a lot of great music, the only thing missing was time to hear it all, even this post comes much later than the usual Christmas.
New Order did again the album of the year. It's true the songs are from the previous year's Music Complete, but they're all extended versions, not only extended mixes, but with additional elements. They've always been a band giving their best at the 12" length, and this album makes no excepetion, all the songs are even better than the originals.
The Top 10 saw the return of indie. Pixies came back with a great album though not all at their best standards. Gabrielles Wish released a fantastic EP with a couple of really beautiful ballads. Their prolific leader Robert Paul Corless released more than a dozen albums of instrumentals!
Massimo Volume frontman Emidio Clementi debuted his new project Sorge mixing his poetry with electronica thanks to Marco Caldera. Their guitarist Egle Sommacal released a new wonderful solo acoustic album and collaborated with the Wu Ming Contingent which released a superb post punk album. The other guitarist Stefano Pilia did nice experimental records with Immaginisti (formerly known as Cagna Schiumante) and Ambarchi and Pupillo.
Marlene Kuntz came back rocking with an inspired record and Diaframma made a new version of their legendary album with excellent additional tracks featuring Gianni Maroccolo from Litfiba. The new album by Afterhours is amazingly beautiful and one of the debuts of the year is Spartiti, the new project of Max Collini from Offlaga Disco Pax with Jukka Reverberi from Giardini di Mirò.
The best non-indie album has been Incognito's contemporary funk masterpiece but there has been plenty of eclectic records in 2016 as well, a year which saw a huge step forward in hip hop and pop blended with it. G4shi is a bright new hope, Drake and Rihanna released two excellent duets on their great albums, it would be interesting to get a full album of their duets. Innovative and exciting records in the genre came from Zo!, Phonte and Eric Roberson, Future, Drama B, dvsn, Kaytranada.. some of this artists have various links with Drake.
Even mainstream pop had quality albums, like the new from Sia and, on the dance side, DJ Snake which confirmed Justin Bieber is not your enemy. This will be remembered as the year we lost Prince, George Michael and David Bowie who had just released a great album. Italian prog and AOR legends Pooh closed their 50 years long career with a compilation. Bluvertigo also released a compilation which should have anticipated a new album after the new great single premiered at the Sanremo festival, but the new album has been then put on hold after new problems emerged within the band. Pet Shop Boys and Elio E Le Storie Tese came back with two albums which are good but slightly disappointing for their standards.
Fourplay and The Rippingtons gave us two smooth jazz masterpieces. Gregory Porter did a sophisticated soul gem.  J Balvin certainly made the best reggaeton album of the year. Disco legend Cerrone came back with two afro funk releases which sound amazingly fresh. Proper afrobeat came from the Akoya Ensemble. Robert Glasper did a fantastic album with Miles Davis material.
A bit lower in the chart there's proper chillout like Lemongrass, but as this year I missed time to hear more music I've yet to hear the new releases from favourites of the genre like Afterlife and Cantoma.
There have been great albums in the darkest ambient genre by the likes of Luke Howard, Hecq, Gidge and Carbon Based Lifeforms.
This year will bring a new Slowdive album, and this alone is enough a great reason to have great expectations!