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.