Various Artists - Ambient Dub Vol. 1 - The Big Chill (1993)

"The Big Chill" is the first in a four part series and should not to be confused with Divination's "Ambient Dub, Volume 1." The term dub is used loosely since this recording does not play dub in the conventional sense. 'Disorientation' is the only track that could even be described as ambient dub. If you're expecting sounds like Augustus Pablo or the Upsetters, you'll be disappointed. The ambient part of the series title is on target. All four discs feature ambient music under the house/techno/trance banner. Brian Eno wrote, "Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." If this is true, "The Big Chill" succeeds and the inclusion of so much non-dub is easily forgivable. For example, 'Desert Wind' has a middle-eastern sound; 'Ketamine Entity' is straight electronica and 'Soufie' has a generically spiritual feel. Heavy on vocalizations, this may be the most eclectic disc in the series. While the folks at "Ambience for the Masses" consider this a classic of the genre, the selection is uneven. Mostly playing winners, "The Big Chill" has a few weaker selections.

(Review by The Delite Rancher, Amazon.com)


Tracklist:

01. Original Rockers - Sexy Selector
02. 21st Century Aura - Disorientation
03. Banco De Gaia feat. Ofra Haza - Desert Wind
04. Mimoid - Strawberry
05. G.O.L. - Angelica In Delirium
06. Banco De Gaia - Soufie
07. Mimoid - Tree Of The Sun, Tree Of The Moon
08. Alphanex - Planet Hoskins
09. Higher Intelligence Agency - Ketamine Entity
10. 21st Century Aura - Something Started

Click above track 3, 5, 6, 9 for album sampler.