Welcome to the third chapter of this exquisite compilation series that was launched wayback in 1995. The longevity may be the most obvious proof for its success - and quality! Not for nothing in the past years Future Sounds Of Jazz has been voted repeatedly one of the best compilation series of all times in English and German music magazines like Mixmag, Jockey Slot and Groove. While trends in downtempo music have altered and evolved since the inaugural installment of the Future Sounds of Jazz series, one thing has remained consistent: the series has provided quality compilations featuring some of electronic music's most respected downtempo producers alongside up-and-coming talent.

"Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey" is the latest album by the Eivind Aarset 4tet, to be released September 2021 at Punkt Festival, Kristiansand. Featuring Eivind Aarset, Wetle Holte, Erland Dahlen and Audun Erlien, the album is no departure in terms of the compositional quality contained therein, as it remains gold standard. But sonically and texturally? This album features more traditional guitar sounds and techniques than can be found on almost all of his previous albums taken together, while still incorporating his signature tonal manipulations that render the guitar sound into almost unrecognizable forms. The album traverses the full gamut of the instrument's tonal possibilities, from Joe Pass tones to ambient textural soundbeds, from blistering shredding to controlled noise and signal. The line-up is augmented by Jan Bang and John Derek Bishop on several tracks, and Arve Henriksen on one.

A handy compilation of Jimpster's various and hard-to-find twelves for the Freerange label, indeed ranging free, from mutant jazz jungle to swirly downtempo breaks. Some of the tracks veer dangerously close to quiet storm territory, but the arrangements are uniformly accomplished and the production top-notch. A number of the tracks feature bass and flute accompaniment by Cheyne Towers and Roger Wickham.

Kosma is a product of the strong German electronic scene. This album contains some inspired, expressive, and beautiful electronica, with many cuts reminiscent of Miles Davis' seminal In a Silent Way. "Aeroboot" is a strong album lead off with its distinct Euro-space jazz feel, while "Die Sylphen" and "Arena" elucidate Kosma's capability to write sophisticated and emotional electronic music. Although a majority of the tracks are filled with promise, many of their slo-mo grooves lapse into freeze frame. Overall, this album is an amalgam of musical motifs in search of a room or film to complement them.

Jimi Tenor's American debut benefits from better overall production than his previous album, but remains - for better and for worse - just as wildly varied from track to track. His basic fixations with electro, disco, and funk inform nearly every track, from the chorus-driven Parliament updates "Total Devastation" and "Year of Apocalypse" to the sinister "Planet Rock"-style synth on "Serious Love." Tenor even steps into seriously schmaltzy quiet-storm territory on "Sleep" and "City Sleeps." (Though the prospect of a heavily accented Finnish producer doing his Barry White impersonation is difficult to take with a straight face, it was probably intended as such.) As well-produced and musically intriguing as it is, Organism suffers from Tenor's instinct to take on a different genre with each track, making for a few enjoyable period pieces on an album that means less and less with each listen.

Tenor's lead-up singles to his full-length Warp debut - "Outta Space" and "Can't Stay With You Baby," as well as the track "Downtown," included on the Warp mixed session Blechsdottir - only hinted at where he'd head with this album. An almost uncharacteristically schmaltz-less collection of minimal electronic jazz, Intervision blends fat organ leads with horns, raw and treated vocals, and rhythmic and percussive figures drawn from '60s and '70s soul, funk, fusion, and psychedelia, as well as contemporary house, downbeat, and techno. Oddly (or not), the album was recorded using only ancient Russian analog gear, in a former Communist dancehall.

The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music. By employing the sounds of classic percussion and jazz instruments such as the trumpet and sax, De Phazz successfully create smooth electro-groove music with an unmissable swinging jazz theme. De Phazz is a unique sound that you must check out.

2002 compilation for German electronica act best-known for their hit 2001 album, 'Death By Chocolate'. Featuring 15 rare, extended, remixed & non-LP tracks. The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music.

The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music.

The fourth volume in the Future Sound of Jazz series is an experimental fusion of Jazz and Trip-Hop that perfect for a late night chillout session and creates a fantastic atmosphere.

Cool - calm - collected: chapter 15 of this superlative series, compiled by Compost’s head honcho Michael Reinboth. 21 tracks, 8 exclusive, previously unreleased tracks.
The exclusives by Aera (guess you all know his brilliant Innervisions release), Arnau Obiols & KAYYAK (recently featured by Gilles Peterson in his “watch out for 2021” top five list), Ron Deacon (officially belongs to the Workshop-Crew together with other artists like Move D, Even Tuell and Kassem Mosse), Class Compliance my gosh - what a killer tune, Mille & Hirsch (operators of the fine Polish Records), All Is Well (Fred Everything), Ben Sturm (watch out talent of Leipzig’s viral underground scene) and Oliver Kieser (best known as Kieser & Velten with their releases on G-Stone)…

The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music. By employing the sounds of classic percussion and jazz instruments such as the trumpet and sax, De Phazz successfully create smooth electro-groove music with an unmissable swinging jazz theme. De Phazz is a unique sound that you must check out. This Limited Edition including bonus CD featuring eight additional songs and alternative versions.

Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton and Rob Garza have always treated the line between acoustic and electronic music as a drunken sailor might, unpredictably falling on one side or the other with equal frequency. By this measure, The Richest Man in Babylon is their soberest effort to date, striding confidently into jazz, soul, world beat, and other styles with a direct, reverential approach. The band's last record, Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi, featured a set of classic jazz tunes unadorned with remixes or reinterpretation. But the songs on Babylon are originals, incorporating not just jazz but Afro-beat, Brazilian dance, Persian and Indian music, reggae, and psychedelia, all while making expert use of new and old collaborators like Sleepy Wonder, Lou Lou, and Shinehead. Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini makes an instant impression on the first track, "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes," her voice freeing the song's melody and structure with just a few hypnotic bars. It's hard to call this an electronic record at all; even their dub-influenced tracks miss a certain studio sheen, as if Hilton and Garza simply waded into a sweltering Jamaican beach party and hit record. But while it misses the ambient, ethereal edge that made The Mirror Conspiracy a downtempo classic, Babylon satisfies with organic energy and tasteful eclecticism.

This and the very first time it’s not compiled by Michael Reinboth, rather by Benjamin Fröhlich and Tom Bioly, the founders and masterminds behind Permanent Vacation. Why? Simply because they both are very close friends of the Compost famlee, with an amazing musical and DJ-like tastefulness, with the knowledge-based trust of music in the vein of vibrant, jazzy electronica hybrids. And they are from Compost Records’ hometown Munich, too. Maybe Volume 14 differs slightly to what the previous 13 brought up music-wise, but that’s the score, idea and open mindedness of this series, as it was by the compilers, and last but not least a great time for a change, too.

The fifth volume in the Future Sound of Jazz series is a double-disc set including a range of techno, jazzy and experimental tracks from Nonplace Urban Field, Bjorn Torske, Chaser, Max Brennan, Fauna Flash and Force & Paul, among others.