This is a mixed compilation by Miss Elke K. and Henny V., an obscure DJ duo also going by the name of Dutch Ambient Federation; out through Guardian Angel, a trancey sub of Basic Beat.
With a cover pointing to just another mediocre compilation of easy listening 'balearic' music and an equally unexplainable title, the CD contains two mixes, one from each of the DJs.
The first mix by Elke K. partly borrows from the british tradition of chill-out DJing, yet without resorting to sloppy fem-vox stuff or anything like that, keeping the tones down and (like most successful female DJs) aiming for the heart with sentimental tunes and rich melodies. With tracks from the likes of Dr.Atmo & P. Namlock, Dub Tractor (*), Neotropic and A Reminiscent Drive, it's great for coming down, which probably was the purpose after all.
The second part on the other hand is a rather darkish, more abstract and experimental excursion, including some obscure tracks and highlights from Chain Reaction's one-off Ridis, Experimental Audio Research vs. Thomas Köner, Wolfram Spyra, etc. I could have actually named this post "What were they thinking?" judging from that 2nd part; if this is Utopia, what would Dystopia sound like I wouldn't know. Besides the more unconventional tracklist, this one doesn't flow that well as a mix but most of you will probably like it anyway.
VA - 1997 Utopia. The Big Chill
mixed by Elke K. & Henny V.
Info here.
Utopia. The Big Chill
Delay
Deep and dubby electronics with pop references (occasionally bordering on the mainstream lounge sound) from Anders Remmer, more famous from his later City Centre Offices releases. Out in danish Flex's FX sublabel, this is his last pre-CCO album.
Dub Tractor - 2000 Delay
Info here.
Sometimes it drives me crazy how expensive some records can be - records I consider to be OK to listen to, yet not crucial enough to be characterized as 'classic releases'. This is actually one of them. I never blame the artists, don't get me wrong - always blame the sellers.
Ambient Ibiza
From Kenneth Bager's danish Flex, this is a compilation of downtempo tracks I'm posting mostly for the contributions by Lucky People Center (*), Dub Tractor (*) and the divine 'Journey' by The Gentle People (I think I have their debut somewhere...).
A couple of other known names in here as well, although many of the tracks barely escape mediocrity. And another unfortunate cover/title combination, by the way.
VA - 1996 Ambient Ibiza
Info here.
