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VARIOUS ARTISTS
Nirvana Lounge Volume 2 (Chall'O Music/Wagram)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Nirvana Lounge is an excellent compilation produced by French DJ Claude Challe, the same person who made much of the Buddha Bar series such a delight.
Lounge music is an overused term these days and I find it a little misleading for this CD because it implies kitsch. I like "Chill Out" better but I'd rather call the sort of music that you find on Nirvana Lounge "Deep Cool."
Especially on the first disc, called "Promenade Nirvanesque," Challe makes sure the music flows like water. Everything he's chosen has a touch of Eastern downbeat mystery, all very soothing and appealing, yet it's all very worldly and modern. Standout tracks include the first Karunesh's "Returning to Now" and the sitar driven "Secret Place" by Prem Joshua, the dreamy "Kissing" by Bliss and Govinda's exotic "Two Become One" which features a touch of didgeridoo in a sea of Indian motifs. But they are all great and the flow is so smooth that they really work together as a long suite that's delightful.
The second disc, "Ethnic Lounge," serves more upbeat rhythms that are still exotic and pleasing but it's not designed to be as soothing as the first set. I like the L. Shankar-like violin and tribal appeal of "Latin Masala" by Blue Planet. Vision's track "Ponger" even has a spy-movie kind of drive to it. The final track is a wild card, a French version of "Hit The Road Jack" by Mo'horizons that's quite unlike any other track on either CD. I suspect it's a house favorite that closes Claude's shows.
Challe's talent is to serve up all these tracks with each CD as a single, seamless gourmet dish. He's a hell of a cook, dig in!
Track Lists:
Disc 1 (Promenade Nirvanesque): Karunesh - Returning To Now, Prem Joshus - Secret Place, Nash Didan - A Window Of Dreams, Bliss - Kissing, Samco - El 68, Northern Comfort - The Servant, Riccardo Eberspacher, Unforgettable, Ganga - Hi Fi Love, Karmix - Khalouni, Govinda - Two Become One, Out Of Phase - Arabella; Acid Queen - Sema, Praful - Sonhar
Disc 2 (Ethnic Lounge): Alladin - We Enter, Radar - Running Away, Blue Planet - Latin Masala, Genetic Drugs & Jasmon - Lost Frequencies, The Rootsman - Destiny, Vision - Ponger Star, Trumpet Thing - La Sonadora, Faithless - We Come One, A Guy Called Gerald - Humanity, Out Of Phase - Deceptively Similar, Amr Diab - Wala Ala Baloh, Ensemble Ethnique - Batu, Mo'Horizons - Hit The Road Jack
© 2002 - Rusty Pipes