Windham Hill Chill, Vol. 2

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: This is part of "Windham Hill Chill" series. Photographer: Nancy Simmerman. Windham Hill does have a legitimate claim to the "original chill out label" slogan it adopted for the Windham Hill Chill sampler series. It had been issuing contemporary instrumental and electronic soundscape-type material since 1976, before such music was blanketed with the new age tag and predating the boom in chillout and downtempo compilations by at least 20 years. That said, there might be a disconnect between "relaxation" -- one of Windham's specialties -- and "chill," a problematic catchall generally referring to the soft hip-hop, electro-acoustic, and dreamy synth textures found on the raft of ultramodern comps clogging a dusty endcap at your local record store. There's crossover in the ambient and acoustic sounds found on Windham Hill Chill. But its content is more literate, emphasizing songcraft, layering, and palpable emotion over chillout's tendencies toward repetitive samples and scratchy drum programming. Disc one mixes the ambient portion of the set. It takes a broad view of the term, blending the breathy ethnic soundscapes of Bernardo Rubaja and C�sar Hern�ndez's "Puerta del Sol" (from 1987) into Yanni's contemplative, romantic piano piece "In the Mirror" (In My Time, 1993), before arriving in the here and now with the moody beats and sway of violinist Lili Haydn's Bill Laswell-produced "Longing." Elsewhere there's Tangerine Dream's "Twin Soul Tribe" and "Another Country" from Shadowfax -- material edging closer to progressive electronica or even contemporary jazz (in the latter case) than what's come to be considered ambient. This interpretational stretch continues with disc two of Windham Hill Chill, subtitled "acoustic." In the chillout context, acoustic often means electro-acoustic -- not so here. From the virtuosic solo guitar work of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke, to George Winston's plaintive piano chording (the fabulous "Early Morning Range"), this isn't simply music to come down to -- it's stuff that's handmade for introspection. Other highlights include harpist Lisa Lynne's "Welcome," and famous TV composer W.G. Snuffy Walden's "Love Unspoken," with its slightly rustic acoustic guitar figures and tasteful string section swells. Windham Hill Chill, Vol. 2 can certainly be applied as a chillout salve, even if it does stretch out the commonly held notions of what these compilations bring. In the end, it's just relaxing -- soothing -- and isn't that the ultimate goal of this sort of thing, whatever the applied style or label? ~ Johnny Loftus WINDHAM HILL CHILL 2 is a beautifully packaged, two-disc set that collects music from Windham Hill artists into a DJ-sequenced, continuous mix. While the first disc is entitled Ambient and the second is entitled Acoustic, each exemplifies its respective genre through the musical kaleidoscope of Windham Hill artists. Often called "the original ambient label," Windham Hill favors strong performances and mature songwriting over scratchy beats and drumloops. Case in point, the Ambient disc features such artists as Tangerine Dream, who contribute the classic "Twin Soul Tribe," and Yanni, whose "In the Mirror" adds a soulful piano interlude to the mix. In contrast, Lili Haydn's "The Longing" is a slinky synth-heavy track that adds a cutting edge to the collection. Disc two, Acoustic, features heavyweights like Michael Hedges, George Winston, and Leo Kottke. Unexpected gems are provided by the Irish group Nightnoise, who offer a bit of Celtic atmosphere with their pastoral "Windell," and harpist Lisa Lynne who performs the delicate and charming "Welcome."

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