Various Artists: Definitive 1 - Chilled Various Artists: Definitive 1 - Chilled (42 Records - 2001) So many genres + so little time = so much confusion... ambient trance, vocal trip hop, dub, progressive electronica, chillout fusion and more! Who can keep it all straight?! Well, the folks at 42 Records are doing their part by releasing a series of sampler platters, each dedicated to a chosen style and its closer kin. While one could easily niggle over some of the categorizations, Definitive 1 - Chilled definitely delivers plenty of smoothly beat-driven (and often wordy) variety of popular electronics. Warpedly spacey cues bend and shift into the opening track, "Call Me An Angel" by Torakka; the sweltering streams are soon infiltrated by churning tribal percussion which is then further envigorated by pumping club rhythms. Lush Madonna-like vocal strands entwine and drift through the synth-and-syncopation floes of "Lifespace" by Artefact. Dub Creator weaves surrealistically echoey twists into the bass-powered tapestry of "No Tears (2000 Dub)". Arsov breathily croons amid the moody swirls and persistent e-beats of "Goodbye"; dreampop angst in an old-school (Depeche?) mode... nicely done though. While Moon's sweet, upbeat "Living and Learning" is labelled as "Down Tempo", I'd personally call it "harmonious femme (em)powered folkie-trip-hop with surf-guitar overtones". (As a newly single guy I appreciate the track's positive message...) Blind Divine infuses "Sanctified" (3:00) with piano, bass, drum and voice from a darker region. Falling You's pretty/scruffy "The Light Between Us" (7:42) drapes ethereal female vocalizations atop spattering rhythms, dreamy synth whorls and occasional roughened edges. Kenya Dubois provides the "ambient" content in the form of "Blink"'s tableau of weird ripples, wavering bells and bass blurts. Amongst the too-many-to-be-mentioned (well, 14) artists are Kikiwest, Arachnabara, Order in Chaos, Malnoia, Bliss, and Pulsar Bleu. A little overly vocal for my tastes, but applause to Definitive 1 - Chilled for at least trying the impossible classification task. Despite the attempt to reign the styles in, they still spread fairly widely. As you'd expect, some tracks hit where others miss, but with almost 72 minutes to choose from in this 8.2 comp, something will surely catch your ear (unless you're staunchly opposed to beats/lyrics). Learn more about the Definitive series at 42 Records. This review posted December 5, 2001 AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).