Patchuli Sexy Lounge

Patchuli! The Smell of Hippies! Sexy!!! The Smell of Sex. Lounge! The smell of your living room! Which, if you’re a hippy, probably smells of Patchuli, but probably doesn’t smell of sex. The album’s tied in with the Patchuli Bar & Lounge in Israel, and as you may expect from anything compiled by F-Rat, it showcases a more mature and diverse array of chill that yer average Shanti-on-toast release.

Digital Samsara’s 7am flows nicely, picks up live instrumentation and world music vibes, and by the time it’s peaking you’re aware that this isn’t just an average chill release. Ultimax’s Amanita Muscaria is a more standard stab at chill but very well-executed, likewise Mike A’s Sued Avathim, a bubnlingly psychedelic bit of music that harps back to the sort of stuff on Infinite Excursions. Zion’s Arise is abstracted space-chill which threatens to lose its grip on itself, but retains it just in time. Dao’s Isqh is a bacon double shanty burger with nag champa fries on the side – wailing, sanctimonious stuff that sounds like it’s trying to educate you: and as such has been done before. A much better stab at the same thing comes courtesy of Ma Faiza and Veet Sandeh with What?, a floaty-weightless piece of laid-back electronic hippy jazz with a genuinely transporting, relaxing vibe.

Capsula can do little wrong at the moment after the superlative album late last year, and Dendrimers & Dreamers is no exception. Sleek, sophisticated, funky and unfurling it’s one of those high points of chill that puts a spike in the flow of your standard-fayre downtempo set. Bloody good. Plan B’s Mr Wave is messy, and Visual Paradox’s Gayo 2005 Remake is a tad directionless. Ultravoice does well with the mid-tempo Children Of Earth (Ambient Version), the wiggle and phase works well at this speed though there seems to be a little too much emphasis on the production’s treble.

Finally, Vibe Tribe’s Adish is a big, cinematic closer with some decent sounds flowing through it and tickling everything in their path. An interesting album, though with less character than the great Mellowgrounds which, for my money at least, is still the best of the new-breed of downtempo compilations.