Various Artists - A Quite Riot

Toward the end of the 90s we saw a return to the yuppie values of the 80s. It was an image of hell with cell phones and gym membership aplenty and a backdrop of hard-house and dark beats. The new millennium in time should see a more relaxed chilled out generation with people preferring just to sit back, relax and fade out. Musically of course we've seen this developing over the past year with the Nu-acoustic movement and various "Chill Out in Ibiza" compilation albums but for the first time we have an album that can sum up this Quiet Riot.

Covering a whole spectrum of acoustic chill out music the first CD takes us from Badly Drawn Boy to Nick Drake in 17 easy steps. With some obvious choices like I Am Kloot, Alfie and Turin Brakes saddled next to more obscure choices such as the Reindeer Section and The Zephyrs its both a collection for the casual purchaser and avid fan alike. The only really worry is that the compilers have considered that Embrace's "My Weakness Is None Of Your Business" - a string drenched ballad if ever I heard one - would sit side by side subtle little acoustic flourishes.

The second CD is a touch more leftfield and expands the whole compilation to electronic ambient bliss. While names like Moby and the Beta Band will attract the sales its the unknowns that really stand out. Wheat's "Don't I Hold You" sounds uncannily like David Gray and if anything this compilation will not harm his sales while the likes of Baxter Dury and J-Walk seem to have come from nowhere and really do have a sublime beauty about them.

A Quiet Riot is one of the few compilations on the market that doesn't seem motivated purely by economic gain. I really can't recommend this album enough and while you may have the likes of Oasis' "Half The World Away" and Moby's "Porcelain" in your collection this CD can only open up your mind to some fantastic artists.

Alex McCann

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