Search - Various Artists :: Hed Kandi: Winter Chill 3

Step into the cold

FlangeMechanism | 02/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's the deal: you have every CD released in the last couple of years in your possession. You have a CD burner too and you want to create mix CDs packed full of the cream of your collection to circulate among your friends. You do the mix CDs in sets of two built around current popular themes in electronica: chill-out and downtempo (Winter Chill, Serve Chilled), disco house/garage (Disco Kandi), nu-soul (Nu Cool), and classic club pop (Back to Love).



What you came up with probably wouldn't be too different from Hed Kandi.



Winter Chill 3 is the first Hed Kandi release I've gotten, and I think from now on my CD budget will be aimed strictly here for some time to come. Chill-out isn't my favorite type of music, and the stuff I do like falls within pretty exacting standards. But I am deeply, deeply impressed with this. This isn't music to listen to on the dance floor or the elliptical runner; this is what you put on for late nights, hot baths, good books, and, as the cover art implies, a glass of something warming with that special someone. The vocals are intimate, soulful, and aching, the instrumentals are loaded with strings and jazzy percussion, the bass is deep, and the pacing is slow, at times almost inebriated. And the level of quality stays so stratospheric that trying to pick out just a few favorites is an exercise in impossibility.



Faithless, who to my knowledge hasn't done anything really interesting since "Insomnia" (you know you feel me there), starts the collection off right with a cool, breezy remix of "Evergreen." Then things get truly haunting with Goldfrapp's "Lovely Head," which starts out with icy strings and a nostalgic whistle, and then just gets more sublime from there; the electric guitar that cuts in after the first minute could be jarring but just adds to the wonder. "Sparks," "Come a Day," "Letter to a Sister Friend" ... it's incredible that, from track to track, the tender, solemn beauty simply refuses to let up. And then you're amazed all over again by Jaffa's "Sneakin'," in which Billie Holiday's coy, engaging voice runs like a golden ribbon through a funky trip-hop beat. Si*Se's drum-heavy cover of "The Rain" sounds surprisingly bitter and overwrought compared to the original, until you consider the actual lyrics. Good call guys. De Phazz's "Online" has bongos and a distinct Sneaker Pimps influence. Urban Dwellers' "Trust Me" is especially intense, which in this company is really saying something. Yonderboi's "Fairy of the Lake," filled with vibes and record-scratching, is not only great, it has no words, a welcome change. PC Energy's "Drift" is an instrumental too but is one of the few genuinely weak tracks.



Depeche Mode's offering, "When the Body Speaks," is pretty good for a band that seemed to have burned itself out ten years ago; this track is mainly notable for its neat shivering bassline. Lamb's "Gabriel" is another of the few weak tracks--the only other song I've heard from them is the awesome "Cotton Wool," and "Gabriel" has barely a shred of that song's brilliance. Chris Coco's "Only Love" is also merely OK (not to mention a bad pastiche of Slacker's "Scared"); I'll listen to anything with tubular bells in it (next to the carillon, surely the ultimate winter instrument), but it doesn't have much else to offer. The second CD doesn't really find itself until Fac 15's sad, poignant cover of "Rainy Days and Mondays," nicely paired with Amar's "Sometimes It Snows in April," surely the most aggressively despairing song I've ever heard (it makes "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" sound about as depressing as "Rock and Roll Part 2"). Then comes another great, shuffling instrumental, M. Dupont's "The Dining Rooms." Night Traffic's "Empty Beaches"--another empty instrumental. Afterlife's "Deeper" is okay, but badly outclassed here. "Deeper--Into Places" is better, then comes another strong stretch with the final six tracks. Kelli Ali (the soft yet cynically knowing voice behind "Spin Spin Sugar" and "6 Underground") comes off like the uber-Britney in "Sunlight in the Rain." Emiliana Torrini, who was apparently engineered in some clandestine government research lab using genetic material taken from you-know-who, does a catchy little ballad that wouldn't sound out of place on Debut. Kosheen's "Gone" is a great anthem, and the set closes on a bar-rock note with Mr. Hermano's appropriately-named "Leave Me on a High."



So there you have it--five tracks that are weak-to-middlin, and twenty-five ranging from good to great. That's less than a dollar per good track. Works for me."

Good Mix of "Just shoot me" Songs...

bordersj2 | Boston | 06/14/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hedkandi's a solid label that prides itself on releasing full length, unmixed cuts with artists that they bring in for their own label. I'm a big time fan of that, as it lets you put together your own compilations of the best tunes from their cds into whatever playlist you want for your MP3 or mini player, or burned cds. The label goes through all sorts of genres, from deep house to soul, chillout to disco. But the chillout grooves are more my speed. I picked this up a few years ago, and have started listening to it again. The Winter Chill series is solid and very downtempo and this one is no exception. There are some good cuts here. It starts out perfect, setting the mood... and this is where I have a small problem. It starts with Faithless' "Evergreen", and then the spacy, whistle of Goldfrapp's "Lovely Head" followed up by a cut from Royksopp's wildly successful album a few years ago. Beth Hirsch's calming acoustic song is perfect for imaginging the quietness of a snowfall. And although she's a bit... different, Ursula Rucker knows how to put together a cool vibe and beat with her songs, preaching of independent sisterhood. Jaffa's "Sneakin'" is great - check out that old school Jazz influence! CD 2 doesn't slow down much (how could it - you already have the ambition and motivation of a sloth stuck in molasses.). Depeche Mode, Chris Coco, The Dining Rooms, Afterlife, Kosheen and Mr Hermano have some solid tracks there too. All in all, solid two discs of ultra chilled out grooves. The downside? Well, you can definitely see how some people might put this in as a sort of "shoot me" depressant after breaking up with someone. And... well... some of the vocals are so syrupy and warbly, they turned my stomach (see "Sometimes it Snows in April", Si*Se, etc...). My real gripe - why oh WHY did they quit with the Serve Chilled series? Of course they don't want product cannibalism, but I liked those better. The Third one was one of my favorite compilations. It went from upbeat to downtempo, and had some fantastic and not so overplayed cuts from that time period (Atjazz, Raccoon, Los Ladrones, S-Tone Inc., etc) If you like this, then by all means check out the other Winter Chill cds. Or... there is a cd titled "She: A Female Trip-Hop Experience". But guys be warned; if you see this on top of the stereo at any time, get away as fast as you can. Run... don't look back. Don't ask questions. Just run."

A "Hed" Above the Rest.

The Groove | Boston, MA | 12/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having already bought a few of the dance compilations of the Hed Kandi label, I decided to give their chillout CDs a try, and I'm glad I did. "Winter Chill" is packaged as 2 discs of downtempo grooves for the winter months, but it's also good enough to be played during any season. While other chillout collections sometimes lack imagination and feature the same artists (Theivery Corporation, Coldplay, Zero 7, Moby, Groove Armada, etc), Hed Kandi digs deeper and avoids the obvious. I was pleasantly surprised to have found Depeche Mode's slow burning "When the Body Speaks" on this CD. It's easily one of the best album cuts off the group's "Exciter" album, and it blends perfectly with the rest of the songs. Other notables include a cafe lounge reinterpretation of the 1980s novelty hit "The Rain" by Si Se, and Amar does a mellowed out version of Prince's "Sometimes it Snows in April." Not that the best tracks are covers of other people's songs. Scandinavian electro gurus Royksopp provide their own wintery landscapes in the frosty "Sparks," while Goldfrapp shine in the engaging "Lovely Head." The rest of the tracks are similar in vein, offering ambient touches, electronica, and pure pop. On these two CDs, "Winter Chill" provides the perfect solution to the winter blues on a Sunday afternoon. Grab that hot cocoa, crank up the stereo, and let the grooves of Hed Kandi take you into another world."