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This mix started taking shape when I revisited the music of Bent, an electronic duo from Nottingham who were active from about 2000 to 2006. For me, they were part of a second wave of artists making intelligent midtempo electronic music and redefining chillout, lounge, or downtempo (pick your favorite description) around the turn of the century. The first wave, in the mid to late 90s, was led by Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation, Air, and Nightmares On Wax, along with the DJs José Padilla and Stéphane Pompougnac. In addition to Bent, the second wave in the early 2000s included Zero 7, Röyksopp, and Afterlife.

To illustrate my very subjective history lesson, I’ve included one of my favorite Bent tracks, along with two others that remind me of the early 2000s: the opening track by Jimpster and a track by Rinôçérôse. If you’d like to continue the history lesson, all of the artists I’ve mentioned are well represented in my earlier mixes!

Here in 2018, producer/songwriter/DJ Mark Barrott is doing a good job of keeping the turn-of-the-century chillout feeling alive. He has released an impressive amount of music in the 2010s under his own name and with side projects Future Loop Foundation and Talamanca System. I chose a track from the 2016 album by Future Loop Foundation. As a DJ, Mark has the enviable job of soundtracking sunsets at Hostal La Torre in Ibiza, which sounds like a place I’d like to spend all my summer afternoons.

Jumping back a few decades, Antonio Carlos Jobim appears twice in this mix. I don’t consider that excessive, because I see him as pretty much the godfather of chillout music. The first track is from his 1967 instrumental album, Wave; the second is a sparser, jazzier selection from his 1974 album with Elis Regina. From there, I return to the current decade for the final selection, some tranquil neo-bossa nova by Melbourne producer Tornado Wallace.

1. Jimpster with Simon Jinadu – State of mind
2. Cassandra Wilson with Fabrizio Sotti – Red guitar
3. Antonio Carlos Jobim – Triste
4. Bibio – Light up the sky
5. Françoise Hardy – Parlez moi de lui
6. Christian McBride & Inside Straight – Uncle James
7. Sade – Nothing can come between us
8. Rinôçérôse – Brian Jones: Last picture
9. Ebo Taylor – Saana
10. Future Loop Foundation – Monika’s summer
11. Wild Nothing – Whenever I
12. Cal Tjader – Moonlight in Vermont
13. Erykah Badu – 4 leaf clover
14. Bent – A ribbon for my hair
15. Héctor Lavoe – Sombras nada mas
16. Chris Rea – Shine, shine, shine
17. Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim – Bonita
18. Tornado Wallace – Healing feeling