Peak Records is a psytrance label based in Switzerland. Now they are out with their fourth release, this time a compilation full of chill out music. It is compiled by Master Margherita. This compilation is mixed. As usual with the Peak releases, we get a beautiful cover art.

There are mostly quite unknown artists on this compilation, but first out is an artist that most people who follows the chill out marked these days should know about, Aes Dana (Vincent Villuis) from France. Aes Dana has released several strong albums on Ultimae Records, but here he gives us a new, fresh floating track. Totally chilled abient with some whispering voice samples. Track 2 is by a new artist called Astral Waves from the US. Here we get Asian vibes, with some sitar, chilled drums and some praying vocals. Nice and ethnic. Track 3 is by another fresh artist called Capsula (Yosi Shamay). Here we get some relaxing guitar vibes, chilled beats and some nice psychedelic swirling sounds. Track 4 is by the compiler himself, Master Margherita (Moreno Antognini). Here we get several humming vocals and some guitar. Mystic vibes all the way through. Then we get a track by an artist who has a pretty cool name called Lucid Picnic (Serhan Berberoglu). Here we go even deeper into mystic vibes. This one sounds a bit darker, mostly floating all the way through. Track 6 is by a guy who is getting a very good reputation for his chill out tracks these days, Cell (Alexandre Scheffer) from France, here in a collaboration with someone called Kalifrogz (E. Brandy & C. Fabulet). This is a really deep track, with the sound of water, spacey sounds, relaxing down tempo beats and a beautiful melody. My favourite track on this compilation. Great one!

Track 7 is by another new duo called Omiq Project (Sergio Walgood & Daniel Belo). Here we get more floating vibes again. Totally relaxing ambient, still with some mystic vibes and deep bass. Track 8 is by an artist called Electrypnose (Vins Le Barde) who released an mp3 album on Resonant Earth this year. Here we get one of the most dreamy tracks on this compilation. Some nice piano sounds and quite melancholic vibes. Track 9 is by Kick-Bong (Frank Jousselin), who released his debut album (A Cup Of Tea) on Ultra Vista Records earlier this year. The track we get here is not on the album. Here we get some ethnic, mystic vibes and dubby beats. Quite different from the rest of tracks we get here. Track 10 is made by several people called The Peaking Goddess Collective, which are the people behind this label. This one is pretty nice, with some flute sounds, chilled drums and guitar sounds. Nice one. Track 11 is by a new artist called Smiley Pixie (Fernando Hood Dantas Abreu). This is a quite experimental track with some really strange, but nice sounds. Weird and different. Track 12 is by an artist called Dymons (Daniel Symons) who has released tracks on several of the Peak releases. Here we are into tribal vibes, with drums and flute. Still quite experiemntal, but totally relaxing. The last track we get on this compilation is by Ajja (Ajja S. F. Leu) who has also been involved in another Peak compilation. This one is just floating all the way, with a voice telling us something, done by Tanina (Tanya Innocenti).

This compilation has mostly quite unknown artists on it. This is not the most interesting chill out compilation I have heard, but we get a pretty nice journey of chilled ambient and chill out music here. I don’t like mixed Cds (I like to do it myself instead..), but they have made a nice flow through the entire compilation. So, if you are looking for some new chill out artists, check it out.

Peak Records – the highly spiritual and twisted posse from Lusanne, Switzerland is out with their fourth instalment… And after the three full-on bombshells Peaking Goddess, Peak-a-Boo and Peaking in Tongues it’s now time for some chill… In fact, this is the first chill out CD in a series – and by looking at the very impressive tracklist, it seems there is a new contender on the psy-chill market… Master Margherita compiled it and it was mastered by non other than chill godfathers Huby Sea and Vincent Villuis @ Ultimae Studies… They’ve never let me down, so I’ve got a feeling this’ll be good… Let’s find out…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Aes Dana – Hug (Intro)
Ahh… What better way to start a chill compilation than with a hug from Aes Dana? After the brilliant album Memory Shell from 2004, Vince graces us with more beatless ambient… Soft, soothing, organic chill… Yeah, just like a soft hug… Brilliant…

#02: Astral Waves – Shanti
As with Peaking in Tongues, the tracks cross fades into eachother… It’s not a DJ beatmix or anything like that, just a soft mix into the next track. Astral Waves is the alias of DJ Zen from the US who mixed the 2003 Kagdila compilation Peace Therapy… And this is a very shanti track indeed… Laid-back soft percussion and subtle lyrics grace our ears… The pace increase and decrease as you just trance out to the thick Eastern influences… A little like Kaya Project, but not a clone… Ok track!

#03: Capsula – I Know That I Know
“We are all so fascinated with recording things. Taking photographs, writing them down and above all remembering them (…) Because you see if you don’t remember anything, you don’t know you’re there. A person who has total amnesia and lived in a split second only wouldn’t know he was there.” Capsula is a new project by a guy called Yosi Shamay – and he brings forth a more psychedelic edge into the chill spectre… This is twisted stuff, and one of the main reasons for that is the very trippy samples… “But suddenly to know that you’re there, you need an echo…There was a young man who said though; it seems that I know that I know. What I would like to see is the eye that knows me when I know that I know that I know” … Try figuring that one out while trippin’!

#04: Master Margherita – Lune
Master Margherita aka. Moreno Antognini is one of the leading members of the Peaking Goddess Collective and he also compiled this CD… This track starts with dark, murky chanting – by Margherita himself and Yan Schirardin who also plays the guitar on this track… The music is dark and gloomy, almost medieval in nature – kinda reminds me of some of the old Howden/Wakeford stuff… Spooky dark ambient!

#05: Lucid Picnic – Ground
We continue digging into darker realms on this track by Serhan Berberoglu… This is a track of contrasts – there’s a mean old deep repetitive bass of some sort – accompanied by feather light melodies and spacey, dreamy effects… This is dark ambient if there ever was dark ambient…

#06: Cell vs. Kalifrogz – Hawaii Transit (Ocean Board Remix)
Cell is Alexandre Scheffer known for his many brilliant tracks on chill compilations – Kalifrogz is a project previously unknown to me, but according to the credits it’s Eric Brandy & Christophe Fabulet… I dunno – but I do know that ‘Ocean Board’ is a well-fitting name, as this track starts out with the gentle sounds of water splashing up onto the beach… Slowly effects are added… Steeldrum, congas and more percussion… It’s still very mellow, soothing ambient – but with a lighter edge than its two predecessors… And we get melodies too… This track gets better and better as it progresses – and it turns into a nice ethno-chill track halfway thru… Tasty!

#07: Omiq Project – Textures
This is another unknown project to me – members are Sérgio Walgood and Daniel Belo… We’ve reached spacy electro ambient territory now, and this surely is some mellow stuff… I could definitely fall to sleep to this after a blunt or two… Hints of dub and electric elves dancing around you… Nice!

#08: Electrypnose – Paradise Perdu
Next up is Vince from Switzerland with his project Electrypnose… He’s a Peak Records regular and released his debut album Brain Stretching on http://www.ResonantEarth.com in early 2005 (review coming soon)… This is a very melodic track, though with a certain eerie twist… It’s like you fear to watch, yet you cannot look away… I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something very mesmerizing about this track – I really wish it was longer, as it’s very nice melodic downbeat stuff!

#09: Kick Bong – Gravity
Kick Bong is another familiar chill project – thought out by Frank Jousselin… Known for his many tracks on Spirit Zone’s Global Psychedelic Chill/Trance compilations as well as great tracks on other labels + he released his debut album A Cup of Tea on Ultra Vista Records earlier this year… And this is another fine kicking tune… I really like the tribal, dubby Juno Reactor’esque sound that Jousselin manages to create… Tribal, trance-inducing world beat music with a psychedelic edge… Very nice!

#10: Peaking Goddess Collective feat. Alex Grey – You Are One
“I’m generally positive, it’s not just, you know, flowers and bird songs, you know. God is an earthquake as well. You know, it’s awesome, it’s terrifying, it’s you know. You are one with the same force that provides the spiral arms of the galaxy. That universal creativity. It’s also what you are as well. And when the mystic eye is open and sees that, a person is forever changed!” Woow… The PGC featuring none other than the words of visionary artist Alex Grey… Anyone even remotely associated with the world of psytrance should know the magnificent art of Alex Grey – one example is his art on the cover for the Cosmosis album Contact… I’m not surprised the PGC would want to include him – it’s very well fitting to their spirit… I’ve always liked the mellow PGC tracks, and this is no exception… This track was inspired by such diverse artists as Santana and Shpongle, and yeah – you can definitely tell that… It’s not a cheap imitation – it’s the real thing… Tons of psychedelic FX, guitars and twisted psychedelia help create a truly wonderful track! Brilliant!

#11: Smiley Pixies – Spirits & Spells
Next is a project by Fernando Hood Dantas Abreu called Smiley Pixie… This is a much laid back downbeat electro piece – with funny vocoded voice bits that reminds me a lot of some of the early Shpongle stuff… Experimental, dubby electro-chill… Not bad at all!

#12: Dymons – Eagle Forest
Dymons is Daniel Symons from the PGC, and this is a very tribal inspired, dubby world beat choon… A deep, lazy bass sets the pace as we rummage through some deep rainforest – the Eagle Forest! Native chanting and acoustic percussion helps set the mood on this true-to-nature tune… Very nice indeed!

#13: Tanina & Ajja – Equinox (Outro)
“The soul is free…” To finish things off, Tanya Innocenti & Ajja S F. Leu from the PGC collaborates on this outro track…. It’s much like the Aes Dana intro – high quality soothing, relaxed, beatless ambient with whispering samples… Yeah, this compilation draws to a close – and the soul is free… ;o)

Well, I must say that Peak Records again surprise me positively… Last years full-on compilation Peaking in Tongues was an instant smash, and now the Swiss collective have proven that they also can put together high quality chill compilations…

Besides from a couple of the really dark, minimal tunes in the second quarter of this CD, I like most of the tracks here… The diversity is rich, and we get a taste of most kinds of chilled music… From dreamy beatless chill-out, over dark gloomy ambient, to trippy tribal ethno dub... A diversity that should satisfy most fans of rich chill-out music… Diversity rules!

I’m really looking forward to the next chill compiliation from this magical Swiss collective to grace our ears… And I do not hesitate to recommend this to fans of chilled, mellow soundscapes… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1, 3(!!), 6, 7, 8, 9(!), 10(!!), 12