Mandalay

Mandalay is one of the finest trip-hop bands ever existed, though they defined their genre as "ambient pop". Their music continues to speak to listeners' hearts with its sheer beauty. It's amazing how Saul Freeman managed to put each unique sample exactly in its own place to enrich fascinating melodies. And not less significant was the songwriting and singing talent of Nicola Hitchcock. Her floating wide-ranged vibrato was an integral part of Saul's fragile music environments.

Be sure to check their two full-lengths ("Empathy" and "Instinct") and also their singles, many of which contain valuable tracks, remixes and even cover-versions, for example, Stevie Wonder's "Blame It On The Sun". The band did get some short recognition, i.e. "Madonna called Mandalay her favourite group" thing, and some of their tracks were included in OST's. But like many groups, who share their intimate sound magic, they didn't last long. I deeply thank Saul and Nicola for their collaborative output. It IS wonderful.