Located in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza, Café del Mar is known for its breath-taking sunsets and soothing chill-out music. Café del Mar, freely translated as “cafe by the sea”, created the original, iconic compilation series that gave birth to Chillout. Whether used as a chill-out album, a warm-up collection, a record to dine with, or a romantic backdrop, Café del Mar, always finds good use in most contemporary lifestyles.
“Chillout, a term derived from a slang injunction to relax, emerged in the early and mid-1990s as a catch-all term for various styles of relatively mellow, slow-tempo music made by contemporary producers in the electronic music scene. The genres associated with chillout are mostly Ambient, Trip-hop, Nu jazz, Ambient House, Ambient Trance, New Age and other sub-genres of Downtempo—a major branch of electronic music. Sometimes the Easy Listening sub-genre Lounge is considered to belong to the chillout collection as well”, according to Wikipedia.
Café del Mar is most known around the world for its chillout music compilations. The songs are described as balearic ambient, easy listening music. The collections of the music played at the café were first sold on cassette at the end of the 1980s. In 1994, the first official “Café del Mar” CD was released, which included works by world-renowned artists like William Orbit, Sabres of Paradise, Leftfield, Paco de Lucia, Pat Metheny, Phil Mison, Nightmares On Wax, Chicane, Stan Getz and more. Following the great success of the first release, a total of 16 volumes of the main compilation series have been published.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Café del Mar, MCA Music re-issues the first four volumes of the original and all time greatest in Chill-out. Available in music stores. 2CD sets for only P459.
Volume Uno
Compiled by Jose Padilla
1994
1. José Padilla – “Agua”
2. William Orbit – “The Story of Light”
3. The Sabres of Paradise – “Smokebelch II” (Beatless Mix)
4. Penguin Cafe Orchestra – “Music for a Found Harmonium”
5. Sun Electric – “Sundance”
6. Leftfield – “Fanfare of Life”
7. Sisterlove – “The Hypnotist”
8. Underworld – “Second Hand”
9. Ver Vlads – “Crazy Ivan”
10. A Man Called Adam – “Estelle”
11. Obiman – “On the Rocks”
12. Tabula Rasa – “Sunset at the Café del Mar”
Volume Dos
Compiled by Jose Padilla
1995
1. Silent Poets – “Moment Scale” (Dubmaster X Remix)
2. Psychedelic Research Lab – “Tarenah” (Chili Mix)
3. D*Note – “D*Votion”
4. A Man Called Adam with Eddie Parker – “Easter Song”
5. Paco de Lucía – “Entre dos Aguas”
6. Marc Antoine – “Unity”
7. José Padilla – “Sabor de Verano” (The Way Out West Mix)
8. Salt Tank – “Sargasso Sea”
9. Mark’s & Henry’s – “(The Making of…) Jill”
10. R.A.M.P. – “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”
11. Deadbeats – “Feel Good”
12. The Metaluna Mutant – “Blinky Blue Eyed Sunrise”
13. The Sabres of Paradise – “Haunted Dancehall” (In the Nursery Mix)
Volume Tres
Compiled by Jose Padilla
1996
1. José Padilla – “Walking on Air”
2. Nova Nova – “Tones”
3. Pat Metheny – “Sueño Con México”
4. Afterlife – “Blue Bar”
5. Miro – “Emotions of Paradise”
6. Nightmares on Wax – “Nights Interlude”
7. Eighth Wave – “Panama Bazaar”
8. Pressure Drop – “Dusk”
9. Alex Neri – “Asia”
10. Moodswings – “Redemption Song”
11. Fazed Idjuts feat. Sally Rodgers – “Dust of Life”
12. Beat Foundation – “My Freedom”
13. Heavyshift – “Last Picture Show”
Volume Cuatro
Compiled by Jose Padilla
1997
1. José Padilla – “Que Bonito”
2. John Martyn – “Sunshines Better” (Talvin Singh Mix)
3. Indo-Aminata – “Leo Leo”
4. Paco Fernandez – “Grillos”
5. Voices of Kwahn A.D. – “Return Journey”
6. Les Jumeaux – “Miracle Road”
7. Wasis Diop feat. Lena Fiagbe – “No Sant” (Flytronix Mix)
8. Levitation – “Out of Time”
9. Fila Brazillia – “Place de la Concorde”
10. Chicane – “Offshore” (Ambient Mix)
11. Afterlife – “5th & Avenida”
12. Karen Ramirez – “Troubled Girl” (Spanish Version)
13. Phil Mison – “Lula”
14. Stan Getz – “Street Tattoo”