German turntablism label Thai Dust Records reserves its ‘(Red)’ sub-label for high quality chill-out, lounge, and downtempo releases. The latest release from this imprint comes from producer Krystian Shek, gathering fifteen tracks from his extensive catalog under the banner of The Best Of Lounge & Chillout. Krystian appeared on the scene in 2003 with his first of three artist albums on the late Pete Namlook’s FAX +49–69/450464 label. Impressively prolific, other albums appeared on labels such as the Indonesian imprint UTC Wired and Diventa Recordings and singles have been released through the likes of Cold Busted and Berettamusic. With so much material to choose from Krystian has assembled a top notch collection of tracks spanning the years, touching on styles from cinematic downtempo to sci-fi trip hop to jazzy lounge beats. Highlights such as “Samarkand,” featuring the lovely vocals of Nina Ramsby, the mid-tempo breaks of “Embassy Ghost,” and the beat-head jazz funk of “Cake Daddy” show the diversity on display in this set. Light up and dig in … this one will keep you swinging.
Kid Loco - “Cool stuff and nice grooves.”
Sunshine Jones (Dubtribe) - “This is so good.”
Danny Massure (Spring Strut) - “Soulful, groovy, sexy, and musically interesting.”
Stereo 77 - “Fat headphone grooves!”
Mojo Rising (Cold Busted) - “This release is sublime. All the tracks work for me … nice balance between dope beats and harmonic chilled vibes.”
Double-D (Funky Fresh Radio Show, Germany) - “Easy … low and slow … great summer vibes … letz get lazy!”
riccicomoto (Ibiza Global Radio) - “Very nice electronica with a soul-ambience.”
Angelos (Timewarp) - “A great downtempo release!”
Deadbeat Disco Radio Show - “Excellent stuff here. The whole release oozes quality from start to finish. Class.”
DJ Tomas (Friday Night Session, ForwardEver) - “Solidly produced tracks. I like the dub and percussive elements and melodic consistency.”
Aja Allsop (Ketch A Vibe Radio Show, UK) - “A totally salubrious set of tunes!”
Sharif Galal (Triple J Radio, Australia) - “Cruisy beats for a lazy afternoon.”
Available now from Beatport.