(Wagram/Creative Vibes)

Downtempo and chill albums have become big business, with several high profile brands competing (e.g., Café del Mar, The MoS Chillout Sessions), along with numerous one off collections offering not much more than ‘muzac’ for cafes and dinner parties. Among the better releases are those in the Hotel Côstes series, mixed by Stéphane Pompougnac, and now up to release number seven.

For this sort of CD to work well it should not interrupt the listener, but at the same time not be bland. Interest should be piqued, but not such that it is distracting. The previous releases in this series that I have heard (numbers 2, 4 and 6) have succeeded very well, and have been the epitome of laidback and smooth. Release number 7 sees a slight change in direction, with some of the tracks demanding more attention, and not being comfortable just blending into the background at your sophisticated dinner party. The tracks that demand this attention are certainly good tracks, but I wonder if this collection is the best context for them.

The CD eases off with the smooth but funky grooves of Mark Rae feat Veba – Lavish (Deadbeats Remix). Brass stabs take over in the second track (The Fort Knox Five – The Brazilian Hipster), increasing the energy, and introducing a Latin flavour to the rhythms. After the rather uninteresting soul inspired track by Rodney Hunter – Work That Body, a sudden attention grabbing change happens. Although an infectious piece of music, the oddly named Clive the Runner by the Bobby Hughes Combination has such a different rhythm from the previous track that one’s focus is drawn to the music. With its 60’s style vocal, don’t be surprised to see this track turn up on a soundtrack to an Austin Powers movie. It is fun, and wonderful, but in my view misplaced on this album.

The mood changes abruptly again with another comparatively uninteresting soul flavoured track (Only Child – Addicted), before the quirky Hip Hip Chin Chin (Yaziko Club Mix) by Club des Belugas bounces in. Again, this is a great track, but I wonder if its quirkiness works as well as it could if it were placed within a different context. Between this track and Clive the Runner, I wonder if Stéphane Pompougnac wants to go a different direction, and that future releases might see this embraced whole heartedly. It may be that a separate series is more desirable than breaking the flow too much within the Hotel Côstes style.

The album then settles into a distinct Latin style, with tracks by Watch TV, Mo’ Horizons and an especially good track by Slow Train – Trail Of Dawn (Varano´s Hotel Of Dawn Remix). The final third of the album moves to smooth lounge. Two excellent tracks are Claude Monnet presents Monica Nogueira – Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais  (which I think roughly translates as I came to say to you that I am leaving) providing a classic French feel and Thievery Corporation feat. Emiliana Torrini – Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes, the best track of this compilation, which closes the album. This end of the collection is ultra smooth and perfectly captures the mood of this series.

This latest release is certainly better than many chill or downtempo collections, but not quite to the same uniform standard of some of the previous Hotel Côstes releases. A few uninspiring tracks along with a couple of unusual track selections as already discussed detracted from the overall effect of the album. But when it is works, it works superbly.