Back in ‘99, I bought a fabulous compilation CD called Serve Chilled. One of the first albums on the new Hed Kandi label, it had a great selection of chill-out tracks that introduced me to several new artists. I’m not a clubber or a big fan of most club music, but since discovering Hed Kandi, I’ve purchased several of the better compilations — mainly down-tempo stuff from the Winter Chill brand, or retro stuff from Back to Love.

Recently I was looking to get some new low-key background music as my collection was looking a bit dated. I opted to buy Angels Fall, a new compilation on a new label founded by original Hed Kandi helmer, Mark Doyle. I based my decision on the the very high ratings on the album’s Amazon Review. I really should have known better.

These 3 CDs are utterly, utterly insipid. There are probably only four tracks that warrant a repeat listen, with the remainder being bland, boring, dull, annoying, cheesy and simply so vapid that they bypass the state of “chilled out” and take you straight to completely comatose.

One track on CD1 is good, the sublime “Sad Eyes” by Bat for Lashes, and CD2 has a couple of decent tracks, “Little Things” by James Bright” and “Dice” by William Orbit with Finlay Quaye. The less said about CD3 the better: it’s like someone has frozen you in aspic, wrapped you up in a composting bin and then forced you to listen to the soundtrack to a property renovation show while shoving grated carpet in your ears. I realise that this is down-tempo stuff, but that’s no excuse for lack of passion.

This collection has so little musical merit, that I’m amazed Mark Doyle is happy to put his name to it. It’s like listening to a medley of soundtracks to awful American teen soaps. These Angels can fall right into Dawson’s dismal Creek for all I care.

I was hoping to recapture the glory days of Hed Kandi’s “Serve Chilled” and the early “Winter Chill” compilations, but that clearly won’t happen. Stay far, far away from this lump of drudging dross or you might just fall into that coma and never wake up.

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