Charango

Most of the album however is more chilled and down tempo, and wouldnt seem out of place on the trendy 'chilled' compilations that have been doing the rounds recently.

As you can always expect from Morcheeba there are some extremely strong melodies in here and you will be singing along in no time. A brilliant CD for the drive home.


Just sit down and relax   November 17, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

This new album by Morcheeba is very much different to their previous one, Fragments of Freedom. Charango is very much more laid back; it’s the kind of CD you would put on as soon as you came back from a hard day’s work simply because it is so smooth and gentle to listen to. Pressing play releases the first beautiful song, Slow Down, which secretes your senses all over the body. The ambient, relaxed mood carries on into the next three songs and you start to fell a slight up in tempo and vocals. This is a perfect place to do so as it wakes you up from your hypnotism during the first songs to prevent you from falling asleep and not being able to listen to this amazing music.
The smooth flowing vocals remind me of another singer, Sade; in some songs the singing is really evocative as if the soft sounds are attracting you closer and closer to the singer’s vocal chords.
Many of the songs are quite different to each other; your first impression might be to say that such a variety of songs would be impossible to blend together. However, this is not the case. Morcheeba has created an album whereby the start and end is very chilled out and the middle is very much more lively. Between these stages the songs are blended in magnificently. Even the introduction of rap artists such as Slick Rick and Pace Won creates an excellent atmosphere to chill to. ‘Women Lose Weight’ is an excellent song to make comparison to. It has a slight funky, bouncy beat with addictive lyrics smeared over the top whereas ‘Aqualung’ is a very light and gentle. What I’m trying to say is that it works, well.
After listening to the addictive lyrics and smooth beats on the first CD you will feel less stressed, concentrated, almost cleansed. If you are in need of more therapy and don’t want to be listening to the lyrics but just the music, Morcheeba has also compiled an Instrumental CD. This is not for listening to as it is repetitive. I would recommend playing the instrumental CD when you are very tired and just want to shut your eyes for an hour or so. It would also compliment as background music over a meal as it does not interrupt conversations.
I have only given this album four stars because I don’t rate the Instrumental CD very much. It is a little too repetitive and I feel some of the songs should have been created only with the lyrics; ‘Women Lose Weight’ is a good example. However, the main CD is excellent and deserves top marks.
I would recommend this album to anyone who has a short nerve or who becomes easily stressed. I must also add that chillout music is the gateway to relaxation. Take this situation. You come home from school or work and you’re on the brink of bursting into a rage as soon as someone speaks to you. I know how it feels, you want to be left on your own for a while before you start to be sociable for the rest of the day. There is no point in easing your senses by putting on some heavy rap music such as Eminem; it would only shorten your nerve. Just relax and meditate to some beautiful music such as Morcheeba to calm down. It always works as long as you concentrate on the music. It really does ease your mind this album, so save up and buy it.


Brilliant   June 20, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I haven't heard the other albums but i definitely love this one...very smooth and chilled but also very funny, especially "Women Lose Weight". Very much a great album for summer outings and general chill out sessions


Not a 5-star Morcheeba   January 24, 2003
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Hmmm... Having already purchased Big Calm and Fragments of Freedom, I had high hopes of Charango. And indeed, all the high-gloss components are there - Skye's dreamy voice, multi-layered instrumentation (now including orchestration for added depth), delicate floating melodies - the essence of chilled.

However, Charango turns out to be a highly crafted pale imitation. I expected it to grow on me, for the songs to be embedded in my memory and return to haunt me. Sadly, this proves not to be the case - the album made splendid background mood music, but somehow the magic of the previous albums is not quite there. Can't put my finger on precisely what is missing, but I didn't get the same buzz. I sincerely hope they rediscover the genius next time around....