Chill Out by The KLF is one of the most important albums of the 1990’s.
Released in February of 1990 there have been various stories about who was involved with the album, the sleeve states it was made by The KLF but there have been many pieces written that state Alex Patterson of The Orb was involved.
Prior to the release of Chill Out, Jimmy Cauty was DJing with Alex upstairs in the VIP room at seminal London house night Land Of Oz. From this night the term Ambient House was created.
In October of 1989 The Orb released their debut single ‘A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld’, Jimmy Cauty was in the band at the time. Alex Patterson was also involved in the original recording of the Space album until the two went their seperate ways after an argument and Jimmy released it himself in the spring of 1990.
This set is a 3.5 hour session put together by Jimmy and Alex in 1989 and includes many tracks that would later appear on Chill Out, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld and Space. There’s also a scattering of current and future dance tracks alongside Brian Eno amongst others.
There’s been discussion online regarding if this mix includes an unreleased KLF track. Who knows? But that’s part of the mystery of The KLF.
Whilst this recording may have a few drop-outs in places, any fan of Chill Out, The Orb or ambient will still find this a fascinating listen. There aren’t many 3.5 hour recordings I can sit down and listen to in one go.
And if you are wondering where Trancentral is, it’s Jimmy’s basement in his old squat apparently. The same basement where Chill Out was recorded.
Further reading:
Long read: The story of chill out music 1988-1995