[.ca] Navigator

From Amazon.co.uk:
Jose Padilla, the godfather of chill out returns with his second album Navigator, twelve new tracks of blissful summer vibes complete with beach-like sound effects and flamenco guitar. It is a shame that his reputation precedes him in that whatever he has produced since the Café Del Mar series is often termed "chill out", a definition which is by no means descriptive enough for his music. The instrumentation is fittingly subtle with no overbearing clichés or noodling for noodling's sake. Instead it unfolds from the Spanish vibes of castanets and guitars with background breaks providing just enough percussion. "Adios Ayer" features the vocal talent of Seal and has an uplifting melody over an impressive-sounding orchestra which is cut up by a wah wah guitar chopping it's funky way through the sprightly wall of sound. It's not all so acoustic and earthy with tracks like "Lontano" tearing it up with a mood akin to Roni Size's "Brown Paper Bag" but without the dark overtones amid its manic breaks and double bass. The overall stand-out track has to be the collaboration with N'dea Davenport (former Brand New Heavies) on a re-working of Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love" which seamlessly blends all manner of style and timbre and places them in an imaginative arrangement that transcends the usual boundaries of dance music and makes for compelling listening. --David Trueman

Chronique amazon.fr:
Presque tout l'intérêt de cet album semble reposer sur son single "Adios Ayer" qui, sur une mélodie de chant rappelant étrangement "One Love" d'un certain Bob Marley, retient notre attention grâce à une voix plutôt touchante et qui nous paraît presque familière. En effet, entre Sting et Elton John, on redécouvre un dénommé Seal qui nous donnerait presque envie d'aller plus loin dans l'album. Malheureusement, nous en resterons là, la musique virant carrément à ce que Saint Preux pourrait faire aujourd'hui, tantôt jazz sans âme tantôt bossa facile, le tout additionné à des voix langoureuses fades et/ou kitsch selon les morceaux. De toute évidence, ce fameux DJ, inspiré et précurseur d'une tendance vulgarisée aujourd'hui, celle qui consiste à diffuser de la musique lounge dans un bar (en l'occurrence le célèbrissime Café Del Mar d'Ibiza) ne se verra pas qualifier des même superlatifs pour son statut de producteur, métier qui ne s'improvise pas toujours... --Luc Demont

• Something
• Cazuelas \o2000 Remix\c
• Bosaxi \oTouched Mix\c
• Navigator
• Adios Ayer \oFresh Mix\c
• Karyn
• Lontano
• Dynamic Earth \oGravity Mix\c
• Navigator, Pt. 2
• Strolling
• Niña
• Look of Love