Chill Out (KLF album): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| studio = [[Trancentral]]

| genre =

*[[Ambient music|Ambient]]<ref name="Bush"/><ref name="Luck">{{cite book |last1=Luck |first1=Richard |editor1-last=Buckley |editor1-first=Jonathan |editor2-last=Duane |editor2-first=Orla |editor3-last=Ellingham |editor3-first=Mark |editor4-last=Spicer |editor4-first=Al |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=1999 |publisher=Rough Guides |edition=2nd |location=London |isbn=1-85828-457-0 |pages=538–539 |chapter=The KLF |quote=From #1 to number nowhere, Cauty and Drummond turned their attention away from the mainstream and concentrated, instead, upon ambient music. While Cauty founded The Orb, ''Chill Out'' (1990), an album still regarded highly by dance-trance aficionados, was released by the band under the new name of The KLF. Sadly, like the other records the band released during their ambient phase, it didn't sell particularly well.}}</ref>

*[[Ambient music|Ambient]]<ref name="Bush"/>

*[[ambient house]]<ref name="Bush"/><ref name="Stanley">{{cite book| last=Stanley| first=Bob| year=2013| title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop |page=645 |chapter=1991: Time for the Mu Mu | publisher=Faber & Faber| isbn=978-0-571-28198-5 |quote=The KLF's 1990 ''Chill Out'' album had pioneered the tautological 'ambient house', mixing train noises, post-punk dub and pre-punk Floyd.}}</ref>

*[[ambient house]]<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000092678|first=John|last=Bush|title=Chill Out|access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref>

*[[sound collage]]<ref name="Music Radar">{{cite web |last1=Future Music |title=The beginner's guide to: chillout |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-beginners-guide-to-chillout |website=Music Radar |access-date=17 June 2023 |date=17 March 2021 |quote=An audio collage of everything from Elvis to the Tuvan throat singing of Siberia, the album tells the story of an imaginary night-time journey from Texas to Louisiana.}}</ref><ref name="Howard">{{cite book |editor1-last=Howard |editor1-first=Vicki |editor2-last=Lawrence |editor2-first=Pete |title=Crossfade: A Big Chill Anthology |date=2004 |publisher=Serpent's Tail |location=London |isbn=9781852428754 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBcJAQAAMAAJ&q=the+klf+chill+out+%22sonic+collage%22 |access-date=17 June 2023 |chapter=Stripped Pine and Swedish Furniture: A Defence of Chill-Out |quote=The KLF's extraordinary 1990 ambient sonic collage Chill Out was the landmark: a forty-five-minute, distinctly tongue-in-cheek odyssey through sound effects and environmental noise..}}</ref>

*[[plunderphonics]]

| length = 44:43

| label = [[KLF Communications]]

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}}

'''''Chill Out''''' is the thirddebut [[studio album]] by British [[electronic music]] group [[The KLF]], released on 5 February 1990. It is an [[ambient music|ambient]]-styled [[concept album]] featuring an extensive selection of [[samplesampling (music)|samples]], portraying a mythical night-time journey throughout the U.S. [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] states, beginning in [[Texas]] and ending in [[Louisiana]]. ''Chill Out'' was conceived as a continuous piece of music, with original KLF music interwoven with samples from songs by [[Elvis Presley]], [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[Acker Bilk]], [[Van Halen]], [[808 State]] and field recordings of [[Tuvan throat singing|Tuvan throat singers]].

==Context==

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This definition, currently being consulted for the revised edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, acted as a blueprint for a small coterie of experimenters until 1989. Then, something strange happened. In the creative melee that ensued in the wake of the first acid house parties, DJs such as the KLF's Jimmy Cauty and the Orb's Alex Patterson began to play Eno records in so-called "chill out rooms" at dance music clubs. Mixing Music for Airports with German synthesizer records, Strauss waltzes and BBC birdsong LPs, their initiative ran counter to all the dance club and pop music conventions of the time. [[David Toop]], "A world in a grain of sound", ''[[The Times]]'' (London) ISSN 01400460, 13 August 1993, Features section.--><!--

''Chill Out'' is a seminal work that pioneered the genre of [[ambient house]] music.--><!--Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians suggests that Chill Out was the first ambient house record.-->

''Chill Out'' was released during the KLF's [[Ambient music|ambient]] phase,<ref name="Luck" /> and was credited by [[Bob Stanley (musician)|Bob Stanley]] for pioneering [[ambient house]], drawing attention to the album's mix of "train noises, post-punk [[dub music|dub]] and pre-punk [[Pink Floyd|Floyd]].<ref name="Stanley" /> It has also been described as a [[sound collage]], with its blend of sound effects, environmental noise, throat singing and musical [[sampling (music)|samples]].<ref name="Music Radar" /><ref name="Howard" />

===Composition and recording===

"{{lang-es|italic=no|Madrugada Eterna|label=none}}" first appeared on the 1989 single "[[Kylie Said to Jason]]".<ref>{{KLFDiscography}}</ref><!-- Similarities have been noted between [[The Orb]]'s 1989 "Blue Danube Orbital" remix of [[3 a.m. Eternal]] and ''Chill Out'' https://www.getintothis.co.uk/2020/02/the-klfs-chill-out-at-30-music-that-makes-love-to-the-wind-and-talks-to-the-stars/ --- not sure if reliable source, and he only says it sounds like ---; and The KLF's 1989 performance of "[[What Time Is Love?]]" live at The Land of Oz (first released on ''[[The "What Time Is Love?" Story]]'') uses samples that would later appear on ''Chill Out''. ----This is clear to the ear but not included yet as 1) I don't know if it's relevant, 2) I have found no reliable source. To further complicate matters, the [[What Time Is Love?]] article claims in a footnote, without any reference, that this session was actually DJed by Alex and Jimmy!-->

According to the sleeve notes, ''Chill Out'' was recorded "live on location" at [[Trancentral]], the "spiritual home of the KLF",<ref name="LP5"/> their studio in the basement of KLF member [[Jimmy Cauty]]'s [[squatting#United Kingdom|squat]] in [[Stockwell]], [[South London]].<ref name="enig">{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=226|title=The KLF: Enigmatic Dance Duo|work=[[Record Collector]]|date=1 April 1991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916120306/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=226|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>

The KLF have stated that the album was recorded in a 44-minute live take. In an interview Jimmy Cauty stated that, "There's no edits on it. Quite a few times we'd get near the end and make a mistake and so we'd have to go all the way back to the beginning and set it all up again".<ref name="enig" /> According to Cauty's co-founder of The KLF, [[Bill Drummond]], the album took two days to put together.<ref name="enig" /> ''[[Record Collector]]'' compared The KLF's production method to that of established electronic musicians: "While electronic dinosaurs like [[Jean-Michel Jarre|Jean Michel Jarre]] and [[Klaus Schulze]] were walling themselves in with banks and banks of synthesizers, computers and electronic gadgetry the KLF were doing the opposite—making a crafted work like ''Chill Out'' with the bare necessities of musical survival."<ref name="enig" />

After recording, the duo thought the sound to be evocative of a trip through the American [[Deep South]].<ref name="Laz">{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=229|last=Longmire|first=Ernie ("Lazlo Nibble")|title=KLF is Gonna Rock Ya!|work=X Magazine|date=1 April 1991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916121146/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=229|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> Drummond said "I've never been to those places. I don't know what those places are like, but in my head, I can imagine those sounds coming from those places, just looking at the map."<ref name="Laz"/> The titles of the parts are poetic descriptions—often complete sentences—incorporating statements of time, place and situation along the Gulf Coast journey.<ref name="Laz"/>

''Chill Out'' is a single continuous musical piece having many distinctive sections, each of which either [[segue]]s into or introduces the next. The album as a whole is a progression, with percussion gradually introduced during the second half. The album has many recurring musical elements, which unify and merge the parts into the collective whole. Common characteristics of most parts include ethereal background synthesizers, the use of echo and [[pitch bend]], samples of nature and transport, and the punctuation of soft synthesizer loops by sudden flourishes of harmonious sound. The Deep South is variously represented using original pedal steel contributions from [[Graham Lee (Australian musician)|Graham Lee]] and emotionally charged samples of US radio broadcasts: an [[Evangelism|evangelist]]'s sermon, a range of samples of a very intense salesman, and, in "{{lang-es|italic=no|Madrugada Eterna|label=none}}",{{efn|"{{lang-es|italic=no|Madrugada Eterna|label=none}}" is Spanish for "Eternal Dawn".}} thea detailed news report of a fatalthe road accident in [[Wantagh]] that resulted in the death of 17-year-old Jack Atsidakos.<ref name="Jack">{{cite news |last1=Bessent |first1=Alvin |last2=Minerbrook |first2=Scott |date=1987-05-14 |title=Drag Race Ends in Death |work=Newsday, The Long Island Newspaper (Suffolk edition) |pages=7 & 27}}</ref>

Despite the specific US settings, ''Chill Out'' is multi-ethnic, its journey taking in pastoral shepherds, Russian broadcasts, [[Tuvan throat singing|Tuvan throat singers]] ("Dream Time in Lake Jackson"), exotic birds, and an African-sounding original female vocal from [[The JAMs]]' ''[[1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)]]'' that later became The KLF's "[[Justified and Ancient]]".

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===Identified samples===

The [[sample (music)|samples]] used in ''Chill Out'' contribute fundamentally to the character of the composition. In particular, the recurring sampled sound effects of [[rolling stock]] and other transport illustrate the journey concept, often during segues between parts of the composition. Many of these effects are taken from the 1987 CD version of [[Elektra Records]]' ''Authentic Sound Effects Volume 2''. The tracks used are "Crossing Bells and Horn with Electric Train Pass" and "Short Freight Train Pass", along with processed versions of "F18 Diamond Fly-By", "Dodge Van Starts, Drives Out", and "Surf".<ref>''Authentic Sound Effects Volume 2'', [[Elektra Records]] 1987 ([http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1095470/a/Authentic+Sound+Effects,+Vol.+2.htm link to audio samples]).</ref> Samples of American, British and Russian radio stations are also used, including the [[BBC pips]] and a jingle from [[Tommy Vance]]'s ''[[Friday Rock Show]]'' on [[BBC Radio 1]]: "Rock radio into the nineties and beyond". Some of the more obscure sounds (Tuvan throat singers and Basque shepherds in the Pyrenees) come from the Saydisc Records soundtrack of the 1980s ''[[Disappearing World (TV series)|Disappearing World]]'' series on Granada TV in the UK. The phrase "Your feeling of helplessness is your best friend, savage" is taken from the 1957 science fiction film ''[[The Brain from Planet Arous]]''.

The album features samples of distinctive melodies from the musical recordings of other artists: [[Elvis Presley]]'s 1969 UK No. 2 single "[[In the Ghetto]]", [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s 1968 UK No. 1 single "[[Albatross (compositioninstrumental)|Albatross]]", as well as "[[Oh Well (song)|Oh Well Part II]]", and [[Acker Bilk]]'s 1961 US No. 1 single "[[Stranger on the Shore]]" all feature prominently, in each case set to an accompaniment of original music. The composers of these [[hit single|hits]] receive co-writing credit for "Elvis on the Radio Steel Guitar in My Soul", "3am Somewhere out of Beaumont", and "A Melody from a Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back" respectively, and the performers are thanked in the ''Chill Out'' sleevenotes.<ref name="LP5">{{Cite AV media notes|publisher=KLF Communications|title=Chill Out|id=JAMS LP5|year=1990|othersauthor=[[The KLF]]}}</ref> [[Boy George]]'s band [[Jesus Loves You (band)|Jesus Loves You]] is also thanked for a sample from the single "After the Love", which also features on "3am Somewhere out of Beaumont". Short samples from the [[Van Halen]] instrumental "[[Eruption (songinstrumental)|Eruption]]" emerge throughout the song "A Melody from a Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back". Shortly after the 2:00 mark of "The Lights of Baton Rouge Pass By", a sample from the theme music of the 1958 film ''[[The Big Country]]'' can be heard as well as "[[Pacific State (song)|Pacific State]]" by [[808 State]].<!--

*A [[panning]] sound from [[Pink Floyd]]'s "[[On the Run]]" on ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]''.

*"Pings" from Pink Floyd's "[[Echoes (1971 song)|Echoes]]" on the album ''[[Meddle]]''.

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==Reception==

{{AlbumMusic ratings

| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Bush">{{AllMusiccite web |classurl=https://www.allmusic.com/album|id=/chill-out-mw0000092678|first=John|last=Bush |title=Chill Out – The KLF |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdateaccess-date=5 March 2020 |last=Bush |first=John}}</ref>

| rev2 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular MusicNME]]''

| rev3scorerev2score = 8/10<ref name="Mead">{{LibraryOfMu |mu-id=123 |title=ChillThe Out|type=review|last=MeadChilling Feels |first=Helen|work=[[NME]] |date=27 January 1990 |access-date=16 March 2020 |last=Mead |first=Helen |page=28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916112531/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=123 |archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>▼

| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref>

| rev3 = ''[[NMEPitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''

| rev4scorerev3score = 8.9/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-klf-chill-out/ |title=The KLF: Chill Out |workwebsite=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=16 February 2020 |accessdateaccess-date=16 February 2020 |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Sherburne}}</ref>▼

▲| rev3score = 8/10<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=123|title=Chill Out|type=review|last=Mead |first=Helen|work=[[NME]] |date=27 January 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916112531/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=123|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>

| rev4 = ''[[PitchforkQ (websitemagazine)|PitchforkQ]]''

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}<br />(1990)<ref name="Cranna">{{LibraryOfMu |mu-id=480 |title=The KLF: Chill Out |work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=43 |date=April 1990 |access-date=8 March 2020 |last=Cranna |first=Ian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902062020/http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=480 |archive-date=2 September 2007}}</ref><br />{{Rating|4|5}}<br />(1994)<ref name="Collins">{{LibraryOfMu |mu-id=385 |title=The KLF: Chill Out |work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=93 |date=June 1994 |access-date=8 March 2020 |last=Collins |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Collins (broadcaster) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903001112/http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=385 |archive-date=3 September 2007}}</ref>

▲| rev4score = 8.9/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-klf-chill-out/ |title=The KLF: Chill Out |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=16 February 2020 |accessdate=16 February 2020 |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Sherburne}}</ref>

| rev5 = ''[[QRecord (magazine)|QMirror]]'' (1990)

| rev5score = {{Rating|3|4/5}}<ref name="CrannaCheeseman">{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=480|first=Ian|last=Crannacite magazine |title=KLF: Chill Out |type=review|workmagazine=[[QRecord (magazine)|QMirror]] |date=10 February 1990 |archive-urllast=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902062020/http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=480Cheeseman |archive-datefirst=2 SeptemberPhil 2007|issuepage=4114}}</ref>

| rev6 = ''Q[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (1994)

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The KLF |last=Soults |first=Franklin |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/462 462]}}</ref>

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Collins">{{LibraryOfMu|tl=news|mu-id=385|title=The KLF: Chill Out |work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=93 |date=June 1994 |last=Collins |first=Andrew|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903001112/http://libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=385|archive-date=3 September 2007}}</ref>

| rev7 = ''[[TheSounds Rolling Stone Album Guide(magazine)|Sounds]]''

| rev7score = {{Rating|42|5}}<ref name="Brown">{{cite bookmagazine |chaptertitle=KLF: The KLFChillout |last=SoultsAlbum |first=Franklin |titlemagazine=[[TheSounds Rolling Stone Album Guide(magazine)|The New Rolling Stone Album GuideSounds]] |editor1-lastdate=Brackett20 |editor1-first=NathanJanuary 1990 |editor2-last=HoardBrown |editor2-first=ChristianRussell |publisherauthor-link=[[SimonRussell &Brown Schuster]](media |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8commentator) |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/462 462] 26}}</ref>

| rev8 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''

| rev8score = 9/10<ref name="Spin">{{cite book |chapter=KLF |last=Strauss |first=Neil |author-link=Neil Strauss |title=[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]] |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pagepages=213213–214}}</ref>

| rev9 = [[Sputnikmusic]]

| rev9score = 4.5/5<ref name="Robertson">{{cite web |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/42733/The-KLF-Chill-Out/ |title=Review: The KLF – Chill Out |publisher=[[Sputnikmusic]] |date=1 April 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=16 November 2015 |last=Robertson |first=Alex}}</ref>

}}

Ian Cranna of ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'', inreviewing a''Chill review publishedOut'' at the time of the album'sits release, described ''Chillthe Out''album as an "impressionist soundtrack" whose "spartan but melodic electronic strains ease gently through wide open spaces", and concluded that the albumit is "both imaginative in itself and successful in inducing a blissed out mood of peace and relaxation (at least at night)."<ref name="Cranna"/> ''[[NME]]'' called the''Chill albumOut'' "a riot of running water, birdsong and electronic womb music".;<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Public NME |type=News item about ''Chill Out'' |magazine=[[NME]] |date=20 January 1990<!--library of mu ID 121-->}}</ref> reviewer Helen Mead said that the album, with its variety of sampled sounds, "not so much{{nbsp}}... distracts you as envelops you".<ref name="Mead"/> ''[[Record Mirror]]''{{'}}s Phil Cheeseman summarised ''Chill Out'' as "one long piece of flowing synthesised relaxation dotted with some very witty samples", recommending that it be listened to "as a prelude to a long night in, preferably not alone."<ref name="Cheeseman"/> Ian McCann of ''[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]]'' proposed that if the listener is not under the influence of drugs, the album sounds "hopelessly pompous and almost classical."<ref name="McCann">{{cite magazine|title=The KLF: Chill Out |magazine=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]] |volume=2 |issue=17 |date=February 1990 |last=McCann|first=Ian<!--library of mu ID 124-->}}</ref> In ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'', [[Russell Brown (media commentator)|Russell Brown]] panned it as "too arbitrary and formless; it contains virtually no ozone-destroying beats at all."<ref name="Brown"/>

In a 1994 retrospective review, ''Q''{{'}}s [[Andrew Collins (broadcaster)|Andrew Collins]] described The KLF as "ahead of their time" and added that "the fact that ''Chill Out'' was seen largely as a urinary extraction exercise{{efn|A "urinary extraction exercise" is (in convoluted [[British slang]]) a "[[wiktionary:take the piss|piss take]]" – a targeted joke disguised as something serious.}} at the time when such sound-painting now shapes young careers lends poignancy to its more balmy yet knowing moments."<ref name="Collins"/> ''[[The Times]]'' called the album The KLF's "comedown classic",<ref>{{cite news |title=And you thought they were dead |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |issue=4 May 2001 |issn=0140-0460 |last=Fields |first=Paddy |page=2}}</ref> while John Bush of [[AllMusic]] awarded the albumit five stars and cited it as "one of the essential ambient albums".<ref name="Bush"/> In an "On Second Thought" review in ''[[Stylus Magazine]]'', writer Scott Plagenhoef found ''Chill Out'' to be "less a morning after and more the slow awakening to a new day" and an album which "slowly unfolds its charms".<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/the-klf-chill-out.htm|title=On Second Thought – The KLF – Chill Out|journal=[[Stylus Magazine]]|date=1 September 2003|accessdateaccess-date=4 January 2008|last=Plagenhoef|first=Scott|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622111126/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/the-klf-chill-out.htm|archivedate=22 June 2017}}</ref> Ira Robbins of ''[[Trouser Press]]'' was less favourable, likening it to "an accidental recording of 1970 [[Pink Floyd]] sessions during which all the participants have either left or fallen asleep" and calling it "the pleasantly attenuated soundtrack to a non-existent film that is easily forgotten."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/klf/ |title=KLF |website=[[Trouser Press]] |access-date=19 April 2006 |last=Robbins |first=Ira}}</ref>

In a 1996 feature, ''[[Mixmag]]'' named ''Chill Out'' the fifth best dance album of all time, citing Jimmy Cauty and [[Alex Paterson]] as having "kickstarted" [[ambient music]] with their DJ sets at the "seminal" [[house music|house]] night "Land of Oz". Dom Philips of ''Mixmag'' described ''Chill Out'' as "a gorgeous patchwork of sound, noise and melody&nbsp;... the samples are carefully woven into a beautiful spider's web of sound."<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=478|first=Dom|last= Phillips|work=[[Mixmag]]|title=50 greatest dance albums - No. 5, Chill Out - The KLF|date=1 March 1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916110651/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=478|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> [[Ira Robbins]] of ''[[Trouser Press]]'' was less favorable in his assessment of ''Chill Out'', likening it to "an accidental recording of 1970 [[Pink Floyd]] sessions during which all the participants have either left or fallen asleep", adding that "it's the pleasantly attenuated soundtrack to a non-existent film that is easily forgotten."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=klf |title=The KLF |work=[[Trouser Press]] |accessdate=19 April 2006 |last=Robbins |first=Ira |author-link=Ira Robbins}}</ref> In 2008, ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' included "Wichita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard" in ''[[The Pitchfork 500]]'', their list of the 500 greatest songs between 1977 and 2006,{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} and later ranked the track at number 80 in their "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s" list in 2010.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} In 2022, ''Pitchfork'' ranked the album at number 76 in their list of "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s".<ref name= "Pitchfork Staff 2022">{{cite web |urllast=http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/S7139.htm Pitchfork Staff |title=Wichita LinemanThe Was150 aBest SongAlbums Iof Oncethe Heard1990s |publisherwebsite= [[AcclaimedPitchfork Music(website)|Pitchfork]] |accessdatedate=2016-02-01 September 28, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archivepitchfork.orgcom/webfeatures/20170914164534lists-and-guides/http:the-best-albums-of-the-1990s//www|quote= .acclaimedmusic.net/Current/S7139.htmthe |archive-date=14record Septemberexalted 2017the gathering obsession with musical borrowing in...pop...the KLF's most listenable album also sounded—quite literally—like a dream...''Chill Out'' [provides a] hypnagogic fantasy of a twilight trawl across the Deep South...|urlaccess-statusdate=dead April 26, 2023}}</ref>

==Themes==

The use of a journey as a unifying musical or conceptual thread featured several times in Cauty and Drummond's work, including ''[[The White Room (KLF album)|The White Room]]'', "[[Last Train to Trancentral]]", "[[Justified and Ancient]]" and "[[America: What Time Is Love?]]". Cauty's ''[[Space (Jimmy Cauty album)|Space]]'' and [[The Orb]]'s debut album, ''[[The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld]]'' also employ the journey concept.{{efn|Paterson and Cauty were the original incarnation of The Orb; they split in April 1990, with Paterson retaining the name.<ref>{{AllMusic|id=mn0000891575|first=John|last=Bush|title=The Orb|tab=biography|accessdateaccess-date=5 March 2020}}</ref> The subsequent release of the ambient ''[[Space (Jimmy Cauty album)|Space]]'' LP—originally intended to be The Orb's debut album<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|tl=web|mu-id=508|publisher=[[KLF Communications]]|title=The White Room - Information Sheet Eight|date=August 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005024345/http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=508|archive-date=5 October 2007}}</ref>&nbsp;—was credited only to Cauty.<ref>Sleevenotes, ''[[Space (Jimmy Cauty album)|Space]]'', [[KLF Communications]], SPACE LP1, July 1990.</ref><ref name="made-clouds">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/07/how-we-made-the-orb-little-fluffy-clouds-interview|title=How we made the Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds|type=Interview with Youth and Alex Paterson|first=Dave|last=Simpson|date=7 June 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref>}}

Sheep, which appear both on the recording of ''Chill Out''—as [[guest vocalist]]s according to [[Scott Piering]]'s press release<ref name="press-release">{{Cite press release|publisher=[[Appearing (media consultants)|Appearing]]|title=The KLF - "Chill Out".. (Ambient house) LP|date=1990<!--press release is apparently undated but shows the album's release date of 12 Feb 1990-->|url=https://img.discogs.com/4Aeru5tTwZ__OfkMSUeC0UK2S30=/fit-in/600x821/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-28324-1470891481-4641.jpeg.jpg}}</ref>—and in its sleeve artwork, became a theme of The KLF's output, featuring in the ambient video ''[[The KLF films#Waiting|Waiting]]'', ''[[The White Room (KLF album)|The White Room]]'' album artwork, and later—in a macabre gesture—after their [[The KLF#Retirement|controversial appearance at the 1992 Brit Awards ceremony]]. Drummond credits the sleeve of [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[Atom Heart Mother]]'' as providing inspiration for the artwork of ''Chill Out''.<ref name="Laz" />

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Drummond has documented his affinity for pedal steel and [[country music]], stating that although he has "loved all sorts of music,&nbsp;... country music is the only music [he's] been totally able to identify with", and declaring: "the weep of a pedal steel guitar is the sound of heartstrings being torn".<ref>[[Bill Drummond|Drummond, B.]], "They Called Me Up in Tennessee", ''[[45 (book)|45]]'', (Little & Brown, {{ISBN|0-316-85385-2}} / Abacus, {{ISBN|0-349-11289-4}}), 2000.</ref>

According to Drummond, the album and album sleeve has "the vibe of the rave scene over here [in the UK]. When we're having the big Orbital raves out in the country, and you're dancing all night and then the sun would come up in the morning, and then you'd be surrounded by this English rural countryside&nbsp;... we wanted something that kind of reflected that, that feeling the day after the rave, that's what we wanted the music for".<ref name="Laz" /> The cover was also inspired by that of the [[Pink Floyd]] album ''[[Atom Heart Mother]]''.<ref name="Laz" />

==Personnel==

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In July 2004, UK performance collective Popdamage "reconstructed" ''Chill Out'' as a live performance at [[The Big Chill (music festival)|The Big Chill]] music festival, recreating many of the album's vocal and musical samples live on-stage.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Big Chill, Herefordshire" review |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=2 August 2004 |last=Verrico |first=L.}}</ref>

In February 2021, the KLF released ''[[Come Down Dawn]]'', a reworking of ''Chill Out'' with a selection of prominent but unlicensed samples from the original release removed.<ref name=":0h">{{cite news|last=Beaumont-Thomas|first=Ben|date=1 January 2021|title=The KLF reissue music for first time since 1992|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/the-klf-reissue-music-for-first-time-since-1992|accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-04|title=The KLF release new reworked album 'Come Down Dawn'|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-klf-release-new-reworked-album-come-down-dawn-2872777|access-date=2021-02-04|website=NME {{!}} Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="h:1">{{Cite web|last=Monroe|first=Jazz|title=The KLF's Chill Out Finally Comes to Streaming—Sort Of|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/the-klf-chill-out-finally-comes-to-streaming-sort-of/|access-date=2021-02-04|website=Pitchfork|date=4 February 2021 |language=en-us}}</ref>

==Track listing<!-- for section; probably Lazlo's discog-->==

The track listing of ''Chill Out'' uses the start- and end-points of the parts, instead of the conventional track numbering system, indicating that the album be treated as a single composition. For the original KLF Communications CD release, the entire album was written to one track.

{{track listing

{{tracklist

| total_length = 44:43

| title1 = Brownsville Turnaround on the Tex-Mex Border

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[[Category:KLF Communications albums]]

[[Category:Ambient house albums]]

[[Category:Concept1990s concept albums]]

[[Category:Albums produced by the KLF]]

[[Category:Sound collage albums]]

[[Category:Ambient albums by British artists]]

[[Category:Ambient albums by English artists]]

[[Category:Ambient albums by Scottish artists]]