As I mentioned before, I’m going to do a review of Anton Ramos’ The Chillout Project: House Sessions 2. I’ve seen this album months before but it was only two weekends ago that I finally decided to buy it, thus formally starting my CD collection. (Heh.)

The album contains 14 tracks of chillout music, house style. But they’re not really separate tracks as this is a DJ compiled mix. This means that you essentially have one very long track with individual sub-tracks faded in and out, DJ style. What’s good about the mixing here is that I think the the original tracks were preserved as is and the essential parts are included, unlike in other DJ mixes where the original tracks are mangled, sometimes beyond recognition.

What I don’t like about the album is that it contains far too many latin music. I’m not really a fan of latin house/trance. I would, however, like to give a special mention to Espirito’s “Canto de Orfeo” the only latin track on the CD that I really like.

My most favorite track on the CD is definitely Bonnie Bailey’s “Ever After,” which I’ve heard in some clubs here in Manila. And apparently, a lot of other people like it too (I term this the Orion effect). “Ever After” was the most requested track during last Saturday’s David’s House show on 99.5 RT, according to DJ David Ardiente.

Most of the other music on the CD are quite good too. In particular, I liked “Kiss, Kiss, Kiss” by the Ananda Project, Demon Ritchie’s “La Plage,” and “Rainwater” by Astrid Suryanto.

Is the album worth the 455 pesos I paid for it? Not really. I’d be much, much happier if the price were 300–350 pesos. But it’s good enough to keep. (And the minimalist design of the album is the best!)

Update: Here’s a recent (April 2005) article from the Manila Bulletin which tells about the story behind this particular album by Anton Ramos. And I didn’t know that Anton Ramos is the president of Music One Corporation, the operators of Music One and Tower Records in the Philippines. And he’s just 30! Lucky guy. His family owns the widely successful and ubiquitous chain of National Bookstores. (Hmmmm… I wouldn’t be surprised if he studied in Colegio de San Agustin.)