Faze Action

With chill-out music hitting its musical apex about two years ago, every DJ duo with a love for lounge keyboards, string samples and some velvet-voiced guest singer get short shrift among critical circles. To posit a question: just because the music sounds particularly like others, does it make it any less viable? There is no easy answer, but Faze Action, while undeniably smack in the middle of the dinner-party Zero 7 genre, makes some bewitching, relaxing music. Employing former Orange Juice member Zeke Manyika for some quality vocals, Faze Action, or more accurately British DJ brothers Simon and Robin Lee, flick around the lush parts of soul, funk, and world music to prove what made the chill-out label so enticing in the first place. The best track, "The Broad Souls” could be mistaken for a Zero 7 song so very easily, but that is more a compliment than insult. "Outside,” with its bouncy guitar, keyboard, strings and horn inflections, gets the job done more than adequately. Orchestration and organisation make for some beautiful, sipping martinis in a dim lounge atmosphere, but unfortunately the nagging "Haven’t I heard this before?” creeps in a little too often. Sure it’s derivative and sometimes corny, but hey, relax and maybe, just maybe, chill-out.