Hotel Costes, Vol. 12

a waste of my money.pompougnac hit the floor really hard,almost seems he made a back record on purpose ,maybe to get out of a contract or something. since i could not returned i did toosed it in the trash.i know this d.j. can do better

Yea yea, requires several listens to "grow", I heard that crap before.

I listened to it three times. These are my findings:

The album has an outstanding start with the Unforscene chill acoustic guitar mix "Alright"

Then goes into a big hole of trashy tunes (read wanna-be songs/poor selections) and to my ears
doesn't recover until the outstanding Latin track "Tu no quisieras ser yo" (You Wouldn't Want To Be), reminded
me of the Colombian songstress Andrea from the band Aterciopelados.

From track 13 on, the album is on a roll! The Ben Westbeech blockbuster "Get closer" is to my ears the best
selection of the album. Track 14 "Beijos" is an intimate chill tune, reminded me of Argentinian singer
Federico Aubele, featured in previous collections. Tracks 15 and 16 "Ether" and "Plage Ensoleillée" are chill songs
nicely sung and arranged.

Recommended tracks:

Alright ***
You Wouldn't Want To Be ****
Get Closer *****
Beijos ***
Ether ***
Plage Ensoleillée ***

Stephane Pompougnac's albums are getting worse and worse. And this is his most unlistenable yet. Music is unoriginal and pretentious. You know one of those chill out albums that tries to be cool when it really isn't? Yeah this will be one of those. I will stop snapping up his albums until he starts coming up with something good.

A friend asked me to include this in a bundle of CDs I was buying from Amazon to save postage. I gave up on Costes after Vol 11, but she was still hopeful. She put the disk on for the first time at a small party and the swearing on track 8 did not go unnoticed. The CD was immediately removed. Now I'm by no means prudish, but I ceased to think of foul language as being particularly artistically clever or witty when I was about 18. My friend gave me the disk to dispose of and I listened to it a couple of times. Tafubar's 'The Wicked Thoughts of You' is an echo of the time when the Hotel Costes albums were great. The rest is pretty abysmal. You'd be better off spending your money on groceries. My friends CD is temporarily residing in the recycling bin awaiting the trash collectors.

Interesting reactions to Costes 12 with mostly either 5 stars or 1 star and opinion is clearly divided.
But isn't this what always happens when someone dares to be different?

One thing's for sure... Stephane's choices are a million miles away from the plethora of chillout by numbers tunes heard on the more corporate CDs. Same ole same ole? I don't think so.

As far as the little bit of profanity goes at first I was surprised but on a second listen I felt it was in context. This album needs plenty of listening to as it's a real grower.

Keep the vibe alive Stephane.

One of the Best...
If You a fan of Downtempo, and as Stephane is one of my favorite, You absolutely should take this... and enjoy the music.

It was a total waste of money. I will definitely not by their CD's again. I have been to their hotel which is really great but they have no sense of choice with music.

Its okay, but I wish they would come out with a new fresh sound. Its the same ole same ole.

SEPTEMBER USUALLY HOLDS SOME SURPRISES WHEN ANOTHER
HOTEL COSTE COMPILATION HITS THE STREETS,UNLIKE 11
MONSIEUR POMPOUGNAC'S LATEST RELEASE OFFERS UP A
LESS THAN STELLAR SELECTION THIS TIME.

TRYING TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE A TAD HE GIVES US
AWKWARD SOUNDING BEAT STRUCTURES WITH SEI A'S
ETHER - DESPINA RICCI'S PLACE ENSOLEILLEE AND
A DJ RAVIN HACKNEYED 124 BPM RENDITION WITH
TAFUBAR'S WICKED THOUGHTS OF YOU.

GONE IS HIS USUAL SIGNATURE VARIETY OF ARTISTS
AND MUSICAL GENRE'S LEAVING HOTEL FANS A PALETTE
OF SIMILAR SOUNDING STYLES.

THE RECENT CHALLE BROTHERS DOUBLE RELEASE "MUSIC
FOR OUR FRIENDS"IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE BENCH MARK
TO BE BEATEN FOR 2009 LOUNGE RELEASES.

SUPREME TRACKS.

UNFORSCENE'S ALRIGHT - PINK SKYSCRAPERS FROM AN
AL STEWART SOUNDING NORMALITIES AND POSSIBLY THE
BEST CUT WITH CHARLES SCHILLINGS ONE ON ONE.

OK TRACKS.

STEPHANE'S OWN TRACK LATIN CHA CHA (SHOULD OF BEEN
LONGER)- THE LIGHTNING SEEDS SOUNDALIKE MASSIVAN'S
2B@1 WITH THE WORLD AND GENERAL ELEKTRIK'S CATCHY
RAID THE RADIO.

ON A PC SCALE OF ONE TO TEN - HOTEL COSTE 12
SQUEEZES IN WITH SOME ROOMS STILL VACANT AT 5.

BUY IT OR OR FLY IT? - IT'S A SECOND HAND BUY.

P C - L A.

I love the hotel costes series, the music and its covers.
This release is great as always and if you like the albums before you will love this also - i am sure!

For those of you who like chillout music in general i would like to suggest the following album:

Dolomiti Super Chill: Late Summer 2009

Dolomiti Super Chill is another chillout compilation series but still a bit unknown.
Great quality and artists!

The track samples from this album are quite unimpressive. You have at least to give Amazon and Hotel Costes credit for having the courage to offer the free previews to prospective buyers!

I have to tell you that I was starting to lose interest in the Hotel Costes series, the last couple did not keep to the high standard that the first eight or nine volumes set. I decided to give this one a try, and if it wasn't great, it would be the last hotel Costes CD I'd ever buy... Much to my suprise, this might be the best of them all. #12 is a flashback to what made the original volumes so great, it's very cool and very French. Over the years, most of the lesser "lounge" CD's have dissappeared from the radar, #12 shows that the Hotel Costes can still put out a great product.

For the person who judged the CD based on just the sound clips, perhaps you should actually listen to the entire thing before voicing your opinion... it just makes you look foolish.

Volume 12 of the great chill-out series brings again an eclectic mix of 60's nostalgia, downtempo and world music all mixed with Costes style French "touch". This is a great album for any social event, driving or dinner. There's a good reason why Madonna or Sting are big fans of this series. Buying Hotel Costes compilation is like bringing a little bit of "chic" Paris to you home. Excellent packaging and artwork.