Chill Out!

And the album of the same name is pretty good too...;)

Probably my most listened to recording by the KLF, and while appealing primarily to a niche set of ‘ambient house’ music fans, I think there is enough going on to keep new listeners interested too.

I like your choice too. I picked that up a few months ago off discogs for cheapness. I’d always thought 3pm Electro was some fan made thing from the internet. Damn my ignorance!

I also like the 4 track 12” format and don’t really understand why most new 12”s or vinyl albums insist on only having one track per side. They say ‘sound quality’, but I remember hearing the music perfectly well in the early 90’s when many dance tracks played at live events were on a 4 track EP. Isn’t that what the volume knob is for?

From: klf-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:klf-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of John Milne
Sent: 13 August 2008 01:04
To: All bound for Mu-Mu Land.
Subject: [KLF] The best KLF record ever

Hi everyone,

It's late and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd throw this out to the mailing list: I'm not even sure if it'll get much of a response.

But I was wondering, if you had to recommend one record by the KLF (and by that I mean a physical cassette, tape or CD rather than some compilation of mp3s or whatever) what would it be?  Where is the best starting place?

For me, it would be KLF5R, the 3 AM UK Mixes 12".  Sadly, it never made it onto CD, but some of these old Pure Trance records are made to be listened to on 12", aren't they?  And KLF5R is the closest the KLF came to a proper four-track EP (probably my favourite type of music release) and its four mixes are distinct without being too unpleasant or off-putting to the new listener (plus, they all sound a bit like a famous number 1 hit single from two years later, which probably helps).  The Orbital mix hints at "Chill Out" (which of course is also mentioned on the inner label); the Moody Boys mix points towards later dub experiments; the radio edit points towards more commercial ventures, and "3 PM Electro" takes the KLF off in a direction they never really followed after this release (and what would the KLF be without aborted projects?)

So - KLF5R, the best KLF record ever.  What do people think?

(PS - Fucking hell, in "The 17" Bill mentions watching the video of "The Manager's Speech" I upped to Youtube back in late 2006 ... I am hyperventilating with excitement!)