Chill-out music (sometimes also chillout, chill out or simply chill) is a genre of electronic music and an umbrella term for several styles of electronic music characterized by their mellow style and mid-tempo beats—"chill" being derived from a slang injunction to "relax".
Chill-out music emerged in the early and mid-1990s in "chill rooms" at dance clubs, where relaxing music was played to allow dancers a chance to "chill out" from the more emphatic and fast-tempo music played on the main dance floor.
The genres associated with chill-out are mostly ambient, trip hop, nu jazz, ambient house and other subgenres of downtempo. Sometimes the easy listening sub genre lounge is considered to belong to the chill-out collection as well. Chill out as a musical genre or description is synonymous with the more recently popularized terms "smooth electronica" and "soft techno" and is a loose genre of music blurring into several other very distinct styles of electronic and lo-fi music.[1]
Monstercat has not assigned Chillout a color yet, making Chillout songs fall under grey. It is important to note that the genres below usually, but not always, go under Chillout for labeling purposes.
Subgenres[]
Ambient[]
A genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. A form of slow instrumental music, it uses repetitive, but gentle, soothing sound patterns that can be described as sonic wallpaper to complement or alter one’s space and to generate a sense of calmness.
A type of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation and optimism, also used for yoga and meditation. It was first introduced in the 60s by Tony Scott's Music For Zen Meditation.
A subgenre of New Age music derived from ambient music, often described as tranquil, hypnotic and moving, that also evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness.
A bass-heavy drumbeat, often providing the slowed down break beat samples similar to standard 1990's Hip Hop beats, giving the genre a more psychedelic and mainstream feel. Vocals in trip hop are often female and feature characteristics of various singing styles including R&B, jazz and rock. Ethereal soundscapes built upon hip-work breakbeat drum frameworks. Relatively broad in mood, ranging from sounds you'd hear in a coffe shop, with jazz / swing influences to compositions in very deep, bassy settings. Delay and reverb are effects used very liberally to achieve profound and immersive sonic creations. Vocal & synth pads are used as supporting elements to build ambience. An emphasis on groove, with syncopated / swung rhythms, is to be expected.
