The Freezone Series was launched in 94 in order to explore all things down-tempo.
Thanks to DJ Morpheus' legendary flair and impeccable taste, Freezone has been an absolutely major reference for chill out fans worldwide, each volume being at the same time a precious set of clues for things to come and a great listening experience... Let's refresh our memories for a second: between 1994 and 2001 the Freezone series has always been ahead of the most interesting new trends in horizontal and semi-vertical dance music... Artists such as Dj Cam, Mighty Bop/Bob Sinclar and Kruder & Dorfmeister have appeared in the series as early as 1995… And the likes of Matt Herbert, Phil Asher & Ashley Beedle, Basement Jaxx, Thievery Corporation, Rae & Christian, Joe Claussell and DJ Spinna contributed exclusive tracks to Freezone between 96 and 98…
Freezone 1 (subtitled "The Phenomenology Of Ambient") explored the interspace between technoid and classical ambient (as well as electroacoustics and other forms of sonic exploration deriving from the experiments of Musique Concrète back in the Fifties). Some of the artist albums released since 94 are in tune with that vibe: Solar Quest, Bobvan, Avalon, Entropica, Aural Expansion.
Freezone 2 ("Variations On A Chill") was one of the first freestyle albums, and contributed to the evolution of electronic chill-out music with its bold mix of trip-hop, atmospheric jungle, Detroit-ish ambient techno, and various dubby abstract jazzy grooves...
In Freezone 3 ("Horizontal Dancing"), the series' compiler DJ Morpheus has significantly upped the toe-wiggling factor: the motto is "lie down & get down", or "sit up and dance"... It marked a turning point for the series, with the introduction of the 'all-exclusive' concept. From Freezone 3 and onwards, each and every track appearing in the series is an exclusive, especially recorded piece. FZ3 also features some collaborations initiated by matchmaker-supreme Morpheus, who got Luke Vibert (Plug/Wagon Christ) to create a track with Mike Paradinas (µ-ziq), Jonah Sharpe to work with Mixmaster Morris, and Snooze to meet up with fellow Parisian DJ Cam.
Freezone 4 ("Dangerous Lullabies") conformed to the high standards of its predecessors. Just like its predecessor, it presented unusual collaborations (Charles Webster vs Herbert, Snooze teaming up with Morpheus himself to remix US band Morphine), tracks by known and lesser-known acts. It also contained Zoned, a multimedia supplement.
Freezone 5 ("The Radio Is Teaching My Goldfish Ju-jitsu"), 1998's issue, was one of the high points of the series The diversity of styles (hip hop/house/jazz/techno/electro/drum'n'bass) and of origin (the artists came from 8 different countries, including Brazil, Sweden and Italy...) contrasts very much with the general impression of unity which emanates from this album: there's a real flow, a deep jazzy undercurrent running through a majority of the tracks.
Freezone 6 ("Fourth Person Singular") included exclusive contributions from Alex Gopher, Stacey Pullen, Isolee, London Elektricity, Dego, Josh Wink, Phil Asher, Maurice Fulton and more. As usual, and thanks to his legendary flair, DJ Morpheus introduced us to the most interesting new trends and to the most important, cutting-edge artists of the coming couple of years..
Freezone 7 came out in 2001 and included fresh, exclusive offerings by Robert Hood, Burnt Friedman, Supadread (aka Steve Spacek), Ewan Pearsons' World Of Apples, Landslide vs Victor Davies, Tim 'Love' Lee, and the first-ever solo track by Cibelle.
