All of Nettwerk's chillout compilations have demonstrated the label's licensing muscle and mostly bounce between straight-up electronica and remixes from the precious side of pop.
The Best of Chillout Past and Present stays the course, adding a more high-profile set of tracks. Big names
Delerium,
Dido, and
Sarah McLachlan all get wistfully remixed, but
Moby's "Porcelain" shows up in its original version. Picking
the Postal Service and remembering what a great track
Hybrid's "Finished Symphony" is shows how with-it Nettwerk can be when it comes to the feather-and-clouds side of chillout. While not really mixed, the songs do just brush up against one another and the flow of the album works just fine. The
Hybrid track and
Mad Professor's sweet and drippy mix of "Teardrop" hail all the way back to the late '90s, which must justify the "Past" in the title. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide