Alternative Chill

Just when you were thinking that the domain of chill was by definition alternative, here comes a collection of tunes that force you to consider building a V.I.P. annex onto your existing chill-out room, which only the effortlessly cool shall enter. There, you can store Iron & Wine's delicate cover of the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights".

Country chill sounds like something of a contradiction, but you'll start to believe once you've lounged around to Loretta Lynn's jazz-inflected "Little Red Shoes". And who would have thought of an alliance between folk and trip-hop, such as that forged by John Martyn as he covers Portishead's "Glory Box" in an incredible, languid drawl.

Jason Pierce warrants extended periods of supine worship, for he is a god of alternative chill: His genius as the lynchpin of Spiritualized can be heard on "Broken Heart" and "You Know It's True". Pierce owes a debt to minimalist composer Steve Reich, a man often spoken of in the same breath as Philip Glass, who collaborates with the Aphex Twin on "Icct Hedral".

The net for inclusion into our superlative batch of Alternative Chill sounds has been stretched wide, to include beguiling tunes from the Republic of Tuva in Southern Siberia (Yat Kha's "When the Levee Breaks"), a mellow blast of invective from Jarvis Cocker ("Running the World"), Seu Jorge's charming Brazilian cover of Bowie's "Changes", and Johnny Cash's poignant death-bed cover of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". Cue up these Essentials, and savour their sweet balm.