Chillout Classics

Turn on, tune in, and chill right out — you are about to understand what it feels like to be cryogenically de-stressed by music that envelopes and refreshes the soul, without the need for a full-body immersion in liquid nitrogen. Moby sets the testudineous pace with "Novio", which is continued by the Art of Noise with their trippy take on the cult '60s TV theme from Robinson Crusoe.

Flatline your pulse some more, with our Chillout Classics Next Steps.

Gun-toting cops may seem like an unlikely source for timeless chillout, but, perversely enough, the high-octane world of Miami Vice's Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) inspired the laid-back "Crockett's Theme" from Jan Hammer.

Chilled-out becomes blissfully comatose, in Deep Cuts.

Chillout music is as old as time itself — or at least as old as the 7th century songsmiths who pioneered the Gregorian chanting style that would produce works like "Gloria". Cinema has also produced its fair share of outstanding chillout tracks, from David Byrne's Last Emperor title theme to Angelo Badalamenti's score for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

Here, you'll find no bone-shaking beats, ear-splitting riffs, or lung-busting screams — only synths programmed to mimic the movement of clouds and strings that swell like the most benign of oceans. For all of you who prefer to tackle life horizontally, in a hammock perhaps, or fused to the contours of a treasured beanbag, these chillout classics collectively form the slow-burning fuse that leads only to the damp squib of sweet indolence. There will be no fireworks, no pyrotechnics, only a slow trip downstream on this lilo of sonic ecstasy.