While Britpop and dance music fought for supremacy in the 1990s, a quieter music force was bubbling away, and took its place in the bars of Ibiza and the come down rooms in UK clubland – 'chillout' was the new sound for the end of the century and Air were its masters.
Chillout could pretty much be any style of music you wanted, as long as you lowered the bpm and made it calmer than its rave and high-energy dance opposites. So think classical, 50s kitsch, lounge, jazz, electronic… You name it, it would end up being packaged on a '90s chillout compilation for the masses.
