Bent

This gorgeous collection of pulsating synth ballads and sample-laden downtempo grooves actually came out in 2000, but was only recently released in the US, so I'm including it in this year's list. As chillout albums go, 2001 never surpassed this one. Bent's Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday have such a keen knack for coaxing melancholy beauty out of electronic instruments that even a borderline cornball track like the aptly titled "Cylons in Love" manages to put a knot in the throat. Mills and Tolliday are also big fans of shamelessly pretty female vocals, an element commonly botched in electronica but executed to a T here. The torchy Nana Mouskouri samples on "I Love My Man" and "A Ribbon for My Hair" are outshone only by guest vocalist Zoe Johnston, who is quietly radiant on "Swollen" and the album's best track, "Private Road". A brilliant balancing act between synth polish and soulful sweetness. - Andy Hermann