Zero 7

Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker, the two British producers behind this ultrasuave studio project, have the same reverence for jazzy, spacey retro sounds as Air, but seem to share none of that pioneering group's imagination or ambition. Simple Things is a strictly-by-the-book tour through a post-trip-hop, post-acid-jazz soundscape of groovy bass lines, analogue synthesizers, and languid, impersonal vocals. The blend is seamless, making it perfect as background chill-out music or wallpaper in an expensive bar, but it's pretty tedious otherwise. When It Falls is even a bit more chilled, its pulse rarely raising above a semicomatose level. (BEN SISARIO)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide