Mystic Slippers
Jul 2002
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 FEATURE: Slipper's guide to the world of Downtempo, Jazz, Lounge and Deep House
Slipper's guide to the world of Downtempo, Jazz, Lounge and Deep House
- by Mystic Slippers.
FOREWORD
Ok, i been thinking about this for a while, and finally decided to write one. Many of you may not give a shit about this, but for those who are interested, read on. It may explain a few things about the 'strange' (?) mp3 reviews i write or answer a few of the questions some of you have asked in the irc channel about my 'odd' musical tatses. So i thought i would write this guide to give you a brief idea of what the genre is about, what artists to look out for, online and offline radio stations you can check out, labels, record stores and much more. Ok, maybe i'm bored, but also i hope it proves useful to someone on here so maybe they gain a better understanding of the music at hand or maybe feel inspired to try some out. Whatever your thoughts, would be cool to know what you think. Hope you enjoy the guide.
WHAT IS DOWNTEMPO?
Well, downtempo music has been around for many years, i guess you could trace it's inital roots back to early jazz played in the late 1930's, maybe even to big wartime brass bands, the most famous of which being Glenn Miller. Although maybe thats pushing it too far back. Modern day downtempo (in my opinion) stems back to the early hip-hop days. Artists such as Afrika Bambataa and Grandmaster Flash, also The Sugarhill Gang who pioneered early hip-hop but also, on the more less-known tracks they produced also fused a slightly slower, funkier hip-hop sound fused with the then bustling disco scene of the late 1970's early 1980's. It then progressed through the years taking on more electro sound, whilst keeping the slow bpm of hip-hop and funky sampling, artists were also mixing beats with ambient sounds, jazz and Las Vegas lounge. Artists of this era featured most prominently people like Roy Ayers et al.
It wasn't really until the 1990's with the house scene in full swing that the early downtempo scene started to lose it's kitch and became something of an obscurity, loved by those who craved that particular sound without wanting to progress forward to new thinking. Downtempo was becoming stagnant. That is until around the mid-90's when two huge labels were set up, James Lavelle, who formed Mo Wax was up there at the forefront and also early 90's house pioneers Coldcut emerged on the scene with they're label Ninja Tune, making a whole new sound called Trip-Hop. These labels offered a whole new sound, a whole new way of musical expression though slow, smoked out, hip-hop beats fused with jazz and other assorted samples and sounds. These labels brought to the forefront artists such as DJ Food, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, Funky Porcini and U.N.K.L.E.. Downtempo was split, one way was trip-hop and jazz and the beats from yesteryear. Also emerging from the now rapidly divided house scene came what is now known as Deep House; a unique sound that fused house beats with jazz and lounge sounds. Often instrumental tracks but eventually becoming more and more vocal led. This wasn't a sound that could be thrown in with every other house/rave genre, it could (and still can) sit quite happily alongside the much slower, yet still funk enfused trip-hop sounds. It is these events from the mid-90's that bring us to the sound which is so familiar to many today.
LABELS
Rather than give you more spiel to read through, i've compiled a small list of labels i recommend you to check out. This is more well-known labels so tracking down tracks shouldn't be so difficult. The following also prove as a good basis to getting you started and used to the sounds. Check out:
- Warp
- Grand Royale
- Grand Central
- Primate
- Peppermint Lounge
- !
- F Communications
- PIAS
- Hed Kandi
- Mushroom Jazz
- Mo Wax
- Ninja Tune
- Journeys By DJ
- JazzFM
- Instinct
- Shadow Records
- Certificate 18
- Moving Shadow
- Stereo Deluxe
- Roule
- Musicrama U.S.
- Soulfuric
- Naked NYC
- Nude
- ESL Music
- Wagram Records
- Groove Connection
- Solid
- Source Lab
- oM Records
ONLINE/OFFLINE RADIO STATIONS
Here is a list of good radio stations to check out (some offline stations have online streaming. Some don't. But here you can check out more music for free.
Last edited by Mystic Slippers on 08-05-2003 at 02:17 AM
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07-21-2003 03:28 PM
