This version features exclusive digital bonus track from Baron Zen! The insanely lo-fi Baron (aka Sweet Steve) gets completely overhauled on the remix disc. Our man Blu Jemz' remix of "Walked In Line" is minimal and menacing, with just enough guitar shreaddage...   click for more

"Funky downtempo" is potentially a lame way to describe music, but here, it's quite fitting. "Duru People" exhibits that musky, stinky-face sound, complete with some complimentary Beastie Boys-esque vocal samples. Midtempo producer Ed Royal provides a live sounding retake. "Shapeshifter" continues the...   click for more

Brooklyn's finest downtempo label comes through with a cold six pack from some of our favorite producers. Mawglee's "I Can Hear The Clock" is the trippiest, clever uses of a vocal sample I've heard in a while. Jugoe follows up with the...   click for more

Release #5 from Bastard Jazz focuses on the dub side of things. Much like the format of their previous releases, label regulars Jugoe and Spooky provide a track each, which then get remixed by 2 guests. Jugoe's "Collienation" is a clever take...   click for more

Good to see these guys doing their thing. Brooklyn based collective Bastard Jazz have been plugging away at the parched domestic downtempo scene with relative success. This is their 4th release and features some high profile collaborations. First up, a dreamy remix...   click for more

Bastard Jazz's second release from August 2002. The title refers to Saru, Mujaji, and DRM leaving Shadow Records to start Bastard Jazz. The guys assembled a crew of like minded producers here, introducing us to artists like Spooky and Master Mosquito. The...   click for more

This Poo-Bah release was originally Japan exclusive 7" from 2007. Black Dusty Rhodes (best name ever) and Ras G split sides here, two songs apiece. BDR goes the stuttered beat route with intentionally imperfect loops and wacky samples. Ras G uses...   click for more

2006 mini-album from Blackmonk. Only 500 were pressed on the vinyl, so chances are, you've never heard this sublime piece of west coast downtempo. 8 tracks deep, MonkMusic is exactly what you'd expect from the super-consistent Poo-Bah records: beats, texture, and...   click for more

More forward thinking beats from Pasadena's Poo-Bah label. This is actually the label's long out of print first release from 2005. A wide spectrum of dusty styles are represented: dark soul breaks on "Hummin", pretty shit on "Cool Out...   click for more

A succinct 6 track sampler drawn from Blockhead's Uncle Tony's Coloring Book album. Although Block has been delivering the goods to indy emcees like Aesop, Cage, Slug, and Murs, he always seems to keep the best, most forward stuff for himself. His...   click for more

GAWD-DAMN! That's all I gotta say. 23 tracks of the heaviest drum tracks I've ever heard, straight from the funk gods at Stones Throw. If anyone knows beats, its these dudes. Don't bother scratchin' your head, going "where is this loop from?"...   click for more

Oh Shit! Bastard Jazz keeps filling the void with this mind melting seven inch from Canadians Chronic Sonata. Everyday is everything I wanted it to be and more. If you love dub, buy this record. If you love...   click for more

Dabrye's Instrmntl was been one of our best selling downtempo releases when it first dropped. Hardly known before his Eastern Developments release, Dabrye has put a huge mark in the downtempo production field. One/Three was released a year before Instrmtl on the...   click for more

Dublab's Daedelus is know for his eclectic electronic beats like the wonderful track "Fair Weather Friends," but he really takes it up a notch here. He rocks and shocks with "My Beau," a electro cover of the booty bass anthem...   click for more

Outstanding, freewheeling album from this 17-piece psych rock collective out of Athens, GA. Here's the review, but you should really just listen for yourself: "Imagine the Stooges meeting Crazy Horse with killer marching band horns, wailing gospel backing vocals, ripping Eddie Hazel...   click for more

Deadmau5 has been making noise both in the beatmaking community with his hard to categorize beats and the dance world with his aggressive electro-house tracks. This 2005 album shows that dual promise with a mix of hard/fast (Intelstat, 8Bit, Satisfaction), finessed downtempo...   click for more

The Gaslamp Killer put me onto these beats, so you know it's gotta be good. He played it at our LA store, and I knew it was something special. Whereas most Indian influenced beats sound like loops from Bollywood records hastily pasted...   click for more

The 2001 debut release for Brooklyn-based downtempo label Bastard Jazz. These two tracks were originally released as a 7" which is now long out of print. "10 For Life(1)" is an excellent piece of minimal dowtempo. Moody tones, bass, drums. and abstract...   click for more

One of my favorite downtempo records from 2002. It's an impressive 12 track release from Vienna's top hip-hop DJ and another solid release for the G-Stone label. The downtempo game has been overrun with dark beats since the MoWax days, but...   click for more