Feeling Really Down

With all that's been going on with me, a good friend told me I just needed to chill for a while.

After posting Zen Baboon at the end of June & all that has happened to me, I've been feeling really down. Downtempo, that is. Like the Baboon sez: "Now What?"  

Well, obviously...I'm going on a Downtempo binge. 

Downtempo is a broad enough label, featuring atmospheric sounds & slowed beats that some of it should appeal to some of you. Downtempo is closely related to Ambient music which I have shared plenty, differing from Ambient in its heavier emphasis on rhythm.

Downtempo music is a wide genre encompassing many different atmospheric genres, including chillwave, lo-fi hip hop, glo-fi, chillout music, Downtempo electronic, psybient, psychill, deep house music, hypnagogic, & more.

Downtempo music is the umbrella term for these numerous subgenres often with these unifying characteristics:
     1. Emphasis on atmosphere: While pop or rock often emphasize melodies or guitar riffs, Downtempo music is mainly focused on atmosphere, using layered sounds to create a particular mood or tone that is chill & slow-paced.
     2. Slow beat: “Downtempo” literally means “slow beat” in music terminology, so songs in the genre usually incorporate a slow-paced beat (around 90 BPM) rather than a fast, dance-oriented one. However, the presence of a beat is still important for Downtempo, distinguishing it from songs with little to no beat that lean more into Ambient.
     3. Gentle melody: Downtempo music usually incorporates more melody into the songs than other more Ambient genres, making it slightly more recognizably memorable, more earworm than purely Ambient. 

I have dug deeply into Steve Cobby & Dave McSherry, producing under the name Fila Brazillia. They released a catalogue of Downtempo, electronica, & Ambient techno albums that helped propelled the Downtempo style. I also have shared numerous releases from the Washington, D.C.  greats Eric Hilton & Rob Garza, better known as Thievery Corporation, who pushed US Downtempo forward by combining elements of Jamaican Dub / reggae.

Perhaps one of the reasons that Downtempo includes such a broad range of styles is that, unlike other genres such as trance, Downtempo, especially the Ambient variety, is much less dance-oriented, so its purpose is more for pure listening pleasure, making it accessible to a wider audience than just club-goers.

I'm feeling Down...hold on. 

 

TUDCo is a trio of music producers Alan Hill (R.I.P. 2012), Lol Graves, & Tony Messenger making Downtempo for prominent British indie label Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ (best known for originally signing the Future Sound of London). 

 

The Unlimited Dream Company - Voltage Controlled Dreaming, 

Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ CDTOT24, 1995,
decryption code in comments

Breathe -    
Up in Dub Heaven    
The Shore Gardens    
As One Door Closes

Sleep -     
The Potion Takes Effect    
If I Should Step    
Feel like I'm Falling

Dream    -
The Scenic Root    
Sandoz by Moonlight    
No Headaches

Heaven -    
Up in Dub Heaven (Ambient Heaven)

 

Enjoy,
NØ