Down-but-not-out-tempo music

As someone who likes hip hop and electronic music, I've always been pretty primed to enjoy downtempo music. At the same time, being born in 1990 I was probably a bit young to enjoy most downtempo music when it was contemporary. I listened to a good amount of chillwave/lo-fi in the 2010s and as I've gotten more into lounge/jazz/world music, the downtempo vibes are what I crave many workdays.

What are some of your favorite downtempo albums?

Downtempo bands I've enjoyed in the last year: Air, Bonobo, Boards of Canada, Bowery Electric, Nico Jaar, Everything but the Girl, Four Tet, Lemon Jelly, Herbert, Mr Twin Sister, Romare, Thievery Corporation, Tycho, Zero 7.

List not comprehensive! Don't think too hard about the definition of downtempo. I'm just Googling for lists and writing down artists I like. Who gives a shit what is actually downtempo.

Amon Tobin has some nice stuff. Bricolage is the ‘classic’ but his double album from a year ago was pretty great. Fear In A Handful Of Dust and Long Stories were companion albums from what I remember, so not exactly double. Honestly you’d probably like most of his stuff if this is the music you’re seeking.

I love Portishead's Dummy and Third records, but I'm not sure that's what this thread is about and I suspect that's not a band anybody hasn't heard millions of times already.

Portishead is on the money, but yeah, trying to find more unheralded stuff to work my way through. Nothing wrong with celebrating those records though. I find Portishead is a bit anxious for the stuff I use to get through the day.

Stuff like the first two Bowery Electric records:

Primo downtempo BS (and incredibly different from Bowery Electric, showing how useless this term is):

Listened to this album a fuck ton back in the day after Duff or Viv or maybe Scopdom Scop recommended it in some thread (that I started about Bossa Nova music?):

I listened to some Broadcast albums a few weeks ago and found many of their songs downtempo.

Nick wrote:I listened to some Broadcast albums a few weeks ago and found many of their songs downtempo.

Weirdo pop bands like Broadcast or Stereolab are working with some downtempo elements and deserve to be discussed along this type of music. Especially for their vocals.

jesus jones wrote:

Now this is some HEAT my man. We'll be fucking all night long to this!

Good downtempo music sounds like hash smoking itself.

Playing this K&D compilation about twice a day now!

Chrono, have you listened to the SPARKLE DIVISION album from last year? I’m not sure why it didn’t light this board up considering it’s a William Basinski project and he plays Saxophone on the whole thing. But regardless it might fit in with what you’re looking for, I don’t know.

I haven't, but a cursory listen of a few tracks suggests it's right up my alley. I threw it on my playlist for the month!

I enjoyed the SPARKLE DIVISION throughout and will probably listen a few more times, but it didn't grab me hard. Was just nice to have on.

Downtempo exploration has led me to DJ Shadow who I'm trying to absorb a bit. I particularly love this:



Another track I've enjoyed recently:

I listened to this artist more than anyone else in 2020 and Boredom Never Looked So Good was my favorite album of last year.



Funki Porcini used to be a regular on Ninja Tune but now they just sign any popular electronic artists and have kind of gotten away from downtempo/turntable/sample music, so he just releases music independently these days and it gets next to no attention from the media or the parts of the Internet that are supposed to be listening but just co-sign anything pushed by the big "indie" PR firms. He is a true artist and is making the best music of his career and it's going unheard.

I posted this several years ago and I remember you commenting on it, I think you said you liked it but maybe you were only talking about the cover art.



Some of his music is really funny, sometimes it goes into weird and dark places. It's all great!

I haven't even spent much time with his "classic" stuff that's more well known but I still have that to look forward to so that's cool

undo wrote:He is a true artist and is making the best music of his career and it's going unheard.

I kind of feel the same way about DJ Olive but he's been silent for a few years now.

undo wrote:Funki Porcini used to be a regular on Ninja Tune but now they just sign any popular electronic artists and have kind of gotten away from downtempo/turntable/sample music

My coworker sent me some DJ Krush and Xen Cuts mixes that I thought were solid. Some of it was a bit schitzo, but enjoyable. I enjoyed the aesthetic and the ideas more than the particular mixes.

Everything you posted seems like it's worth digging into. Appreciate those recs.

Listening to Stereolab — Emperor Tomato Ketchup this morn!

In addition to the worthy artists suggested so far (especially K and D- their "G-Stoned" EP is critical), I would add the following:

Tosca, Dzihan and Kamien, Balmorhea, M83, Nosaj Thing, Jassanova, Morcheeba, Royksopp, Caribou, Lusine, Nightmares on Wax, Fila Brazillia, Plaid, Trentemoller, Kid Loco, Machinedrum, Groove Armada, Com Truise, Tipper, Lone, Casino vs. Japan, Panama Fleets, Pye Corner Audio, Bibio, Moderat, Sofa Surfers, Mo' Horizons, Dining Rooms and St. Germain.

vIv wrote:In addition to the worthy artists suggested so far (especially K and D- their "G-Stoned" EP is critical), I would add the following:

Tosca, Dzihan and Kamien, Balmorhea, M83, Nosaj Thing, Jassanova, Morcheeba, Royksopp, Caribou, Lusine, Nightmares on Wax, Fila Brazillia, Plaid, Trentemoller, Kid Loco, Machinedrum, Groove Armada, Com Truise, Tipper, Lone, Casino vs. Japan, Panama Fleets, Pye Corner Audio, Bibio, Moderat, Sofa Surfers, Mo' Horizons, Dining Rooms and St. Germain.

Even though there are some weak points on that K&D sessions mix, it's probably my favorite thing I've heard this year. The shitty parts are what makes it great! Unironically listening to 90s rappers rhyme "macaroni" is freeing.

Since I'm a basic fuck who just listens to the same algorithmic playlists over and over, been jamming this:

Very sick mix:

YouTube put Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz series on my feed this morning. Perfect for this thread

you know a lot of the music in that set isn't downtempo at all but there are a bunch of moments and it's certainly a lot slower and breezier than most of the dance music I listen to

anything with bongos is automatically downtempo bruv.

i'm not only into downtempo anyway! i like how nicely it sits in a mix between runs of real dance music. the Golden Years K&D mix has some insanely dancey numbers throughout, but also lets you breathe with slow and more analog elements. Boiler Room is always good.

i enjoy that this thread is knowledgable people talking about music they enjoy.

Gene Bootcut wrote:you know a lot of the music in that set isn't downtempo at all but there are a bunch of moments and it's certainly a lot slower and breezier than most of the dance music I listen to

He drops a sick sample of "LFT" from Quadron in there.

Good article on "the Austrian scene": https://www.musicexport.at/the-austrian-electronic-music-scene-since-2000/