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Downbeat in mood and tempo, Dourbeat is centered around trip hop with a strong, narrative composition and a broad array of instrumentation. But it also features a selection of similarly themed tracks with a focus on quality rather than genre. Moving beyond its roots in instrumental hip hop, Dourbeat includes leftfield dubbiness, classical, drum n’ bass, turbo dub and other hard to categorize songs. The mix also refuses to get too dogmatic in terms of speed, mood and vocals; occasionally dipping into mid-tempo electronica, uplifting lover’s rock, and rap.

Philip Glass — “Einstein” [Buy It]
Emancipator — “Ares”
The Arch Cupcake — “Rubix Dude” [Buy It]
2Pac — “Still Ballin’ (Mimosa RMX)”
Slouch — “Canaria”
Zomby — “Digital Fauna” [Buy It]
No Band — “No Title” [Buy It]
The XX — “Space Bass (Jamie XX RMX)”
Sine Weaver — “Tyranny Of The Barline” [Buy It]
Lynx & Kemo Feat. Bango Collective & Denis Jones — “The Raw Truth” [Buy It]
Dupe — “Vistareel”
Celt Islam — “Wahdaat ul Wajood (Unity of Being)”
Delhi 2 Dublin — “Stage 5 (Ecodek’s One Drop RMX)”
Tabla Beat Science — “Palmistry” [Buy It]
Larry McDonald — “Head Over Heels” [Buy It]
KRTS — “Misunderstood”

Cover painting by Alex Kanevsky.

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Parked around a campfire on an Eastern European mountaintop, a group of diverse travelers exchange stories about lost love through their respective instruments. At first, an obese horn and an anemic string pour their hearts into the clear, starry sky, acting as tinder to the fire’s scenic introduction. Then the spark of a boom bap rhythm and an old piano ignite the beginnings of the tale. At first, the disparate sounds come together as nothing more than an interesting curiosity. But halfway through, the warmth of the flames spread a genuine mood of longing about the crisp air. Meanwhile, the intellect is warmed by the variety of lingering melodies and myriad instrumentation.

Unkle Ho released this little gem as a free download via SoundCloud, but you can cop the rest of the EP here. You might also want to check out the blog of their record label, UrbanWorld Music. Photo by Severin Koller.

To avoid any hating, listen to this track before reading on. It’s probably an easy guess anyway.

Finished? Ight, then. The switched up beat, the polyrhythm drum madness, the chopped vocals and horns, and yes, even the incessant whistle in the background. They all combine to make for an intelligent, sweaty and moody night. We are not fans of vocal house, nor are we fond of lyrics about love. But this one is just crispy. Besides, it’s Deee Lite. What do you expect? The song is “Bring Me Your Love (Johnny Vicious Cosmic Isness Remix)” from the secret track on their 1994 album, Dewdrops in the Garden. It’s crazy that musicians like this used to be on MTV. Painting by Sylvia Ji.