Duck Sauce (A-Trak & Armand Van Helden) Interview - Governor's Ball is really their 1st NYC show as Duck Sauce!

I can't mention Duck Sauce and not share Barbra Streisand and Big Bad Wolf (Warning: video for Big Bad Wolf is, uh, weird)

An Interview with Therapist (Global Downtempo/Ambient DJ) - help him win a spot @ the TREE OF LIFE Festival!

Therapist is a downtempo DJ in Bulgaria that specializes in chillout, psychill and ambient styles. He is a regular at the European outdoor festivals and he shared a set designed to win him a spot at the upcoming Tree of Life festival in Turkey this summer. He creates his sets to be a fully immersive experience, where a listener can truly allow their feet to lift off the ground and float along, while allowing themselves to be moved by this energy that bubbles up inside them. I interviewed Therapist about downtempo music, DJing and festivals he's playing next. Listen to his set and read the interview below. AND, please comment on the set in Soundcloud - this set is for a contest to win a spot at the Tree of Life Festival, and the set with the most comments by June 15 wins. We want to help Therapist win, so please read the interview and click on the set below and add a comment:



Downbeatscape: What does "downtempo" music mean to you? Is it any different from chillout or ambient styles, and how do consider the terms/styles working together?

Therapist: Most people see "downtempo" as something that puts them to sleep, something to listen when they meditate or relax. For me, downtempo is much more than that. The term itself includes a spectrum of genres - all kinds of ambient, chillout, electroacoustic, IDM, dub and some world and ethnic music. Downtempo is a type of music that can explore a part of one's consciousness that very few genres can. It can produce unique states of mind and take you on a serene journey or reveal a part of you that you never knew existed. Also, it is not just the sound that matters - its the culture it brings with it, of positive and open-minded people.

DBS: How did you first get interested in ambient music?

Therapist: It was more or less an accident. I have always listened to electronic music, but never anything similar to downtempo. Few years back, I was listening to an online radio and an ambient mix started one morning - I was instantly captivated by the sound and it all began from there.

DBS: How did you first get your start as an ambient DJ?

Therapist: I have been mixing and producing in a few genres since the age of 17. I had a different alias back then, but my music varied from progressive trance to dark psychedelic and hardcore. I was experimenting and searching for the field I am most comfortable with and I think I found it with ambient (mainly psychill) some 5 years ago. Since the scene and community here in Bulgaria is very small and I was already a part of it, it didn't take much time to start recording mixes and participating on major events in my own country.

DBS: What have been the biggest challenges to you as an ambient DJ, seeing as many 'popular' scenes aren't always quite inclusive toward your style of DJing?

Therapist: The main issue, as I see it, is getting people to listen - [ambient] is not a genre that can be understood just by glancing at it. Downtempo isn't club music and most people aren't aware that the alternative is not just for listening to at the office or before bed. The best setting for such music are the open air festivals, which most people don't visit very often, for their own reasons. Even in Europe we have our versions of mainstream music that flood all the media and leave a lot of quality production (not just downtempo) behind. Still, I don't envision downtempo as something that can or should be everyone's choice of sound. The fact that it is mostly underground does not bother me at all. Also, the funding of most of the festivals in Europe is really limited, which makes it difficult to participate in festivals because of travel costs.

DBS: What festivals or other gigs do you have coming up?

Therapist: For the moment, my main goal is to help promote and form a stable ambient subculture in my own country - I am not only DJing, I'm also doing my small part in the organization of all kinds of indoor and outdoor parties and festivals - Chill Station, Artmospheric and Tangra festivals, to name a few. Apart from that, I am participating on the chill stage of Gaea Festival in Greece, which hosts some really great artists. Hopefully I will win the best set contest for Tree of Life festival in Turkey and participate on the chill stage there. I'm also having negotiations with few other festivals around Europe and an exclusive set for Q-Lounge.fm coming soon.

DBS: Where do you find influence for your DJ sets?

Therapist: I don't really have any DJ influence - I try to set my own path, using my vision of what the set should look like, forge a concept around it and hopefully send a message that the listeners can receive. Of course, there are numerous labels that have shaped my perception of the genre - Ultimae, Cosmicleaf, Altar, Soundmute, Dakini, Chillcode, Spiral Trax, Fluid Audio, Celestial Dragon, Twisted Records and many more.

DBS: Where do you see the future of ambient music going?

Therapist: Electroacoustic is becoming more and more popular at the moment, which is really cool to see - it is a very interesting mix of acoustic instruments and drones, a lot you can experiment with. Also, some of the major psychill artists are focusing on space and beatless ambient and there are a lot of great tracks and albums coming out. Personally I would like to see even more variety in the downtempo subgenres - mainly some ethnic and psychill variations, more experimenting and blending of different elements.

Friendzone - Follow Me

I was super pleased to hear Friendzone's "Follow Me" on Hype Machine. It the perfect song for a chilled Saturday morning - a truly atmospheric downtempo track that drives you forward with staccato hip hop beats underneath a dream-like, synthetic melody. Friendzone is a producer duo based on the West Coast, particularly the Bay Area. Check out "Follow Me" and more of their tracks and instrumental beats below, and download "Follow Me" here - provided via Friendzone's Tumblr page:

Solid Steel Radio Show 5/25/12 - Funk & Soul Edition, by Coldcut, Dobie & DJ Irk

Every edition of Coldcut/Ninja Tune's Solid Steel Radio Show is a treat. Its not always exclusively downtempo music, but they always feature a different selection of downtempo styles. The last show I really enjoyed (HERE) focused on downtempo trip hop with some glitch, and this show is completely different but equally entertaining - featuring funk and soul, with a bit of Amon Tobin, trip hop and electronic sounds to finish it off. This show features the "godfather" funk fusion Chuck Brown, along with artists he's influenced, including Nas, Chris Turner, the Beatles, and more.

Liquid / Chill Drum & Bass by DJC-Kay

Some chilled d&B for your listening pleasure - just because...

OHM Dedication Series #2: JD Twitch x Adrian Sherwood

The second mix in the OHM Dedication Series showcasing legendary and behind-the-scenes influential artists is another must listen. This mix - JD Twitch presents Adrian Sherwood - showcases downtempo dub and industrial electronic music produced by British artist Adrian Sherwood, including his work with Lee "Scratch" Perry, Prince Far-I and Tackhead, among others. (Paraphrased from One-Handed Music's description via SoundCloud) There are two parts to this 3-hour mix - the first is more electronic and industrial oriented, the second is more dub oriented:





Here's more about the mix, direct from One Handed Music via SoundCloud: "As one half of Optimo, JD Twitch is amongst the most respected DJs in the UK and his free-spirited genre-hopping approach makes him one of our favourites too."

"JD Twitch says it best: 'For my ears, Adrian Sherwood is the most sonically innovative producer the UK has ever given birth to. If you don't know anything about Mr. Sherwood or his ON U Sound label, either do a bit of Googling, have a listen to this mix or read this interview I was fortunate enough to conduct a couple of months ago (when he was in Glasgow) that is on the Racket Racket website.'

JD Twitch continues: "In my late teens and early 20s, Adrian Sherwood's work impacted on me more than anything I had previously heard and made me think about sonic possibilities in a completely new way. I would buy any record he had been involved with unheard and got into a lot of other artists purely because he had been involved with making their records. Indeed, my nom de plume "Twitch" came from a record he produced. It was a complete labour of love to do [this mix] and a revelation to hear how fresh and wild this music still sounds."

Drift to Center - Eclectic EDM Mix by Sounds Defy Gravity

Last night I came across this fantastic mix by MIKE NOUVEAU - a Los Angeles based DJ and musician, and author behind the Sounds Defy Gravity music blog. When I mixes catch my attention, its because I either get drawn in by the first song or I click through the mix and scan for interesting music or mixing techniques. This mix immediately got my attention with a slightly glitchy downtempo trip hop beat that then increases and decreases tempo throughout the mix and wanders between different types of house and bass music. This mix is quite impressive - the music selection works so well together and remains interesting throughout, and the transitions are incredibly smooth. It's a great spring/summer mix that you can lounge to or get up and move to - very versatile listening that doesn't disappoint. Listen and download it here, and check out Sounds Defy Gravity for the tracklist:

Ancient Astronauts - Orion Nebula Remixes Review - ft. ESL artists & friends: Second Sky, J-Boogie, Kabanjak, Subatomic Sound System, more

Ancient Astronauts recently released a remix album that features a ton of ESL Music (Eighteenth Street Lounge - Thievery Corporation's label) artists and friends. Ancient Astronauts are an international trip-hop duo from Germany that have dropped two previous downtempo hip hop albums through ESL Music. This remix album features great producers and artists that hail from ESL Music and other labels that put out great downtempo. Their guests include: J-Boogie, Subatomic Sound System, Entropik, Thomas Blondet, Second Sky, Kabanjak (one half of Ancient Astros), plus more.

This remix album takes Ancient Astronauts unique hip hop sound and adds a variety of international flavor, ranging from dubby reggae and afro-beat rhythms, bouncy funk, chilled lounge snyth melodies, and more - all with atmospheric ambiance that gives this remix album a texture that is distinctly ESL.

Listen to a mini-mashup of the album here, and you can get the album via Amazon here or iTunes.