Mark Farina - "Dream Machine"

This track by Om Records' DJ and Producer Mark Farina is a classic in my book - a downtempo, jazzy house groove that solidified my love for the style overall.

Downbeatscape & Properly Chilled present "The Upside"

Join Downbeatscape & Properly Chilled at "The Upside" a new night of downtempo beats and chilled dance vibes with DJs EROK (yours truly) and Properly Chilled. The event goes down January 19 at the Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA.

"The World's Most Important Drum Loop" a history & copyright commentary

James Bright - Phunctional Loungin downtempo tracks drop soon

James Bright's lounge music is enthralling. His new release "Little Things" is out on the Phunctional Loungin label (run by Jeff Bennett/Eddie Silverton) in wide release on January 12, 2010, and some tracks are out now on Beatport. Here's some more info about this established lounge guru (from his site):

James Bright is a recording artist and producer from the North West of England. He works predominantly with the genres of electronica, downbeat and chillout, but also turns his hand to deep house and balearic. He has seen many releases over the years most recently of which are released under his own name, James Bright. His work has found interest, and general release on popular labels including React (the infamous Cafe Del Mar album series), Hed Kandi and Quango.

James Bright was one half of the highly successful collaboration Lux. They have appeared on many compilations for names such as Cafe Del Mar, Ministry of Sound, Hed Kandi, MCA and EMI. In addition they featured heavily on cover discs for music magazines including DJ and Muzik, not to mention countless TV programmes, adverts and websites worldwide.

Visit the James Bright web site to listen and learn...enjoy...

Sixty4k - thanks for this beautiful discovery

Just started following @Sixty4K the Ambient Rockstar on Twitter, first thing I usually do when I follow someone is check out their web site, Facebook, ReverbNation, whatever... Went to his site Sixty4K the Ambient Rockstar and couldn't stop listening to this beatiful track/video he found on YouTube - a Zimbabwe-born singer/songwriter named Tinashe (@tinashemusic) who resides in London and makes beautiful music

Jane Silence - LadyLovely

I've been following singer/songwriter Jane Silence (@janesilence) on Twitter for a while and she kindly forwarded some of her tracks to me. Her sound is dark atmospheric, industrial almost, bordering on trip-hop. I like her track "Ache", where her vocals really complement the mood of the instrumentals in the track. I also really enjoy the progressive house mix of her track "Nightshift." Take a listen below...

Dubstep Santa - for those who got coal, you'll always have this...

Audioprophecy

Brandon from Properly Chilled connected me with a downtempo DJ in Boston called Audioprophecy. We shared a message or two on Soundcloud and I've listened to some of his mixes - very chill, real deep, and perfect for the chilled out crowd. I'm hoping to chat with him more and hear how he creates his mixes - from what I've listened to he keeps it pretty minimal and smooth. Quite enjoyable. Listen and download his mixes here: http://soundcloud.com/audioprophecy