Music Definitions

Downtempo : overview

Downtempo (or Down Tempo, or DownTempo) is a laid-back electronic music style often intended more for listening and socializing than dancing, though some releases are unmistakably produced for the dance floor. Often the names lounge music or chill out are used to refer to songs demonstrative of the genre, but those names also refer to other styles of music, and downtempo encompasses a wider variety of styles than those terms alone would indicate.

The downtempo genre draws heavily on dub, hip hop, jazz, funk, soul, drum 'n' bass, ambient, and pop and is often confused and/or mated with closely-related styles like IDM, trip hop, and acid jazz.

Kruder & Dorfmeister from Austria and Thievery Corporation from the United States are amongst the most well-known bands of the genre. Both founded their own influential labels: G-stone and Eighteenth Street Lounge. Other important labels promoting downtempo music are Stereodeluxe ( Germany) and Akara Music ( UK) with their artist Glideascope.

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