This is music for the twilight hours. It’s electronic music with an air of mystery to it. It features crazy syncopated beats, otherworldly vocals, and all sorts of basslines. If you’re up late doing work or just wasting time in the wee hours this’ll suit you well.
Waves – J Dilla
We’re starting it off smooth and laid back with some instrumental hip hop. Obscured vocals get cut and scratched into the heavy bass backing, hinting at whats to come.
02 Building Steam With A Grain Of Sa
Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt – DJ Shadow
Things take a turn for the foreboding at the opening of this track. The steam builds to the middle where you get a taste of DJ Shadow’s break-beat skills. Then it gets funky. Then it’s spacey. Then it’s all of that at once. And then we end right where we started. Is it coming through you?
Believer – John Maus
The synths seem to soar and intertwine while the the straightforward baseline hums along. The notes bend in and out of tune ever so slightly while his vocals convey a sense of…yearning? earnest? Both? It’s hard to put your finger on it but it’s a powerful combination.
Archangel – Burial
The tones ebb and flow as the beat rises and jitters. Otherworldly vocals strain over the crackle and hiss of a needle in a groove. It’s almost ghostly in the sense that it’s unsettling yet absolutely intriguing.
Xtal – Aphex Twin
We’re gonna turn down the intensity a bit now and just drift. This song has the ability to make you feel relaxed and utterly at peace but still making you want to groove as the low end thumps along. Few artists can produce the atmosphere Aphex Twin does, especially on this song.
Roygbiv – Boards of Canada
Another laid back tune here. It opens with the deep synths characteristic of Boards of Canada. At first you can’t quite tell what the mood of the song is gonna be but by the time the deliberate drum beat drops and pushes us along its clear that this is all about feeling mellow.
NY Is Killing Me – Gil Scott Heron and Jamie xx
This one starts out pretty intense almost to the point of abrasiveness, especially after the languid affair over the rainbow. But once that beat drops you’re gonna dig it. Jamie xx (the man behind the beats of The xx) reworks Gil Scott Heron’s vocals into an original song that is something truly intense.
CMYK – James Blake
As the last tone from Jamie fades out the first ones from James trickle in. There’s a lot going on in this track and if you blink you’ll miss something (figuratively of course, ears don’t have eyelids). The voice that we are introduced to at the beginning is ever present, but more come in with the beat for an effect of several people all talking to each other (or maybe themselves?) at once.
Mysterons – Portishead
Trip hop. Straight out of 1994, there’s no modulation to these vocals. That’s just the prowess that is Beth Gibbons. Crescendo-ing drum rolls and a recurring pair of chords form the beat of this song. Throw in a theremin and you have a trip hop classic.
10 We Share Our Mothers’ Health
We Share Our Mother’s Health – The Knife
I’m convinced that there is no other band like Swedish siblings The Knife. This song– I don’t really even know what I can say about it. It speaks for itself. Masterful plain and simple.
Empathy – Crystal Castles
The opening synths almost feel like needles. However, when Alice Glass’ vocals are steeped back in the mix with disembodied voice tones its divine.
Frontier Psychiatrist – The Avalanches
“That boy needs therapy.” This entire song (and album for that matter) is made up entirely of samples from records, films, comedy bits, and more. That alone gives the track a startlingly unique feel, but adding in some awesome scratching seals the deal.
GNG BNG – Flying Lotus
Flylo gives you a full spectrum of electronic noise in this track most of which tend towards the hazy and fuzzy. It starts off sounding something like snake charmer’s music, but then the real beats come in with some buzzing synths for an all out break down.
Safe From Harm – Massive Attack
We end with Massive Attack who know how to smooth things over. Relax and calm yourself down as this one fades out and maybe you can finally head to the land of nod.