Music has been on my list of Andy[x] pursuits from the very beginning, sitting quietly in a list between RF communication and transportation systems. And it’s also the first of those pursuits to leave the workshop. This week I launched downtempo.org.
downtempo.org is a curated map of downtempo music: a guide to its subgenres, the labels that publish great music, and the new releases to check out. While I’ve automated where I can to keep pace with new releases, I’ve included editorial starting with one album feature and review published each month. It points out to the artists and labels rather than hosting any audio itself. It is meant to be a starting point and a sense of direction for anyone who wants to get lost in this music, kept current with light upkeep.
The story behind downtempo.org goes back further than Andy[x] does. I first fell for downtempo music in the chill rooms of mid-90s Seattle, started DJing as “DJ Dusty” at Burning Man, and turned a nine-listener radio station running on a PC in my bedroom into the seed of Live365. The longer version of that story lives on the site’s about page. The short version is that giving people a way to find music they love, and a way to share it, is something I have been doing in one form or another for more than twenty-five years.
So why build downtempo.org now? The honest answer is the same reason Andy[x] exists at all: I have the time, the energy, and the deep background. That turns out to matter. lot of what I care about, here and in the projects still in the workshop, comes down to giving people back a little time, and a little room to follow what they actually care about. downtempo.org is a small, personal version of that idea. It is also simply a labor of love, and I am glad to have it out in the world.
If you already know this music, I hope downtempo.org helps you find your next favorite new track or album. If you have never heard of it, start anywhere and follow what sounds good. Let me know if you find something meaningful, or you see interesting areas to expand into.
Have a look, and if you want to know what leaves my workshop next, that’s what the Andy[x] mailing list is for.