Sorting the downtempo stacks

Breathe Me (Four Tet Remix) - Sia
from 10" on Go! Beat (2004).
On My Way - 3 Foot People f/ Linn
from the album 3 Foot High & Rising on Homegrown (2006).

I'll admit that the links between tracks I feature here are sometimes tenuous at best, and today takes it to a new level. Basically these records have nothing specific in common (that I care to uncover/write about now) other than that I find them to be very dope and I listened to them repeatedly while reshelving downtempo/trip-hop records this weekend. Feel free to connect your own mental dots if inspired by the tracks.

The first track is Four Tet's percussion heavy remix of Sia's somewhat recent big hit "Breathe Me." Sia, of course, is Sia Furler the Australian vocalist who has been the lovely lyric slinger for Jamiroquai and Zero7 before going solo. The original is a few years old, but has had a huge resurgence because it was prominently featured in the amazing finale to the often amazing HBO series Six Feet Under. I vastly prefer the Four Tet remix to the original.

The other track also features a breathy female vocal turn (this time by Linn who isn't familiar to me). Here the beats are a blunted and mellow production by 3 Foot People (aka Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire). I can say it is representative of the quality of the 3 Foot album even if it isn't representative of the style which jumps smoothly between dub, funk breaks, hip hop, and downtempo all with a loungey and polished feel quite reminiscent of Nightmares On Wax.

Short and sweet post. Enjoy while you contemplate Federer's legacy and what that Italian defender might have said to Zinedane.