Elite Beat. Selected Rhythms Vol 2.

Label: Research Records – Research10
Released: Feb 2021
Genre: Electronic, Reggae
Style: Dub, Tribal

Research Records continue their voyage into Elite Beat’s extraordinary back catalogue with their second compilation Selected Rhythms Vol. 2. The chosen tracks are lifted from the Portland collective's three-part cassette series Casual Rhythms; a treasure chest of meditative and genre-defying instrumentals where percussion and dub accents prevail.

Elite Beat’s approach to producing music is their routine for respite. The band reflects when they come together weekly, it’s an opportunity to put down their other projects, ambitions, work and life stresses for a few hours and “just be.” This spirit flows into their free-form expression, absorbing both the band and the listener. Additionally, Elite Beat reveals the foundation of their output lies in the discipline of being able to sustain vibration through repetition. There’s a constant coiling mantra throughout each track, the band commenting “while many musicians can get totally bored playing the same thing over and over, we love it!”

The mixing process swings between embracing the warmth of live recordings and generating noise with analog manipulation. The band experiments with their recorded sound expressing “we are less concerned with sounding like 90% of recorded music out there and more concerned with trying shit out.” Elite Beat also cite dub music and it’s process of recording as an inspiration and how this approach lends itself to a “deep listening experience,” a notion the band channels artfully.

Remastered for the first time on vinyl, Selected Rhythms Vol. 2 adds to the immersive and interstellar tapestry of Elite Beat. The compilation delves deep into the healing and hypnosis that characterises the collective. For those who were inevitably left looking for more with Selected Rhythms Vol. 1, here’s a no-brainer.

Tracklist

A1 Los Baez By Midnight
A2 Cosmic Imbalance
A3 1000 Stairs
A4 Duck Dive
B1 The Confuser (Dub)
B2 Undertow
B3 Triplitizer
B4 RLC (Vocoder Dub)