February 2nd, 2009 by niwa | posted in beats, download, downtempo, free music, funk, hiphop, jazz, triphop |

If you were born in the early 80s and you were into beat-music early on you probably remember 1998, the year Kruder & Dorfmeister released their instant classic 2CD mix compilation ‘The K&D Sessions‘. Between hiphop and house heads to rock and jazz lovers, everybody copped it and loved it. From that moment on, downtempo got less depressing and way more chilled than it was before.

Enter Moosefrog, circa 2003. 2 Finnish guys, one playing guitar and doing all the chord-work, the other focusing on beats and arranging. Together they create a blend that could easily fit on the K&D compilations: rolling beats, wide open atmospheric dusty rhodes and spaced out funky riffs.

Of the couple of releases they’ve done, so  far the 7-track EP called ‘Come’ is my favorite. Starting off with some exotic eastern’ish guitar melodics, the intro track ‘Zero Gravity Container’ also features a little synth bassline and hiphop-like drums. Taking the chilled vibe into the next track, Moosefrog drops some dusty rhodes and organs on ‘You Don’t Know It Yet’, a track that is reminiscent to Aphrodelics’ ‘Rollin’ On Chrome (Wild Motherfucker Dub)‘. It also features a ripping guitar solo, an aspect that returns in the next track ‘Sergey A Go-Go’ which has a more uptempo vibe, but still stays spacy.

Next up are 2 tracks that bring some heavy funk into the release: ‘Sixshooter’ and ‘Them Figures’. Both tracks feature a bit more extensive drumsequencing than the previous tunes and focus more on the total groove. This is emphasized by the rhythmbased guitar riffs a la the Theme From S.W.A.T.

Almost reaching the end of the release, the Frogs break down the tempo on ‘Coffee With Cream’, a sunday-morning-in-the-sun blend that’ll take the edge off things, guaranteed. The last track, ‘Dreaming Of Wings’, has a warm, deeper and darker feeling due to panning pads and a sweeping  synth bassline. An excellent and fulfilling way to end the E.P.

You can download the full EP at archive.org.

More releases by Moosefrog can be found in the audio section of their website, and you can reach out to them on MySpace.