Elite Beat – Selected Rhythms

Included in Gilles Peterson’s “Best of 2019” list, Portland-based dub collective Elite Beat’s Selected Rhythms is a percussion-driven Afro dub trip crafted from “Casual Rhythms / Harmonious Lifestyles.” The group has a history spanning back to 2006 and regularly gets together every Wednesday evening, “sometimes to chat and sometimes to play.” This loose, yet methodical collaborative approach results in a very natural and locked-in sound that can only come from musicians spending countless hours sharing time and space together. There are a lot of influences at play here with the band citing the sound as “some Ethio Jazz, Black Ark psychedelia, Exotica, Malian blues, even Haight-Ashbury in the summer of love.” If you’re into this, be sure to also check out the group’s work with celebrated Taureg guitarist Mdou Moctar titled Mdou Moctar Meets Elite Beat In A Budget Dancehall.

– Phil Cho

Recommended – A2 Go Back To Oly, A4 Mellow Fellows, B2 Powerdance