What's this sound like? Is it down tempo a la Mezzanine or more upbeat a la Kruder & Dorfmeister? Or is it none of those? What album is the must have? Feed me.

edit: actually K&D isn't really upbeat. Upbeat a la Theivery Corp.

Downtempo a la Mezzanine. I recommend Carboot Soul or DJ Kicks. Usually the DJ Kicks series is a dj mix by the artist, but it's pretty damn good (you should check out the K&D and Thievery Corp DJ Kicks series as well) .

Here's their site where you can stream some stuff:
N.O.W.

Thanks Audri. I'm listening now. That Theivery Corp DJ Kicks is does have some good tracks, but overall I was a little disappointed in it. I want to check out the Daddy G DJ Kicks, but the record store next to my office is pretty inconsistant in what it carries (like it'll have one copy for 3 months and then nothing for 5 months).

carboot soul is a classic record. so smooth and smoked out. delicious.

Smokers Delight- Is pretty chill. It's not as dark as Mezzanine more like K+D although it doesn't share the Dub elements. But very minimal Funk & Soul elements that would appeal to the Hip Hop listener without being a straight up Hip Hop beat & some samples. It just sounds like it came more from the roots of Hip Hop than todays Hip Hop. The opening track "Nights Interlude", which they open thier first 3 albums with shares the same Quincy Jones sample that the Pharcyde used in "Passin Me By".

Carboot Soul- More of the same. Honestly I can't give you an honest review since I haven't listened to it in so long. But I don't remember it being that radically different from Smokers Delight.

DJ Kicks- He mixes his style instrumental tracks (and a lot of his own) with straight up Hip Hop from the likes of ATCQ, DITC, & Blackalicous. Way more Hip Hop than any of his studio albums. Not my favorite in the DJ Kicks series but it's good. There was actually a Live In LA bootleg foating around that featured a lot of the same set. When I saw him DJ it was like London '89, nothing but Acid House & Cut Up records WICKED

The Sound of NOW EP Pretty good little release with a track with De La Soul & some remixes of other tracks.

Mind Elevation his latest I don't have. And they (back when it was a duo) have an early album that's really hard to find A Word Of Science but I wouldn't bother tracking it down unless you don't find that, what I call the Rhythm King sound, dated at all. Eventhough it was on Warp it sounds like what was coming out on Rhythm King stuff like, Bomb The Bass, Beatmasters, Renegade Soundwave's non Dub tracks. It's basically England killing time between Acid House & Trip Hop by combining the 2 with mixed results, 13-15 years back.

The K&D one is WAY better.

Cool Damen. Thanks for the write-ups. I'm listening to a stream on their website right now and from what you've said I think this is right up my alley.

I actually think I brought this up over at cmj, but when I couldn't find an album at two record stores I went to and gave up. Or it's just deja vu.

I think the DJ Cam & Terranova are my faves. I listened to the K+D one the other day & the Ambient D+B totally lost me, did not age well. And I'm thinking Rockers Hi Fi which is a lot like K+D, just more Dubby & with an MC, might end up the same. Ironically though the best track to me on the K+D one is a Rockers side project Sapien. Smith & Mighty sounds a bit like Rockers but the D+B in the second half is harder & the Dub in the first half is more adventureous. Stereo MC's is solid, Kemistry + Storm is awesome if you like D+B & Kid Loco is a waste. And I agree with your assesment of the Theivery one, althou I think it's better than any of thier albums.