Prius causes Downtempo

Different vein completely, but I found a band called Ringside that I've been digging recently. One of the guys in the band is Balthazar Getty who Alias fans would know, but they've got a great sound.

 

Did anyone mention Air?--no, not Air Supply, just Air.
Also, I second the vote for Morcheeba. Skye Edwards, the creamiest, dreamiest voice, love it. The Sea is my favorite track. B)

 

Try:

Pandora.com

 

Some good choices available on ITunes:

The Mullosk- Ween

In the Back of My Mind- That Dog

Tatoo- Petra Haden

 

There have been a lot of good suggestions that fit well into the genre. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Boards of Canada. They just started using guitars on their latest album "Campfire Headphase" so it is an interesting one to check out, but all of them are really good. Filled with thick analog synth washes and samples from old high-school film strips that warble and take you back in a weird way. They also use interesting drum sounds and styles of drum programming. Anyone who listens to downtempo music should at least check them out if you haven't already.

I'm also a big fan of Dabrye. "Instrmntl" is a pretty laid back album that might work for the desired vibe as well.

Check out bleep.com. They have music from Boards of Canada (who are actually from Scotland, not Canada) and Dabrye as well as lots of other great artists. You can listen to entire tracks as long as you keep clicking on the play button. And their downloads don't have any DRM so you can copy and burn them as much as you want.

 

Try Acoustic Alchemy, their albums are some really GREAT driving music. I usually load 3-5 of their albums on my mp3 player and they get me through a nice 250-300 mile drive.

 

Here are my suggestsions. Mostly these fit right in, some stray a little from downtempo or trip-hop, but I think all are worth a listen:

Amon Tobin (probably my personal fav driving music)
Baxter
Sneaker Pimps
Frou Frou
RJD2
Lovage
Talvin Singh
Roni Size

 

Dsunman made an excellent contribution to this thread, but I think I’ve got some unique suggestions for you… And I will certainly be following up other peoples.

Collections: Acoustic Chill, Chilled Classics, any of the chilled series from Ministry of Sound, I think I see a pattern developing here!

Nitin Sawhney – a wide range of influences here, definitely some down tempo trip hop, but also classical, flamenco, banghra.

Leftfield, Nightmares on Wax, Presence,

Others: Goldfrapp, FC Kahuna, Sven Vath, LCD Soundsystem, Mint Royale, The Orb

Slighly more Uptempo - Mylo, Moby, Basement Jaxx, Daft Punk, Sabres of Paradise, Chemical Brothers, Audio Bullys, Mr Scruff, Orbital, Underworld, Moloko, Etienne de Crecy.