PGH Downtempo

[DennisCraigLee at aol.com]

After mulling it over for about a month, I decided Manny's right - 
'downtempo' is a better term than 'trip-hop', for a myriad of reasons. My reluctance to 
alter my personal vocabulary had more to do with the hypnotic effect of 
routines than with word effectiveness.
 
  I'm also seeing reasons to describe what my band Blisscraft does as 
downtempo rather than trip-hop, even to the ninety percent of the area's people who 
have no idea what either term means.
 
  That said, I also now proclaim Pittsburgh to be the Unofficial Capitol of 
Downtempo music. I also proclaim Frederick of Vampire Nation as the unofficial 
Godfather (in absentia, courtesy of the PA Dept of Corrections) of our 
particular brand of the genre. And Phat Mandee as Queen, though I know that's a 
stretch (is there a pun there? I can't tell).
 
  Am I serious? Let's just say I'm as serious as I ever get, which isn't all 
that.
 
  Who's with me?
 
evermore,
Dennis