Finally a compilation that gets the flow right!

Hi-Fi Companions start with Spaceship, a pleasant long winding buildup featuring interesting shifts and breaks.

Then comes Enterprise's first track on the comp, Two Cups of Tea. Here we enter standard psy-chill with a twist. Good leads and echoes build up into chilled out jazz influences. After the break we go through more leads and break down into ambiance and continue on.

Up next Jong with a Hymn to Kali. After a ambient intro we break into ethnic drumming and then straight into blissful psy-ska territory. I'm totally loving this fusion of dub-ska-ethnic. Vocals, flute tablas all thrown in for good measure but very skillfully. Excellent Production, great track.

Next Enterprise returns again with Patchhead, an electro, dub, experimental mash up that sounds good. At 4:40 we break into a lead that could so easily become cheesy but thank god it doesn't. A lot of artists have created that similar sound but taken it to cheese land.

At No. 5 is Sacred Plants by Sundial (Now Sundial Aeon). A very floating track starting from ambiance and growing ever more. Good Stuff...

Schatsi comes next with Clouds over Stalden. A very interesting track. Reminds me of shoe-gazer music with an ultra psychadelic make over. Good ambiance and melodies. Good track.

Jaïa comes in next with a typically confident track, December. After meandering on a long ambient drone at 1:20 in comes a rolling bassline! Sounds a lot like other trance sounds but still quite different because of the Jaïa treatment. The bass lines continue on and at 3:00 we break into a lovely lead melody which is very floating yet focused. The track ends back on the bass lines and drones with ample melodies along the way. Great Track!

Magnetrixx is next with Tiefsee. A slow winding ambient melody gets going before a flute starts us up with a sort of jazzy, funky, down-tempo leads and melodies that get good treatment on drums, bass and psychedelia. Probably the weakest link on this compilation even though it's a darn fine track.

Scandinavian Vibrasphere are next with a beautiful track fueled by the forest. Pristine clear sounds on a floating plane. Typical Vibrasphere chill. Touching melodies, killer bass lines, this is what good psy-dub music is all about. Very Beautiful track.

We finish this adventure with an Aquatic Serenade by little known Israeli producer U-Recken. Water drops, echoes and voices get us started on a piano lead with good drums and before we know it we're in a blissful ska melody. In the break Vocals beckon us to "the underground". Perfect! More pianos, synth leads with electro influences follow before a female sings us a serenade and then closes up. A beautiful close to a great sonic journey.

My highlights are the tracks from Vibrasphere, U-Recken and Jong. But that should take nothing away from the rest. Each track on this compilation is a gem in it's own right. Seasoned chillers will be pleased with Downbeat Liquid. Highly Recommended.

I'm going to be honest. In a moment of clarity, (one of few), I decided to sporadically start collecting every original piece of music released by the artist Jaïa. I heard the sample for "December", and there was never any question whether this album was headed my way or not. There's always this half exciting, half uncertain feeling when you're buying a 10-track compilation almost just because of one track. Giving the other ones a fair try, "December" came last on the play list. From what the samples sounded like, I was hoping for an at least decent compilation all in all. Listening through, I quickly realized I'd hit some sort of goldmine. This is an extremely good compilation. It has no illusions of grandeur. Rock solid tracks, the quality of production shines through. Even Jaïa's track receives hard competition for the crown. Vibrasphere shows off with an excellent 7 and a half minute journey fueled by the forest, U-Recken and Sundial comes with two great tracks as well. There's no hiding the enthusiasm over this great piece of music. Dubby, chilled sounds. There's no risk involved getting this one, it's a solid compilation bound to impress any fan of chilled out electronica, all under the careful manufacturing of some of the very, very best artists within ambient and psychedelic trance. This is definitively one of those few releases that shines through. Keep those volumes coming!