Erik B asked a question, and my reply got too long to put into a comment...Erik B says:Now I was always under the impression that Mushroom Jazz set the standard for the whole downtempo craze – the whole jazzy I-feel-like-I-am-in-a-plush-womb tip that like defined underground electronic music in the 90’s. But I didn’t really know it had anything to do with house. What the hell is house anyways? I mean I know its electronic based and has its roots in disco…..but how is it related to downtempo? And what about trance and techno? How are those different from house? And does anyone care?Well gosh, I better not try to give you the definitive answer. But here's a lil overview, based on what I know... any experts out there, feel free to correct me!Dance music evolved out of disco, synthpop, and new wave. For a great insight into how things really got started, check out 24 Hour Party People, which is an awesome movie and also gives a good history lesson. But that was the 80s&90s, and this is now - things have changed a lot.Today's electronica is classified by its tempo (beats per minute or bpm), use of synthesized, organic, melodic and percussive elements, and a few other factors such as song structure and composition. There are tons of classifications within the electronica genre, but you asked about house, trance, and techno, the Big Heavies... so:House music generally hovers around 125 bpm, has a heavy, groovy bass line, and is connected with soul and jazz as well as disco. House music is usually considered to have emerged in Chicago in the 1980s, and the general consensus is that the first widely-distributed house song was a club remix of that legendary Donna Summer track "I Feel Love". House has been around for so long that it has splintered into multiple sub-genres (see wikipedia for more info). For example, I'm not into hard house or club house but I really like deep house and dirty house.Trance is faster, around 140-150 bpm, and generally has more psychedelic and melodic elements. It breaks down into two major classes: "normal" trance which is the most widely played, and psy-trance which is favored by older ravers and hippie types (note: as an older hippie raver, I too prefer psy). While house is more frequently heard in clubs and probably the most widely appreciated form of dance music, trance is the stereotypical music of the rave culture, and is generally considered to be going out of fashion. And techno? Techno, I don't know so much about, cuz I don't like it. German techno is pretty good - very minimal, kind of dark - but American techno is just boring to me. But it's usually slightly faster and more minimal than house, and generally doesn't have many melodic elements or even vocals. Purely synthesized, and with very heavy and clear-cut beats.Mushroom Jazz was a groundbreaking record in the 90s SF underground house scene, mainly because of its immense popularity. At the time, it was labeled "acid jazz" or "downtempo", which was the current terminology for that type of music. But "acid jazz" isn't used much any more to describe music (except maybe in the case of artists such as Medeski Martin & Wood, who are actually playing jazz), and "downtempo" has shifted to focus more on slower-tempo ("trip-hop") projects and artists such as Massive Attack and Portishead (these two were still labeled as "the Bristol sound" in the 90s), Thievery Corporation, Lamb, etc. etc. So in today's terms, Mushroom Jazz really qualifies as deep jazzy house.All that really matters in the end, though, is that the track selection is phenomenal (even though the mixing isn't all that great). This record blew everybody's speakers back in the day, and most househeadz I know are still listening to it on a regular basis.Anyhoo, that's the overview...