In lesser hands, "beatdown" — a micro-genre built on easygoing down-tempo beats — would have dissolved into something benign and boring. For these Detroit techno and house producers, though, it’s an affirming and exciting testament to the city’s heritage of innovative dance music. Beatdown is neither house nor techno, but it assimilates traits of both.

Built on a dark disco stutter and an echoing Rhodes keyboard, Theo Parrish’s "Falling Up" sums up the patient, jazz-meets-disco aspirations of this hybrid genre. The unsung Norm Talley contributes a trumpet-driven "Exodus"; Detroit legend Eddie Fowlkes’s "Brotherman" sounds like a pepped-up house screamer slowed to head-nodding tempo. Malik Alston’s "Butterfly" and Alton Miller’s "Tulum" boast intricate arrangements that update the playful spirit and synth-heavy sound of 1970s jazz-rock fusion. And L.A. Williams’s "Velvet Musac" lopes along lazily behind a sultry vocal sample, layered keyboards, and a hypnotic, bounding bass line. Although some of the more upbeat cuts here don’t entirely fit the Detroit Beatdown æsthetic, the compilation’s smart arrangements and outstanding contributions will make for great post-party late-night (or early-morning) chill-out sessions.