Shinichi Atobe is a Saitama-based producer who has been making house and techno music since he was 27 years old. His sound has evolved from abstract, dubby minimal techno to brighter, more melodic deep house.Originally appearing in 2001 with a12-inch EP titled Ship-Scope (2001), which came out on the cult-favorite dub techno label Chain Reaction. Copies subsequently changed hands for triple-digit U.S. dollar amounts. Atobe disappeared for over a decade and during the early 2010s, Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty of Demdike Stare managed to track down the Japanese producer and convinced him to release Atobes first full-length album, Butterfly Effect (2014), on their record label DDS.

Since then, Atobe has entrusted DDS to release both new and archival music from his collection, which now includesthreealbumsof material, each building upon the dreamy logic ofShip-Scope. Cold and swirling and sad, Atobes recent releases have been every bit as enigmatic and alluring as their creator.ButHeatdoes not sound like any of this previous workits a house record first and foremost. Heady and soulful and smooth in a way that harks back toMr. Fingers,Heatis an open book compared to the black boxes of Atobes past albums. Its thesis is clear from the moment a humid synthesizer melody introduces the opener, So Good So Right: This is a record, as its title suggests, primarily interested in the warmer end of dance music. These are tracks to make you sweat. Its a new climate for Atobes music, downright tropical. The plush hand drums and purring bassline on Heat 1 swing and sway like palm fronds moving with the ocean breeze; the slippery and bubbly synths on Heat 2 move like bodies writhing on a waterbed.

Working in this hot and heavy mode, Atobe transports all the exacting rigor and creativity of his techno to the creation of house melodies whittled to dancefloor perfection. Patience is what connects the soulfuness ofHeatto Atobes back catalog. But in the beatific piano chords and the crispy kick drums, its easy to hear the communal spirit ofHeat: These are songs oriented towards public consumption, not private listening. That change in setting and intent might shock anyone who has been following Atobes records over the years. But whenHeatlocks into its groove, it taps into the contemplative spirit that powers all of his music. Atobes work has always been about the rewards that come with careful, repeated listens. The beauty ofHeatis the way it allows its listeners to experience those gifts together. via Pitchfork

Label: DDS
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Repress
Reissued: 2024 / Original Release: 2018
Genre: Electronic
Style: Minimal, Deep House, Techno

File under: House / Electro / Techno