About

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 a 12-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 Atobe’s 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 includes three albums of material, each building upon the dreamy logic of Ship-Scope. Cold and swirling and sad, Atobe’s recent releases have been every bit as enigmatic and alluring as their creator. But Heat does not sound like any of this previous work—it’s a house record first and foremost. Heady and soulful and smooth in a way that harks back to Mr. Fingers, Heat is an open book compared to the black boxes of Atobe’s 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. It’s a new climate for Atobe’s 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 of Heat to Atobe’s back catalog. But in the beatific piano chords and the crispy kick drums, it’s easy to hear the communal spirit of Heat: These are songs oriented towards public consumption, not private listening. That change in setting and intent might shock anyone who has been following Atobe’s records over the years. But when Heat locks into its groove, it taps into the contemplative spirit that powers all of his music. Atobe’s work has always been about the rewards that come with careful, repeated listens. The beauty of Heat is the way it allows its listeners to experience those gifts together. — via Pitchfork

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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
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