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 BUY + TRACK LIST |
SATOSHI TOMIIE - ES (SAW RECORDINGS) |
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For the life of me the too cool for school synth lines
behind the spartan but textured beats of “Time for
Revolution” take me back to new wave and The Cars.
“Tribute” takes the house massage a little deeper and
ups the acid tinge without going overboard. Sort of
goa way on the downlow injected into prog-house with a
naive 80s hip-hop electroline running across the top.
Funked out flavor increases on the still deepish but
sharper - and augmented by robotesque vox (Satoshi
Tomiie obviously loves the 80s) - textures. Highly
techy. Greater organic flavor sets in on “Piano Track”
with the title instrument providing a melody line
supported by the catchy beatgrooves. “Banrock” adds to
the hook with an infectious spoken, uberrhythmic vocal
line. A little more conventional - but still groovy -
club-house flavah defines “D Drive” and “This Beat is
Mine (Work That Body)” and “Peaces of Gold” continues
in a traditional vein but with slightly niftier
textures and vocal samples. “You and Me” incorporates
an ethereal backdrop that is more common to trance and
reaches for as much of an epic crescendo (relatively
speaking for the housey nature of the tracks on ŒES‚)
as I‚ve heard in house. “Wait (I Know What You Need)”
kind of fuses house and prog trance with a beat that
subtley recalls “Billy Jean.” “Friday Loops” is high
energy disco house and “Yeahdancetomyrecordbitch” goes
big with the beats and textures. Modern funktification
is heard on “We Interrupt This Program”. “Fake” really
pulls in some Germanic technohouse with vocals and
acidy textural hooks. Finally, “Lonely Child” is a new
wavish, synthpop vocal track, the highlight of the
disc. There’s enough eclecticism to pull this away
from the risk of repetitiveness to which house is
prone. It’s a good presentation of the genre.
-- review by Kristofer Upjohn
More so than any of his other commercial mixes, Satoshi Tomiie’s ES (Electronic Soul) feels most complementary to his debut album, Full Lick, released back in 1999. The same way Full Lick exemplified a combination of futuristic and classic house sensibilities, is definitely heard on ES, demonstrating Tomiie’s evolution as a DJ and SAW’s growth as one of dance’s marquee labels. Exemplifying that old-meets-new duality, Bush II Bush’s piano line in “Piano Track” kicks off with a mid-90s Balearic/Frankie Knuckles house vibe eventually introducing some 303s for that modern hint of acid. Tomiie has also, happily, gotten away from that dark, dreary progressive house clique, instead keeping things rolling with a real electro-tech-tribal flair. It’s a strident and jumping mix, but not one without a couple of iffy tracks. The bass line on Avenue D’s “You Love This Ass” is fat, but the synths are a tad cheesy. And the Speak n Spell sample (spelling out “h…o…u…s…e…” – say it!) on the mash up of Roach Motel’s “This Beat is Mine (Work That Body)” and Demi’s “D Drive” is also eye-roll inducing. However, through more material by Peace Division, Coburn, Chab (with Tomiie’s edit of “You and Me” from SAW’s debut original artist album – Dub, Edits & Whisky-Coke) and others, the mix is redeemed. Tommiie will be releasing a downtempo mix later this year and he’s got a new artist album slated for 2006, so ES portends of great things to come from SAW. www.sawrecordings.com - www.satoshitomiie.com -- review by Yuri Wuensch
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