- "Low Tension", taken from a compilation by Hisa Ishioka's BPM Records in 1991, is the latest reissue of rare, and usually excellent, Japanese house records. Soichi Terada, who produced "Low Tension" with Manabu Nagayama (and whose music was recently compiled on Rush Hour), has appeared on lots of these releases, illustrating his prominence on the Japanese scene some 20 years ago. Utopia Records' package arrives with a remastered original and two remixes that apply light, decorous touches to the source material.
The Foog remix of "Low Tension," the longest of the three tracks, foregrounds a pinging bassline against a drawn-out loop of the original's uplifting pads and cheery flutes. "Low Tension (Utopian Mix)" also retains much of the original's structure, but lays a beefier bassline underneath and a smattering of extras—bongos, vocal chops, a flute melody. Messing around with "Low Tension," an almost perfect deep house track, is tricky, but this is a slick and affectionate package.
Tracklist01. Low Tension
02. Low Tension (Foog Mix)
03. Low Tension (Utopian Mix)