- Deep, laidback club music for meditative listening from a new-ish Diskotopia sub-label.
- For the past two years, Tokyo label Diskotopia has been probing the frontiers of experimental electronic music with releases like the new wave-inspired Initiation Insight from label cofounder BD1982, or Hyetal's shoegaze-inspired States EP. What started out as a DJ crew in 2005 has since morphed into a boundary-pushing label that now mostly prioritises home listening and narrative-based albums. Pleased with this organic pivot, BD1982 and fellow cofounder A Taut Line decided to create a new sub-label, Ashigakari, for more rhythmic music from Japan-based artists, with some overseas collaborators sprinkled in the mix.
As heard on its first compilation, the Ashigakari style is chuggy, slow-burning and subtle. Instead of pressure-building bass or pummeling drums, the polished melodies and languid grooves create a gentle interplay between atmosphere and movement. You can hear elements of house, techno, dub and jungle in these tracks that invite listeners to stretch, think and zone out.
Ashigakari Volume Two continues this fuzzy mood. "Rubber Fig" by Doc Sleep is hazy tech house with aqueous synths and an undulating pace, while under his new alias Thread Heather, Diskotopia cofounder A Taut Line puts together a dreamy house number rooted in Balearic and jazz fusion. More floor-friendly elements are reconfigured into tender, sensitive forms, like "Only Heaven May Manifest," from BD1982 and A Taut Line, whose tribal house influences are given an ambient makeover. N4shi and Downstate's highlight "The Loon" is a shadowy techstep track with ominous effects that trigger introspection rather than adrenaline.
Ashigakari Volume Two is a lovely exploration of ambience and dynamism. These aren't quite chill-out beats, but dance music for commutes, the waning hours of an afters, a neighbourhood walk or pretty much any other low-key scenario.
Tracklist01. Doc Sleep - Rubber Fig
02. Thread Heather - My Best Pearls
03. Sense Of Sense - Only Heaven May Manifest
04. Memotone - Turn the Corner
05. N4shi & Downstate - The Loon