Stereociti - Early Light

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  • Stereociti's Citifunk EP for Deep Explorer ranged from gentle gyration to quirky funk. Its opening "Track No. 1" was a veritable massage of a track, and its jazzy samples, laid-back grooves and neo-Detroit keyboards left me particularly keen to hear what the Tokyo-based DJ, producer and graphic designer would do for the textile mavens at Mojuba. As the A-side winds cooly, an uppity spoken reprimand accuses the listener of misunderstanding house music, misappropriating it and diluting the scene. If the intent is to be off-putting, then I guess the exclusionary harangue is successful. Running for the better part of the track, it's as distracting as it is truculent, and rather at odds with the stylish, cocktail-hour sway that backs it, which is otherwise quite inviting. For those who aren't shooed away, a brief informational lecture follows, in the form of an extended Eddie Armador citation. "Not everyone understands house music. It's a spiritual thing. It's a body thing. It's a soul thing." This sort of thing would probably go over just fine in a longer set, but with only two sides to digest here, the case might've been better stated by letting the music speak for itself. Thankfully, this is exactly what "Waiting for Your Call" does on the flipside. The human voice is put to far better use this time, a short bluesy sample bobbing on a gently rippling stream of slick synths. It relies less on the organic jazz sounds that made Citifunk memorable, but is all the warmer for it. A tense slow-burner of mysterious, haunting deep house, it isn't the Stereociti track I'd expected, but more than met my high expectations for this record.
  • Tracklist
      A Untitled B Waiting For Your Call
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