soichi terada: asakusa light
Francisco Espregueira
2022 started with the comeback of the year. The Japanese legend of Soichi Terada has been fed by the revival of his unbelievable early work that hovers around Youtube and fueled to a new generation of listeners by Rush Hour label/vinyl store from Amsterdam. Back in 2015 the deep house pioneer stepped back into the limelight courtesy of Sounds From The Far East, a Rush Hour-released, Hunee curated retrospective of material released on his Far East Recording label in the 1990s and early 2000s. Buoyed by the extremely positive response and renewed interest in his work, Terada went back into studio to record his first new album of house music for over 25 years, Asakusa Light.
Composed by 11 carefully crafted tracks, production methods used the very same synthesizers and drum machines that powered his ‘90s work. Developed over 18 months, Asakusa Light is a vibrant, atmospheric and life-affirming collection of timeless house music, in which we see the protagonist recreation of the mental and physical processes that led to the textures of his acclaimed earlier work. Terada keeps delivering his very own brand of warm, undulating synthesizer basslines and perfectly programmed machine drums with stirring chords, smile-inducing melodies and mellow musical flourishes. Asakusa Light is available on vinyl - for the collectors of timeless music.
“I tried to recall my feelings 30 years ago, but when I tried it, I found it super difficult. I didn’t even know what I thought about myself five years ago, and the mental metabolic cycle seems to be faster than I thought. I tried different methods, including digging up my old MIDI data and composing by remembering old experiences. With the help of Rush Hour, I found some of the light from my heart that I had 30 years ago. I nicknamed the light I found in my heart, ‘Asakusa Light’.”