Name: Asakusa Light
Brand: Soichi Terada

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

RHM 041

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-04-15

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Rush Hour (new)

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Soichi Terada

Genre GB

House / UK Garage

Label GB

Rush Hour

Rush Hour is a Dutch record label and distributor based in Amsterdam. Founded in 1999 by Christiaan Macdonald and Antal Heitlager, the label has become a prominent player in the music industry. With Dirk-Jan Deckwitz as the label and production manager, Rush Hour has established itself as a trusted name in the field.

As a record company, Rush Hour has been associated with entities such as Record Industry and Clone Distribution. These associations have allowed them to consistently deliver high-quality releases under their RH logo branding.

In addition to their record label, Rush Hour also operates a publishing arm and distribution arm. This further strengthens their presence in the industry and enables them to support artists on multiple fronts.

Soichi Terada is a renowned artist who releases various styles of electronic music on his own label, Far East Recordings. With an impressive discography spanning multiple genres, he has established himself as a prominent figure in the music industry. His unique sound and innovative approach to production have garnered him a dedicated fan base worldwide. Whether it's house, techno, or ambient, Soichi Terada continues to captivate listeners with his distinct musical style.

Back in 2015, Japanese deep house pioneer Soichi Terada 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 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.

Developed over 18 months, Terada tried to recreate the mental and physical processes that led to the creation of his acclaimed earlier work. Those familiar with Terada’s celebrated, dancefloor-focused sound of the 1990s – a vibrant, atmospheric, and emotive take on deep house powered by the twin attractions of groove and melody – will find much to enjoy on Asakusa Light.

“I tried to recall my feelings 30 years ago, but when I tried it, I found it super difficult,” he explains. “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’.”

Produced using the very same synthesizers and drum machines that powered his 1990s work, the album is a joyous, colourful and life-affirming collection of timeless house music that not only recalls Terada’s own impeccable back catalogue, but also that of similarly celebrated contemporaries such as the Burrell Brothers or Ben Cenac (Dream 2 Science, Sha-Lor).

Terada, who has spent much of the last two decades writing video game music, has always had a gift for combining warm, undulating synthesizer basslines and perfectly programmed machine drums with stirring chords, smile-inducing melodies and mellow musical flourishes. It’s this immersive, sun-kissed and tuneful trademark style that takes centre stage on Asakusa Light, an album for the ages.

The set begins with the alien-sounding chords, soft-touch percussion and dawn-friendly warmth of ‘Silent Chord’ and ends on a high via the bouncing string stabs, starlight chords and thickset grooves of ‘Blinker’; in between, you’ll find a deluge of effortlessly feelgood music that’s the aural equivalent of a dopamine rush at sunrise.

There are subtle variations aplenty throughout the album – see the 8-bit lead lines and pulsing electronic textures of Takusambient, the vintage Tony Humphries flex of Diving Into Minds and the effortlessly funky Marimbau – but it’s the uniquely atmospheric, vivid and tactile nature of Terada’s loved-up sound that resonates. After well over 30 years in house music, the light in his heart is shining brighter than ever.

Asakusa Light

Music GB

Buy Soichi Terada - Asakusa Light (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.