- Deep house was once an avenue for experimentation. Producers would toy with structure and rhythm, making tracks that were both soothing and unpredictable. During the late '90s and early '00s, Japan was home to a few producers who made deep house that could have been transmissions from outer space. Takahiro Suzuki, who released music as Suzukiski, was one of them. Between 1993 and 2006, he put out a series of CD-only albums that covered house, techno, IDM and ambient. The Action EP, released in 2003 on Soup-Disk, a defunct Japanese label with a focus on broken beats, was one of Suzuki's two vinyl releases. Reissued in March with fresh mastering, it's a snapshot of an era in which a lot of house and techno still sounded like the future.
The EP's tracks don't flow like today's deep house. Changes come often. On "Take It Easy," Action's introspective highlight, elements are stripped away at random. The piano chords of its beatless opening bars are replaced by a thudding kick drum and bassline, only to make a fleeting return closer to the track's midpoint. Other elements come and go across the rest of the track—each combination never lasts for long. The same goes for the percussive "Udon," a minimalist cut with the occasional pad and blast of high-pitched synth. Only "Blip" feels conventional by modern standards, thanks to organ-style stabs and a steady groove. Like the rest of Action, it pairs traditional house sounds with an inventive structure. The result is otherworldly.
TracklistA1 Take It Easy
A2 Skyline
B1 Udon
B2 Blip