Japan Blues - The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 2

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  • The Brasserie Heroique is Berceuse Heroique's foray into disco edits, and it follows recent releases from the likes of Tuff Sherm and Vereker. Typically, there's nothing typical about these edits. Following part one—two unhinged jobs from Jamal Moss and Duster Valentine—comes a three-tracker from Howard Williams, AKA Japan Blues, a London record collector known for his deep interest in Japanese music of all kinds. It's a mandate that suits the label's curveball approach. Williams takes three obscure Japanese electronic tracks and makes them sound like exotically flavoured Detroit techno. "Baroque Mutiny" has an ornamental style. Held down by a knotty bassline that might have come from some old Model 500 session, the occasional clip of spoken word and some warbly chimes gives it an aged feel, like you're walking through a faded '80s TV commercial. The comparatively techno "Half Dead Pulse" features choral vocals that feel distant, as if they were beamed in from another time, while its odder touches (a Theremin-like synth and generally whacked-out mood) have more than a whiff of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Finally, there's "Mysterious Satsuma," a two-minute trifle kept together by only the gentlest of drums. As it rips apart gorgeous guitar riffs with a sampler, I found something almost violent about its mechanization of such plaintive, finger-picked work. It should be no surprise that Berceuse Heroique's idea of the disco edit comes off as subversive.
  • Tracklist
      01. Baroque Mutiny 02. Half Dead Pulse 03. Mysterious Satsuma
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