DJ Sodeyama returns to Sound Of Vast under his The People In Fog guise this June with the nine track ‘Too Much Knobs And Cables’ LP.
The best dance music albums balance the line between music DJs would play and fans like listening to by themselves. Think Homework, Leftism and Disclosure’s Settle. This nine-tracker from Japanese DJ Sodeyama, under his The People in Fog guise, follows a similar blueprint. Don’t smack it out and deliver just dancefloor fodder; showcase something more.
There’s a lot to like with this approach. Album opener ‘Red Morning’ is brooding deep house elevated by a killer sax line, while ‘Jack Out’ is more effervescent with its punchy energy. The juxtaposition of piano stabs and 80s theme tune percussion on ‘Night Driver’ somehow sounds euphoric and downtempo at the same time; with ‘Sun Moon Lake’ what would happen if the Bladerunner soundtrack was made to be a mid-tempo chugger for Ku in the 80s.
That said, the music really shines when it is all about the dancefloor. ‘CC Love’ welds Larry Heard to MAW gospel house with devastating effects, a gloriously simple track that would brighten any DJ set. ‘Dance to the Air’ is the coup de grace though, close to seven minutes of absolute delirium that sounds like The Joubert Singers covering Westbam’s ‘And Party’. It’s literally giddiness set to a four four beat.
Seek the album out for a listen, but the real gain will be if you hear one of its many fans (DJ Harvey, Mark Farfina and ALFOS are all supporters) dropping it on a dancefloor you’re on.
Pre order ‘Too Much Knobs And Cables’ here.
