To round off a very active inaugural year for his newly established label, Fuente Music in splendid fashion, Hideo Kobayashi goes back into time and space and digs out a past masterwork of his, Amor.
Initially released in 2009 through the now-defunct Japanese label, Apt. International, Amor was released as a single off his album, Zero. It features sometime Beat Pharmacy contributor, Shigeru Tanabu on guitar who also did a remix as well which was also part of the initial release. Hideo and Shigeru's friendship go a long way back. They teamed up to hold a regular party at the legendary Tokyo club, Space Lab Yellow called SPiN which continued for 3 years until its closure in 2008. Hideo also remixed Shigeru's popular track, Adrian that was released on Wave Music which was also included in his mentor's mix CD, Heart Beat Presents Mixed By Francois K × Air as well. Shigeru also resides in Sapporo and has been a regular contributor to many of Hideo's productions.
It seems like whenever these 2 producers collaborate, they seemed to hit a very imaginative nerve with utter ease. With a very polished and voluptuous remastering achieved by the "can-do-no-wrong nowadays" masterful, mastering skills by its very own creator, Amor's original 2016 version, now with its bombastic bass line more superlatively deep than ever before that recalls the deft-defying mastering done by Francois K. at his prime with USG productions. Super crisp, tribal rhythms more enhanced to drive this track, full of classic west coast house vibes to some spirited, hidden dimension. Tranquil, cascading and sometimes dubbed out synth stabs intertwining with Shigeru's featured, dreamy Balearic guitar magic which dances the fandango like a floating butterfly, Amor lets one know how special this track is and how it needs to get back to the thick of things particularly rockin' a sweat-drenched dance floor!
With its super-drive, pumping rhythms and bass, spaced out, classic Detroit-ish synth textures and the floating Balearic guitar bliss, Shigeru's remix takes you on a incredible galactic trip to the beyond. It is, an only for the head strong, tech house rocker tailored especially for Big Room damage and bliss. If one can express in music, how one flies through space at supersonic speed,
blissed out in suspended emotions, this remix of Amor by Shigeru Tanabu is might be close.
I hope you enjoy spinning these 2 gems from the past that utterly defy time & space and takes you and your listener to the infinite. Look out for these 2 Sapporo-based producers reuniting and starting a monthly party on Dec. 19th called HACONIWA (translation: enclosed garden spot) at the famed & recently re-opened, legendery Sapporo dance institution, Precious Hall on a monthly basis.
Notes by Ken Hidaka ArtWork by Kento Tanaka
1. Amor feat. Shigeru Tanabu (Original Mix Remastered)
2. Amor feat. Shigeru Tanabu (Shigeru Tanabu Remix Remastered)