Slow Life: Takeda Soshi’s SlowFusion

Couldn’t we all take things a bit slower? Maybe that’s just the first week back working talking, but that was one of the initial draws of listening to producer Takeda Soshi’s SlowFusion, a two-song set inspired by “80’s late fusion that I listened to at the end of last year was good, so I made two songs for myself.” This is the part where I bring up “city pop revival” for the millionth time…2017, just like 2016!…except SlowFusion acts more like a more mellow version of what, say, someone like Boogie Idol does. It’s ’80s inspired for sure, but it doesn’t sound like pure replication (again, “city pop revival”). Rather, it is a mix of inspired-by sounds rendered in a just off way, probably because Soshi lacks the resources that most Bubble Era fusion acts did (he writes that he made these using a KORG M1…don’t think he got like session players and brass sections to round it out). The end result though is better for it — tropically tinged, slowly moving sounds that at times feel off (see “B,” a bubbly number with a lot of sounds going on in the back). Great set to soak in, and far better than cheap nostalgia. Listen above.