When Shinichi Atobe returns with a new release you can never really know what to expect. Even the four tracks on his first EP, Ship-Scope from 2001 (out on German label Chain Reaction) ranged from eerie dub techno to atmospheric minimal techno and on his later albums he added groovy house tunes, abstract experimental music, a bit of dark ambient, music concrete and so on to his ever expanding repertoire. However before he released those, there were over a decade of silence, as for a long while it seemed that Ship-Scope will be Atobe’s first and last release. It was one of the very last EPs out on Chain Reaction and for one reason or another, it seems that no other label showed interest in his work. Fast forward more than a decade to 2012: by this time Chain Reaction ‘s catalogue became a cult favorite amongst fans of dub and minimal techno and these fans included the two members of UK duo Demdike Stare, who managed to track down Atobe and eventually signed him to their own label, DDS. And with his career revived, that’s where he’s been releasing most of his work starting with 2014’s Butterfly Effect (as chronicled in Atobe’s first ever interview, conducted last year by Tone Glow).

His first releases following the hiatus were extremely diverse (so much that we could even call them chaotic) and for the most part more on the experimental side, but later on he moved more and more towards smooth, deep house, the kind with a bit of Balearic touch and a dreamy summer vibe that’s been so popular in Japan ever since the genre first made its way there (as mentioned in the review of Soshi Takeda‘s latest album). On Discipline however he moves to another direction and returns to his dub techno roots and while it is a style he already revisited a couple of times since his return, it was never as much on the focus as it is here.

It is not a 100% pure dub techno release though and in the first track, a bright uptempo tune, Atobe continues his exploration of the atmospheric house sound that dominated his recent output, however with the next one, SA DUB 2 we move deep into dub techno territories and stay there almost till the very end of the album. But Atobe yet again proves to be an extremely versatile composer and within the limits of the genre, he goes as diverse as possible. SA DUB 2 is a very dancefloor friendly track with a driving beat and tight, 130 BPM tempo, on the other hand the following SA DUB 3, while still beat-driven, slows down and goes for a more eerie sound, with heavy use of echos, creating a perfect soundtrack for a dark and blank, futuristic urban landscape. Then we yet again go to another direction and for a more light-hearted mood with SA DUB 4 (yes, all eight tracks share the same title). It starts out as a regular dub techno track with those those trademark, floaty sounds in focus and while it is not bad, it is not especially great either… until, out of nowehere, a house beat kicks in around two minutes into the song and it even takes over for a while later on, creating a very interesting transitional piece, switching between the two most prominent genres associated with Atobe’s name.

After this short detour we return to the dub techno side and we go as deep as it gets: in SA DUB 5 there are no beats, no ryhthms, we are left with nothing, but beautifully layered, echo-heavy soundscapes, almost crossing over to ambient territories. Just as #3, #5 feels more like a soundtrack, but with a much brighter touch and instead of the dimly lit and empty streets of a vast city, we find ourselves on a beach, with the first rays of sunlight peaking through the clouds. SA DUB 6 returns to the more beat oriented side of the genre and we stay there for the next track as well. However while #6 is more of a minimalistic, stripped down, slowly moving techno track, #7 is the most atmospheric piece on the release, a stunningly beautiful, dreamy tune with a sweet Balearic vibe. It also wraps up the album’s dub techno explorations and the final track, SA DUB 8 returns to the sunny house of #1, but this time with a laid-back tempo and ’80s VHS vibes. It is the only track on Discipline that feels a bit week, a bit too basic, almost as if it was left unfinished and the difference is especially obvious compared to the rest of the very carefully crafted album. But actually if we look at it as an outro or as a reminder that we can never really know what to expect next from Atobe… it works perfectly.

Overall Discipline (out on DDS as a digital album and double LP) is Atobe’s most coherent and focused album to date. His first releases after his break were more of a mixed bag with a few hidden gems thrown in and his house-oriented albums also had lesser moments, but here he really seems to be in his element, handling composition work with more confidence than ever before. The question is… what’s next? Will this be the beginning of a dub techno phase for Atobe, or will he return to house.. or will he start exlploring the more experimental side of electronic music yet again? We will just have to wait and see.

Discipline
2024.12.04 / DDS
digital, vinyl
01.SA DUB 1
02.SA DUB 2
03.SA DUB 3
04.SA DUB 4
05.SA DUB 5
06.SA DUB 6
07.SA DUB 7
08.SA DUB 8