- Rebuild Mix 1.2.3. was constructed from an unusual premise. It's an EP of original material inspired by another EP, Daniel Jacques' Discovery Change (Part 4). Jacques asked Shinichi Atobe to provide a remix (presumably for that EP), only to be offered three new songs for Jacques' label, Jadac Recordings. In practice, this arrangement has little bearing on Atobe's sound. Jacques' EP was a hip-hop-inspired house record, a classy affair that was occasionally too smooth for its own good. Rebuild Mix 1.2.3.'s only intersection with Discovery Change (Part 4) is "Mix 3," a piano-bashing, 85-BPM loop that collects as much dust in the groove as the needle can stand. But even when he's taking cues from another artist, Atobe's music sounds like no one else's.
When he wants to let melody shine through, Atobe marries narcotic hiss to a crisp treble sound. "Mix 1" uses a unique rhythmic accent, halfway between the sound of a creaky hinge and a ratchet, with a strummed harp, the two bits combining to produce something rare in dub techno. Where so many of the genre's classics trade on a muggy, bottomless bass, the track's emphasis on the high-end seems inspired. "Mix 2" is another Atobe hallmark: a beautiful beat sketch that's much shorter than it ought to be. (The EP itself is a little under ten minutes long.) If Rebuild 1.2.3. seems concise to a fault, perhaps it's because we're always left wanting more.
TracklistA1 Mix 1
B1 Mix 2
B2 Mix 3