Inspiration From E2-E4 12″
Upcoming
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FJ12-07 is a two track 12” at 45 RPM, a re-issue of two songs off an early 2000’s compilation CD entitled “Inspiration from E2-E4”.
In 2001, Shin’ichi Ogawa of Sugar Plant was working for the SAL Disc record label and came up with the idea of doing an E2-E4 tribute album with his friends. This album would come off the back of a Neil Young tribute album which might have seemed odd but these two artists, Neil Young and Ashra (Manuel Göttsching), would be played regularly as equals at after-parties that Shini’ichi would throw at his house. Longtime friend and collaborator, Taro Yoda, noted that the eclecticism of these after-parties were influenced by the variety of parties they were attending at the time, from the legendary Japanese open-air rave party Life Force to Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza. Taro was obsessed with European trance and left-field downtempo while the two members of Sugar Plant were into ’70s soul—especially Marvin Gaye and William DeVaughn and at the same time, they were listening to Phish and the Grateful Dead too. All three of them were of course inspired by the DJ’ing and selections of Larry Levan.
A- Side – Sugar Plant – “Just Be There” – Production began in my home studio. Since I was frequently attending a house party called “Life Force” (with DJ Nick the Record as the resident DJ) at the time, I thought deep house would be the perfect style for a Sugar Plant cover.
I looped a two-chord electric piano track and applied filters using plugins and outboard gear to create a “sound I could listen to forever.” I recorded the bass on guitar and converted it to an analog synth (Doepfer MS-404).
From there, I layered synths improvisationally, listening to the track over and over again to make fine adjustments. I think I worked on it for days, mostly late at night.
I recorded the guitar at the very end of the track. After playing it a few times ad lib without any set plan, I suddenly had the idea to add vocals during the bridge, so I set up a mic in my hallway and recorded them.
I think this track is packed with the emotions I felt when listening to “E2-E4” back then, as well as the vibe I experienced at that party. – Shin’ichi Ogawa
My initial concept when composing this piece was likely to create “an interplay between minimalist synth phrases and guitar” and “a calm, unhurried progression that never gets too intense.”
The entire track was produced using hardware synths, samplers, and sequencers. I believe I started building the track from the chime- or gong-like phrase heard at the beginning (though I don’t clearly recall which synth I used for that sound). The bass is from a Roland SH-101; the synth pads and sequenced sounds heard throughout are from a Roland Juno-106 and a Dopfer MS-404; and the rhythm and sound-effect-like voices were created using a sampler. I feel like I was consciously trying to keep the song from getting too intense while I was composing it.
As an aside, this track was later used as a track on the soundtrack for the live-action film adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto’s manga *Ping Pong* (2002). Since the movie was quite a hit in Japan, this might have become the most widely heard song among DUB SQUAD’s tracks.
- Artist: Sugar Plant/Dub Squad
- Format: 12"
- Genre: Balearic, Downtempo, Dub, Electronics
- Label: Forest Jams
- Status: Upcoming
