In a blind test, I would bet on Detroit and unreleased material by the city’s established producers, for example from “In The Dark” community. In fact, Kiji Suedo comes from Osaka, Japan, and (re)produces genuinely sounding Detroit beatdown on “Hosek EP”. The artist follows up his debut album “Riot”, which was also released on Edinburgh’s Hobbes Music in late 2022.
Imitation is not a sin, especially when it’s done skillfully. The EP features six deep house interpretations on the theme “Hosek”, which gets a smooth start with vocal murmurs and nocturnal rhythms that characterize the entire release. The second track is the closest encounter with Rick Wilhite and Marcellus Pittman, while the versions “IV” and “V” are ment for faster hip movement, before ambient jazz (“Hosek VI”) closes the play.
Right after Kiji Suedo’s EP, I played Moodymann on the car stereo and it amplified the feeling of having listened to the real thing by the Japanese artist.