Hiroshi Matsui

Classic deep house from Japan on a 2×LP retrospective collection of work from artist Hiroshi Matsui. This is essential material - a dozen years of steady, soulful production that defined a quieter strain of house music running parallel to the louder European narratives.

Matsui's work across the 1990s and early 2000s sits in that fertile space where deep house meets ambient sensibility. Sparse, often minimal arrangements leave room for breathing; Rhodes chords and filtered strings drift over steady but uninsistent rhythms. This is music designed for late-night listening rather than peak-time floors - though it works perfectly in both contexts, depending on the room's patience.

Sound Of Vast have done the archival work here, pulling from various releases and sessions across Matsui's catalogue. For anyone serious about house music's global reach and deeper currents, this is the kind of retrospective that fills genuine gaps. Japanese house production from this era remains criminally under-discussed in Western circles, and this collection should help correct that oversight.