Anyone with an interest in left-of-center house or techno can find something impressive in the catalog of Stuart Li, aka Basic Soul Unit. It's a testament to Li's chameleonic nature that he has proven a seamless fit with the cult Japanese deep house imprint Mule Musiq; the UK bass driven techno label Nonplus Records; Berlin behemoth Ostgut Ton; and Jamal Moss' purposefully abstract Mathematics Recordings. Each of these labels has successfully staked out a patch of deep and slightly weird dance music territory, and Li's edgy-yet-accessible style has endeared him to the DJs who also reside there; he appeals to selectors of many stripes, as his productions consistently come to life when thundering down towards darkened dancefloors.
It is Li's professionalism that ends up being the slight undoing of Under the Same Sky, his second artist album and debut release for Amsterdam tastemakers Dekmantel. This is the toughest-sounding version of Basic Soul Unit thus far, with walloping techno drums, old school breakbeats, and industrial percussion that replicates the grind of machinery and the scraping of metal on metal. However, he ends up drawing unwelcome attention to the downside of his talents. Li's sound is so tailored to the blast of monitor speakers and big club rigs that it bogs down under closer inspection, revealing pixelated weaknesses in the bigger picture.
There are some exceptions where Li seems prepared to throw some dirt and grit into the mix, and it's always for the greater good. The slowly menacing "Until the End Comes" very suddenly inhabits all three dimensions, cleverly allowing a 90-second introduction of measured static and pillowy bass drum to then click into a full-bodied and richly textured version of itself. In a similar way, "Restless in Thoughts" works to makes disorientation seem balanced and appealing, circling around lopsided dubby loops and itchy percussive accents, and it glows with warmth. While lacking the qualities of those two tracks, "Temptress" and "Without Fears" will appeal to fans of Skudge and Levon Vincent, who aren't at all concerned with separating the swing of house from the gruff ruggedness of techno.
Elsewhere on the album, Li is to be found mostly returning to the same sound palette. "The Rift Between", "Unwavered", and "Landlocked" may look to broken beats, classic techno, and electro, but they're all a little too bleak, too clean and undynamic. "Fate in Hand" may well be an attempt to alleviate some of the grayness toward the album's end, but its overbearing drums are too present to be enjoyable, and not textured enough to provide a good counterweight to the track's delicate and Detroit-indebted melody.
Each track of Under the Same Sky will undoubtedly find a home in a record bag or set list somewhere, and rightly so, as there's really nothing fundamentally wrong with any of them. As an album, though, Under the Same Sky leaves you wanting more of a moody, immersive experience, and less of its clean surfaces and precise negative spaces.
