Dante Mars Ajeto！ – Ｌｉｆｅ Ｅｎｔｅｒｐｒｉｓｅｓ
Recommendation: ☀☁☁
So, first thing’s first: I’m a fan of Nujabes, so imagine my surprise when Ｌｉｆｅ Ｅｎｔｅｒｐｒｉｓｅｓ started off with a future funk mix of “Betcha If You Check It Out” by The Quadriphonics – the same sample used by Nujabes on “End of the World Rhapsody” from Modal Soul! Quite frankly, I was just a bit excited – especially since Dante Mars Ajeto’s1 version is actually a better, more original mix; and Nujabes’ version is one of my favorite tracks by that artist. For that much, Ｌｉｆｅ Ｅｎｔｅｒｐｒｉｓｅｓ had my attention, but then it had my interest.
Ｌｉｆｅ Ｅｎｔｅｒｐｒｉｓｅｓ is a pretty creative album, one that edges pretty close to French house. “EM Dreams” and “Modern Pentathlon Suite” are absolute fucking rippers that call to mind the best of Daft Punk’s Discovery and Homework. Dante Mars Ajeto aptly balances the line between danceability and mentally engaging music; there are a few マクロスMACROSS 82-99-esque tracks where the songs are just equalized funk samples and that’s it (e.g. “Bump Jam” and “Where did u go”), but uptempo and slightly-ridiculous editing techniques on tracks like “ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ ☆” helpfully make up for time.
This album could have easily lost three or four tracks and been higher quality, but as it stands, Ｌｉｆｅ Ｅｎｔｅｒｐｒｉｓｅｓ does the future funk game better than most, and it shows that the subgenre has quite a few tricks yet left to show.
Tracklist
1. Quick Script Big Bux – (2:54)
2. EM Dreams – (2:36)
3. コミックさん (Radio Edit) – (3:19)2
4. The 5 Steps to Success and Outward Happiness – (3:05)
5. Paninoteca del Mondo Lontano – (3:24)
6. Bump Jam – (3:40)
7. ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ ☆ – (3:15)
8. Only A 「Ｄｒｅａｍ」唯一の夢 – (3:26)3
9. Where did u go – (2:05)
10. Clean Hit~! – (3:41)
11. Modern Pentathlon Suite – (3:01)
12. Never Knew the Meaning – (3:15)
13. Das Mariagespiel – (1:06)
1Stylized as “Dante Mars Ajeto！” but the equal-spaced exclamation mark makes for weird formatting.
2Japanese translation: “Comics”
3Japanese translation: “Only a dream”