You’re a planetary explorer beginning your shift on a desolate world, long since abandoned or exterminated; nobody knows which. That’s your job. You start your hover-car and emerge onto the empty streets. The planet’s “sun” descends behind a distant mountain, projecting a dark orange, twilight hue onto everything. It’s quiet. You glance at the decorative radio dial on the vehicle’s dashboard and laugh to yourself before slowly turning the volume knob up . . .

Deep house. The two magic words that everyone seems to have in their mouths and in their ears at all times these days. Whether you side with the old-school, jazz-influenced, subtle improvisational-styled deep house, or the new-school, EDM-styled “deep house” matters not at this moment, because the trio known as Cobblestone Jazz are about as deep as it gets, and I mean that in the most positive way.

The two songs that make up the two sides of this LP are sonically-minimal journeys with only a solitary, four-on-the-floor kick drum as the guide. That isn’t to say that the ideas present on this wonderful little album are minimal in any way, shape, or form. These tracks are patient, but they’re also incredibly alive. It isn’t dissimilar to a midnight stroll through a forest; you may not be able to point out much during the initial pass-through, but wait till your eyes (or ears I should say) adjust, and the true beauty emerges.

The inclusion of the word “jazz” in their name makes a whole lot of sense, because even though the record is held together primarily by electronic production, it sounds as if a jazz trio is performing everything live. The subtle instrumental flourishes absolutely set this group apart from many others creating this flavor of music. This is one pretty piece of art with equal footing in both the dance world and musicality world alike. If you’re seeking beautifully-subtle music that you can move your feet to, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)