Surveying the career of Basic Soul Unit (a.k.a. Stuart Li), it’s hard not to wonder how the Toronto-based producer hasn’t become a bigger sensation. That’s not a knock on his reputation; without question, folks in the know place Li’s output in the upper echelons of house and techno. It’s just that he remains a sort of producer’s producer, even after spending the last decade dropping records via a litany of highly respected imprints. Ostgut Ton, Crème Organization, Mule Electronic, Mathematics, Versatile, Nonplus—they’ve all released music by Basic Soul Unit over the years. Just recently though, Li made his boldest move yet, offering up his first full-length, Motional Response. While only time will tell if the record is the one that finally pushes Basic Soul Unit fully into the spotlight, it certainly caught our attention enough to prompt us to invite him to participate in the XLR8R podcast series. As expected, Li delivers the goods, assembling an exclusive mix of understated house and techno beats and slowly ratcheting up the energy level over the course of an hour. The podcast may be stuffed with new and unreleased tunes, but Li clearly reveres classic sounds, which is likely why so many stompy house cuts and acid-laced selections populate the tracklist. Much like Basic Soul Unit himself, there really isn’t anything too flashy about the mix. It’s simply solid all the way through, and that’s more than enough.

01 Graze “On Board (No Save Dub)” (New Kanada)
02 Innerspace Halflife “Metropolitan” (Episodes)
03 Pursuit Grooves “Mad Passion” (What Rules)
04 Basic Soul Unit “Untitled”
05 KEL “MKS” (Tanstaafl)
06 Kassem Mosse “Broken Patterns” (Nonplus+)
07 Kevin McPhee “Version 5” (3024)
08 Maxwell Church “Untitled”
09 Gingy & Bordello “Tremors”
10 Basic Soul Unit “Untoward” (Nonplus+)
11 Jared Wilson “Grave Stalking” (Skudge)
12 Obsolete Music Technology “Since the Accident” (Emphasis)
13 Basic Soul Unit “All Over Me” (Still Music)
14 Aybee “Rays” (Deepblak)
15 Basic Soul Unit “Let Go” (Still Music)

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