As Space Ghost, Sudi Wachspress purveys a soulful breed of deep house that’s sure to make you move, and next month he’ll return with Dance Planet, his third album on the mighty Tartelet Records. Much like its predecessors, Endless Light and Aquarium Nightclub, it’s emotionally charged and groovy, but with its old-school house vocals and lush musical textures, it is “pointedly created to heal and energize” as the world recovers from a pandemic. Wachspress began writing it at the start of lockdown after he lost his job, but it really picked up steam at the start the year, as he began delving deeply into the ’90s stylings of Soichi Terada and Toyin Agbetu.

A resident of Oakland, California, Wachspress grew up in a small town a few hours from the East Bay area, but his relationship with house music really kickstarted through his teenage years while he studied at the California College of the Arts. As he became more deeply engrained in Oakland’s rich experimental music community, he launched Late Feelings, a series of all-vinyl dance parties, and began channeling a profound love for ’80s funk minimalism and ambient lo-fi beats into releases for Sweat Lodge Guru and Astro Nautico. He signed to Tartelet in 2018, delivering 12 cuts which, with their sweeping sci-fi synths and twinkling sound design, recalled Lone’s cosmic psychedelia, but the record still felt uniquely meditative and enchanting. Aquarium Nightclub, a boogie album inspired by African and Brazilian music from the ’80s, came a year later, and then last year Wachspress delivered six golden-era house anthems, paving the way for another full-length.

Recorded in late August in his home studio, Wachspress’ XLR8R podcast starts off with lush ambient textures, but it soon picks up the pace with a string of deep house jams. In celebration of the album, you’ll hear a couple of unreleased cuts from it, but the mix almost exclusively comprises tracks that Wachspress has unearthed during lockdown and he’s dying to play out—Alton Miller’s “Love Ballads” is a standout moment, as is R.E.’s “Rain Forest.” Each one of these tracks would sound even better on the dancefloor, but this mix is so well curated that it hooks you in all the way, and importantly it introduced us to releases that we haven’t heard before. Expect one hour of groovy, seductive house music that’ll have you craving even more.

01. What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been relaxing and hanging with friends. Overall things have been mellow as I wait for a few different projects to be released.

02. What have you been listening to during the pandemic?

I’ve been enjoying a lot of ambient and house music during the pandemic. Music From Memory’s Virtual Dreams was a big one for me but also things like Soichi Terada and Toyin Agebetu. Recently I’ve really been vibin on LTJ Bukem and a lot of things affiliated with his labels. Another good one was Hotspring Obit For Sunshade.

03. You have a new album on the way for Tartelet Records. What can you tell us about it?

My upcoming album, Dance Planet, has a good mix of house, ambient, and downtempo breaks. It’s definitely inspired by ’90s styles like Soichi and Toyin; I love their mix of uptempo and downtempo tracks. I was laid off at the start of the pandemic from my café job so I finally had time to get in my flow and make a lot of music. I was starting to play with some of the ideas for the album in 2020 but really finished it up at the start of 2021.

04. Where and when did you record this mix?

This mix was recorded in my studio a few weeks ago.

05. What can the listener expect with it?

Expect a nice mellow start with a gradual push into some deep house cuts, with some surprises at the end.

06. How did you go about choosing the tracks that you’ve included?

I’ve got a lot of house tracks stacking up that I’ve been wanting to put in mixes or play out at shows, so I grabbed some of my current favorites.

07. What setup did you use to record it?

Two turntables and Serato.

08. How does it compare to what we’d hear you play in a club?

I play all kinds of music at home and at shows. I would probably slip some of these tracks into a club set, because they get me hype!

09. What is next on your horizon?

I’ve got some other music releases in the works but for now I’m excited for Dance Planet to drop in early October. Keep your eyes peeled. Thanks for listening!

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Hanna “Being” (Apron Records)
02. Auscultation “Promise You’ll Haunt Me” (100% Silk)
03. Space Ghost “Inner Focus” (Unreleased)
04. Space Ghost “Emotional Healer” (Tartelet Records)
05. Shades Of Black “Make U Mine” (Nemesis Remix) (Urban)
06. Alton Miller “Lover Ballads” (Distance)
07. Norm Talley “Change” (Mike Huckaby Remix) (Third Ear Recordings)
08. Pal Joey “Mothers Day” (Loop D’ Loop)
09. Jovonn “It’s Gonna Be Alright” (Be Smoove Dub) (Clone Classic Cuts)
10. Jarren “Gina” (Apron Records)
11. Javonntte “A Song For London” (Mogul Entertainment)
12. Space Ghost “Soul Shower” (Tartelet Records)
13. R.E. “Rain Forest” (Clubhouse Records)
14. Twelve AM “I Wanna Understand You” (At Last V.I.P. Music)
15. Space Ghost “Be Yourself” (Motivational Mix) (Tartelet Records)
16. Po’ Broke N Lonely “Forbidden Vibe” (Big Beat)