Ashtar Afterhours - Body Music

Label: Smallville Records – SMALLVILLE 70
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Reissue
Country: Germany
Released: Sep 5, 2025
Genre: Electronic
Style: Deep House

Kenneth Graham has been a fixture of Los Angeles’ underground since the early 90s. In the last few decades, he’s released music under a cast of aliases - KG Beat, Exit Strategy, Estelle Montenegro, and Ashtar Afterhours among them. The names shift, but the sensibility stays constant: a devotion to deep, immersive house music built on precision and patience.

Body Music, first released on Plastic City in 2001, returns through Smallville with a renewed presence. The reissue doesn’t feel like an attempt to revive a forgotten moment; rather, it recognises the extent to which Graham’s approach has resonated in the underground.

Ashtar Afterhours has always operated in the slipstream of deep house, decidedly subtle and slow burning. Now, accompanied by new sleeve artwork from Stefan Marx, this edition feels less like a nostalgia trip than a reminder of how alluring stripped-back house can be achieved when a producer trusts isolated elements and deliberate pacing.

Across the EP, Graham gives his arrangements room to breathe. Nothing feels crowded. This makes the production open and analogue but does not negate a hazy emotional depth that anchors everything together. The title track sets the tone: gentle pads, rounded bass, and percussion that nudges the rhythm rather than dictating it. It creates a sense of arrival without announcing itself.

The record succeeds because Graham knows not to overstate nor overcommit. The movement is gradual and steady, revealing small details over time instead of reaching for obvious payoffs. You will not find any big drops, or hyper-compression when Graham plays auteur. His focus on layering and negative space makes the music feel lived-in, almost conversational, each track rewarding the listener for their patience.

The EP carries this approach in different directions. Lite of My Life leans into a more melodic sway, its chords flickering resolutely at the edges, enveloped by a delayed shimmer. Touchy Feely offers the closest thing to a lift, built on a buoyant bassline but also retains the same sense of intimacy that runs through the whole release. The record invites a reflective mode of comprehension; perfect for low-light late-night listening.

Part of the reissue’s appeal comes from its place within Graham’s wider catalogue. With more than forty releases behind him, he’s built a body of work that is both consistent and quietly exploratory. Body Music isn’t a relic. It’s a reminder of a particular strain of deep house that valued atmosphere over immediacy. Two decades on, these tracks sit comfortably alongside today’s analogue-minded producers. Graham’s adroit restraint feels current, not nostalgic.

In one word, Body Music is seductive. It never raises its voice, yet it draws you in all the same. For listeners drawn to subtle, emotionally grounded house, this reissue is essential.

• REVIEW BY JERICHO D’ARTAGNE

A1. Body Music
A2. Lite Of My Life
B1. Intro To Ashtar
B2. Touchy Feely
B3. Taeya Vs. Gia Marie