Susumu Yokota :: Laputa: Skintone Edition Vol. 1 (Lo Recordings)

Lo Recordings’ reissue of Susumu Yokota’s Laputa resurrects a long-mythic masterpiece of Japanese electronic music—an uncompromising, genre-dissolving vision that drifts from ambient and electro-acoustic collage to jazz-inflected and ritualistic sound worlds with breathtaking imagination.

A mythic Yokota masterpiece resurfaces

A key UK indie label specializing in deep sonic incursions and electronic music with a broad, exploratory spirit, Lo Recordings has launched a massive series of reissues from Susumu Yokota’s Skintone Edition (originally released on Skintone Records): a sequence of 14 singular and adventurous albums issued between 1998 and 2012.

Alongside Midori Takada, Tetsu Inoue, and Hiroshi Yoshimura, Yokota stands among the finest names in Japanese contemporary music, yet his legacy extends far beyond genre boundaries. His body of work ventures from free-jazz-tinged atmospherics to electro-acoustic experimentation and chilled, kinetic electronica.

Laputa is a true rarity, long known only to small circles of listeners but now finally available to a wider audience. It embodies Yokota’s most uncompromising sense of musical syncretism and visionary excellence. The tracks unfold as a rich array of sound collages and glitch-esque soundscapes, moving from one ambience to another with rare versatility.

The album elegantly embraces sinuous ambient, synth-adelic textures alongside proggy-jazzy interludes, meditative pop melodicism, traditional ritualistic elements, rhythmic tones, and avant-garde treatments. It’s difficult to single out one track, but I’m particularly drawn to the deep, evanescent, desert-rocking textures of “Iconic Air,” where expansive echoes melt into abrupt micro-changes.

It’s a vibrant, panoramic, softly moving, mysterious, and beautifully arranged piece that seamlessly blends retro-tinged keyboards with modern tonalities. Overall, this is a tremendous collection of tracks that forms a composite whole, ultimately subverting conventional musical categories.

All in all, this reissue is yet another vibrant homage to one of the emblematic masters of modern electronic music. A carefully produced and beautifully presented multi-format edition, it once again demonstrates the label’s dedication, passion, and professional commitment to the defense of advanced electronic music and innovative sound.

Laputa: Skintone Edition Vol 1 is available on Lo Recordings. [Bandcamp]