YOKOTA, Susumu - Skintone Collection

YOKOTA, Susumu - Skintone Collection (Lo Recordings) Comentários: In an era when the biannual release is an accepted norm for a recording artist, the creative output of Japan's Susuma Yokota is little less than staggering. Perhaps as a testament to this, Lo Recordings serve up Skintone Collection; the 32nd release (!) from the fiercely creative Yokota, a fully-rounded retrospective of his large body of work over the past ten years. Comprising choice cuts from giants such as 2000's Sakura through to this years Love or Die, Ben Eshmade's sensitively-compiled fourteen track disc is both a perfect introduction to Yokota for the uninitiated and a necessary indulgence for established followers. Clocking in at a round hour, Skintone... succeeds in illuminating the many facets of Yokota's confounding talent as an ambient composer. Take for example "Live Echo", culled from 2000's The Boy and the Tree, a track in which Yokota's skill for pairing traditional Japanese instrumentation alongside sparse, ethereal electronica takes hynotic effect. Elsewhere, "A Heart-warming and Beautiful Flower" from this years Love or Die LP showcases Yokota's ongoing passion for flanking the organic with the machine-made and constructing each piece from a vast sonic pool. As the insistent piano chord stabs and melodic flourishes interwine with a deep electronic heartbeat and synthesised strings the result is graceful, hypnotic and genuinely moving. Sprawling and outrageously ambitious, Susumu Yokota's brand of ambience demands your attention; Skintone Collection provides the first step... in boomkat [Para Ouvir/Samples]