Susumu Yokota - Acid Mt. Fuji

MOLECULES FORMING THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE

Susumu Yokota's Acid Mt. Fuji exists in an ecosystem full of photosynthetic bodies. It does this beautiful thing, bowing down to the hallowed Mt. Fuji, rising through the day like the slow ascent depicted on the cover, before scaling down sharply on 'Tanuki' to begin the day anew. Many Techno albums contain their scope to the dance floor. Yokota shows us that movement comes from energy, and energy is derived from the harmonies around us. Opening tracks 'Zenmai' and 'Kinoko' sample a litany of Nature Recordings - seemingly the whole animal kingdom - to showcase this necessity, as the former fast-forwards through plants in bloom while the latter dissects the micro-bacterial fracturing hidden beyond the eye's sight. It isn't until 'Meijijingu' embarks on its cold, austere course that a night of sweat, motion, and friction takes form. Though a more recent example, I'm reminded heavily of Pantha Du Prince's Conference Of Trees, a record that similarly used nature to conduct our orchestra of movement.

And once Yokota's movement gets going there's no stopping it. Seriously, Acid Mt. Fuji has some of the most dynamic forward-momentum rhythms I've heard in Techno, especially that of the Ambient Techno variety. These songs lurch and thrust, powered by a steam engine in a locomotive off the fritz, endlessly powered by some unseen force. Or, the force of bodies colliding well into the night, as tracks like 'Ao-Oni' and 'Alphaville' give off this heady, 3 a.m. vibe. One made for nights forgotten. The drums are unrelenting, constantly pounding listeners into oblivion, building to no climax in particular. But building nonetheless. These songs, and others (like 'Tambalin' and 'Tanuki'), are sweat-pouring-down-your-face, body ache, feet quake sensations meant for drug-induced revelations. It is microscopic or macroscopic, microcosmic or macrocosmic, the compounding of atoms versus the compounding of celestial bodies. Acid Mt. Fuji is whatever you perceive, so long as that perception comes from an out-of-body experience.