Audiopile Review: Also joining the 30th Anniversary celebration of Sublime records is perhaps the label’s best known release, Susumu Yokota’s Acid Mt. Fuji, which was actually issued the same day as Ken Ishii’s Reference To Difference! Acid Mt. Fuji would mark a sizeable jump in style for Yokota, whose 1993 debut, The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection, was a relatively straight-ahead set of dance floor-oriented trance and acid house. Acid Mt. Fuji was intended to be an ambient album, Yokota adding in the pulsing beat work afterwards, transforming the environmental-styled new age recording into a head-spinning, near-psychedelic journey that would mark the proper start in one of the greatest trajectories of a producer in electronic music history. While the album is technically separated by its 11 tracks, it’s best to be thought of as a single epic track, a perfect use of the uninterrupted CD format upon its 1994 release. The tracks segue into each with an organic fluidity, the processed sounds of water and birds bubbling to the surface among Yokota’s relentless techno pulse, which changes trajectory and intensity across its near 70 minute odyssey. While the pulsing acid techno and Detroit-influenced drive keep the BPMs rolling, Yokota stitches in mesmerizing kosmiche synths, chiming bells and fragile strings, bringing to life the album’s majestic cover of Mt Fuji at dawn. Acid Mt. Fuji is just one of a handful of classic albums from Yokota, though it’s imprint can be certainly be heard on his revered later albums like Boy & The Tree, Grinning Cat or Symbol. Just a note on this release, this 3xLP edition is different than the previous 2xLP pressings from Midgar, containing unreleased material from the era on the extra disc. It’ll be a must for the many Yokota die-hards out there.

On July 26th Susumu Yokota’s venerated 1994 classic ‘Acid Mt. Fuji’ is reissued in expanded, deluxe fashion, as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the label that originally presented it. Japan’s Musicmine – specifically it’s electronic subsidiary Sublime – released the album on June 29th 1994, simultaneously with Ken Ishii’s ‘Reference To Difference’, as their inaugural joint offering.

‘Acid Mt. Fuji’ is an enchanting mix of mystical ambient acid and futurist minimal techno, taking the listeners on a psychedelic pilgrimage, where 303, synths and electronic percussion are scented with reverb, echo and forest recordings. Merging Japanese new age and sparse electronica, the recording is free, organic, and energized – proffering a unique blend of early 90s western styles and the essence of his home country.

Yokota originally planned an ambient record, but ‘Acid Mt. Fuji’ evolved into a concept work featuring the Roland TB-303, which he recorded live at home alongside a sampler, yielding experimental and innovative results.

The long player found its muse in the famed 18th-19th century artist Hokusai’s red rendition of Mt. Fuji, known as ‘Red Fuji’ or ‘Akafuji’. Part of the painter’s renowned ‘Thirty Six Views of Mt. Fuji’ series from the 1830s, ‘Red Fuji’ depicts the iconic sacred mountain aglow in red at dawn, symbolizing spirituality and creativity. With references to Japanese folklore, nature and shrines, tracks like ‘Kinoko’ and ‘Meijijingu’ invite the listener to immerse themselves in the album’s spiritual depths.

Yokota’s own homage-to-Hokusai drawing graces the record’s cover, and was inspired by the concept of wa (harmony) – highlighting his diverse skills not only as a musician, but an artist and designer too.

‘Acid Mt. Fuji’ is a powerful testament to the establishment of rave culture in Japan, which rapidly developed within just two years, from 1992 to 1994. Largely due to praise for the breathtaking originality of the LP, within this burgeoning national techno scene, Yokota rose to prominence as one of its key figures.

He then became one of the most renowned artists to emerge from his homeland and enter the global electronic pantheon. He inspired a new wave of Japanese producers and DJs, contributing significantly to the growth of the techno movement in Japan.

Yokota was a solitary figure, an artist who expressed his life through the continuous creation of music. For those seeking something different; mystical, soothing, pristinely ergonomic and uniquely Japanese, this record stands as iconic as Mt. Fuji itself.