Bios & promo — benchmark artistes

Susumu Yokota (横田 進 Yokota Susumu, or ススム・ヨコタ Susumu Yokota; born 22 April 1960 – 27 March 2015) was a Japanese record producer and composer. He released several albums under pseudonyms including Stevia, Ebi, and others. Yokota was well known in the English-speaking independent music scene for his albums of experimental ambient music, including albums like Acid Mt. Fuji and Sakura. He also had a long career as a house music DJ and released several highly regarded albums of house music. Before beginning his career as a DJ and producer, Yokota studied economics at university alongside graphic design. After an extended period of travelling in India, he returned to Tokyo to establish himself as a designer, with works ranging from interior design to book covers. Yokota's musical debut was a three-track EP titled Brainthump, released under the pseudonym TENSHIN alongside his friend Makoto on German label No Respect Records. Following this, his first solo record was released on German techno label Harthouse under the pseudonym Frankfurt-Tokyo-Connection. Yokota founded the label Skintone in 1998, named after the deep house night he organised in Ebisu, Tokyo. Susumu Yokota died on March 27, 2015, aged 54, after a long period of illness.

Susumu Yokota was a uniquely gifted artist and a true creative pioneer. His prolific recorded legacy encompasses an extensive series of pivotal 12" releases and over 30 albums, each defined by a distinct musical and emotional signature. An enigmatic and compulsive producer, Yokota's music grew from early sparse and emotive guitar sketches into groundbreaking, club-focused records, the overwhelming acclaim of which directed him towards complex experimentation and a pronounced rejection of formula. Yokota's evolution followed a mercurial course, taking cues from 70s minimalism and avant-garde, the Kankyō Ongaku of 80s Japan, British post-punk and new wave, pre-millennial ambient, Detroit machine music, New York disco and garage, European electronica, neo-classical aestheticism and multiple diverse strands of sonic abstraction. His later works are characterised by a reflective, exploratory finesse that echoes Yokota's internal quest, culminating in a sequence of immersive and ambiguous albums that continue to reward attentive listening. Susumu Yokota is universally remembered as a charming, vibrant and thoughtful character, ambivalent to notions of success and recognition, who remained an innovative, inspirational force in electronic music throughout his life.

Widely respected Japanese electronic artist who was best known for his experimental works but also explored dance styles from acid trance to disco-house.

A prolific, prodigiously talented artist, Susumu Yokota was responsible for over thirty albums between 1993 and 2012, exploring the worlds of acid techno, trance, ambient, downtempo and beyond. After a period of ill health, Yokota passed away in March 2015 at the age of 54.