简介
by Andy KellmanHad Echo Euphoria been released on a label more recognizable than Tokyo's upstart Mule Musiq -- like, for instance, Cologne's Traum, which placed one of Yusuke Sakurai's productions on the 2002 edition of their Elektronische Musik Interkontinental series -- it's safe to say that the album would've received a lot more of the attention it deserves. Released early in 2004, few copies made it into Europe, let alone North America. Initially, Sakurai's tracks as Dublee resemble a combination of Jan Jelinek's Gramm and Farben releases -- dub-dunked microhouse with knife-slit glitches and faint references to funk, soul, pop and deep house. But there's a crisp, clean, cool (yet warm-blooded) efficiency that gives the producer unique identity, and he's constantly, if gradually, re-shuffling his deck, from "Galaxy"'s dazed ambient dub to "Eleven"'s gently kicking neo-garage to "Groping"'s wobbling/tottering house groove to "Filtered Scene"'s skipping/gliding techno. Despite being a few years late to be ahead of the curve, Echo Euphoria should be considered one of the best albums in its field. Don't hold its lack of discoveries against it. If it's a nagging issue, just pretend that it came out in 2000. Whatever effort you make in securing a copy should pay off handsomely.
