3/5
Classical music inspires Japanese ambient master's partial return to form after recent house excursions
Attempts to integrate classical music into electronica have led to many follies like William Orbit's mortifying Pieces In A Modern Style, but fortunately Yokota has always been a master of subtlety and imagination. Symbol is successful when it refuses to respect its stolen elements, recontextualising familiar snippets of composers like Mahler and Ravel as if they were samples from more standard sources. 'Purple Rose Minuet' works best, Debussy's 'Clair De Lune' floating over a minimal heartbeat, and while overall it's patchy, it's fortunately far more than Hooked On Classics for the laptop generation.
