Review: Storied German ambient, microsound and electronica musician Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) shares the fifth volume of his intentionally indefinite Xerrox series, Xerrox Vol. 5. First begun in 2007, after envisaging a series of albums released in chronic sequence, the Xerrox series expressly aims to prove that the continued copying and replication of recorded sound will produce an indefinite variation, each copy infinitely more interesting than the last. With every edition of Xerrox using the same album cover, the sonic contents of the Xerrox albums similarly mimic each other's movements, through a process of making minuscule changes that go onto produce cascading, domino-effecting results. The palette is expansive and cinematic as ever, though it is striking to know that these suites were achieved solely through the manipulation of recordings made and subsequently timestretched from scratch.
Review: Vrioon was the first ever collaboration album between Alva Noto and legendary synth man and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. 20 years after it became the first instalments of V.I.R.U.S.'s five records together it gets the full reissue treatment. The original tracks from the album are joined by an all new composition 'Landscape Skizze' which was laid down in 2005. The record is defined by alternate piano chords, lush electronic tones and quivering timbres that are delicate yet impactful.
Review: While most celebrated in electronic music circles for his work as part of Yellow Magic Orchestra - not to mention a string of experimental solo works - Ryuichi Sakamoto has long been an acclaimed composer of music for the big screen. As the title suggests, this fine compilation gathers together some of his best soundtrack works. There are plenty of familiar favourites present - check the chiming, suitably cheery theme to "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence" and the swelling closing theme from "The Last Emperor" - alongside lesser-known gems such as the lilting strings of "The Sheltering Sky (Main Theme)", the simmering beauty of "Little Buddha: Acceptance" and the jazz-influenced bliss of "Femme Fatale: Bolerisch".
Review: Wewantsounds has put together a re-release of the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic album Coda, which was originally issued in his native Japan in 1983. This album is a solo piano rendition of the seminal Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack and has never been available outside Japan until now. It finds legendary composer Sakamoto perform acoustic piano interpretations of his iconic themes including the classic title track and 'Germination,' which later featured in the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack. Remastered by Seigen Ono's Saidera Mastering studio in Tokyo, this reissue includes the original artwork and a four page insert with new liner notes by Andy Beta.
Review: The film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, a worldwide sensation upon its release in 1983, showcased Sakamoto's emerging talent as a composer - alongside his acting role - and the soundtrack became instantly popular, establishing Sakamoto as a global music icon. These solo piano versions of it were recorded at Onkyo Haus in Tokyo and initially released as part of the Japanese cassette book project Avec Piano, and now, not before town, are finally getting their first full international release.
Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto is making a very welcome return here with his first solo album since 2017's async. Milan Records are releasing 12 in January to coincide with the venerated Japanese composer's 71st birthday, and the timing is poignant given the album draws from musical sketches created while Sakamoto battled for two and a half years with cancer. Sakamoto himself describes reaching for his synths as a kind of therapeutic response to a big operation, and so the music carries an added depth of personal experience from one of the most profound ordeals a person can go through.
The Revenant Main Theme (Alva Noto Remodel) (3:25)
Before Long (1:29)
Nuages (2:16)
LIFE, LIFE (4:19)
Ma Mere L'Oye (4:27)
Rose (5:03)
Tokyo Story (1:08)
Break With (4:22)
Blu (5:09)
Asadoya Yunta (4:39)
Rio (5:10)
Reversing (4:04)
Thatness & Thereness (3:30)
Ngo/Bitmix (5:17)
+Pantonal
Lamento
Diabaram
Same Dream, Same Destination
Composition 0919 (0:45)
Review: There is just no stopping Vibez 93, one of the busiest and most relabel beat makers in the drum & bass world right now. This new EP, Punkrocker, is another hard-hitting one in several different ways. The opener 'Aquatic Rock' makes an emotional impact - the soulful sounds, ambient pads and delicate floating breaks get you in the mood before things get darker with driving bass and ragga vocals. 'Herault' is another one with jazzy melodies and warm, spring-day atmospheres over tumbling drums and the title cut then gets playful on broken beats, undulating rhythms and filtered melodic loops. 'Serious (Style & Niceness)' is icy and minimal and brilliant.
Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied (7:57)
Plastic Bamboo (6:27)
Thousand Knives (8:50)
Tokyo Joe (4:38)
E-day Project (5:49)
Kylyn (2:32)
Zai Guang Dong Shoo Nian (7:08)
I'll Be There (6:39)
Bokunokakera (3:53)
Grasshoppers (5:16)
Mother Terra (3:24)
The End Of Asia (6:21)
Review: You had us at Sakamoto. Or rather you had us at "excerpts from Ryuichi Sakamoto's time working under Nippon Colombia's label, Better Days. First released in 1992, this 12-track compilation runs from tracks that appeared on the Japanese synth legend's debut album, Thousand Knives, first released in 1978, through to songs written with the iconic session group KYLYN, featuring celebrated guitar great Kazumi Watanabe. Ever the auteur, even if you didn't know this was Sakamoto in proper landmark mode, there's no chance the sounds here could really be confused for anyone or anything else. It's mature and intelligent, yet strangely - and typically - fun, childlike and a little cartoonish, sharing as much in common with experimental electronica that was emerging during the 1970s and 1980s as video game scores from the 1990s.
Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto has penned many soundtracks over the years, but few are as stirring, tender and emotionally laden as his soundtrack to 2021 Chinese movie 'Love After Love'. The film is described as an "erotic romance drama" set in the 1930s, about a young woman who travels to Hong Kong to further her education, but ends up working for her aunt, seducing "rich and powerful men". Sakamoto's score mirrors the unfurling, highly emotive drama, using reverb-laden piano pieces and string-laden orchestral movements to wring maximum emotion from each scene. It's a brilliant score all told and undoubtedly one of the former Yellow Orchestra Man's greatest works for cinema - and that's saying something!
Review: Released to coincide with Japanese musical Goliath Ryuichi Sakamoto's 70th birthday, To the Moon & Back was almost inevitable. Even without worrying reports about the maestro's health, there's no way anyone can have such a significant impact on global music for so long and not have people wanting to pay tribute upon reaching septuagenarian years.
And what a tribute it is. Taking elements from a huge back catalogue that stretches back to the mid-1970s, contemporary greats including Thundercat, Alva Noto, Hildur Guonadottir, The Cinematic Orchestra, and David Sylvian offer new versions and remixes of the master's stuff, with each track here chosen by Sakamoto, which is about as significant a seal of approval as you could hope for. Like the man himself, it's widely varied, consistently innovative and just really, really good.
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