Ryuichi Sakamoto died earlier this week aged seventy- one. He was a member of legendary Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra and a master in many areas of electronic music. He's probably best known in the UK for his soundtrack work- Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and The Last Emperor (and The Sheltering Sky too to some extent), records that crossed over from the rather niche world of soundtrack albums into the popular consciousness. In the 80s soundtrack albums had an appeal to me that were a little at odds with the rest of my listening habits. I bought quite a few and found something in them that records by bands didn't offer. The Last Emperor was one of those albums.
R.I.P. Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Here are a pair of bonus tracks from his vast back catalogue as tribute, that work well together as well as individually. First is Aqua, four minutes of Ryuichi playing piano, taken from his 2020 album Playing Piano For The Isolated, an artistic, poetic and emotional response to lockdown and isolation.
Second is a remix of Massive Attack from 2010, Fatalism, where Massive Attack's creeping 21st century unease is underpinned by some ghostly piano, fractured beats and chopped up, distorted vocal by guest singer Guy Garvey which eventually becomes clear and to the fore- an unearthly and singular remix.
A great tribute, Adam, and lovely to hear Aqua for the first time. That remix of Massive Attack is superb, albeit a sad note that we've lost both Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi in 2023.
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