sakamoto recommendations

nochexxx

harco pronting
can anyone recommend an essential ryuichi sakamoto record?

I’ve looked into buying the riot in lagos 12ve (as recommended by woebot) but it seems highly sort after and therefore rather expensive.

I noticed that the riot in lagos track comes from an album called b2 unit. is the album worth getting?

thanks in advance
 

hamarplazt

100% No Soul Guaranteed
B2-Unit is a masterpiece, by far the best Sakamoto have done, and so ahead of its time that its frankly unbelieveable. Pre-empting all sorts of 90s experimental techno.

In addtion to that I wholeheartedly recommend Esperanto (weird avant-ambient and proto-electronica), Thousand Knives (synth pop meets synthetic orientalism - perfectly descibed by the track title "Plastic Bamboo") and Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (all sorts of weird fake-ethno-world-jazz-funk).
 

vache

Well-known member
hamarplazt said:
B2-Unit is a masterpiece, by far the best Sakamoto have done, and so ahead of its time that its frankly unbelieveable. Pre-empting all sorts of 90s experimental techno.

In addtion to that I wholeheartedly recommend Esperanto (weird avant-ambient and proto-electronica), Thousand Knives (synth pop meets synthetic orientalism - perfectly descibed by the track title "Plastic Bamboo") and Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (all sorts of weird fake-ethno-world-jazz-funk).

Second B2-Unit.
 

francesco

Minerva Estassi
This recent compilation , not faultless (where is forbidden colours?), but a very good introduction indeed (and tracks are remastered):

B00006K0TX.09.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


1
1.THOUSAND KNIVES
2.THE END OF ASIA
3.WAR HEAD
4.thatness and thereness
5.Riot in Lagos
6.サルとユキとゴミのこども
7.TIBETAN DANCE
8.SELF PORTRAIT
9.A WONGGA DANCE SONG
10.A CARVED STONE
11.Ballet Mecanique
12.G.T.Ⅱ°
13.Parolibre
14.BEFORE LONG
15.NEO GEO
16.AFTER ALL

2
1.CALLING FROM TOKYO
2.安里屋ユンタ
3.DIABARAM
4.Triste
5.Nuages
6.Tainai KaikiⅡ -Returning to the Womb
7.Moving On
8.Sweet Revenge
9.美貌の青空
10.青猫のトルソ
11.TANGO
12.1919
13.M.A.Y. in The Backyard
14.intermezzo
15.aqua
16.tong poo
17.energy flow
18.Libera me
 
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MiltonParker

Well-known member
hamarplazt's nailed it: B2 Unit is the masterpiece, Esperanto is the other weird one that's even further out sonically & structurally, & Thousand Knives is great pre-YMO jazzy lounge techno (buy this one on vinyl, it sounds great at 45 rpm).

'Illustrated Musical Encyclopaedia' & 'Left-Handed Dream' are two earlier pop records with vocals, hit and miss but worth checking out -- my favorite tracks on both are the instrumentals.

In 86 he solidified a US record deal and started putting out slicked out world pop. Playing it safe, and falling completely flat. 'Chasm' from 2004 was supposed to be the return to experimental form but I didn't enjoy it much. I've heard that soundtrack to 'Love is the Devil' is worth hearing though.

The first collaboration with Carsten, 'Vrioon', a little too sinewave-placid for me, but the second one 'Insen' -- more details, and really, really lovely.

Even with me not liking the later stuff as much I'm a huge fan and I'll always have time to listen to something from him.
 
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big satan

HA-DO-KEN!
hail

if you're checking out YMO solo stuff i'd strongly recommend looking in to harry hosono's solo records too, e.g. philharmony, paraiso, bon voyage
 

polystyle

Well-known member
The End Of Europe

B2 - Unit IS essential , not only for Riot' which is great in itself and as 12" , but for just every track on there ...

Also love Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence , the international '80's Sakamoto - Director Oshima -Bowie thing the movie had was fresh at the time - and of course the Christmas' derived Bamboo Houses Bamboo Music with David Sylvian still sounds great (where is my 7"?).

A more recent composition that chilled and thrills is a striking piece he did for the titles of the NHK special
'Century Changes' (rough trans from Japanese) which mapped the web's growth and how all those individual monads are all connected , but some are still alone ...
Sad and possibly Haunt -y musik for those Tokyo Shibuya Akihabara Bladerunner' tribe cliff dwelllers who like a hint of Satie in their contemporary musik .
Not available outside Japan probably ...
 
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owen

Well-known member
polystyle desu said:
Also love Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence , the international '80's Sakamoto - Director Oshima -Bowie thing the movie had was fresh at the time - and of course the Christmas' derived Bamboo Houses Bamboo Music with David Sylvian still sounds great (where is my 7"?).

both the sylvian/sakamoto singles are astonishing, shimmering things- rare combination of sentimentality and futurism...'forbidden colours' just overwhelming (ha the instrumental of that was played incessantly on Radio 1 when Di Spencer died, for some reason...) also with YMO the 1981 technodelic LP is up in this area- one of the best city albums I can think of, all steel and glass and organised chaos...

heard a curious thing he'd done with carsten nicolai recently, was ok if a little dry- very stripped back and non-lush. anyone heard the 'sala santa caecilia' thing with fennesz?
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
thanks for all the info, i shall investigate at once...... for some unknown reason sakamoto and YMO's work has escaped me.
although i do remember the the merry chrismas mr lawrence soundtrack as i'm a huge fan of takeshi kitano who stars in that film. also i remember hearing a sakamoto track which blew me away on a recent wire tapper cd..... need to go back to that..............
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
There was a whole lot of cross pollination between England and Japan going on in the 80s - with Bill Nelson, Japan (the group members), Thomas Dolby, YMO solo albums, Masami Tsuchiya and pop acts like Sandii&the Sunsets and Susan also being in the mix. Some of the Japanese albums I bought at the time has this "Music of the Rising Sun" sticker on them, but doing a google on the subject I cannot find much. Maybe it was a Scandinavian marketing sticker or that no-one has bothered to write about the subject.

What is surprising is that Bowie didn't get involved more as he was ideally placed to do so with the role in "Merry Xmas ..." and having a Chinese girlfriend at the time. Maybe he did - just that he never released anything - apart from his censored version of "China Girl" ...

"Technodelic" - seconded (two years ago actually),
YMO’s masterpiece. Minimalist production compared to the trios previous albums, still traces of Beatles and music from computer games, great melodies and production.
 

hamarplazt

100% No Soul Guaranteed
Ness Rowlah said:
Some of the Japanese albums I bought at the time has this "Music of the Rising Sun" sticker on them, but doing a google on the subject I cannot find much. Maybe it was a Scandinavian marketing sticker
Yeah, maybe. We had those stickers in Denmark too. For some reason the Ippo-Do album "Radio Fantasy" was rather widespread, I often see it very cheap at second hand stores. It's quite silly, but very good if you're into "Solid State Survivor"-era YMO.
 

polystyle

Well-known member
'like some cat from Japan'

Re: Bowie - Japan . He did do that Crystal Japan sake CM sdtk which sounded a bit post - Low/Heroes,
(must have been when he 'spent some nights in old Kyoto, sleeping on the matted ground'
circa "Move On" from The Lodger).
We know he got his Ziggy spaceman samurai Kansai Yamamoto clothes fix in Tokyo bk in that day .
If the ref. to Bowie having a Chinese girlfriend' ref.'s to the model in the China Girl video ,
I don't think that was a lasting thing - but obv a nice shoot ...
The Iggster did have a Japanese girlfriend - became his wife for a time actually , that was Suchi

Re: Masami Tsuchiya . Still luv his "Night In The Park" from Rice Music ...
Standing at Tokyo's Club Unit last August waiting to see 001100 and Toshi from Plastics' Winter Melon ,
Masami was behind me and talking to someone in English loud enough for me to overhear that he got the call that 'Ippo- Do would reform'.
I had been thinking about him and then , well there he was .
For months now half baked idea to pull together a '80's Japanese electro pop' compilation has been coming in and out of brain ...

And re: The cross of London - Tokyo .
Yea, the Japanese have had a real luv of things 'London' for the longest time .
Judy Nylon has told me the tale of her being the date once for Tetsu the bassist who was in at the end of The Faces , Toshi from Plastics stayed in London for much of the 1980's I believe and got the Major Force label going and Masami played with Japan for that while there , among others .
 

owen

Well-known member
polystyle desu said:
For months now half baked idea to pull together a '80's Japanese electro pop' compilation has been coming in and out of brain ...

!!! do post it up if you do, eh...?
 

polystyle

Well-known member
I hear you Owen .
Would prolly do all the back work , proper liner notes , etc. and have it out on a label -
if i can get to it !

Cheers
 
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