Ryuichi Sakamoto, 12

Milan Records is proud to release “12,” an intimate collection of twelve compositions by Ryuichi Sakamoto, written and recorded in Tokyo during his fight with cancer throughout 2021-2022. Each numbered title refers to its recording date. About the album, Sakamoto says: ”….after I finally “came home” to my new temporary housing after a big operation, I found myself reaching for the synthesizer. I had no intention of composing something; I just wanted to be showered in sound. I’ll probably continue to keep this kind of “diary.”

Contains live recordings of mostly the Last Emperor with orchestra and RS at the piano. A number of the tracks are not available on the film soundtrack. The remainder is mostly from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Here you get to hear these pieces played by orchestra, instead of synths.Interesting and different sounding item…

Ex-Talking Head David Byrne and actor/composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (who co-starred in the film) each get a side of this beautiful score to Bernardo Bertolucci's Academy Award-winning film, and each took home Oscars and Grammys for their efforts.

The fourth in Ryuichi Sakamoto's Year Book series. This volume of 5 CDs is of unreleased and rare tracks from 1985-1989. This was a particularly fruitful period for Sakamoto, gaining worldwide acclaim receiving an Academy Award for The Last Emperor soundtrack, several original albums, commercial music and live tours. He was using keyboards such as Fairlight CMI, Emulator II, Yamaha DX7. Tracks include performances with Yuji Takahashi, Kisaragi Koharu, Haruna Miyake, Kazumi Watanabe, a live session at Roppongi Inkstick, the 1989 NHK FM special song, Kaze no Michi, tracks such as his song Rachael performed by Sandii & The Sunsetz song, and unreleased The Garden for designer Tokio Kumagai.

A varied soundtrack album that manages to weave in a little variation from the traditional type of motion picture scoring indulged in here by Sakamoto. Part of the reason for the variation is that only twelve of the album's 21 tracks are by Sakamoto – several are source music, others were composed by Richard Horowitz. The diversity thus makes for a more interesting album than might have been had from variations on the main minor-key "Sheltering Sky" theme (presented here in orchestrated and piano-based versions.) It also breaks away from the sound of Sakamoto's recordings, strong material that suffers from a certain digital harshness in the strings. Horowitz' part in this is in stepping away from traditional Western scoring and using Middle Eastern elements for score structures – something that's very effective indeed on "Fever Ride" with its blend of Moroccan and Spanish elements. Where Sakamoto easily sketches panorama with his music, Horowitz sketches in mystery. The local source music, too, adds to this, giving the album a grounding in the real world that completes the overall structure. An excellent album that can easily be recommended for more than just soundtrack aficionados.

The two albums, playing the piano and out of noise, present a wide ranging view into the world of this composer, musician, producer, actor, and environmental activist.