Ryuichi Sakamoto

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.

In celebration of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 70th birthday, Milan Records announced A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: To the Moon and Back, a collection of songs from Sakamoto’s vast catalogue newly reworked and remodeled by contemporary artists and collaborators.

"Bricolage," a French word meaning to assemble something from available materials, is such a perfect term for the art of the remix that it's surprising no one has ever used it before. It's less surprising that Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose work has always had a cool Continental flair despite the artist's Japanese roots, would choose such an elegant term for his swish remix collection. Focusing on reworks of material from 2005's back-to-the-roots electro-pop experiment Chasm, Bricolages features a cross-cultural and cross-generational batch of remixers including Cornelius, whose playful sense of pastiche is to current hipster Japanese pop what Sakamoto's Yellow Magic Orchestra was a quarter-century before; his take on the spoken word cut-up "War & Peace" is considerably lighter and groovier than Aoki Takamasa's tense, austere version. Former Japan drummer Steve Jansen, whose collaboration with Sakamoto goes back to the early '80s, contributes the skittering "Break With," bridging the gap between new wave disco and contemporary IDM.

First collaborative album for 13 years from veteran female singer/songwriter Taeko Onuki and Ryuchi Sakamoto. In the early 1970s Onuki was a member of Sugar Babe along with Tatsuro Yamashita, during which time she first met and performed with Sakamoto. Simple album of Onuki's voice accompanied by Sakamoto's piano. Most compositions written by Sakamoto. Undertook a Japan tour in November/December 2010.