Sakamoto Alva Noto

In an emotionally lush 5th volume, Carsten Nicolai completes the acclaimed Xerrox series of conceptual image-to-sound recordings with a romantic, richly melodic finale that epitomises his solo work’s clinamen from coldly mechanical and nanoscopic to warmer, widescreen themes since initiating the series in 2005 - RIYL Gas, Lawrence English, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Biosphere, Michael Nyman.

Alva Noto goes to his “special place” with a return to the vast, cinematic scapes of his ‘Xerrox’ project on NOTON.

Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto share recordings of their show at Sydney Opera House in 2018, yielding 80 minutes of sublime, glassy electronics; minimal but full of that light-handed emotive brilliance Sakamoto seems to always supply so generously, and with such little effort. Gorgeous, moving music.

2017 marked the 85th birth anniversary of Glenn Gould, the solitary composer/pianist from Canada. To commemorate this, an array of special exhibitions and concerts were held around the world commissioned by the Glenn Gould Foundation in Canada, among which Ryuichi Sakamoto was asked to curate an event in Japan. Sakamoto, an avid Gould admirer who had been influenced by him since early childhood and had handpicked his compositions for a compilation CD, readily agreed to the request. As a result, “Glenn Gould Gathering”, a series of exhibitions and concerts dedicated to Glenn Gould, took place with Sogetsu Hall as center stage. The event was highlighted with a tribute concert entitled “Glenn Gould – Remodels”. The concert featured musicians who have maintained close relations with Sakamoto, such as Alva Noto + Nilo, the leading figures of contemporary electronic music in Germany, and Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz, who has spawned a new world of acoustic music, as well as pianist Francesco Tristano, an exceptional talent from Luxembourg. This live album captures the moment of a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

"Glass" is an improvisational piece composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai, known by his stage name as Alva Noto, for Yayoi Kusama's installation Dots Obsession—Alive, Seeking for Eternal Hope, which ran in September 2016 at Philip Johnson's Glass House. A film of the performance was uploaded to the Glass House's official Vimeo account and website on November 11, 2016, and an audio recording of the 37-minute composition was released as an album on Nicolai's label NOTON on February 16, 2018. "Glass" is an unconventional ambient piece that uses sounds from a keyboard, glass-made singing bowls, and digital processing of the House's glass walls. The composition consists of developing layers of sounds performed over a single drone. It was praised by many professional reviewers as a display of Sakamoto and Nicolai's growing artistry.