Ryuichi Sakamoto S/D

It's kind of funny, Hosono had the same type of 'pop' phase but his was more exotica/tropical stuff. His albums with Happy End are really good. I understand if you didn't like Philharmony but can you at least admit that "Sports Man" and "LDK" are first-rate? ;)

A good reference is this:
http://technopop.info/

BTW I would be all for some kind of Japanese New Wave listening club similar to the Krautrock one. I mean that page above lists hundreds of albums and nearly half of them seem to have some link to YMO

corey - I was pretty surprised as well to find that the U.S. release cuts off half of the tracks, and also to realize that "Field Work" and "Steppin' Into Asia" didn't really fit with it at all. Sadly few outside of Japan seem to know about it. It sucks because "Replica" is my favorite RS track (at least, according to iTunes)

iTunes says my most-played RS track is "Dolphins"

BTW, just discovered that if you have access to the Japanese iTunes store, there are oodles of Playing the Piano Live concerts available from the past three years, including the ones he did on his swing through North America this past year. Just downloaded the Toronto show. They're only 1500 yen too, which makes them cheaper than most of the albums on the Japanese store!

I hate to be negative, but I really dislike the piano versions of his older songs — it makes me think of when someone orchestrates the music from the Final Fantasy games. Chintzy and artificial the originals sounds might be, they're a huge part of why I enjoy this music so much, and piano versions just turn them into elevator music imo.

Can see that, sure, but I actually like 'em a lot myself. Have really been enjoying a lot of other piano-based work like Olafur Arnalds and Max Richter etc, and so sometimes these versions really connect with me in a way that some of the 80s and 90s version don't. For example, the original "Amore" was a sophistopop high-gloss thing, but the piano version is quite moody. Not sure how much of this is just my love for the sound of the piano and how much of it is the rearrangement of the songs, though.

"Amore", yep, that's the track, thank you

Found this while perusing the information superhighway.

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2008/01/vatokyo-mobile-musiclp1982uk.html

been distantly aware of this dude for a really long time and finally picked something up last week and i'm pretty into it! that Left Handed Dream one frogbs mentioned. excellent investment! ($0.49 x 25% employee discount iirc)

Playing the Piano is lovely

Just had a listen to Beauty again; yep, "Amore" is definitely a beautiful tune, but this album is really wonky as a whole - "Rose Music" just irritates me.

If you want to hear the difference between Sakamoto and Hosono, listen to both versions of the Okinawan folk song "Asatoya Yunta" (on the albums Beauty and Paraiso). Sakamoto's is very crisp, precise, and beautiful, while Hosono's is surreal and exotic, to the point where it sounds like the vocals were recorded backwards. I love both versions but Hosono's is really something special.

OoooOOOooooh this has "War Head" on it!! Really wish he wrote more songs like that!!!

yeah — it's like the loopiest songs from Multiplies with awesome synth sounds

http://nonukes2012.jp/en/

That is a lineup worthy of international attention

Also think it's going to be the first time sakamoto and otomo yoshihide have collaborated

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fm20120705a1.html#.T_u_dRB5lP4

I mean, was

And I guess I mean: I'm surprised to have only found out about a kraftwerk / ymo concert the week after it happens

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120717a1.html#.UASBKhB5mSM

ummm, can we please get a DVD of this guys?

I hate to be negative, but I really dislike the piano versions of his older songs — it makes me think of when someone orchestrates the music from the Final Fantasy games. Chintzy and artificial the originals sounds might be, they're a huge part of why I enjoy this music so much, and piano versions just turn them into elevator music imo.

I dunno if you were referring to 1996 but I'm listening to it now and it's absolutely gorgeous. I think the artificiality kind of takes me out of it a bit - not on stuff like Ongaku Zukan or Neo Geo, but maybe on the albums past that. I had no idea "Bibo no Aozora" had such a haunting melody because it's covered up with dusty trip-hop drums and bad vocals.

find if you can /04 and /05, two great sakamoto-covers-himself-mostly-on-piano records

'all star video: ryuichi sakamoto by nam june paik'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59MCqEjRFnI

oh my god

did anyone see this? http://eyelevel.si.edu/2013/04/nam-june-paik-musician-and-media-artist-stephen-vitiello-interviews-composer-ryuichi-sakamoto.html

a few years back I saw a film that I think was soundtracked by Sakamoto, very soft and minimal synth and piano music, with the visuals being mostly black with white rectangles fading in and out based on the piano notes. I think. Ring a bell for anyone?

wings of honneamise OST is really good man. esp "F A D E":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8nunklJx7o

Oof, sad news:

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/07/10/ryuichi-sakamoto-diagnosed-with-throat-cancer/

:-/

oof, how awful. all the best to him :(

Anyone who's a fan, if music that sounds like a combination of Naughty Boys and Ongaku Zukan appeals to you, search out the Works I - CM disc. It's basically a comp of all the commercial music Sakamoto composed between 1982 and 1984, a lot sounding like YMO outtakes, though most are instrumental. Akiko Yano is on a few fits. Nothing too adventurous but it's essentially Sakamoto's own version of Coincidental Music.

CM/TV is also excellent

yeah, those comps are great. "perky jean" is a favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55pAtVe-7VE

this gets stuck in my head a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiz1dEJ3l7M

YOU! YOU!

hahaha awesome

CM/TV is also excellent

yup I'm listening to it now; it's mostly the same tunes though isn't it?

whoa, there's a Penguin Cafe Orchestra cover on here (???)

Turns 63 today!!

he's a god.

I recently got Beauty based on the Allmusic review and "album pick" status. I'm now halfway through and holy crap, this is maybe one of the worst albums I've purchased in years.

Every time I see this thread bumped I fear I'm going to read that he's died.

xp "beauty" hasn't aged well it's true

i had the same thought, wish him well.

Oh God, me too, hope he's doing well.

According to the YMO Media Fan's FB page there's another mad exhibition of YMO's gear and artwork in Japan somewhere, lot's of geeky photo's of their equipment popping up.

I myself don't have the slightest problem with Beauty or any other music "aging" objectively (if that were possible). I have aged; I've found my tastes have expanded, taking in and not excluding anything I have seriously enjoyed before. I'm still enjoying Beauty as I did back in the day, and still find it one of his best realised albums.

on the cancer front, the latest news is he's beaten it.

there's a slew of MIDI/Alfa reissues of the early stuff (up to and including Esperanto) that's been released recently, nice 2-cd edition of Ongaku Zukan and other stuff. details here: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/MDCL-5034

Oh wow, that's AWESOME!

really? i would be so happy! my internet is garbage right now so i actually can't check, but last i looked (~a month ago) his website still had the cancer notice posted...

Didn't realize he was sick :( Hope he legitimately has beaten it though.

I've been passovely looking out for copies of Esperanto ever since I saw the thread on it here. Apropos S/D, what else is good in that vein (i.e. more,mfor lack of a better word, "weird")?

Every time I see this thread bumped I fear I'm going to read that he's died.

no kidding, really glad to see he's doing better

Beauty is still decent to my ears, I still think "Amore" is one of the best songs he's ever done. If you don't like it definitely don't get any of the albums that followed it until 1996, cuz I do think he tailed off quite a bit afterwards.

Smoochy was 1996 and that's fantastic, or is that what you're saying, that the 1990-95 period is underwhelming, but then he rallied?

I too love Smoochy, and Heartbeat (1992) as well. I also think Chasm, his last 'glitch pop' album (2004) is grand. He mostly fell off my radar after that, mainly because that minimal ambient electronica is not my forte, but I'm meaning to check all that newer stuff too. There's nothing in his catalogue that's inherently bad - his output being so diversified, it's just a matter of what's up your alley at any given time.

xp yeah that's what I'm saying, don't remember much of Smoochy but that sort of lighter, more hip-hop driven pop he was doing never really did it for me. the album 1996 was pretty damn good though and cast a new light on a lot of those tunes.

Chasm was one of the first I'd heard from him and I thought it was awesome - it was his first new album since I'd gotten into him and I kinda figured he'd be doing albums like it for a long time, just long amalgams of his entire career like that. I'm not much a fan of the recent collabs he's done with people like Fennesz and Alva Noto, putting harsh distortion over minimal piano bits isn't interesting in the slightest to me. Still wanna hear his newer solo piano stuff.