Ryuichi Sakamoto S/D

Ah, fuck. :(

jesus, no

hoping the best for him. Takahashi had a brain tumor removed just a few months ago, as well. :(

its hard to gauge the tone of YT's social media posts, he seems optimistic but apparently he's not out of the woods yet

the one time I randomly catch an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuelFc2j1VM/

Heart does a flip again now when I see this thread bumped.

Me too :(

Then enjoy this instead, as he has the closing track

https://modernobscuremusic.bandcamp.com/album/prsnt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC5Ry5092Pk

now here's a powerful image

https://i.imgur.com/RtP0rpZ.png

I would listen to this crossover.

btw before anyone asks I have no idea what the context of this is, I just saw it in a YMO FB group. i wish i knew

Money Mark
February 24, 2012
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Emerson!…i’m standing with two of the very best!!….YMO,ELP….backstage,Hollywood Bowl

new album is heavy. maybe it's knowing about his health struggles, maybe it's because YT recently passed, but wow is there a lot of weight to what is essentially a solo piano album (there are some synths too of course). you can even hear him breathing throughout. almost sounds like he's struggling sometimes.

like I'm listening on headphones and I keep thinking someone is behind me

While I thought async was elegiac this new one, 12, is almost too much.

oh man, yeah, “heavy” is the right word. I’m usually not a fan of his solo piano stuff either but this one is hitting differently for sure. haven’t quite decided if it’s due to the circumstances but don’t think it’s just that. hits pretty hard in any case and isn’t something i can just throw on casually.

the least interesting ymo member. i consider his solo output pretty overrated. on the other hand, hosono and takahashi solo material is pretty consistent.

the least interesting ymo member. i consider his solo output pretty overrated. on the other hand, hosono and takahashi solo material is pretty consistent.

Geeta Dayal with an excellent piece on the album:

https://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/ryuichi-sakamoto

CerebralCaustic, I can understand that opinion if you're solely judging based on solo albums. But have you checked out Sakamoto's production/arrangement work? It's incredible. Taeko Onuki and Akiko Yano's early-to-mid '80s albums, for starters? It's incredible.

12 has turned into a daily play for me. i hope he can release more music, but if he doesn't, it's a powerful final act.

xxpost nonsense

fwiw Sakamoto is my "least favorite" of the three too, only because Hosono's music is very spiritual and precious to me and Takahashi has done so much stuff I absolutely love, while Sakamoto has a bunch of albums I'm just not really too interested in. that said I still love him and own a lot of his solo albums. so "least favorite" isn't really a term I like using. pound for pound surely YMO is one of the greatest bands in history

Geeta's review was nice. wonder what she's been up to?? not posting on ILX I see.

This sounds fun. Guess I'll probably get to see it at Big Ears.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpAnOjCM7iB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

agree on Hosonos output being the most consistently good one,
but Sakamoto and Takahashi both had their fair share of bland assembly-line productions, no?
Both LOTS of great ones too, obviously...
I think async is the best Sakamoto has been on album length in a long time, really love that one.
Have yet to hear 12.

say it ain't so Sakamoto

A Q&A about 12 with @commmons
and Ryuichi Sakamoto
17/20

全体を通して「プログレッシブ ロック」的な感じがしたのですが、いわゆるプログレ感を意識されることはあったのでしょうか？

The whole album has a progressive rock vibe to it but did you have this in mind?

— ryuichi sakamoto (@ryuichisakamoto) March 22, 2023

全くありません。人生でプログレが好きになったことも影響を受けたこともありません。

Not at all. I’ve never in my life liked prog rock and I’ve never been influenced by it either.#skmtnews #ryuichisakamoto #坂本龍一 #twelve

— ryuichi sakamoto (@ryuichisakamoto) March 22, 2023

It's cool. I have never heard any Prog influence in RS or his projects. Dunno what the person asking the question was listening to.

It’s an ambient electronic piece? I am still digging into that record somewhat. It’s mixed for 360 reality audio which is pretty cool. But I honestly don’t get the prog connection at all.

【訃報】音楽家の坂本龍一さん死去 71歳https://t.co/PQ6k4eokvv

80年代に3人組バンド・YMOで世界的ヒット曲を生み出した。映画音楽でも知られ、88年には米映画『ラストエンペラー』で米アカデミー作曲賞を日本人で初めて受賞。晩年はがん闘病が続いたが、最後まで音楽作りに情熱を注いだ。 pic.twitter.com/n7DlL2UdpA

— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) April 2, 2023

RIP!

pic.twitter.com/mYLMEN6HrZ

— ryuichi sakamoto (@ryuichisakamoto) April 2, 2023

:*(

Oh no

Ah damn. But such legacies he and Takahashi left.

I was just asking my friend in Tokyo what the deal was when YT passed, and it was front-page news. Sakamoto is probably more well-known. He said it was announced on the little TVs they have on the Yamanote line.

😞

Oof. Fuckin cancer.

been dreading this news, what a life and career

he lived an amazing life and left behind so much good music. RIP Sakamoto

Oh no 😢

His latest record was already haunting but man it’s too much to bear right now

Listening to 12 this morning (for the first time in a month or two) was definitely a changed experience.

an artist that, once i discovered him, has never really fallen out of favor or rotation. over half my life now, have always just had him "around" but never really considered him a favorite for whatever reason (seems like he pretty much was the whole time). looking back, very cliche, but what a wholly legendary resume. hard to know what to say when an innovator of his calibre leaves. unending respect. rest well.

I braced for this everytime I saw a headline about him over the last 7 or so years. I suppose the inevitable is inevitable, and think it’s inspiring that he wasn’t just active until the end, but also through cancer and into his 70s. What an absolute legend. I’m grateful for what RS has given this world.

YMO were always such a perfect band for me, because they resembled the 3 parts of a person - YT had the looks, HH had the soul, and RS had the brains. Sakamoto was on a very similar wavelength to Brian Eno, someone who clearly thought about music on a deep and philosophical level. There was such purpose to everything he did, and holy hell did he do a lot of it. async in particular, it says so much despite being fairly minimal. tbh this kind of prevented me from getting into his stuff as much as Takahashi's (whose work is a lot more fun) or Hosono's (whose stuff is more warm and spiritual) - everything Sakamoto did outside of his pop phase had a very particular heaviness to it. His last two especially. async feels like it's bearing the weight of the world. 12 confronts his own mortality in such a direct manner. It's hard to listen to sometimes. But man, it's such brilliant stuff.

RIP Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Here he is with anti-nuke mascot Monju-kun in 2012. pic.twitter.com/zqpVTHa2CM

— Mondo Mascots (@mondomascots) April 2, 2023

God damn it. RIP.

So many heroes going. It's a sadness that can be overwhelming. But we will always have the music.

^^^
I've been a fan of RS since discovering him through his (sensational) contributions to David Sylvian's Secrets of the Beehive, 35 years ago. It's like hearing that an old friend has died. A true titan. RIP.