'Pacific Breeze' collates the slick sound of Japanese city pop
Long overlooked by international labels, Japan's rich musical history has been undergoing thorough excavation over the past few years. Some of the most satisfying archival releases to date have come from Light in the Attic, the U.S. label behind last year's Haruomi Hosono reissues ...
Yellow Magic Orchestra go big and go home
Yellow Magic Orchestra made its 1980 debut on the legendary American dance show “Soul Train” performing a cover of “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells, two years after the November 1978 release of the trio’s eponymous first album Dressed in logoed button-downs with ...
Paul Roquet's 'Ambient Media' analyzes the importance of experiential atmosphere in society
University of Minnesota Press"Reading the air" (judging the atmosphere of a situation) is considered a crucial social skill in Japan. Paul Roquet's dense work on ambient media invites the reader to analyze the air of the modern city and its media in a new ...
Getting close to Ryuichi Sakamoto
Stephen Nomura Schible refrains from saying whether he and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto are friends, or even close, despite having filmed a documentary about him. "When I'm in the U.S., everyone refers to him by his first name, but in my mind and when I'm in ...
Ryuichi Sakamoto resists the prettier path on 'async' and comes out stronger
In the liner notes for "async," his first solo album in eight years, Ryuichi Sakamoto lists some of the strategies he employed during the recording process: capturing elusive melodies at early-morning synthesizer sessions, compiling field recordings of rain and ruins, rearranging Bach chorales until ...
Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'Revenant' soundtrack nominated for Grammy
Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto's soundtrack for the movie "The Revenant" is among the works nominated for the 59th Grammy Awards, according to a list released Tuesday. The awards given out by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences are considered the top honors in ...
Ryuichi Sakamoto offers his thoughts on politics, Japan and how his music will change 'post-cancer'
"The Professor" is back in town. Last weekend, Ryuichi Sakamoto took the stage at Tokyo Opera City for the debut concert of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, a 105-strong ensemble of young musicians from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which counts him as its musical ...
Message trumps the medium at JMAF
When Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "The medium is the message" in the mid-1960s, the ensuing dialogue on media theory encouraged an approach that persists to the present day: to examine new types of technology through the societal and cultural changes that ...
Ryuichi Sakamoto delves into cities and nature at Sapporo International Art Festival
Sapporo is generally known for three things: snow, ramen and beer. These things, and festivals such as the Snow Festival or City Jazz, are what draw more than 14 million tourists to the city every year. However, as the production of real materials increasingly moves ...
Composer Sakamoto has cancer, cancels all engagements
Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto announces that he has throat cancer and is canceling all engagements to focus on battling the disease.
True tradition would be preferable to an 'Idolympics' in 2020
Ten-thousand Kumamons doing an elaborate Busby Berkeley-style dance routine to Kyu Sakamoto's international 1963 hit "Sukiyaki"? A 100-meter Hatsune Miku towering over the stadium while 80,000 spectators crane their necks for a glimpse up her skirt? Newly elected Prime Minister Pamyu Pamyu speeding up ...
Hibiya rally tries to keep nuclear foes on message
Far away from disaster-hit Tohoku, people gathered Monday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to offer silent prayers on the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. "Let's think of those who lost their lives. Let's remember that each of their lives was precious," singer Tokiko ...
