![]() ![]() It’s wonderful.īut then “Island of Woods” changes course. At nearly 10 minutes, his opening salvo is a slo-mo barnburner soaked in guitar solos, breezy melodic flourishes, and gloopy drums. And, perhaps responding to the disco craze well underway, Sakamoto also lets the track run long. One can imagine the cosmic-disco DJ Daniele Baldelli’s ears perking up-the chugging tempo and twisting atmosphere were a perfect match for the sound he was pioneering in Italy at that time. ![]() The mood is somber and yearning, but then the music locks in, and it’s a fusion-tinged instrumental whose main theme is just a little too heavy for an elevator ride. The title track opens with a reading of a poem through a haunting vocoder, drifting with gentle restraint in a field of silence. Each of Thousand Knives’ six pieces swerves with a deft touch through complex arrangements, playful voicings, and cheeky key changes. Nearly a decade into his career as a sideman, Sakamoto’s musical fluency is in full effect here. Though the record was quickly eclipsed by his band’s smash success, this reissue serves to reintroduce the world to an overlooked gem by a now canonical voice.Īs with all of Sakamoto’s work, there’s no distinction between pop and experimentalism. But before it was released, Sakamoto slipped out an album of his own: Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto. The result was the historic self-titled debut album from Yellow Magic Orchestra. The point was to send up the ridiculous orientalism peddled by artists like Les Baxter, reclaiming a fanciful Western take on the far East. At the time, Ryuichi Sakamoto was a respected session musician in Japan, working his way through the industry, when he was recruited by Haruomi Hosono for a one-off album of electronic exotica. Phuture invented acid house when they stumbled upon design quirks in Roland’s TB-303 hip-hop was born at a block party and, in 1978, one of electronic music’s most distinctive voices got his start in a parody group. Perhaps not seeing it was the point: Many of electronic music’s greatest innovations occurred in the shadows, through misuse, amateurism, or accident. ![]()
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