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IN STOCK
01. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knives
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02. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Island Of Woods
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03. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Grasshoppers
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04. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied
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05. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Plastic Bamboo
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06. Ryuichi Sakamoto - The End Of Asia
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ARTIST
SAKAMOTO, RYUICHI
TITLE
Thousand Knives Of Ryuichi Sakamoto
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
WEWANTSOUNDS
CATALOG #
WWSCD 024CD
WWSCD 024CD
GENRE
ELECTRONIC
RELEASE DATE
11/8/2019
2023 restock. Wewantsounds present a reissue of
Ryuichi Sakamoto
's first solo album
Thousand Knives Of
, originally released in 1978 on the sought-after Better Days label. Save for a small-scale release in 1982, this is the first time the album is being released on vinyl outside of Japan. 1978 was a key year for Japanese music.
Haruomi Hosono
, one of the country's most innovative musicians had just formed
Yellow Magic Orchestra
pursuing the sonic experimentation he had started with his solo album
Paraiso
. The album, recorded between December '77 and January '78, featured both Ryuichi Sakamoto and
Yukihiro Takahashi
. Hosono quickly invited both musicians to form YMO but before the group could release their first album, Sakamoto entered the Nippon Columbia studios in April 1978 with a plan. Sakamoto had become an in-demand session musician after studying composition at the Tokyo University of Art and had played on many key albums of the time, such as
Taeko Ohnuki
's
Sunshower
(1977) and
Tatsuro Yamashita
Spacy
(1977). This led to an invitation by Hosono to feature on
Paraiso
. A penchant for avant-garde and improvisation had gotten Sakamoto interested in electronic music early on, and with
Thousand Knives
he decided to get
Hideki Matsutake
on board as he had mastered the art of synth programming following a stint with Electronic Music pioneer
Isao Tomita
.
Thousand Knives
took several months to record as Sakamoto would be busy during the day with his session work and would only record at night. Named after Belgian-born poet
Henri Michaux
's description of a mescaline experience, the album is a reflection on how synthesizer technology might come to change the face of music. The first side conceived as a long suite opens with the title track and a recitation of the Mao Zedong poem "Jinggang Mountain" filtered through a vocoder, before morphing into a mid-tempo synthpop instrumental. It is followed by "Island Of Woods", a ten-minute track buzzing with insect-like synth sounds. Side one ends with "Grasshoppers", a beautiful acoustic piano melody underlined by a subtle synthesizer soundscape. Side two opens with "Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied", acknowledging the influence of the German sound spearheaded by
Kraftwerk
. The track features a mid-tempo metronomic beat skillfully intertwined with a Japanese folk sounding melody. The album ends with two catchy up-tempo synthpop tunes in the form of "Plastic Bamboo" and "The End Of Asia", which both became staples of YMO's and Sakamoto's live shows. YMO's sound included various influences from its three members but there is no denying
Thousand Knives
paved the way for the group's Computer Music sound. Remastered from the original tapes by renowned producer and engineer
Seigen Ono
.
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