RYUICHI SAKAMOTO – The Sheltering Sky (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A varied soundtrack album that manages to weave in a little variation from the traditional type of motion picture scoring indulged in here by Sakamoto. Part of the reason for the variation is that only twelve of the album's 21 tracks are by Sakamoto -- several are source music, others were composed by Richard Horowitz. The diversity thus makes for a more interesting album than might have been had from variations on the main minor-key "Sheltering Sky" theme (presented here in orchestrated and piano-based versions.) It also breaks away from the sound of Sakamoto's recordings, strong material that suffers from a certain digital harshness in the strings.

Horowitz' part in this is in stepping away from traditional Western scoring and using Middle Eastern elements for score structures -- something that's very effective indeed on "Fever Ride" with its blend of Moroccan and Spanish elements. Where Sakamoto easily sketches panorama with his music, Horowitz sketches in mystery. The local source music, too, adds to this, giving the album a grounding in the real world that completes the overall structure. An excellent album that can easily be recommended for more than just soundtrack aficionados. Steven McDonald 
Tracklist + Credits :
The Koran
1 The Sacred Koran  0:43
Spoken Word
The Sheltering Sky, film score
2 The Sheltering Sky Theme  5:19
Ryuichi Sakamoto
3 Belly 1:27
Ryuichi Sakamoto
4 Ports' Composition  1:23
Ryuichi Sakamoto
5 On The Bed (Dream)  1:38
Ryuichi Sakamoto
6 Loneliness  1:30
Ryuichi Sakamoto
7 On The Hill 6:12
Ryuichi Sakamoto
8 Kyoto  1:04
Ryuichi Sakamoto
9 Cemetery 1:27
Ryuichi Sakamoto
10 Dying  3:31
Ryuichi Sakamoto
11 Market 1:42
Ryuichi Sakamoto
12 Grand Hotel  2:06
Ryuichi Sakamoto
13 The Sheltering Sky Theme (piano version) 4:20
Ryuichi Sakamoto
14 Je Chante  2:45
Charles Trénet
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat: Charles Trénet
15 Midnight Sun  3:18
Sonny Burke / Lionel Hampton / Johnny Mercer
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat: Lionel Hampton
16 Fever Ride (for the film The Sheltering Sky) 3:51
Richard Horowitz
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat: Richard Horowitz
17 Chant Avec Cithare (arr. & used in the film The Sheltering Sky)  0:45
Burundi Traditional / Traditional
18 Marnia's Tent (for the film The Sheltering Sky)  3:03
Richard Horowitz
19 Goulou Limma 5:48
Anonymous
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat: Chaba Zahouania
20 Happy Bus Ride - Zarzis (arr. & used in the film The Sheltering Sky)  1:43
Tunisian Traditional / Zarzis
21 Night Train (for the film The Sheltering Sky)  1:57
Richard Horowitz
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat: Richard Horowitz

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO – async (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Async is Ryuichi Sakamoto's first solo album since being diagnosed with throat cancer, which put his career on hold for much of 2014 and 2015. After treatment and a full year of recovery, he composed the acclaimed score to Alejandro G. Iñárritu's film The Revenant (which also featured contributions from Raster-Noton co-founder Alva Noto and Bryce Dessner of the National) before working on this album. He cites nature, everyday objects, and sculptures as influences on async, and its pieces incorporate recordings from various outdoor locations as well as museums, including a sound sculpture designed by Harry Bertoia. In addition to Sakamoto's piano playing and electronic processing, async features intimately recorded acoustic instruments (including a shamisen and a singing bowl), guitar/laptop wizardry from Christian Fennesz, and orchestral elements. The album is focused on combining musical as well as non-musical sounds, and it seems to function as scenes from daily life as well as musical compositions. As the album's title suggests, the individual parts of most of the album's pieces move at different rhythms or intervals, making them seem random at first. "Distintegration" is a prime example of this, beginning with John Cage-inspired prepared pianos and adding a steady high-pitched click, before light, immersive synthesizer washes transform the piece from sounding alien to soothing. As academic and non-emotional as all this might seem, Sakamoto still approaches his work from a human perspective, and there's more melody than there might appear on the surface. The album might be sparse, but it isn't hollow. "Solari" is a dark, hazy cloud of drifting melodies and deep organ tones, which are eventually joined by soft chords that sound like echoes of a faded Beach Boys tune. It's a bit eerie and haunting, but at the same time it's calm, familiar, and even comforting. "Stakra" is centered around a cascading synth sequence, which feels light and heavenly, but it's surrounded by deep bass thumps and fragmented glitches. Two tracks feature spoken poems reflecting on life, dreams, and death. "Life, Life" includes David Sylvian's reading of "And This I Dreamt, and This I Dream" by Arseny Tarkovsky, and "fullmoon" features a collage of several voices reciting Paul Bowles' "The Sheltering Sky" in different languages. Async is certainly not one of Sakamoto's most accessible albums, but if the listener is willing to devote several listens until it all makes sense, it ends up being quite powerful. Paul Simpson