Monday, November 05, 2007
JAPAN'S RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
He's unable to walk the street of Tokyo without being mobbed by fans so he made New York his home. Once regarded as the leader of the '70s techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan's answer to Germany's Kraftwerk, he has since made a career for himself by playing everything from techno to light classical to bossa nova to opera. The more than 60 albums he recorded in various genres have made him a headache for many record shop stock clerks.
The original score he-composed for Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor won him both a Grammy and an Oscar, while the instrumental theme he created for David Bowie's film, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, earned him critical acclaim. Although he co-starred in both films, he couldn't stand to look at his own image in those characters he played.
His solo piano composition Energy Flow was a million-selling No. 1 hit in Japan. There were also his albums made in homage to late Brazilian bossa nova master Antonio Carlos Jobim, which critics raved about.
Ryuichi Sakamoto continues as a prolific recording artist.
posted by Señor Enrique at 9:41 AM
8 Comments:
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Android Eyes said... One of my fav. Sakamoto works, is the Soundtrack for the movie Little Buddha!
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Oggi said...
I have been looking for an English subtitled copy of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, it looks like it's out of circulation.
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Señor Enrique said...
Little Buddha -- another Bartolucci film and another collaborative effort with Sakamoto.
As critics hailed, "For Little Buddha, Sakamoto created one of his most spectacular and inspiring film scores for it. His fusion of electronic and organic instruments beautifully compliment the stunning scenery and powerful images of the film and reflect the awesome scope of the human soul."
Incidentally, Sakamoto was also once considered by new wave aficionados as the East's answer to the West's David Bowie.-
Señor Enrique said...
Hi Oggi,
I'm not quite sure what you mean -- that film is released in English. Do you mean to say that you can only find copies of which that are dubbed in another language?-
gmirage said...
I love both photos you used here and on Sade. too bad I am not familiar with Sakamoto,considering I like jap beat and stuff, (I sing few jap songs but no German and I am in a German speaking country lol!). Am not heeding Rizal's advise hehe. Thanks for sharing Senor, I will look more reads about him!
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Señor Enrique said...
My New York friends and I were very much fans of David Bowie and that's how we discovered Sakamoto, G. Mirage. He is really a fine musician.
Many thanks!-
Oggi said...
All the dialog between Mr L and Hara (Takeshi Kitano) are in Japanese and most DVDs with English subtitles for those scenes are only available in the UK and Asia.
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Señor Enrique said...
Oh, I see, Oggi. I just emailed Romy and asked if she could help out with a resource for you. Let's see what she has to say.
