Thursday, September 27, 2007

MiKE: soul moving music

I was introduced to Ryuichi Sakamoto during my undergraduate years, when I was selecting music for some event which I participated in. Someone loaned me SoundBytes, and never asked it back. Soundbytes was much more electronic, but later albums I bought included 1996, MotoTronic, Smoochy, and Beauty. Stumbled upon videos of his live performances on youtube, and was reminded again why I love his work so much. Oh, you need to be seated patiently in a somewhat contemplative mood to 'get' this. If you are in a rush, don't bother.


"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"


"Bibo No Aozora"


This last one is actually based on an Okinawan folk tune (Asadoya Yunta). The other day when I went shopping for Japanese groceries here, I actually heard a version (not his, obviously) played on the sound system in the store.

And lastly, who could forget the haunting melody from The Last Emperor:

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