From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Ryuichi Sakamoto (born January 17, 1952, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese musician, composer, producer and actor.
He attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he earned a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. Sakamoto recorded his first solo album in 1978, which included the songs "Thousand Knives" and "The End of Asia".
Around the same time, Sakamoto joined the internationally successful Japanese synth J-Pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, along with co-founders Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. The band charted a British top 20 hit with "Firecracker" in the late 1970s (and are also remembered for "Technopolis", "Behind the Mask" and "Tong Poo"), and were a seminal influence on the acid house and techno movements of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sakamoto has collaborated with David Sylvian on a number of singles and most of Sylvian's albums. He has also collaborated with, among others, David Byrne, Fennesz, David Sylvian, Towa Tei and Super DJ Dmitry (from the group Deee-Lite), Thomas Dolby, Bill Laswell, Nam June Paik, Boredoms, Roddy Frame (frontman for Aztec Camera), Iggy Pop, and Caetano Veloso.
He appeared in the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Senjou no Merii Kurisumasu, aka Furyo) alongside British rock singer David Bowie. Sakamoto also wrote the film's musical score, and the theme song "Forbidden Colours", sung by Sylvian, became a minor hit.
As a long time fan of Virginia Astley's music he produced her 1986 album Hope In A Darkened Heart which included David Sylvian as a guest.
Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su won the Academy Award for their score to the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor, in which Sakamoto also played a small role. Among the other films Sakamoto has scored are Pedro Almod..var's 1992 film Tacones lejanos; Bertolucci's 1993 film The Little Buddha; Oliver Stone's 1993 television series Wild Palms; John Maybury's 1998 film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon; Brian De Palma's 1998 film Snake Eyes; Nagisa Oshima's 1999 film Gohatto, and 2002 film Femme Fatale.
Sakamoto continued his collaborations with others on his 1990 album "Beauty", which featured a combination of pop songs and traditional Japanese tunes. Guest appearances included Jill Jones, Brian Wilson, and Robbie Robertson. His 1992 multi-lingual album "Heartbeat" looked to international horizons and drew from a global range of artists such as Dee Dee Brave, French rapper Marco Prince, Arto Lindsay, Youssou N'Dour, David Sylvian, and Ingrid Chavez.
In 1992, Sakamoto composed the score of the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, telecast live to an audience of over a billion viewers. He has also contributed to several albums by French producer Hector Zazou.
In 1998, Italian ethnomusicologist Massimo Milano published Ryuichi Sakamoto. Conversazioni, a collection of essays and conversations.
In 1999, "Heart of Asia" (a dance track by the group Watergate) sampled his "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" theme.
Recently, Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia hired Sakamoto to compose ring and alert tones for their high-end phone, the Nokia 8800.
Sakamoto was married to Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano, collaborating with her on some of her recordings. They finally divorced in August 2006, 14 years after a mutual decision to live separately.
He is also known as a critic of copyright law, arguing that it is antiquated in the information age.
In 2003, Sakamoto collaborated with Alva Noto (an alias of Carsten Nicolai's) to release "Vrioon," an album of Sakamoto's piano clusters treated by Nicolai's unique style of digital manipulation, involving the creation of "micro-loops" and minimal percussion. The two produced this work by passing the pieces back and forth until both were satisfied with the result. This debut, released on German label Raster-Noton, was voted record of the year 2004 in the electronica category by British magazine The Wire.
In 2005, Sakamoto and Nicolai released "Insen," also on Raster-Noton. This album was produced in a similar manner to Vrioon, although it is somewhat more restrained and minimal.
The character of his method of composition is highly mathematical, influenced by Olivier Messiaen and Iannis Xenakis, using graph theory and mathematical logic.
In 2007, the soundtrack album for Silk, the French-Canadian production will be released.
Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law involvement:
Recently, Ryuichi Sakamoto led a petition with around 75,000 signatures, stating that "whether something is vintage or not is not a matter for government officials to decide". The petition was made in response to Japan's Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law, which would have made the sale of pre-2001 items problematic.
