BTTB (Back to the Basics) Remastered Ryuichi Sakamoto

• 1 opus 04:25
• 2 sonatine 03:38
• 3 intermezzo 03:44
• 4 lorenz and watson 03:56
• 5 choral no. 1 02:27
• 6 choral no. 2 02:04
• 7 do bacteria sleep? 04:17
• 8 bachata 08:14
• 9 chanson 02:23
• 10 distant echo 05:53
• 11 prelude 04:08
• 12 sonata 03:30
• 13 uetax 01:21
• 14 aqua 04:30
• 15 energy flow 04:32
• 16 snake eyes 06:07
• 17 tong poo 05:03
• 18 reversing 03:56
• Total Runtime 01:14:08

Info for BTTB (Back to the Basics) Remastered

The remastered edition will feature liner notes from famed author Haruki Murakami. For the album’s reissue, Murakami writes: “Personal and intimate music – somebody (an anonymous somebody) sitting alone in front of the school piano early in the morning, weaving a melody, exploring harmonies. Music that gradually fills a space with high ceilings that contains the wafting presence of rain.”

“But music that leaves gaps where necessary. Once in a while, we need music like this and this way of being…no, perhaps all the time. We need it as much as we need hot black coffee at the break of dawn and a cat napping next to us in the afternoon.”

An acronym for Back to the Basics, the piano solo record was first issued in 1998 but has been difficult to find outside of Japan since. Comprised of 18 tracks, the LP was partly inspired by Claude Debussy and Erik Satie.

Recently, Sakamoto’s documentary Coda was released online via MUBI. He also published a playlist he made for his favourite restaurant in Japan via The New York Times, featuring tracks from Aphex Twin, Oneohtrix Point Never and more.

Best known for his work as a soundtrack composer (The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence) and a founding member of avant-rockers Yellow Magic Orchestra, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto gets "back to the basics" with this album. Of course, "the basics" here involve simple impressionist-inspired piano ditties that often sound more like diluted Vangelis than compositions from the cutting edge. But that's OK, as long as you consider this as relaxing background music and not the shape of classical music's future. BTTB was a hit in Japan in 1999, especially because of the single "Energy Flow" (a piece that Sakamoto admits was originally written as a commercial jingle). This release features one new track ("Reversing") and plenty of other soothing, melodic works. (Jason Verlinde)

Ryuichi Sakamoto, piano

Digitally remastered

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Born in 1952 in Nakano (Tokyo), Ryuichi Sakamoto has been active in the entertainment industry since his graduation from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

He achieved western fame as a member of electronic pioneer trio Yellow Magic Orchestra from 1978 until the mid 80s. By then he started writing music alone, or contributing with artists, most notably David Sylvian.

His exploits include an Academy Award for his score to the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor, the soundscape for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and was even hired by the Finnish mobile phone company Nokia to compose ring tones for the Nokia 8800. He is maybe the most influential Japanese musician in electronica. In addition to making music, he has also acted in movies, most notably in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" co-starring David Bowie, for which Ryuichi also composed perhaps his most memorable film soundtrack.

Trivia - he acts as a director in Madonna's "Rain" video. He also modeled for "The Gap" among other products.

This album contains no booklet.