Ryuichi Sakamoto's 1998 album BTTB will be reissued as a 20th anniversary edition by Milan this November.
The record by the Yellow Magic Orchestra member and Academy Award-winning film composer was originally released in 1998, its title an acronym for Back To The Basics. It was a commercial hit in Japan but has been tough to find outside of the country since. BTTB consists of Debussy and Satie-influenced piano pieces and includes the well-known "Energy Flow." The 20th anniversary edition of BTTB comes via Milan, the label that handled Sakamoto's well-loved 2017 full-length async, along with the accompanying remix album.
The remastered edition comes with notes from famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami, who recently DJ'd on Tokyo Radio. He 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.
The async-centric documentary, Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA, is currently available to stream via subscription service MUBI.
Listen to "energy flow."
Tracklist
01. opus
02. sonatine
03. intermezzo
04. lorenz and watson
05. choral no. 1
06. choral no. 2
07. do bacteria sleep?
08. bachata
09. chanson
10. distant echo
11. prelude
12. sonata
13. uetax
14. aqua
15. energy flow
16. snake eyes
17. tong poo
18. reversing
Milan will release BTTB on November 9th, 2018, with a double-vinyl version following in 2019.