Ryuichi Sakamoto – async (Japan Vinyl 2LP)

An encore pressing of his previous work, the first analog release from commons: Vinyl Collection! While the previous album “out of noise” was an organic sound work, this album makes extensive use of analog synthesizers, including vintage ones. Since one of the original production ideas was the soundtrack to a fictional Tarkovsky film, each song strongly evokes the listener’s own image of the film. In fact, after the album’s release, Shiro Takatani, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Zakkubalan, and others made a film of the album and its songs, which was also presented as an installation. The album includes “andata,” a new signature song that has been performed at every concert in recent years.The use of Paul Bowles’ and David Sylvian’s readings from the film “Sheltering Sky” for “fullmoon” and “Life, Life,” respectively, also attracted attention.