Chasm

Ryuichi Sakamoto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: KAB America
• ASIN: B0006NI3AA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,367 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > World Music > Far East & Asia > Japan

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

"My music has been acoustic or electronic, classical or non-classical, somehow always divided largely into two types. My own goal for a long time has been to somehow fuse these into one music rather than juxtaposing them. I really haven’t wanted to keep on presenting them separately. I love both types of music and doing both is what I’m known for. Plus, creating a fusion of my own would be the sort of thing I could do; I think it would be the music closest to who I am, so I’ve really made an effort. I feel that this time, with Chasm, I’ve gotten the closest to resolving the issue. At the same time, for these past few years I’ve felt very frustrated and stifled trying to create new music using a trial-and-error approach. I experienced a strong feeling of being blocked in the real world of post-9/11. On top of this, for the 3 years-plus that I’ve been working with Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto it’s been difficult for me to physically do my own music, and so I think I’m expressing a sense of all this frustration in Chasm. Consequently, of course, in the arrangements the sounds aren’t jammed in, and the music has an open feel, a sense of refreshing simplicity." - Ryuichi Sakamoto

Product Description

The 15th solo release from Academy and Grammy award-winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. "I feel exhilarated. I’m satisfied. Truly, very satisfied. Just as I felt after making "Esperanto," I feel I’ve created something personally very important to me." - Ryuichi Sakamoto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strk bty, September 6, 2005

By 

Aaron Zamarron "aarontz" (Dearborn, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasm (Audio CD)

I have just within the last year discovered Ryuichi Sakamoto's music, and I must say he is now one of my favorite composers. His songs are very easily accessible to the ear, invested with an emotion that is impersonal enough to touch such a wide crowd. He is never stagnant, always collaborating with many kinds of artists, pushing forward with experimentation, never letting himself become outdated.

Chasm, one of his latest releases, is a fusion of his acoustic work combined with modern electronic laptop-style production. It is a peaceful listen, sounding like Pan Sonic, Oval, and at times Alec Empire, Towa Tei, or Satie. Its songs are soothing and synthetic for the most part; and, despite the synthesized sterility, they can still penetrate the heart.

"War & Peace" offers a nice subtly glitchy and warm backdrop and confronts us with various contemplations about life, notions about human nature. This piece impresses me because he is asking us to think deeply about these things, an interactive approach to music that I have seldom witnessed. On "Only Love Can Conquer Hate," a 10 minute long trip into ambient territory, Sakamoto creates the most delicate beauty with a simple, quiet bassline and chords run through quivering dsp(? i think) filters. I feel this piece is trying to remedy the pain and stressfulness in our daily, modern lives telling us that it will be okay. This subject is also directly addressed in "World Citizen." His jazzy piano work is showcased in "Ngo/Bitmix." It is very nostalgic sounding chamber music combined with tiny electroacoustic techniques that snap so quietly, like a campfire ... and a tint of bossanova too. Almost sounding like a demo, but if anything else was added, it would sound too congested.

There are other songs that catch my interest: "Laménto" seems like it may be autobiographical (though I could be wrong) using samples of sheets of paper turning and foot steps. There is some R&B influence too on "Undercooled" and "+pantonal," as well as Japanese influence on "Undercooled" and "Seven Samurai- ending theme." His deconstruction of World Citizen is almost better than the original, a truly brilliant remix. And you can't say that about too many remixes (these days remixes can be so goofy).

So many electronic artists nowadays do not have much skill at composition or playing instruments. They rely on software, editing, or just sampling real musicians to get by, sadly; and although this technology lets almost anybody make music (we can hear music from so many people that wouldn't otherwise make music) which can be exciting, the musicianship is lost in much electronic music. Ryuichi Sakamoto is a rare example of true talent in electronic music today.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blending Musique Concrète, Ambient, Electroacoustic, December 14, 2007

By 

R. MARK Plummer (From the Former USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chasm (Audio CD)

Sakamoto keeps pushing the boundaries - making some nice headphone spaces to retreat into. Here he brings his singular touch and sensibilities to electroacoustic music that still has his signature.

He is moving from being Sakamoto san to Sakamoto Sensei -- he's teaching us how to listen so we can appreciate music constructed with sounds that may not come from traditional "instruments."

I kept thinking this CD was titled: "World Citizen" since there are two mixes of that song on this disc - both featuring vocals by long time Sakamoto co-conspirator, David Sylvian.

Fans of either Sakamoto or Sylvain (both?) will find this a wonderful addition to their music library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still inventive 30 years later, December 30, 2008

By 

Roket Pad (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasm (Audio CD)

In 2004 music genius Ryuichi Sakamoto dropped Chasm, my favorite album by him to date.

Chasm is a mostly ambient album, with standouts being the spinning Chasm and crying Break With. But he starts out with a great "orientalist" hip-hop piece Undercooled, followed by white-noise Coro. I love how he challenges listeners. The "recycled" World Citizen is great. And the closing Seven Samurai theme is always a winner.

Sakamoto's career took off in 1978 with Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), which created the electronic pop genre world-wide. After YMO, he's best known in the US for a number of stellar soundtracks. In Japan he's been all over the place - the recent /0* series is full of piano and ambient tones.