He was a hugely talented
composer, musician and humanitarian and I'm sure much will deservedly be
written about him in the days and weeks ahead.
I came to his music
through the Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence soundtrack
back in 1983. Only really coming to that movie through its David Bowie
connection, in which both Bowie and Sakamoto acted in pivotal and memorable
roles, making a large impression on youthful me.
I was also aware of Sakamoto
through his work with the band Japan and particularly it's front man David
Sylvian, with whom Sakamoto would sporadically collaborate with over the years,
most recently I think with the track, World Citizen.
While I was originally drawn to
the bewitching Forbidden Colours track between them from the Mr Lawrence
soundtrack, it was really the rest of the album's haunting score which made the
lasting impression and one of the few albums that I had on both vinyl and CD
back in the day.
Unlike Mr Sylvian, other than the occasional compilation
album, I didn't really keep up with Sakamoto's prolific solo work which over the
years, balanced experimental work with movie scoring, most notably, that
of The Last Emperor, for which he won an Oscar, but I would
regularly listen to what music of his that I had.
Fittingly, it was David Sylvian's
shared social media post and image above that brought the sad news of
Sakamoto's passing to my attention, so I will again turn to his music as I
carry on working, noting that one of his favourite quotes was;
"Art is long, life is short"
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