News & Reviews

BASS: House, Electro remixers tap Japanese composer Sakamoto for new album

After the wildly successful Verve Remixed series and a growing interest in Japanese DJ/producers like DJ Krush, it was only a matter of time before classical musicians entered the Electro scene. Several artists are remixing tracks from Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s acclaimed studio album Chasm, in a worldwide project that will result in a spring 2006 release on Sakamoto’s KAB America label.

Electronic producers Chris Brann -- a prolific Atlanta-based producer/remixer who’s worked in avant jazz, Drum & Bass, Deep House and Downtempo Electronica -- Keigo Oyamada, Richard Devine, Taylor Deupree, Mr. Anonymous and Carsten Nicolai are currently busy in their studios remixing the tracks.

"Making Chasm was very important to me personally, because it was my first release of original music in sometime," said Sakamoto. "This remix project is equally important, because we have really assembled a sort of ‘dream team’ of artists to work with the material."

More remixers will be revealed in January, Rephlektor inkorporated said in an announcement. In addition to Chasm, Sakamoto is known for composing music for the film The Last Emperor and has released 10 albums in the past decade.

Sakamoto, who recently was collaborating in the studio with Towa Tei and several other producers, began a Japan tour of live piano performances on December 9. A record label official said that all 13 dates sold out immediately after the tour’s announcement.

The untitled remix project is Executive Produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and co-produced by Norika Sora, Evan Balmer, Justin Kleinfeld and Eric Giambertone.

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