Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia

Ryuichi Sakamoto

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Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia Review

by John Bush

Professor Sakamoto gives a lesson on what is practically a different style of music with each track on Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia, beginning with a sure-fire hit: the extroverted, quintessentially Japanese synth workout "Field Work" (with Thomas Dolby). From there, Sakamoto hits riff-ready crossover jazz-fusion ("Etude"), electronic minimalism ("M.A.Y. in the Backyard"), and Oriental dub ("Paradise Lost"). There is a return to sampladelic Eastern synth-pop with "Steppin' Into Asia," but for the most part Sakamoto displays his impressive stylistic range on this solo album.

Track Listing

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
1	Field Work Thomas Dolby / Ryuichi Sakamoto	Ryuichi Sakamoto	04:05	Amazon
2	Etude Ryuichi Sakamoto	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:14	Amazon
3	Paradise Lost Peter Barakan / Ryuichi Sakamoto	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:24	Amazon
4	M.A.Y. in the Backyard Ryuichi Sakamoto	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:37	Amazon
5	Steppin' into Asia Ryuichi Sakamoto / Akiko Yano	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:18	Amazon
6	Tibetan Dance Ryuichi Sakamoto	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:02	Amazon
7	Zen-Gen	Ryuichi Sakamoto	04:27	Amazon
8	In a Forest of Letters	Ryuichi Sakamoto	05:40	Amazon