Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto

by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: October 25, 1978
  • Label: Nippon Columbia, Better Days
  • Country: Japan
  • Length: 45:23
  • Community rating: 4.03/5 from 3 ratings

Artists on this release: Pecker, Harry Hosono, Motoya Hamaguchi, Tatsuro Yamashita, Yūji Takahashi, Hideki Matsutake, Kazumi Watanabe

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Foreshadowing his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ryuichi Sakamoto's debut solo album, 'Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto', is a dense exploration of emerging synthesizer technology. The album merges a wide array of electronic textures with disparate styles, including reggae-inspired rhythms, modern classical piano, and synthesized soundscapes designed to evoke natural environments. Thematically, the record reflects Sakamoto's interest in Chinese history, notably opening with a vocoder-filtered recitation of a Mao Zedong poem and incorporating melodies from Chinese revolutionary songs.

Genres

Descriptors: progressive, complex, conceptual, political, electronic

Tracklist

  1. Thousand Knives (9:35)
  2. Island Of Woods (9:45)
  3. Grasshoppers (5:15)
  4. Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied (8:03)
  5. Plastic Bamboo (6:28)
  6. The End Of Asia (6:17)

Credits

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto - synthesizer (moog iii-c with roland mc-8 microcomposer, polymoog, minimoog, micromoog, oberheim eight voice polyphonic with digital programmer, arp odyssey, korg ps-3100 polyphonic), vocoder (korg vc-10), analog sequencer (korg sq-10), syn-drums, piano (on "grasshoppers"), marimba, orchestration, production, liner notes
  • Hideki Matsutake - computer operation, synthesizer programming assistance
  • Harry Hosono - zill on "thousand knives", liner notes
  • Motoya Hamaguchi - syn-drum solo on "thousand knives", brazilian bird whistles on "island of woods"
  • Kazumi Watanabe - alembic guitar solo on "thousand knives" and "the end of asia", rhythm on "the end of asia"
  • Yūji Takahashi - piano on "grasshoppers"
  • Tatsuro Yamashita - castanets on "das neue japanische elektronische volkslied"
  • Pecker - syn-drum solo on "plastic bamboo"
  • Akira Ikuta - management
  • Hikaru Hayashi - liner notes
  • Yukihiro Takahashi - fashion coordination (jacket by giorgio armani; shirt, tie and belt by bricks; levi's 501 jeans; shoes – "zapata" by manolo blahnik)
  • Makoto Iida - cover photo
  • Satoshi "Sign" Saitoh - cover design
  • Mr. Kawaguchi, Mr. Ueno & the staff of "KORG" - special thanks (for their great cooperation)

More from Ryuichi Sakamoto: full discography