Async

"The celebrated composer is back from a recent health scare with his first solo album in eight years, and it's a dark, eerie, ethereal beauty ... It's hard to say if the songs on async are a direct or indirect reflection of his recent health scares-it's tempting to overanalyze music created in the aftermath of such events-or if this is simply a real soundtrack to an imaginary film. Whatever the case, Ryuichi Sakamoto is back and shows no signs of being boring or predictable. For this, we should all be thankful".

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"Perhaps (...), the greatest compliment due Sakamoto is that he remains a radical after all these years. For all the red-carpet accolades he earned mid-career, he never stopped cutting edges. async is the work of an authentically great artist that may well be entering a rich new phase of his 42-year career".

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