Travesia
(Digital)

Milan Records today releases Travesía, an album of music by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto curated by award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

Milan Records today releases Travesía, an album of music by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto curated by award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

Available now both digitally and in vinyl format, Travesía features selections from Sakamoto’s prolific catalogue handpicked by Iñárritu, who famously collaborated with the composer on his Oscar-winning film The Revenant.

Originally conceived as a surprise project celebrating Sakamoto’s 70th birthday, the album is the result of nearly two years of planning and six months of meticulous curation by Iñárritu. Now arriving in the wake of the iconic musician’s passing, Travesía, meaning “journey” in Spanish, takes listeners on a one-of-a-kind trip through the last four decades of Sakamoto’s musicmaking career, showcasing his immeasurable influence and lasting legacy

Of the project, Alejandro González Iñárritu says:

When Jean Christophe Chamboredon from Milan Records, and Norika Sora, Ryuichi’s manager, invited me to this project, my first instinct was to resist. Sakamoto’s musical universe is so vast that the responsibility to honor him by choosing only 20 stars from his complex galaxy would be practically impossible. But after finding out that they were planning this as a surprise present for him, I had no other choice but to accept the challenge.

Even now, I keep discovering new elements in Ryuichi’s pieces that I’ve listened to for decades. The perception of his music becomes a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same.

Millenary musical tradition breathing through his relentless innovation. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music will be fully alive even when the rest of us are gone.
I hope that, by listening to this selection, you’ll be able to experience that eternal emotional waterfall.

Given full access to Sakamoto’s extensive catalogue of solo releases, collaborations, scores and live performances, Iñárritu enlisted the help of collaborators Martin Hernandez and Martin Delgado for the album’s curation process.
Over the course of the next six months, the trio listened to more than a thousand pieces of music from Sakamoto, eventually focusing on the composer’s lesser-known solo tracks in an attempt to appeal to both existing fans as well as a new generation of listeners.

Opening with “Thousand Knives,” the title track of Sakamoto’s 1978 debut album, and eventually covering releases as recent as his 2017 full-length async, the compilation offers a truly unique and intimate retrospective of the composer’s career from his peer, collaborator and friend.

( - Milan Records - )

Milan Records today announces the release of Travesía, an album of music by prolific composer, producer, and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto curated by five-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Available digitally and in vinyl format beginning May 5th, 2023

Milan Records today announces the release of Travesía, an album of music by prolific composer, producer, and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto curated by five-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Available digitally and in vinyl format beginning May 5th, 2023 the compilation album features twenty tracks handpicked by Iñárritu, who famously collaborated with Sakamoto on his Best Picture-winning film, The Revenant. Taking its name from the Spanish term for “journey,” Travesía spans nearly four decades of Sakamoto’s solo work and scores, with Iñárritu taking listeners on a one-of-a-kind trip through the iconic musician’s career

“I vividly recall the sensory, emotional experience I had when I first listened to Ryuichi Sakamoto,” says filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. “First, a few piano notes: some kind of fresh, light rain. Then, a sweet and mantric cadence.
It felt as if the fingertips of some long fingers were penetrating my brain and giving me a cranial, cosmic massage that went through my body and dissolved everything that might have been wrong in my life back then.
It was ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,’ in the fall of 1983. Ever since that day, his extraordinary work has become part of the soundtrack of my own existence. I still keep discovering new elements in Ryuichi’s pieces that I’ve listened to for decades.
The perception of his music becomes a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same. I hope that, by listening to this selection, you’ll be able to experience that eternal emotional waterfall.”

Travesía is the result of six months’ work by Iñárritu, who listened to over a thousand pieces by Sakamoto in order to curate the album’s 20-song tracklist.
Focusing primarily on the musician’s solo work, Iñárritu, alongside his friends and collaborators Martin Hernandez and Martin Delgado, deliberately chose some of Sakamoto’s lesser-known tracks in an attempt to appeal to both frequent listeners as well as a new generation of fans.
The collection begins with “Thousand Knives,” the title track of Sakamoto’s 1978 debut album, before eventually covering releases as recent as his 2017 full-length async. Also included on the album is a new, never-before-heard mix of “The Revenant Main Theme” by Sakamoto’s long-time collaborator Alva Noto, who worked alongside Iñárritu and Sakamoto on the 2015 blockbuster hit.

Envisioned by Sakamoto’s management team and Milan Records, Travesía is yet another celebration of the composer’s contributions to music-making.
It follows last year’s release of A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto – To The Moon and Back, a collection of remodels by Sakamoto’s frequent collaborators, contemporary admirers, and some of the composer’s personal favorites.
And while Travesía and the tribute album are both retrospectives of Sakamoto’s career thus far, Sakamoto continues to add to his discography and legacy, most recently releasing his 15th studio album 12, of which Pitchfork notes, “Rarely does an album this understated say so much.”

An Album Of Music From Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Catalogue
Curated By Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Available Friday, May 5 From Milan Records

( - Sony Music Masterworks - )

More info at: Ryuichi Sakamoto Bio

More info at: The Revenant Main Theme