Noto, Alva / Sakamoto, Ryuichi

Insen Live [DVD]

Label: Raster Music Country: Germany

Ex YMO and ever profilic keyboardist and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in his second release with Alva Noto aka Carsten Nicolai.

"As soon as you heard the two names together, it made complete and utter sense, right? Sine-wave manipulator Carsten Nicolai with the pointillist piano master Ryuichi Sakamoto? Guaranteed. And vrioon was exactly that. Voted one of the records of the year by avant Bible The Wire, vrioon was exactly what you'd expect from the two, Nicolai weaving digital bursts, bumps, and bass into a synthesis with Sakamoto's piano clusters.

We get much of the same here on the follow-up, insen. The main difference in the two is that now, Nicolai has taken it upon himself to intervene directly with Sakamoto's contribution, reconfiguring and reconstructing the track's to his liking, pulling them apart and dissecting. It makes for a more unified whole, in the long run, as insen seems all the better for the fact that Nicolai isn't constrained by moving around what Sakamoto has sent to him. Instead, he's working inside. [...]

Despite the fact that Nicolai has seemingly begun to devote himself to installations and art projects and Sakamoto is well known for his sometimes new-age contributions to whatever project he happens to be gracing, insen finds the two at the peak of their powers, coming together for a rare follow-up that equals its predecessor."-Todd Burns, Stylus Magazine