Music
12 May 23

Milan Records release Travesía compilation in honour of the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto

Milan Records release <i> Travesía</i> compilation in honour of the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto in 2008. Credit: Joi Ito/Flickr

In memory of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Milan Records has posthumously released a 20-track compilation of his works.

The Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away earlier this year at 71 years old from cancer - since, many have made tributes in honour of his memory, including Questlove, Alva Noto, and HEALTH. Nokia, for whom he once composed the ringtones and alarms of Nokia 8800 model, even released a ringtone compilation honouring the man.

Now, Milan Records has released Travesía, a collection of 20 of the Yellow Magic Orchestra member's compositions in a new compilation record in their own nod to the great composer.

Travesía was originally curated as a surprise for Sakamoto's 70th birthday by the filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu who Sakamoto collaborated with on The Revenant. Since, it has become a posthumous record celebrating the composer's prolific career and long life through 20 tracks pulled straight from Sakamoto's catalogue.

"When Jean Christophe Chamboredon from Milan Records, and Norika Sora, Ryuichi’s manager, invited me to this project, my first instinct was to resist," González Iñárritu recalls.

"Sakamoto’s musical universe is so vast that the responsibility to honour 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."

Sakamoto continued to make music until the very end, releasing his twelfth and final album 12 two months before he died. He worked on it throughout 2021 and 2022 while fighting colon cancer which he acknowledged he would be battling for the rest of his life - still, he didn't let that hinder the passion he held for his art, live-streaming four concerts to thousands and working on his music whenever possible.

A revered talent and beloved composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto will forever be fondly remembered.

Check out the tracklist for Travesía here:

01 - Thousand Knives

02 - The Revenant Main Theme (Alva Noto Remodel)

03 - Before Long

04 - Nuages

05 - LIFE, LIFE

06 - Ma Mère l’Oye

07 - Rose

08 - Tokyo Story

09 - Break With

10 -Blu