Audiopile Review: Music does not get the appreciation it deserves in our dumbed-down culture. Because of this, most legendary musicians, are not household names. Still, any legendary musician with a career as successful, significant, diverse, and lengthy as Ryuichi Sakamoto’s will likely have created something recognizable to millions across the globe. And in Sakamoto’s case, specifically, that something is surely his main theme from the 1983 movie ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’. Sakamoto also starred in that movie, alongside David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano. The film is hardly an insignificant cultural artefact, but it’s that main theme which has had the largest impact. The tune is so ridiculously gorgeous that it risks overshadowing the rest of Sakamoto’s original soundtrack, which is all entirely beautiful. It was a big compositional achievement for him, which is perhaps why, the same year the film was released, he recorded a solo-piano version of the entire OST. ‘Coda’, (not to be confused with the 2017 documentary ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda’) does a fantastic job of bringing this music’s beauty into focus, and Sakamoto’s performances are impeccable. It’s honestly one of the most purely enjoyable albums in the great man’s voluminous discography. Amazingly, it was only ever available in Japan. So, big shout out to France’s Wewantsounds for this long-overdue and rather sumptuous international edition.

Wewantsounds presents Ryuichi Sakamoto’s classic LP Coda, issued in Japan in 1983 as a solo piano version of the Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack. The album, which has never been released outside of Japan until now, sees Sakamoto on acoustic piano reinterpreting fascinating versions of his famous soundtrack including the classic theme and “Germination,” which was later used in the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack. This reissue has been remastered by Seigen Ono’s Saidera Mastering studio in Tokyo and boasts the original artwork plus a four-page insert with new liner notes by Andy Beta. When the film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence hit the cinema in Summer 1983, it was a worldwide instant success, due in no small parts to its renowned director, Nagisa Oshima, and to its superb cast including David Bowie, Takeshi Kitano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The latter, fresh from his success with Yellow Magic Orchestra and a thriving nascent solo career, was also enrolled to compose the score of the film. The soundtrack was released at the same time as the film in summer 1983. It became equally successful and made the Japanese composer a global icon as the instrumental theme became an instant classic all around the world and also Sakamoto’s signature track from then on. That same year, his Japanese label decided to release an exclusive cassette book as the format was getting popular in Japan. The project, called Avec Piano, featured an audio cassette together with a beautiful 80-page book including illustrations and texts by various designers and writers. As for the music, Sakamoto re-recorded the Merry Christmas soundtrack on solo piano at the Onkyo Haus studio in Tokyo. This version of the theme which Sakamoto would re-record many times, is therefore the first ever recorded solo piano version of the composition. The cassette book’s success led to an LP release a few months later under a new title, Coda, and with a different artwork by Japanese designer Tsuguya Inoue. The original orchestrated theme “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” was dropped, replaced by two new tracks, “Japan” and “Coda,” recorded a couple of years earlier in 1981 and featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto’s blend of ethereal ambient soundscapes and modern electronics. Coda is quintessential Ryuichi Sakamoto and an essential album in the Japanese composer’s discography.