Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto – Vrioon

This initial release plus the 4 that followed are nothing short of a masterpiece of ambient minimalism. Experimental, ambient, textural, glitch, classical piano, mood. This music stands alone - nothing else quite sounds like this; and listening to it you have to ask yourself "why not?"

"Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_, and Summvs will be released individually on vinyl and CD between June and October 2022. The five albums were remastered this year in close collaboration with Calyx Mastering and will be released on NOTON under the title ‘reMASTER’. Each reissue will include remastered versions of the original recordings as well as unreleased compositions.
In November 2022, a limited edition Boxset containing all five albums will be available."

Finally !

This album is a must for enthusiasts of glitch and minimal music. Need to be repressed on vinyl. With hope we live!

These words will have difficulty describing the exquisite detail and nuance crafted by Alva Noto and Sakamoto. This is a beautiful union of piano and electronics, and likely the only of its kind.

Vrioon is a more organic and meditative work than their later collaboration on Insen. True appreciation of such intricate and sympathetic sonic delicacies calls for a learned ear, but hearing and recognizing the curious interplay in this sparse acoustic-electronic dialog is joyfully easy.

Lovers of ambient, experimental and glitch styles will adore this. It is lovely, thought-provoking music.

I absolutely love this album. There's something about it I can't put my finger upon. Carsten's pure tones, bleeps, and buzzes are so contrasted to the minimal, nearly ethereal piano of Sakamoto, especially as the piano is heavily treated with sustain whilst the glitchy soundscapes tend to be composed of shorter or at least more terse "syllables." On one side, organic; on the other, mechanical and cold. Truly an ambient album (there is a distinct environment one steps into), it's a vision of what's to come that embraces the past, a "Music For Airports" remade for Futurist flights in Art Nouveau vessels.

If you like this try "Three White Roses and a Budd" a collaboration between Fila Brazillia and classical Pianist Harold Budd. Or Harold Budd's collaboration with Brian Eno "The Pearl". They both feature classical piano, just like Sakamoto on this release, mixed with the type electronic music the collaborators are famous for.

The feeling of immense sadness overwhelms me when listening to the beautiful music by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The web of music is so thin, so fragile as if it might break any second and yet it brings a feeling of true perspicacity, is really touching and soothing.

Melancholic Piano combined with noto's sine waves and clicks. I play it at the office and drive everyone crazy cause they don't think the sine waves, etc are part of the CD. Very subtle.