RYUICHI SAKAMOTO + ALVA NOTO
NOTON IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE 12 CONVERSATIONS, A COLLABORATIVE ALBUM BY RYUICHI SAKAMOTO AND ALVA NOTO TO BE RELEASED ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2026.
THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE LEGENDARY MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER RYUICHI SAKAMOTO AND THE GERMAN ARTIST CARSTEN NICOLAI (AKA ALVA NOTO) HAS PRODUCED SOME OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE AND ENDURING WORKS IN CONTEMPORARY ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC. BEGINNING WITH VRIOON IN 2002, THE ARTISTS SPENT MORE THAN TWO DECADES FUSING AND EXPANDING THEIR DISCIPLINES, WITH SAKAMOTO’S EVOCATIVE, SUSTAIN-DRENCHED PIANO COMPOSITIONS FINDING THEIR COUNTERPART IN NICOLAI’S SKILFUL AND SENSITIVE ELECTRONIC DETAILING.
EACH SUCCESSIVE PROJECT FURTHER DEEPENED THEIR ARTISTIC DIALOGUE: FROM THE FIVE STUDIO ALBUMS OF THE V.I.R.U.S. SERIES (VRIOON, INSEN, REVEP, UTP_ WITH ENSEMBLE MODERN, AND SUMMVS), TO THEIR SCORE FOR ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU’S THE REVENANT; GLASS (2017), A WHOLLY IMPROVISED PERFORMANCE INSIDE PHILIP JOHNSON’S ICONIC CONNECTICUT LANDMARK, IN WHICH THE PAIR FIXED CONTACT MICROPHONES TO THE GLASS WALLS, PLAYING THE ARCHITECTURE ITSELF AS AN INSTRUMENT; AND TWO (2019), A DOCUMENT OF THEIR LIVE PERFORMANCE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE.
ACROSS THESE WORKS, THEIR DISTINCT APPROACHES ACHIEVED A RARE SYNTHESIS, A MASTERFULLY SUSTAINED DIALOGUE BETWEEN PIANO AND ELECTRONICS, SAKAMOTO’S WARMTH AND MELODIC FINESSE MEETING NICOLAI’S ABSTRACT ELECTRONIC FORMALISM. TOGETHER THEY CONJURE A HYPNOTIC STILLNESS, ONE WHOSE MUSICAL RESOLUTIONS FEEL JUST AS REWARDING AS ITS FUSION OF CINEMATIC LYRICISM AND CONTEMPLATIVE RESTRAINT.
12 CONVERSATIONS BRINGS TOGETHER MUSICAL EXCHANGES RECORDED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2022. ROOTED IN THE SAME CREATIVE PERIOD THAT GAVE RISE TO SAKAMOTO’S FINAL SOLO ALBUM 12, THESE RECORDINGS WERE NOT ORIGINALLY INTENDED AS A STANDALONE RELEASE. IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE COMPLETION OF 12 THAT SAKAMOTO AND NICOLAI DECIDED TO PRESENT THESE EXCHANGES AS A WORK IN THEIR OWN RIGHT.
THE ALBUM REFLECTS THE VITALITY AND CURIOSITY THAT DEFINED MORE THAN TWO DECADES OF SHARED INSPIRATION: FLUID, EXPLORATORY, AND FORWARD-LOOKING. CREATED WITH OPENNESS AND TRUST, IT CAPTURES A CREATIVE PROCESS IN CONSTANT TRANSFORMATION – SOUNDS EXPANDING, ALTERING, AND EVOLVING THROUGH ATTENTIVE LISTENING.
CONCEIVED AS THE CONTINUATION OF AN ARTISTIC DIALOGUE EXTENDING BEYOND THE PHYSICAL, 12 CONVERSATIONS HONOURS SAKAMOTO’S WISH THAT THESE ENCOUNTERS SHOULD EXIST BEYOND THE ARCHIVE, OFFERING AN ENDURING TESTAMENT TO ONE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC’S MOST REVERED COLLABORATIONS.
“A HEAVY BREATH CAN BE HEARD IN THE RECORDINGS. YET THIS WORK IS NOT ABOUT REMEMBRANCE BUT CONTINUATION, VITALITY, CURIOSITY, AND THE SPIRIT OF EXPERIMENTATION THAT SHAPED AN ARTISTIC RELATIONSHIP OVER DECADES.
THE TWELVE PIECES WE EXCHANGED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2022 POSSESS EXTRAORDINARY DENSITY: SOUNDS EXPANDED, ALTERED, RECONTEXTUALIZED. INITIALLY, EVERY INTERVENTION FELT ALMOST INAPPROPRIATE. YET THIS WAS PART OF OUR OPENNESS AND TRUST: ADDING, SHIFTING AND RADICALLY YET SOFTLY TRANSFORMING.
EVEN IN THESE FINAL EXCHANGES, PLANS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS CONTINUED TO TAKE SHAPE, MINDFUL OF FINITE YET FIRMLY BELIEVING IN THE POWER OF NEW IDEAS. WE CHOSE THE NAME CONVERSATIONS, WHICH HAS BECOME A SPACE OF MEMORY AND VISION, WHERE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE INTERTWINE.
FOR A LONG TIME, RELEASING THIS MUSIC SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE. THE LOSS FELT TOO SUDDEN, AND THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TOO PROFOUND. AS TIME PASSED, IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THESE TWELVE MUSICAL ENCOUNTERS SHOULD HAVE LIFE OUTSIDE THE ARCHIVE. TO HONOR RYUICHI’S WISH, THESE PIECES ARE NOW BEING RELEASED AS THE CONTINUATION OF A DIALOGUE THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE PHYSICAL.”
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