Music Sets You Free (Ryuichi Sakamoto)

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WONDER IN THE WORLD: A READ

Ryuichi Sakamoto lived a lot of musical lives: co-founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra, electronic music pioneer, Oscar-winning composer of The Last Emperor, collaborator with everyone from David Byrne to Iggy Pop, and the man responsible for some of the most beautiful film music ever made. He also once traveled to the Arctic to record the sound of melting snow. 

On September 22, his two memoirs, previously published only in Japanese, will appear together in English for the first time as Music Sets You Free. Translated by Sam Bett, the book follows Sakamoto from his first encounter with a piano through YMO, his film scores and collaborations, and the final years of his life. There are also candid photographs, stories behind his music, and Sakamoto on everything from his father and student activism to cancer and how many more full moons he might live to see.

Available for preorder, releases 9.22.