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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
A record of endurance, struggle and the lingering ability to create something new. 12 shows a path can be made, even into that unknown.
90
‘12’ is not an album to take lightly. It is an album to listen to intently as often as you can. With each listen you learn something about what it takes to be a great artist, Ryuichi Sakamoto is a great artist, but it also teaches us not to take things too seriously because one day it could all be over.
80
Even if it’s less forceful in its execution, Sakamoto’s poetic, metaphysical approach—a paradoxically delicate yet fearless plunge into the unknown—is equally as daunting and devastating.
76
In a dozen somber, elegiac pieces for piano and electronics recorded in the wake of a cancer diagnosis, the Japanese composer reckons with his own mortality.
75
There is beauty in Sakamoto’s latest work, but will listeners have the patience for it?
60
An album of instinct, habit and catharsis, these minimal, ambient, largely piano-led ruminations move in the subtlest of waves, so much so, at times it’s like they’re barely even there.
Sakamoto's "async" from 2017 was a gorgeous release I fell in love with that displayed a very emotional, fragile, and intimate vision from the composer. Much of this sound came from the painful feelings surrounding his cancer diagnosis, which has now worsened. "12" offers an even darker, colder, and more isolated sound representative of Sakamoto's recent hardships, a difficult wall of emotion to avoid while listening. Prepare yourself to fall somewhat into his shoes, and ... read more
watching an artist wrestle with their own mortality is a powerful thing. each wrestles with it differently: through resilience, regret, remembering, with pain, sorrow, or forgiveness. the thought of death is truly debilitating; translating the harrowing feeling into art, let alone music, is an insurmountably difficult task. it not only forces the artist to grapple with the knowledge of the limited future, but everything in their past.
Ryuichi Sakamoto approaches death with equal parts sorrow ... read more
this album really sounds like someone just slowly dying, but despite that it's a boring listen altogether. if it weren't for knowing that ryuichi was dying, this album wouldn't really mean anything at all. it's respectable, but just not something i would want to revisit.
Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a prolific career as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and as a solo artist in his own right and his latest release 12 is yet another masterful work. Only a small bit of attention is required to enjoy the ambient passages or intimate piano melodies found throughout, but closer attention will unveil tons of small details to hone in on. Every track across 12 excels at providing it’s own specific value and that’s exactly what makes it such a ... read more
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Track List
By ClayDJs03
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4d
some of these reviews are pissin me off hard mfs with tpab as one of their favorite album are so fucking annoying.
1w
Not every compositor is bravely enough to directly portrait their tragedy just like this. First track feels like a wave of lonelyness and emptyness. Second and third tracks portrait that desire of peace and calm mommentaneusly irrumped by the present reality.
Really touching if you think about it.
Really touching if you think about it.
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Added on: November 20, 2022