If eclectic is your bag, then Heartbeat might be your thing.
Like Hector Zazou, Ryuichi Sakamoto employs a realm of many styles on this upbeat collection.
Songs performed in Japanese, Russian, French, and English (by friends Youssou N'Dour, David Sylvian, and Deee-Lite's DJ Towa Towa and Super DJ Dmitri) top an already brimming album that is everything its predecessor, Beauty, wasn't.
Two completely different versions of the title track add arty spice.
"Triste" is a wonderful, lazy-afternoon stroll in Paris jazz; "Lulu" follows suit.
Is there no end to this Sakamoto's talent? He does jazz, rap, and chucks in a couple of solo piano pieces reminiscent of his soundtrack work.
"Songlines" came about via his score for Pedro Almodovar's High Heels.
"Boram Gal" and "High Tide" -- with guests Youssou N'Dour and Arto Lindsay, respectively -- are both delicate and swathed in summer.
Ingrid Chavez adds poet's fire to frozen dust on "Returning to the Womb" and contributes eerie funk on "Cloud #9.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HeartbeatJeffrey Cohen, Kenton Nix, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Satoshi Tomiie | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Rap the WorldDJ Dmitry, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | TristeFFF, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Marco Prince, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 04:23 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | LuluRyuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | High TideArto Lindsay, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | Song LinesRyuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 9 MB |
| 7 | NuagesTraditional | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 02:14 | 5 MB | 10 MB |
| 8 | SayonaraJeffrey Cohen, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 05:23 | 12 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | Borom GalYoussou N'Dour, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | EpilogueRyuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 12 MB |
| 11 | Tainai Kaiki | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Play | 05:20 | 12 MB | 28 MB |
| 46 mins | 107 MB | |||||
| 46 mins | 258 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houria Aichi | Vocals |
| 2 | Fernando Aponte | Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | Deborah Barsha | Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Robert Bergman-Ungar | Art Direction |
| 5 | Phil Bloch | Stylist |
| 6 | Phillip Block | Stylist |
| 7 | Dee Dee Brave | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Steven Burnstein | Trumpet |
| 9 | John Cage | Guest Artist, Spoken Word, Talking, Voices |
| 10 | Jim Caruana | Assistant Engineer |
| 11 | Ingrid Chavez | Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 12 | Jeffrey Cohen | Composer |
| 13 | Michel Comte | Photography |
| 14 | Patrick Dillett | Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | DJ Dmitry | Composer, Rap |
| 16 | DJ Towa-Towa | Assistant Producer, Percussion, Producer, Scratching |
| 17 | FFF | Composer, Vocal Arrangement |
| 18 | Bill Frisell | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 19 | Hal Grant | String Coordinator |
| 20 | Lolly Grodner | Engineer, Mixing |
| 21 | Yoshifumi Iio | Engineer |
| 22 | Antônio Carlos Jobim | Composer |
| 23 | Arto Lindsay | Composer, Guest Artist, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals |
| 24 | Yoshifumi Lio | Engineer |
| 25 | John Lurie | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 26 | Magic Dick | Harmonica |
| 27 | Youssou N'Dour | Composer, Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 28 | David Nadien | Leader, Strings, String Section, String Section Leader |
| 29 | Koichiro Nagao | Assistant Engineer |
| 30 | Wes Naprstek | Assistant Engineer |
| 31 | Axel Niehaus | Assistant Engineer, Sound Effects |
| 32 | Kenton Nix | Composer |
| 33 | Marco Prince | Composer, Rap, Vocal Arrangement |
| 34 | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Programming, Vocals |
| 35 | Norika Sky-sora | Art Conception, Art Direction, Artwork, Concept, Production Coordination |
| 36 | David Sylvian | Composer, Guest Artist, Mixing, Producer, Vocals |
| 37 | Towa Tei | Scratching |
| 38 | Satoshi Tomiie | Assistant Producer, Composer, Mixing, Percussion, Producer |
| 39 | Tomoko | Hair Stylist, Make-Up |
| 40 | Jungle DJ Towa Towa | Guest Artist |
| 41 | Traditional | Composer |
| 42 | Jiro Yamada | Coordination |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |