Milan Records release posthumous Ryuichi Sakamoto compilation, ‘Travesía’

A posthumous record celebrating the lifelong career of Ryuichi Sakamoto has been released via Milan Records.

‘Travesía’ collates 20 tracks from the Japanese composer’s discography spanning more than forty years. The compilation was originally created as a surprise present to celebrate Sakamoto’s 70th birthday last year.

Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on March 28, 2023, following a battle with cancer. He was 71 years old.

Curated by filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu, producer of films such as The Revenant and Birdman, ‘Travesía’ pays homage to Sakamoto’s illustrious career and looks at his transition through styles and sounds over the decades.

“When Jean Christophe Chamboredon from Milan Records, and Norika Sora, Ryuichi’s manager, invited me to this project, my first instinct was to resist,” says Iñárritu.

“Sakamoto’s musical universe is so vast that the responsibility to honour him by choosing only 20 stars from his complex galaxy would be practically impossible. But after finding out that they were planning this as a surprise present for him, I had no other choice but to accept the challenge.”

Iñárritu explained that he continues to discover new elements from Sakamoto’s pieces of work to this day, adding: “millenary musical tradition breathing through his relentless innovation”.

“The perception of his music becomes a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same,” he said. “Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music will be fully alive even when the rest of us are gone. I hope that, by listening to this selection, you’ll be able to experience that eternal emotional waterfall”.

‘Travesía’, which takes from the Spanish name for ‘journey’, landed on Sony Music’s Milan Records last week. The double LP is also now available to pre-order here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter