Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (commonly abbreviated as Thousand Knives) is the debut solo album by Japanese electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Released in 1978 through Better Days Records, it arrived on store shelves shortly before his tenure as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Mixing various genres such as Synth-Pop, Ambient, and Classical Music, this album laid the groundwork for Sakamoto's musical versatility in his career. The title track and "The End of Asia" would remain known as key songs in Sakamoto's solo discography, reappearing on Yellow Magic Orchestra's concert setlists and albums on top of being concert staples for Sakamato's solo shows.
Tracklist
Side One- "Thousand Knives" (9:35)
- "Island of Woods" (9:50)
- "Grasshoppers" (5:16)
Side Two
- "Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied" (8:06)
- "Plastic Bamboo" (6:31)
- "The End of Asia" (6:22)
This album provides examples of:
- Ambient: "Island of Woods" is a lengthy, amorphous piece focused primarily on evoking the feeling of a tropical environment, complete with synthesized animal sounds.
- Canon Discontinuity: The Spotify releases of Sakamoto's discography classify this release as an EP, resulting in B-2 Unit being treated as Sakamoto's "true" debut solo album.
- Electrified Bathtub: Alluded to on the album cover, which depicts Sakamoto preparing to step into a full bathtub while clutching a lit desk lamp.
- Epic Rocking: Outside of "Grasshoppers", all the songs clock in over the six minute mark.
- Face on the Cover: The album cover depicts Sakamoto in a suit, standing above a bathtub full of dry ice.
- Gratuitous German: "Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied" translates to "The New Japanese Electronic Music" in German.
- Gratuitous Panning: The Title Track features synthesized hi-hats that bounce between channels with each beat; midway through and near the end of the song, there's also a bubbling synth line that sweeps from channel to channel.
- Instrumentals: "Thousand Knives" is the only non-instrumental track due to its spoken intro.
- Lyrical Cold Open: "Thousand Knives", the only track to feature vocals, starts with a vocoded reading of Mao Zedong's poem "Jinggang Mountain". It's only a minute and 30 seconds into the song that the instrumental part plays.
- Meaningful Name: The album's title refers to a poem by Henri Michaux where he describes how he felt after taking Mescaline.Suddenly a knife, suddenly a thousand knives, suddenly a thousand scythes sparking with light.
- One-Word Title: "Grasshoppers".
- Rearrange the Song:
- Sakamoto would put together new versions of "The End of Asia" and the Title Track on the Yellow Magic Orchestra albums ×∞Multiplies and BGM, respectively. Both songs also frequently appeared in YMO's early concerts.
- Sakamoto, along with the medieval band Danceries, would rearrange "The End of Asia".
- Sampling: "Island of Woods" features a recording of the traditional song "When the Bands Go Marching in".
- Special Guest:
- Future YMO bandmate Haruomi Hosono plays the finger cymbals.
- Tatsuro Yamashita plays the castañets on "Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied".
- The guitar solos on "Thousand Knives" and "The End of Asia" are provided by Kazumi Watanabe, the guitarist of Moonriders.
- Special Thanks: Sakamoto thanks his YMO peers Yukihiro Takahashi and Harry Hosono "for good vibrations and encouragement".
- Spoken Word in Music: "Thousand Knives" starts off with a vocoded reading of Mao Zedong's poem "Jinggang Mountain". It is also the only moment on the album where you can hear vocals.
- Title Track: The album opens with "Thousand Knives".
- Vocal Dissonance: The first minute and a half of the album is a vocoded reading of a poem by Mao Zedong.
