Live data from Hacker News

Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

clashmusic.com

121–125 of 125 posts

Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

#121
post #34

"The industrial revolution made the production of an instrument like [the piano] possible. Several planks of wood - six I think in this case - are overlaid and pressed into shape by tremendous force for six months. Nature is molded into shape. Many tons of force and pressure are applied, making the strings what they are. Matter taken from nature is molded by human industry, by the sum strength of civilization. Nature…

Humanity is nature and natural, everything we produce and do is literally just a transformation of something that already exists. What's the difference between the honey created by bees and the nuclear waste of a nuclear reactor? If you get rid of the pro-not-human narrative there is none.

It should be quite clear to you that on this Earth, at the level of the biosphere, there is nothing except humans that produce radioactive waste. We are the only species that does something so dangerous. It's a problem because it contaminates and destroys the biosphere if it's not handled extremely carefully and there are no organisms which can compost such waste in any useful way. So it's unnatural.

Plastic is another unbelievably horrible man made concoction which is absolutely destroying the natural world due to poor handling.

Since plastic waste and nuclear waste aren't food for other organisms, or don't naturally break down, they're not materials that belong in the natural environment. The is the same environment from which you come from, owe everything too, and which you're still totally and utterly dependent on for your survival.

Hopefully that's a good answer...

By the way, I used to share your beliefs, that it's all the same, it's all "natural", but I just can't keep up the mental charades anymore. Our intellect and creativity is an important part of our short-term survival, but thus far it's been massively destructive and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

#122
post #35

Sakamoto must have died with a bitter taste in his mouth, watching the government try to restart the nuclear plants under the pretext of power shortage. He had always been a vocal opponent of nuclear power, a rare voice in a country that seemed to have forgotten the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had a sharp wit and a playful style, but also a deep sense of justice and compassion. He would have hated to see hi…

People and admins here should stop downvoting everything, otherwise it turns into too much of censorship/taboo. I find nothing wrong with this comment, and find it informative. I didn't know this view of Sakamoto, and I'm glad to know it. Here's more information in an interview with Mr.Sakamoto on the topic of Fukushima- https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14222706

What did you expect from this technocratic hustling website. A downvote is a proof of no counter argument in times like this.

Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

#123
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would imply every human action is 'unnatural'...

Only under a naive mechanistic non-contextual machine-like reading :)

> naive mechanistic non-contextual machine-like reading

There's so many modifiers to 'reading' that I, along with probably many readers, are unsure what your trying to express.

Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humanity is nature and natural, everything we produce and do is literally just a transformation of something that already exists. What's the difference between the honey created by bees and the nuclear waste of a nuclear reactor? If you get rid of the pro-not-human narrative there is none.

It should be quite clear to you that on this Earth, at the level of the biosphere, there is nothing except humans that produce radioactive waste. We are the only species that does something so dangerous. It's a problem because it contaminates and destroys the biosphere if it's not handled extremely carefully and there are no organisms which can compost such waste in any useful way. So it's unnatural. Plastic is anoth…

There have been many innovative organisms that produced an "unnatural" material. The earth was covered in a huge, dense, undecayed layer of dead tree matter before bacteria eventually evolved to break it down... 60 million years later. It's now coal.

Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died

#125
post #47

Sad news. I love his work with Alva Noto, the blend of experimental piano with raw electronic sounds and glitches is really something special: https://spotify.link/2LzLYmBKFyb . I was lucky enough to see them play together a couple of times and it was spellbinding. His album “async” is a favourite too. I’ll have to dig more into his back catalogue.

oooooh... mentioning Alva Noto did the trick for me and I remembered who the guy is. contemplated a lot regarding to what folks around those lands mean by a negative space. brilliant music

I saw a Sakamoto quote along the lines of negative space on Twitter, not sure of the source or context exactly but I liked it.

After the concert, we started talking, and he complained that I played much slower than the original songs or pieces. He asked, "Why?" That made me think, "Why do I want to play much slower than before?" Because I wanted to hear the resonance. want to have less notes and more spaces. Spaces, not silence. Space is resonant, is still ringing. I want to enjoy that resonance, to hear it growing, then the next sound, and the next note or harmony can come. That's exactly what I want

Post reply on HN