Esperanto cover

Esperanto

Released

By 1985, choreographer Molissa Fenley had emerged as one of the strongest voices in modern dance, even crossing over to collaborate with the likes of Philip Glass, Keith Haring, Talking Heads, and Rei Kawakubo. She topped herself with a physically demanding, evening-length piece entitled Esperanto, which featured an all-female troupe, Jean-Paul Gaultier costumes, and a soundtrack created by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It was the first glimpse of him using his sampler as a compositional tool and the results were visceral and mesmerizing, jagged and beautiful like a Parc Güell mosaic. With spiky no wave guitar from Arto Lindsey and tribal percussion from Yas-Kaz, it makes for one of the more abstract yet rewarding albums in Sakamoto’s catalog.

Andy Beta

Suggestions
Calypso cover

Calypso

Gigi Masin
Crush cover

Crush

Floating Points
Schaum cover

Schaum

Masayoshi Fujita, Jan Jelinek
Atlas cover

Atlas

Laurel Halo
Danza Cósmica cover

Danza Cósmica

Johnny Lamas
Reivax au Bongo cover

Reivax au Bongo

Hector Zazou
Nine Below Zero cover

Nine Below Zero

Butch Morris, Bobby Previte, Wayne Horvitz
Moments cover

Moments

Michael Vincent Waller
Coral cover

Coral

Olof Dreijer
NOW cover

NOW

Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble