BTTB

「Back To The Basic」（原点回帰）の頭文字を取ったタイトルが示す通り、坂本のルーツともいえるクラシック音楽（ブラームス、ドビュッシー、リスト、ヒンデミットなど）からのインスパイアを感じさせる、ピアノ曲集。坂本の全作品のなかでも、メロディの素晴らしさは特に際立っている。なかでも、もともとは娘・坂本美雨のために書かれたという「aqua」が表す、暴力的なまでの美しさといったら…。はじめて聴いたとき（J-WAVEでのオンエアだった）、本気で背筋が凍ったのを思い出す。『ウラBTTB』の3曲が収録されているのも魅力。（森 朋之） Best known for his work as a soundtrack composer (The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence) and a founding member of avant-rockers Yellow Magic Orchestra, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto gets "back to the basics" with this album. Of course, "the basics" here involve simple impressionist-inspired piano ditties that often sound more like diluted Vangelis than compositions from the cutting edge. But that's OK, as long as you consider this as relaxing background music and not the shape of classical music's future. BTTB was a hit in Japan in 1999, especially because of the single "Energy Flow" (a piece that Sakamoto admits was originally written as a commercial jingle). This release features one new track ("Reversing") and plenty of other soothing, melodic works. --Jason Verlinde