Pioneers in their own musical approaches, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, began their exploration of sound in the V.I.R.U.S series in 2002. With its impressionistic atmosphere, in this collaborative project two generations met and shared the idea of electronic music as an inspiration source for new musical structures exploring the blend of electronic and acoustic sounds into a meditative whole.

• V.I.R.U.S Series Remastered
• 2LP Vinyl Pressed at Optimal Germany
• DMM cut at Pauler Acoustics
• Gatefold Cover

Pioneers in their own musical approaches, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, began their exploration of sound in the evocatively titled V.I.R.U.S series in 2002. After more than a decade from the release of the collection's final installment with "Summvs" in 2011, NOTON reissues all the five albums between June and October 2022.

With its impressionistic atmosphere, in this collaborative project two generations met and shared the idea of electronic music as an inspiration source for new musical structures. Over a series of five albums, Vrioon (2002),Insen (2005), Revep (2006), utp_ (2008), and summvs (2011), the duo have explored blending electronic and acoustic sounds into a meditative whole that is at once expressive, breathing and precision-engineered.

Remastered in collaboration with Calyx Mastering, the recordings of Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_, and Summvs are made available on vinyl and CD under the title 'reMASTER, accompanied by exclusive, unreleased compositions and housed in a beautifully designed sleeve with original cover art by Carsten Nicolai.

RELEASED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2011, SUMMVS IS THE FIFTH AND FINAL INSTALLMENT OF ALVA NOTO AND RYUICHI SAKAMOTO’S V.I.R.U.S. SERIES. THE TITLE SUMMVS REFERS TO THE LATIN WORD ‘SUMMA’ (ENG. SUM) AND ‘VERSUS’ (ENG. TOWARDS); IT SERVES AS A METAPHOR FOR THE WORK BEING ORIENTED TOWARDS A COLLABORATIVE RESULT. THE ALBUM FEATURES MICROON COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING RECORDINGS OF A 16TH TONE INTERVAL TUNING PIANO – PIANO METAMORFOSEADOR CARRILLO EN DIECISEISAVOS DE TONO. THE ALBUM ALSO FEATURES TWO COVERS OF THE TRACK BY THIS RIVER, COMPOSED BY BRIAN ENO, DIETER MOEBIUS, AND HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS IN 1977.

IN THE ALBUM’S TWELVE COMPOSITIONS, SAKAMOTO’S HAUNTING PIANO ARRANGEMENTS COALESCE WITH NICOLAI’S DIGITAL RHYTHMS, CREATING A SONIC AURA AS MAGNETIC AS IT IS MEDITATIVE. REMASTERED IN 2021 IN COLLABORATION WITH CALYX STUDIO, THE ALBUM’S RECORDINGS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY TWO NEW COMPOSITIONS TITLED MONOMOM (RELEASED DIGITALLY IN DECEMBER 2021) AND KIZUNA. LIKE MONOMOM, KIZUNA IS THE STUDIO VERSION OF THE HOMONYMOUS COMPOSITION RECORDED DURING ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO’S 2019 AUSTRALIAN TOUR AND INCLUDED IN THE ALBUM TWO LIVE AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE (2019, NOTON). THE WORD KIZUNA MEANS ‘HUMAN BOND’ IN JAPANESE AND REFERS TO THE TITLE OF AN ANIMATION PIECE BY THE ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY ARTIST VALERIO BERRUTI RELEASED IN JAPAN IN JANUARY 2011.

ALBUM ART DESIGNED BY CARSTEN NICOLAI
MASTERING BY BO @ CALYX

Track Listing:

A1 Microon I
A2 Reverso
A3 Halo
B1 Microon II
B2 Pionier IOO
B3 Ionoscan
B4 By This River
C1 Naono
C2 Microon III
C3 By This River - Phantom
D1 Monomom
D2 Kizuna

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫