Asynchrone | French jazz/electro plays Ryuichi Sakamoto

Asynchrone is a collective born in 2021, which assembles musicians from the Parisian free jazz and electro scenes, to honour the music of late Japanese legend, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Making their debut with the release of the ‘Kling Klang’ EP in summer 2022, Asynchrone today releases a new single, a few months after Sakamoto’s passing. ‘Plastic Bamboo’ is also the title track of Asynchrone's forthcoming debut album, due for release on September 29, 2023 via the Nø Førmat! label (Ballaké Sissoko, Oumou Sangaré). You can stream the new track - a reimagining of the piece which originally appeared on Sakamoto’s 1978 solo debut LP ‘Thousand Knives’ - from here.

Asynchrone’s personnel is a link-up between cellist Clément Petit (Aloe Blacc), producer and musician Frédéric Soulard (who produced Jeanne Added’s Victoire De La Musique-winning album), clarinet/saxophone player Hugues Mayot, flautist Delphine Joussein, pianist Manuel Peskine, and Vincent Taeger (A.L.B.E.R.T.) on drums. Influenced by Sakamoto’s freedom, his mysticism, and his ability to draw inspiration from Debussy as much as from Kraftwerk, Asynchrone revisits his Homeric back catalogue with a breath of rebellious freedom and a communicative pleasure of playing. More than a tribute to a frozen work, it is a tribute to creative freedom.

Speaking about their interpretation of ‘Plastic Bamboo’, Soulard says;

The original version sounds like slow Funk mixed with influences from Kraftwerk, with a very melodic theme that reminds you of François de Roubaix's music. This new refined and dynamic version gives more space to the drums, cello and rhythm boxes that give a sense of urgency to it, while the flute and the piano are playing the theme, giving it an exotica touch.