Insen is the second collaborative studio album released in 2005 by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and German electronic artist Carsten Nicolai as Alva Noto. This second record picks up where their first series of sessions released on their debut album Vrioon (2003) left off. Sakamoto’s impressionist piano compositions and melancholy chords charge and gradually fade among Nicolai’s tapestry of digital breakages, clean drum programming and sine waves, that seem to envelop the whole album with a reflective neon glow. The result is a more cohesive record with a sharp and unified set of compositions that fold and weave into one another, unwrapping the improvisational feeling that shone their first record and becoming a vessel for all the emotions and memories provided by the listener.

Further readings:

• Review by BBC’s Colin Buttimer (2005)

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