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

Digital Singles:

• First digital single ‘Monomom’
• Second digital single ‘Kizuna’

About the V.I.R.U.S. box:

The V.I.R.U.S. box will be available in winter 2022/2023. It will be released as a paper design slipcase without the albums inside and is designed to accommodate the five V.I.R.U.S. albums on vinyl (four double LPs and one LP) and CD (five units).

Video

Related Products

• N-044 Glass Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-046 Two Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-051 Vrioon (reMASTER) Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-052 Insen (reMASTER) Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-053 Revep (reMASTER) Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-054 Utp_ (reMASTER) Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto with Ensemble Modern Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl
• N-050 V.I.R.U.S. (Slipcase) Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto Format: Miscellaneous