Willits + Sakamoto Duet MP3

Laptop-enabled guitarist Christopher Willits has posted a track from the album Ocean Fire, a collaboration with Japanese legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (Yellow Magic Orchestra; Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). The track, “Toward Water” (MP3), is more ornery than one might expect from either musician. It has neither Willits’s penchant for spry randomness, nor Sakamoto’s for melody. It’s a deep, wavering drone with occasional highlights in the treble end, but a much more constant underlying bass end, like something slowly twisting in the dark. The album was released Commmons/Avex (commmons.com) in Japan in October 2007, and will be released this month in the United States on 12k (12k.com). The cover of the 12k version appears to the left. More info at Willits’s website, christopherwillits.com.