He sounds less like a passionate frontman, in other words, and more like some sort of Japanese Bryan Ferry, with songs suggesting the pop formalism of Rundgren and Steely Dan-and occasionally Juan Garcia Esquivel's Space-Age Bachelor Pad-sung in Japanese, with a glassy, purposeful distance between musician and listener.ĭig deeper, though, and you start to hear the echoes of past pop moments when localized groups of musicians started incorporating influences on a global scale: the late 1960s Tropicalia moment in Brazil, and especially the mid-1990s Shibuya-Kei movement in Sakamoto's hometown of Tokyo. But while it's easy to imagine Sakamoto laying down conga tracks while adjusting board levels with his big toe, Phantom's vibe more closely evokes the anonymous band downstairs in the hotel lounge, playing for weary business travelers and soundtracking the early moments of an ill-fated hookup. Sakamoto produced and played many of the instruments on Phantom, conjuring the image of Rundgren-as-golden god secluded in his hotel room of the Something/Anything gatefold photo.
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