Hitoshi Sakimoto

Originally Posted by BurningRanger

Can someone tell me what is good about this man, or any of the things he has done?

That's a pretty subjective question. What's so special about any composer? I'm pretty fond of Chris Huelsbeck, but I know there are numerous people who dislike his work. Conversely, I don't care much for Kenji Ito's material, but he has his followings too. It's all a matter of preferences, what you like in music to begin with. People who are into a lot of chromatic notes and dissonance are perhaps more apt to enjoy Sakimoto.

Sakimoto, for me, is quite hit-and-miss. He's done some work that I simply adore and other tracks that I find dreadful. Even on the same album. However, he possesses a fairly distinct sound, and I give him credit for that.

In studying various Sakimoto tracks, I've noticed that he has two basic approaches: either place emphasis upon a strong melody; or place emphasis upon a strong mood. I tend to enjoy the "strong melody" work he does a lot more, as he's usually able to hold back on overwhelming listeners with the "wall of sound". I'm a big fan of layered music but Sakimoto can pile it on rather thick.

This is the problem with his "strong mood" pieces; it's all about the atmosphere and not so much any one part of the track. As such, there's often too much going on at once. Combine this with Sakimoto's obvious preference for the chromatic notes and you can quickly wind up with music that feels both splintered and out of tune.

A great example of what I mean can be heard in two of his more popular tracks from Final Fantasy Tactics, "Random Waltz" and "Apoplexy".

I think "Random Waltz" is magnificent. It's smooth, possesses a strong melody, has excellent transitions and manages to be deep without being overpowering.
"Apoplexy", on the other hand, is full of jagged noise that seems disconnected from section to section. It's dark, brooding and has all too much going on at once, I feel. The end result is chaos.

Yet both tracks have their ardent fans.

I doubt that Sakimoto would ever take a minimalistic tack to his work; being complex is part of his musical signature. Sometimes it's needless and even annoying, but it's what he does. You either accept this or you don't, as Sakimoto's not going to change on anyone else's account.


However, seeing as this is an issue that will probably not die down immediately, (due to the probability of Sakimoto's fanbase crawling from the woodwork whenever his name is soiled) it's inspired me to select a Sakimoto track as my next Song of the Week nomination. I've been hanging onto a really good track for a while now and I think this is a timely opportunity to show how Sakimoto can be complex and atmospheric without resorting to the cacaphony with which many associate the man.

Jam it back in, in the dark.