March 04: It’s free electronic music month at Synthtopia. All month long, we’re going to help you kick the RIAA habit by highlighting great electronic music that’s available for free on the Internet.
Today we’re highlighting YMO’s Ryuichi Sakamoto and his Stop Rokkasho project.
The Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture opened for testing on March 31st, 2006. Less than two weeks later, radioactive water containing plutonium and uranium spilled inside the plant.
In response to the opening of the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant and the associated dangers that go along with the plant’s operation, on May 16th, electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto launched an international campaign to raise awareness of the risks of nuclear energy and to raise awareness of renewable alternatives.
Sakamoto has created free tracks for the site and solicited new tracks, remixes and music videos from other electronic musicians, including DJ Krush (preview his track below), Ton, Ryddan, Atom and Thomas Dolby (preview below).
Best of all, the music is Creative Commons licensed, so you can download, share and remix it. There are dozens of free downloads at the site.