Alva Noto
Sakamoto collaborated with Alva Noto (an alias of Carsten Nicolai) to release "Vrioon", an album of Sakamoto's piano clusters treated by Nicolai's unique style of digital manipulation, involving the creation of "micro-loops" and minimal percussion. The two produced this work by passing the pieces back and forth until both were satisfied with the result. This debut, released on German label Raster-Noton, was voted record of the year 2004 in the electronica category by British magazine "The Wire". They then released "Insen" (2005)—while produced in a similar manner to Vrioon, this album is somewhat more restrained and minimalist. They keep on collaborating and have released two more albums: "utp_" (2008) and "Summvs" (2011).