Ryuichi Sakamoto - Blu (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Why Hacker News recommends it
Offered as calm piano-led music for programming and shared as a personal favorite and memorial to Sakamoto.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2021 to 2023.
Why the open web links it
Linked by 5 independent sites, 1 of them widely read in the 2026-10 crawl of the open web, including defector.com, 34mag.net, bibliolore.org, hyperbole.es, paspartou.gr.
What it is
Ryuichi Sakamoto's piece Blu, performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. It was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aoyama clothing company.
What people said
Recommends Dracophoenix · 2022-09 · Hacker News · on “Ask HN: How do you discover new music?”
Debussy is a common inspiration for many Japanese classical compositions (especially in anime). Maurice Ravel (of "Bolero" and "Pavane" fame) is another common one. Since you mentioned Yellow Magic Orchestra, you likely know of Ryuichi Sakomoto. In case you were unaware, he has composed several movie and concert pieces for piano many of which were notably inspired by Ravel. One of my favorites is "Blu" ( [this video] ).
Cites kkoncevicius · 2021-04 · Hacker News · on “Ask HN: Does anything beat Slipknot's Unsainted for programming productivity?”
I seriously cannot believe music like this helps you with programming, but if it does for you then try "The Algorithm - Access Denied"[1]. For me no music is best. Followed by some white noise. Followed by classical, i.e. "Dvorak - Noon Witch"[2], "Ryuichi Sakamoto - Blu"[3]. [1]: [LINK] [2]: [LINK] [3]: [this video]
Cites pacomerh · 2023-04 · Hacker News · on “Ryuichi Sakamoto Has Died”
Truly admire Sakamoto's work, a big influence in my life. From Yellow Magic Orchestra to all his solo career. RIP [this video]