I absolutely love Ryuichi Sakamoto's downright haunting and emotive work on the score for The Revenant. Since it appears he's a very prolific composer both in and out of the film score realm, I've done a little internet digging to help narrow down other works of his in which I might be interested, and have found him described as an extremely varied artist. Therefore, dear friends, I come to those who know these things! Are there works in Sakamoto's catalog that are of a similar sound or tone to The Revenant? Especially more recently, since I'll likely have more luck tracking them down? Please share!
Oddly enough I'm in the process of ripping all my Sakamoto CDs to my hard drive right now. I haven't picked up The Revenant yet, but his work on Ikari was actually my favorite score of 2016, so you might want to give the samples a listen.
For older releases I would highly recommend tracking down his score to Wuthering Heights, which is still the best I've heard from him. It's not the easiest score to find but it's worth keeping an eye on the Amazon Japan marketplace as they occasionally have copies for a decent price. His score to Gohatto also has quite a haunting feeling to it.
Gohatto is most similar to The Revenant (and superior to it); his work generally is much more melodic than his Revenant score, however. He also has a substantial body of modern classical and even pop music unrelated to his film work. This recent 2-CD set is excellent: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/RZCM-59835
I particularly love Sakamoto's work on De Palma's SNAKE EYES. It's by turns lush, tense, romantic, and powerful when called for. There's a rising and falling motif throughout that could have been inspired by Herrmann. My favorite from this composer.
I'd recommend seeking out his non-film work as well. "Discord" is a favourite of mine, not the easiest of listening but a deep and thoughtful exploration of grief, anger, prayer and salvation.
Well if you want Revenant-style Sakamoto then you really don't want him as much as you do his collaborations with Carston Nicolai (aka Alva Noto). Its very different from the typical Sakamoto sound best exemplified in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Last Emperor.
...and then you have the YMO/solo pop recordings that don't sound like either but are still crucial anyway.
The Last Emperor - masterpiece - only about half the score is his, but it's clearly marked on the album Wuthering Heights - gorgeous Snake Eyes - stunning old-fashioned Herrmann-esque thriller music
Really if you want a basic overview of Sakamoto's career, the discs US (Ultimate Solo) and UF (Ultimate Film) (along with UCYMO for the Yellow Magic Orchestra era recordings) are really your best bet. There's also CM which is comprised of various jingles he wrote for various commercials in the 80s and 90s, Mototronic which is just recordings he made for various Sony labels, and Wild Palms, which he seems to have gone out his way to remove from the overall discography
I love the Clapton cover of Behind The Mask. Sakamoto performed a piano piece based on the song at a concert I attended a few years ago in Seoul. I don't think he ever recorded it though:
