Pod is the bands 1990 debut and is continually ranked as one of the best albums of the 90s. Recorded by Steve Albini in 10 days, it was released to critical acclaim and Kurt Cobain called it one of his favorite albums of all time.
A penchant for avant-garde and improvisation had gotten Sakamoto interested in electronic music early on. Thousand Knives took several months to record as Sakamoto would be busy during the day with his session work and would only record at night.