Konnichiwa, YMO Fans, I Must Alert You to the Genius of Logic System's "Unit"

Mentioned in hushed tones on a few other threads, the alter ego of Hideki Matsutake, Japanese programmer extraordinaire (Tomita associate and the so-called "fourth member of YMO"), gets far too little praise here on ILM.

If the moment at 2:22 of this isn't some kind of futuristic technopop pinnacle, I don't know what is. I can't speak *quite* as highly of the rest of the record (Logic, 1981), and nothing the guy did ever touched the perfection of this again. But if you're even remotely as into this sort of thing as I've been this last year or two, you owe it to yourself to download this song.

this joint is cool, but i've never understood the hype behind it since the recent cosmic thing really blew up. "Clash" is much better.

Clash is great, but it's no "Unit." Also, I must be a total square, since I have no idea what "the recent cosmic thing" is or when it really blew up.

oh shit, i didn't realize logic system was a YMO thing.

can we just make this into an all encompassing YMO side project thread? i recently picked up the beatnik's self titled. pretty cool http://www.discogs.com/Beatniks-The-Beatniks/release/294059

Cosmic Music, Italy, early '80s

Funny you would say that, as I just found this:

I marginally prefer "Clash", but yes, both of these are awesome. The blatantly cosmic/beardo-pandering Kaos & Sal P DJ mix for Collectors Series cheats by including both of them (AND "Captain Starlight" AND "BlackSkin Blue Eyed Boys" - the very definition of cheating).

Ah yes, this: http://www.faithrecordings.com/download/Collectors2.pdf.

As for the "Clash" v. "Unit" fite going on here, "Clash" does have incredible little melodies going on throughout, an outstanding terrific groove and a stellar middle-8. But no single moment compares to when that riff comes in during "Unit" and just plays out into perpetuity. I even like the long-winded spoken-word Japanese intro b/c it builds up the anticipation just so.

Judge for yourself:

that beatniks album is great. i really need to check out moonriders, keichi suzuki's other band

btw keichi suzuki did the music for EARTHBOUND

The most YMO-esque side projects I have heard are Ryuichi Sakamoto's first album, Thousand Knives, which is produced by Hideki Matsutake, and Logic System's album Logic.

I am trying to listen to all the YMO side stuff, though, because I'm finding there's a lot of crossover. For instance, Yukihiro Takahashi's album Neuromantic features Hosono and Sakamoto on keyboards throughout the album, effectively making it a YMO project (although I have yet to warm up to it).

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Yano";>Wikipedia</a> says YMO contribute heavily to a few Akiko Yano albums, but I haven't heard them and everything Akiko Yano I found on youtube I didn't like.

<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/309170253/Astromusic.rar";>This library album</a> from 1981 sounds very YMO, so much so that it must have been intentional. "Libra" by Marcello Giombini is as close to a lost YMO record as you will ever find.

Hm, didn't know ilm didn't have html.

Link about Akiko Yano:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Yano

Super YMO-esque Libary album:
http://rapidshare.com/files/309170253/Astromusic.rar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufv2j9h-Pk

hey Public Radio:

if you're interested in Hosono there's literally a hundred albums that he plays on or writes songs for. http://www.technopop.info is a great resource.
as far as the solo albums, if you have any questions or recs I'm here for ya, as I've heard probably 10-15 albums from each. if you're looking for stuff that's like YMO pretty much any of their solo albums from 1978-1985 could fit the fill. Neuromantic is a decent album, but IMO What, Me Worry and Murdered by the Music are better (not so dramatic and serious). you might really like some of Hosono's stuff (depending on your favorite YMO albums/tracks)

there's a new album coming out soon - he posted a preview track and it sounds a lot like...James Ferraro?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyx3o7xF8mE

pretty interesting, I'll be sure to have a listen

Maybe this has been posted elsewhere, but WeWantSounds has re-issued Logic System's 1981 album Venus -- info here: https://wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/merch/logic-system-venus-lp-deluxe-edition-black-vinyl-with-2p-insert-obi-strip-and-special-pater-sato-8-page-fully-illustrated-colour-insert