RFI: Yellow Magic Orchestra

Didn't really know where to post this as she doesn't have a dedicated thread but Sheena of Sheena & The Rokkets died today aged 61, RIP punk rock lady...!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ZjRmZk8sc

looks like it was cancer. r.i.p. :-/

was surprised/amused when this scene happened in an episode of Hibike Euphonium (an anime about highschool marching bands)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_bhDwZEN5U

ha that's awesome

my japanese professors (in their 40s) know that tune so i guess it's not *that* surprising

it's "rydeen." you'd be harder pressed finding a japanese person who doesn't know it

I dunno how accurate this is but I see YMO as sort of a Japanese Beatles, nearly everything I've heard from Japan seems to be influenced by them in some way. Then again like 80% of the Japanese music I've listened to is technopop, but still

not really soyrev -- quite a few of the teachers, tutors and exchange students in my program i've talked to have no idea who they are.

"I dunno how accurate this is but I see YMO as sort of a Japanese Beatles, nearly everything I've heard from Japan seems to be influenced by them in some way."

not just japan. modern music. they were fundamental influences for everything from early techno to early hip-hop to early videogame music (a lot of which they composed). ask bambaataa, or anyone who went to detroit club nights in the late '80s. their influence is everywhere.

@clouds that's surprising. young and old, every japanese person i've met and talked about music with has laughed at me for asking if they know/like YMO. i have to imagine if you played them rydeen they'd at least recognize the theme.

This medley kicks fucking arse, especially the middle section of Rydeen, awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYFlk_GFB8Y

Oh man I love watching these dudes play with all that bulky equipment. Takakashi is one of the classiest drummers I've ever seen, all dressed up like that.

I bought this off eBay for like 15 bucks - pretty cool

http://coolestsound.jp/Takahashi_Yukihiro_Metafive_Techno_Recital_Takahas/2014.07.20/010395/

All of it sounds great, though I do question why he has an all-star lineup like this when they're just kinda along for the ride. Towa Tei's "Radio" is excellent and I'm really glad they perform it here.

my wife's best friends dad produced them! #namedrop

Damn!

Is that Lay My Love an Eno/Cale cover?

That it is!

Whoa that I would love to hear

Yeah, WTF, YouTube?

If you ask me Solid State Survivor is the best starting point, it's got some of their best-known material and it's the closest to the "Japanese Kraftwerk" tag that they always seem to get.

I'm listening to this album just now, I've never bought into the notion of YMO as the 'Japanese Kraftwerk' and this album is no closer to that tag than any of their others, in fact the comparison irritates me. I much prefer the BGM/Technodelic era of YMO fwiw.

OK, "Insomnia" is pretty Kraftwerk! But that is surely a homage?

For perspective, the only other group doing Martin Denny tributes in the late 70's was Throbbing Gristle (certainly coming from an entirely different place).

Nice shirt, Gen:

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/42/1242/1024/TG.jpg

Can't believe I had never noticed that

I agree - I don't think YMO is really much like a Japanese Kraftwerk, but it's a catchy two-word phrase that seems to intrigue a lot of people. I think SSS fits that description the best because it's very melody-centric, uses a lot of vocoders, and is playful and catchy the way that say, Computer World is. BGM and Technodelic are different, going beyond what Kraftwerk was capable of - all three musicians were in peak form and it really shows.

BGM and Technodelic are different, going beyond what Kraftwerk was capable of

Well, we disagree on that. Profoundly.

not so much the "Japanese Kraftwerk" as the "Japanese answer to Kraftwerk." i read that they were inspired by what was happening in Germany but didn't want to be seen as derivative of it, so they decided they were going to take a similar electronic approach but go in the opposite (maximalist) direction. seems like we'd all agree that they were successful in that, and personally i'd agree that yeah, the places they took it went beyond the pale of what Kraftwerk could or cared to do. especially if you expand that to include their solo works, productions, the greater 'YMO universe'

The progression of Hosono's interests through Folk Rock to New Orleans style R&B to Tropicalia to a kind of synthesised Tropicalia to YMO is amazing to me

all three of these guys are fucking unreal ;_;

oh and @maresnest don't forget the philharmony album, whatever the heck "pleiocene" is, or the fact that hosono is a god-tier ambient artist :_;

also i feel like i maybe asked this question somewhere on ilx before, but i read in an amazon review that philharmony (1982) "represents the first time digital sampling was ever used to construct an entire musical album." this can't be right, can it? first of all philharmony doesn't sound entirely sample-based to my ears (though i need to relisten again...it could be??), but more broadly speaking...in thinking about early sampling landmarks my mind goes to my life in the bush of ghosts from the year prior, but eno byrne and co did play a lot on that album so i guess it doesn't count. frustrating that, like so much of the YMO crew's work, very little is written in english about the album, at least as far as the internet is concerned.

also, in doing a little searching, i turned up a few vague reporrts (RA, Fact) that Hosono's Yen Records would be reissuing Philharmony "soon." those posts are from two months ago, but i can't find anything else about it. anyone know if this really happened, or is about to?

first of all philharmony doesn't sound entirely sample-based to my ears (though i need to relisten again...it could be??)

I think it could be.

.in thinking about early sampling landmarks my mind goes to my life in the bush of ghosts from the year prior, but eno byrne and co did play a lot on that album so i guess it doesn't count.

I didn't think there was any sampling on this album? All tape work?

some tracks on Philharmony sound that way, but what about something like "L.D.K."?

ah right, "digital sampling" quoth the amazon review. nevermind!

anyway going to relisten to philharmony in the morning, i remember doing so when i first read that tidbit and there were some things that didn't jive but that was a while ago and is now kinda a vague impression. either way i'll ask one of my music geek friends in tokyo for some leads :-O

patrick south otm in 2004, always loved it but Naughty Boys and its instrumental release have just claimed separate spots on my all-time favorite albums list

Cosmic Invention filling in on "technopolis" back in the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=43&v=ifpBqHN9hGQ

bah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifpBqHN9hGQ

Lovely YMO Tumbler, loads of great magazine pics and ephemera - http://technodelic1981.tumblr.com/

Folks, some friends an I have a little internet radio show called Japan Alternative Sessions where we play lots of our favourite Japanese music going back through the decades.

Next Friday and Sunday at 8pm [UK Time] for two hours we are broadcasting our modest little tribute to YMO, choosing our favourite tracks and talking a little bit about the band but we also snagged 20 mins with the broadcaster Peter Barakan who worked with the band [and individual members] as a translator and then a lyric co-writer, it's a really interesting interview and worth hearing if, like me, you get frustrated at the lack of detailed info about the band available in English.

www.animeradio.uk

www.facebook.com/JapanAlternativeSessions/

www.mixcloud.com/JapanAlternativeSessions/

8pm UK Time BST (that's 3pm EST, or 4am the next day JST)

Don't know if I'll be able to listen in real time but I'm definitely gonna be on this when it goes up on mixcloud

dunno what took me so long, but i finally listened to Naughty Boys last week, and it is really amazing, been playing it non-stop.

this has probably been answered earlier in this thread, but any recommendations on best live albums? Are any in print?

I tend to favour the earlier live recordings, they're a little more dynamic and less poised, there's a bunch on Youtube.

The World Tour Live 1980 double set is great as is Faker Holic, both can be tracked down fairly easily.

In general I like the earlier sets, more jamming and more interesting tracklisting, with stuff like "Radio Junk" and Akiko Yano's "Rocket Factory" making appearances. Public Pressure is great, containing the definitive performance of "Tong Poo", with an awesome bass solo by Hosono. I believe Faker Holic is the same material, but without the overdubs (I believe a contract dispute led to Wantanabe's guitar parts being removed, and I think some of the vocals were redone as well), so maybe grab that one instead.

I remember liking Winter Live 1981 a lot but don't remember much about it. After Service is nice but it's more a traditional pop-superstar type live album. I actually liked their 2008 sets a lot, though it's a lot different than what you might expect.

I love After Service.. they transform/slickify "La Femme Chinois" and "Tong Poo" into cool 80s shades-wearing highway cruising jams

2ManyDJs did a YMO mix:

https://soundcloud.com/deewee-2/yellow-magic-orchestra-mix

I'm 6:15 in and "Tokimeki" by Akiko Yano came on, this totally rules

yeah, I listened to it while cleaning the house and it was pretty great. wish it had a tracklist!

Some kind soul on reddit made one:

•YMO - Rydeen (2manydjs Edit)
•YMO - Technopolis
•YMO - Hirake Kokoro -Jisieki-
•YMO - Key
•YMO - Tong Poo
•Akiko Yano - Tokimeki
•YMO - Tighten Up
•Ryuichi Sakamoto - Riot In Lagos
•Haruomi Hosono - Shambala Signal
•YMO - Be A Superman
•Taeko Onuki - Carnival
•Melon - Trance Dance International
•Sandii & The Sunsetz - An Antenna
•Tamao Koike - Sangokushi Theme
•YMO - ????
•YMO - Behind The Mask (Seiko Quartz CM version)
•YMO - Neue Tanz
•Haruomi Hosono - Platonic
•Haruomi Hosono - Hepatitis
•Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knifes
•Ryuichi Sakamoto - E-3A
•Clock On 5 - Theme From Furyo
•Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
•Snakeman Show - 正義と真実
•David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours
•Japan - Taking Islands In Africa (Steve Nye Remix)
•Sadistic Mika Band - Silver Child
•Sadistic Mika Band - Recording Data
•You An' Me Orgasmus Orchestra - 咲坂と桃内のごきげんいかが ワン・ツゥ・スリー
•Harry Hosono And The Yellow Magic Band - Tokio Rush
•???
•???
•Bill Nelson - Metaphysical Jerks ?
•???
•Miharu Koshi - Scandal Night
•Yukihiro Takahashi - Drip Dry Eyes
•Greg Phillangnes - Behind The Mask
•YMO - Behind The Mask (?? Remix)
•YMO - Taiso
•Ryuichi Sakamoto - Venezia
•???
•YMO - Computer Game (Theme From The Circus)
•YMO - Firecracker
•YMO - Nice Age
•YMO - Cue
•Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki & Tatsuro Yamashita - Cosmic Surfin'

I filled out the (few) blanks I could - more often there were a lot of "I know I've heard this but I can't place it". I'm kinda impressed by the presence of those Snakeman Show tracks. Those albums are reaaaally hard to find.

I do wonder why the mix cuts off at 1986 or so (outside of the one Technodon track) - there's a lot of killer stuff in the last 30 years that would've fit really well on here

I were involved this would be 3 hours, minimum

Incase anybody is interested here's a link to the little Peter Barakan interview we did for our Radio Show's YMO special a few months ago...

https://www.mixcloud.com/JapanAlternativeSessions/japan-alternative-sessions-edition-22-ymo-special-peter-barakan-interview/

here we go...........again

this reminded me to say thanks for the Faker Holic recommendations upthread, really great.

maybe the wrong thread for this but anyone into Miharu Koshi's Hosono-produced stuff should check out the album Binasu by an artist called NV - she is from Moscow and maybe has no clue who that is but she really does nail the same sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXm62Ev4MYs

(no vocals on this track but it is notable for recreating the Hosono vibe which I rarely hear ANYONE able to do)