Yellow Magic Orchestra

YMO is one of Japan's most famous technopop bands despite only lasting six years and not ever really establishing a consistant band identity. They're often thought of as being like a Japanese Kraftwerk, probably because they were rooted deep in electronic music and often built songs on layers of synthesizers before that style of music really took off. There's more to the story, but if you like Kraftwerk, these guys should be added to your list. The difference between Yellow Magic Orchestra and other technopop groups is that they were comprised of some very forward-thinking and prolific musicians, all of whom had some sort of career before YMO formed. Haruomi Hosono was the one who initially formed the band, having experimented with blending electronics with older styles such as exotica before on his Cochin Moon album. But his career spans as far back as 1969, when he was a bassist for the long-forgotten Apryl Fool, and not only did he play in Happy End, but he had also released five solo albums, which mostly were done in a tropical style. The other two members had just released their first solo albums the same year YMO formed - Ryuichi Sakamoto, who you may recognize, was mostly a session musician, and Yukihiro Takahashi was the drummer for Sadistic Mika Band. Originally this project was conceived as a one-off project that attempted to blend smooth exotica stylings with then cutting-edge synthesizer technology, but the group fit the rising genre of technopop well and wound up becoming superstars.

You'll pretty quickly realize that the reason for this band's success was the talent of its individual members, all of whom had very long solo careers after the group disbanded. Since all three members seem to contribute pretty equally to the songwriting, there is not often a lack of ideas. But they were also pioneers, using sequencers and other technology long before they became commonplace. You can credit the "4th member" Hideki Matsutake for a lot of that work, as he's credited with working the sequencers and arranging some of the material. As far as I know, he doesn't contribute to the songwriting, but he did release a few solo albums under the moniker Logic System, which YMO fans may enjoy. Otherwise, the lineup is as follows - Hosono plays bass, Takahashi drums, and Sakamoto plays most of the keyboards/piano. I have seen all three members on synths and even Sakamoto on drums, so I would guess the arrangements sometimes change, maybe depending on who writes the songs. As far as I know all the members sing their own songs, but since Takahashi writes the most tunes with vocal parts, he's kind of the lead singer. Many of the vocals are manipulated with vocoders so it's sometimes hard to tell. The group also did employ a couple of guitar players for select spots, Kazumi Watanabe early on and Bill Nelson for the later records. Needless to say their sound can be pretty diverse; all their tracks use synthesizer in some form, but they never really stayed in the same place for long. It's wasn't until the very end that the group put out two albums that were really similar to each other. If you look at the long and varied careers of Sakamoto and Hosono you'll understand why this group seemed to change so much from album to album. For that, it should be useful to have a record guide, so I hope this can help you out:

Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978)
Exactly the type of album I doubt any of these guys would be able to come out with on their own, YMO's debut is a fusion of techno-pop and some older (pre-Beatles) styles such as exotica and jazz. At first listen it sounds gimmicky, but repeat listens reveal a lot of complexities beneath the songs. It has a multilayered feel that other synth-pop bands weren't really doing quite yet. As became common in Sakamoto's later career, much of the music draws on different parts of the world, but when put through the YMO filter, it all sounds distinctively Oriental. Thus the single "Firecracker" (their only overseas hit), which is played entirely on synths and piano with an electronic rhythm, is a great slice of early techno music, but there's a very Eastern feel to it. The actual song is a Martin Denny cover. The rest of side one (minus the "Computer Game" segments, which as dated as they seem today, were quite revolutionary in '78) draws from familiar themes such as Caribbean jazz ("Simoon", which seems to be in the same style as Cochin Moon) or surf music ("Cosmic Surfin'").

Side 2 is where the band really starts to get everything together, and the result is a nearly flawless group of songs. "Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)" is bouncy and energetic, with a long bass and piano line that's clearly Sakamoto's, and "La Femme Chinoise" is a precursor to the technopop of the future. Both quickly became live staples, and are interesting not just from a compositional standpoint, but also because they manage to be so much fun despite having a lot of things going on at once. They break it down with "Bridge Over Troubled Music", a short segment which isolates the electronic rhythms, until Takahashi lays on the beat again and goes into "Mad Pierrot", an addictive track that sounds something like a game show theme in overdrive.

Although the theme of the album is decidedly electronic, you don't particularly have to like that style to appreciate it. While most of the melodies are played by synth, there's lots of piano under the surface. There are electronic rhythms that stand out to punctuate the melody, yet Takahashi's drums keep things grounded and danceable, and Hosono's fluid bass playing injects a little bit of groove into the tracks on side two in a way that electronics couldn't really provide at the time. There's even some electric guitar on "La Femme Chinoise", as well as Takahashi's unfiltered vocal - all the rest are either heavily computerized or come from outside the band (the female vocal on "Tong Poo", which seems to be a precursor for many future electronic bands such as Orbital to do the same thing on their albums). And all the while, the album never gets heavyhanded - there's a prevailing sense of humor among all of this, and most of the music is catchy and easy to digest. Quite an accomplishment.

Solid State Survivor (1979)
This drops the exotica influences altogether and sticks to straightforward technopop, and the result is an early electronic classic. Those who got into this band because of Kraftwerk should start here. YMO certainly are a lot more colorful and are geared more for the dance floor, but you can see them clearly taking a cue from The Man Machine. "Technopolis" is the same type of techno anthem as "The Robots", but it's more colorful and exciting, full of vibrant texture and funky slap bass. Likewise, Takahashi's galloping techno anthem "Rydeen" is a groovy bliss-out with searing whistle synths. You can definitely see the influence this had on early, NES-era video game music; it's bright, gets your foot tapping, and built for repeat plays. Elsewhere, there's Sakamoto's "Behind the Mask", which may be the best pop song he ever wrote; it's a paranoid and melodically rich single with some great vocoder work. Michael Jackson wrote new lyrics for the tune and nearly covered it on Thriller...instead it wound up as a minor hit for Eric Clapton. Just one of pop music's many great "what if?" stories. Those are the highlights, but there isn't much of a low point here - the slower tunes work well, particularly Sakamoto's "Castalia", which foreshadows his ambient film work and beats Eno at his own game. But it wouldn’t be YMO without something indescribably bizarre, so Takahashi deconstructs the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” in a manner similar to what Devo did to “Satisfaction”. Just about everything about this cover seems backwards, particularly the vocal performance; but it’s a lot of fun and very charming, so it fits the album well. Overall I’d say this is a very neat and accessible album that would make a great first purchase, although it doesn’t really have the musicianship of the last one. It should leave you wanting more, especially considering the short running time (barely 32 minutes).

Public Pressure (1980)
A live album from YMO's 1979 World Tour. Contains only nine tracks, fragmented between shows in London, Los Angeles, and New York. YMO's live sound is generally played straightforward, with the rhythm section of Takahashi and Hosono being ever present, although many of the electronic percussion noises are still there. The tour also featured Kazumi Watanabe on guitar who usually jams during the solo sections. For this album however there was a record company conflict and as a result Sakamoto overdubbed all his parts. Surprisingly it doesn't bring down the quality of the album at all - you'd otherwise never be able to tell. The solo sections are all pretty great, and the songs are played at a standard "live tempo" (which is slightly faster than the studio albums), with the arrangements generally tampered with enough to be interesting to those who already have the studio albums. Their instrumental skill is really apparent here - Sakamoto's synth jamming is always attention-grabbing, the sound effects are used well, Takahashi actually shows off his ability to play fast, and Hosono's bass playing is better than it's ever been. They bring a real swing to the step of "Cosmic Surfin" and "Rydeen", and the version of "Tong Poo" is simply amazing - Sakamoto's on fire and Hosono's talent on bass really shines, prompting a huge response at the end of the extended solo section. Oddly enough the album doesn't include "Firecracker", "Technopolis", or "Behind the Mask", perhaps three of their biggest songs at the time, but instead one of Sakamoto's compositions from his solo Thousand Knives album ("The End of Asia"), and "Radio Junk", a great Sheena and the Rokkets cover. This is one of the few live albums that I actually wish was longer, but understandably YMO didn't really have too many songs written at this time. Fans should definitely seek this one out.

Faker Holic (rec. 1979, rel. 1991)
A two-disc set of YMO’s 1979 world tour, which has got to be the most heavily-bootlegged tour of their career. This is roughly the same feel as Public Pressure, but without the overdubs. So if you already have it, you’ll know what to expect – a mostly-live band experience with a bit of sequencer and a lot of synthesizer. The difference is that you get to hear Kazumi Watanabe’s guitar, which gives the performances something of a fusion sound as he takes solos on most of the tracks, which on Sakamoto’s pieces tend to be a lot longer (“The End of Asia”, “Tong Poo”, “1000 Knives”). Combined with Sakamoto you’ve got two legitimate soloists which is a real rarity for a technopop band. Akiko Yano (Sakamoto's future wife) is on most of these tracks too, and one of the compositions is hers (“Kang Tong Boy”). It's a neat song - the melody is certainly bizarre at first, but it turns into a very agreeable funk tune with Yano doing vocal acrobatics on top. Her voice is very chirpy and unrestrained (and frequently off-key), making her an interesting lead singer but a sort of grating back up one. Despite the lower rating, this basically renders Public Pressure superfluous, as most if not all of the exact same performances (sans overdubs) make it here. It seems that the better performances got put into that album though, and that tunes like “Behind the Mask” and “Firecracker” don’t create as much of a live spark as “Tong Poo” or “Cosmic Surfin” did. So it’s not as consistently entertaining as Public Pressure was and there’s a lot of repetition between the two discs, so you really can’t listen to them in a row. But if that album left you wanting more, I definitely recommend this.

Note: This set appears as discs 3 and 4 of the L-R Trax compilation.

Xoo Multiplies (1980)
More of an EP than a real full length, as there's only four actual songs here, with the rest being filled with comedy sketches and other oddities. For the most part, this album is a riff on Japanese people - the English sketches are a satire on Japanese businessmen, and most of the voices seem to be stereotypes. I'm guessing Snakeman Show, who does the comedy bits, also had a hand in the synth-enhanced cover of "Tighten Up" which features Elmo-style MC vocals and lines such as "Sock it to me Sakamoto!" Hilarious if you're into this postmodernist kind of humor - personally I find it fairly brilliant, but comedy albums generally become boring after a few spins. That said, those albums can work if the material is good, which it does - there's the great pop tune "Nice Age", one of the few YMO songs with prominent guitar backing, and "Citizens of Science", a quality technopop song reminiscent of the better cuts off Takahashi's then-brand new solo album Murdered by the Music. It's definitely tongue-in-cheek, but it's clear they knew what they were doing. Case in point, the instrumental "Multiplies" which takes a boppy and familiar Russian theme and riffs the hell out of it to pretty good effect. Overall this is a neat album, but the downside (for us Americans, at least) is that you won't be able to understand the Japanese-language sketches, which are still kind of entertaining anyway. The upside is that the English ones are hilarious and simply must be heard to be believed.

Since Solid State Survivor wasn't released Stateside, the record company decided to release an abridged version of both these albums for the American release. It makes for a good compilation, but American collectors should be aware of it - if you already have Solid State (which has since been released in the US) you may be only getting the song-themed half.

YMO World Tour 1980 (rec. 1980, rel. 1996)
I don't want to bog this page down with a bunch of reviews of obscure live albums, but this one turns out to be quite interesting. They still have their more "jam-oriented" band format and seem to take a more collaborative approach here than I've seen on a YMO live album. What I mean is that in addition to YMO album tracks, there are performances of some of Sakamoto and Takahashi's songs, as well as a few covers and songs by other artists who were touring members of YMO. The version of Akiko Yano's "Kang Tong Boy" here is the best one I've ever heard and is a major highlight of the set. Also, there is a song called "Maps" which is sung by someone I couldn't identify (perhaps a member of Japan?) This may be the most interesting of their live albums but some of the performances feel too laid back to really connect. Basically, I could do without another slow take on "The End of Asia", and I have no idea why they chose to do Takahashi's "The End of Eden" when it was the worst song on its album. But there are still some really neat performances here ("Firecracker", "Technopolis", "Riot in Lagos") - "Tong Poo" is done in a more swinging jazz-oriented form, and "Cosmic Surfin'" ratchets up the intensity by adding new synth parts. This is (I believe) the only officially released live album that features songs from Xoo Multiplies. Towards the end you get a half-hearted cover of "All You Need is Love" and an attempt at Bach's "Invention". The tracks here were drawn from three shows in L.A., Paris, and London, but for the most part it all sounds like one concert. It's definitely a long set (originally released on 3 LPs) but it does keep your attention (mostly) and is well worth seeking out if you're a fan of this period. If you're getting sick of all these live albums, rest assured that this world tour marked the end of YMO's touring band in this incarnation; they'd switch to a more industrial, techno-oriented sound after the release of BGM.

Note: This set appears as discs 5 and 6 of the L-R Trax compilation.

BGM (1980)
If you have the LP of this, you can see a ridiculous list of YMO's touring equipment. Even now, it looks like a synth-head's wildest fantasy, so I can't imagine how high-tech this was back then. In the 60's, The Beatles did absolutely everything they could to produce the best sound that was possible in their time, and that's why their albums still sound good even today. Over a decade later, YMO took a similar approach; yes, the equipment is dated, but the album still sounds incredible, and I'm not sure a better-sounding electronic album was possible in 1980. This is one of the greatest synthesizer albums of all-time. Most groups at the time looked at the synthesizers as a way to produce electronic disco or electronic pop, something that was very new and very danceable. This was kind of the approach of the previous YMO albums, but here they try a lot of new and different things at once. They use the 808s to produce breakbeats and double-time drum tracks; they layer synths on top of each other to create pristine and complex pop; they use keyboards to create classical symphonies or to make nearly orchestral backing tracks. In fact, besides some drumming and thundering grand piano on "U-T" (a great, high-energy piece that foreshadows the next album), almost everything else is electronics. This is similar to some of the interesting things that Jarre was doing at the time, but YMO had more talent and a wider range.

It starts off fairly normal - "Ballet" is a good pop song with a steady beat and an unusual vocal approach from Takahashi - it sounds like one of the better tracks from his Neuromancer album, with a new vocal approach and an unsettling hook. From there it gets weirder and more surreal, and by track 4 we're already on abstract pieces made from chiming, layered synths ("Happy End"). This is a dark album - there are minor chords everywhere, and even Takahashi sounds distrought. In "Camoflauge", not only does he sing in quieted tones ("A secret - from the dark" is a particularly haunting line, mostly because he's never really sung like this before), but his vocal gets mangled beyond recognition later on, which is actually kind of scary. "Mass" is Hosono's piece, and it's practically a symphony with a backbeat; it's chilling, melodic, complex, and sounds great loud. And "Loom" is legitimately terrifying (if you hear it loud enough) - the first two minutes are an unsettling rising synth tone, similar to the famous deafening THX sound test, before giving way to calming keyboard washes. Eno would be proud. "Cue" is a full-on electronic ballad with great vocal hooks (the final part of the song where Yuki sings "I'm sick and tired of this same old chaos" is one of my favorite moments in technopop), and remains one of YMO's crowning achievements. They do let their dry sense of humor come through in one track, Hosono's goofy and deliberately misguided "Rap Phenomenon", which is funny and likeable with a complex arrangement that moves the track away from gimmick territory. "Rap, rap, do you think you can rap?" Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but do you think the world was ready for this in 1980? Before "Planet Rock", The Message, and Computer World? This might be YMO's least accessible album, but stick with it; it's their best, and there are so many things hidden in the mix that multiple listens (on multiple stereos) are required.

Technodelic (1981)
This is more of a dark New Wave record and not coincidentally one of the best records they ever made. This is a real band effort - this music is layered, interspersing memorable vocal melodies with dark piano lines and industrial rhythms. There's a couple of top-notch technopop dance cuts ("Taiso", which does mean “dance” in Japanese), one of which became one of YMO's best and most forward-looking singles ("Pure Jam", which sounds much more like 1991 than 1981), but the rest is more in the vein of the sentimental and robotic New Wave that was coming out at the time from detached youth like Gary Numan and John Foxx, only denser. While the YMO vocals generally sounded light and emotionless before, here they seem moody, apprehensive, and sometimes downright scared ("Stairs"), a surprising feat coming from a trio of so-so vocalists - it certainly helps that the lyrics are better than they've ever been (credit goes to Peter Barakan, who wrote all the English-language lyrics for this album and the next couple). So maybe the sound is thick, but they lighten the mood at the right times, and the instrumental tracks are well developed - resonant but not overbearing ("Light in Darkness", "Epilogue"). To top it all off, you get my favorite YMO song ever, Hosono's "Gradated Grey", which shows that above all, synthesizers could resonate, and it's possible for a tune to be intensely emotional and wickedly catchy at the same time - this is a real synthpop triumph that takes the genre into a new dimension. It would be worth it for that track alone, but there's more - it might stray from YMO's original intentions, but in my mind it's their best, not to mention one of their most innovative, and it's aged better than their previous albums. Recommended not just to fans of technopop but New Wave in general.

Winter Live (1981)
As far as I know this is the only live set ever released from this period. It's still very hard to find. Unlike prior live albums they only draw from their more recent stuff - all the tracks are from BGM or Technodelic.

Naughty Boys (1983)
The boys decided to take a year off for solo projects - Sakamoto began his career as esteemed film composer with Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Hosono was continuing his work with electronic experimentation, and Takahashi was becoming something of a pop star in his own right. I think at this point it became clear that they were going in different directions, but they decided to reform and record a pop album as a gift to the fans, which ended up spawning a number of singles and took the group to a new height of popularity. There's still plenty of synths, but they're playing Oriental-themed pop songs (this is their only album that makes their Japanese origin really obvious). Most of the material is quite catchy and cheery (leadoff single "Kimi Ni Mune Kyun", "Expecting Rivers"), with the only downtempo tune being Hosono's "Lotus Love", sounding like it's about to fall apart at any second. Maybe that's due to the murky production, which piles on the reverb, giving the album a strange sound that makes it hard sometimes to pick out the individual instruments. It's all good, but only a handful of songs stand out as being particularly meaningful in the YMO canon, although you'll probably have them all in your head at some point. Unlike most pop albums, this one gets stronger as it goes along, and closer "Wild Ambitions" is a great send-off. There is one real oddity - a half-minute 'preview' version of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which would appear on the next album in full form. I've never heard of another band doing this. Anyways, this is a good release that shows that YMO could have taken over the Eastern world as a pop band. Unfortunately one of the best tunes, "Chaos Panic", was relegated as a B-side, so if you like this, be sure to track that one down.

Service (1984)
This would be the last YMO studio album for a while. Like Xoo Multiplies, the songs are interspersed with comedy routines, but unlike that album, they don't really seem to fit with the music. Of course, I wouldn't know, because they're in Japanese, and since they're long, you're pretty much forced to skip them. I'm guessing they just didn't have enough material left for a full album. So what about the songs? They're moodier than the Naughty Boys ones, throwing out the playfulness in favor of a more mature, adult-contemporary like sound. They're still pretty catchy, the arrangements are surprisingly full, and about half of them were released as singles. The full version of "You've Got to Help Yourself", with a triumphant synth line and sing-along chorus is one of their best - I can only imagine how great this would have sounded with better vocalists. It's also the only song on here with any Japanese - the other lyrics are pretty clear. Well-written stuff, but pretty unsubstantial, and if you skip the comedy tracks it's pretty short. Probably better thought of as an EP companion to Naughty Boys.

After Service (1984)
A live album. Pretty decent if you like YMO the pop band, kind of disappointing if you're expecting the technopop or synth-fusion band. All the neat improvisation and jamming that highlighted Public Pressure is gone - instead, the old tracks are sort of put into the new style. This does interesting things to "Technopolis" and "La Femme Chinoise", but in general they're weaker than the studio version, even dropping the vocoder on staples like "Behind the Mask". And that's this album's main crux - without much that's really 'extra', you don't really need to bother, as the newer tracks are pretty much played just like the studio versions (Takahashi even seems to double-track his vocals from them). Oh, but then you wouldn't get to hear the legions of screaming girls (who positively freak out when "Technopolis" drops) - what are they, the Japanese Beatles? We know Takahashi is Harrison, but is Sakamoto Lennon? Would Matsutake be like George Martin? The setlist is mostly based off the last couple of albums, with the beginning and end drawing from the first couple, with a non-album single "Kageki Na Shukujo" and a lengthy minimal intro track ("Propaganda"). There's "Ballet" and "Key" in between but otherwise nothing from the middle period. Still, they're playing good material (I do appreciate the darker synth tone on "Wild Ambitions"), and nothing really seems off, but it's apparent they weren't really interested in pushing forward the band's boundaries anymore and have settled into their role as pop megastars. Originally released on 19 tracks, but the CD version shortened it to 16. Later CD versions were a double disc with the full set.

Complete Service (rec. 1984, 1992)
Well, there's more tracks, and the sound (produced by Brian Eno!) is a little cleaner, but this is just the same thing as After Service. The extra tracks come from the previous two albums as well. Strangely this one's out of print, not After Service. Whether or not the extra production helps is up to you - it doesn't retain the thick sound that emulated the studio albums like the other one did, and the drums don't seem as powerful - plus, the main hook on "Focus" is nearly inaudible. On the flip side this sounds a lot clearer.

Technodon (1993)
A lot changed in electronic music from 1983 to 1993, and since they were still on good terms, Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi got back together for a one-off album and tour. Their record label had gone under in the interim, yet they still held the rights to the YMO name, so the band adopted the moniker "NOT YMO", which I actually think is the official name for the group. Given all three of them were pretty active for the preceding 10 years and have evolved their sound, I'd say it's appropriate - they're still electronic, but other than that there's not much to relate this to the older material. The sound this time is minimal techno, which means it's a smooth and chill, but most of the tunes are underwritten. Some of it does fare well - "Floating Away" has a nice sense of rhythm, "Hi-Tech Hippies" and "O.K." are neat technopop tunes, and "Waterford" is a really beautiful ambient piece (using a bagpipe-imitating synth, of all things). There's a few spoken word samples from William S. Burroghs that turn "I Tre Merli" into a drugged-out trip. Altogether I can really see the sound that they were going for, but they didn't have much to back it up, and as a result the tunes just go nowhere (case in point, leadoff track and single "Be a Superman", which doesn't develop beyond its first few bars). There is a real drought of good melodies however, and there's almost no energy. It's expertly produced and has a few keepers, and you'll definitely want to stay around for the cover of "Pocketful of Rainbows" at the end. But ultimately it's not worthwhile, and looking at the members' solo releases from the early 90's, it's easy to see that it may have been difficult for them to pick a style.

Technodon Live (1993)
Thanks to the three members staying active and YMO's technology-infused sound probably appealing to young ones who were now in their 20's, their reunion tour was unsurprisingly high-profile. True to its title though, they did rely mostly on Technodon material, to the point where the first six tracks match the studio album exactly. This was probably a disappointment to the crowd, no part of which became a fan because of THAT album, but the good news is they sound much fuller here, making this a better buy than the studio album. The tempo's notched up slighty, and the electronic drums are enhanced with Takahashi's booming real drums. No idea what the other guys are doing, but it's just enough to keep the tracks interesting. In particular, the two best Technodon tracks are big highlights - Takahashi's drumming on the second half of "Floating Away" turns it into a neat jam, and bringing a guitar to the forefront of "Waterford" was an inspired stroke. It goes to show that maybe if they stuck around they'd have figured out how to make something that could stand up to the YMO canon. But, as much of it doesn't, many of the better moments are with the older tracks, drawn from their first two albums. In particular "Behind the Mask" gets a nice facelift, turning it into a punchy techno jam, which I almost prefer to the already excellent studio version. Likewise, "La Femme Chinoise" is given a futuristic render, and the surprise inclusion of "Castalia" fits in really well with the newer material. Oh, and they tease the audience with a few bars of "Rydeen" at the end of "Chance" but they don't actually play it. How cruel is that? Either way, any YMO fan's gonna want the re-done versions of the classics, and the now fleshed-out newer tunes are at least worth a couple of listens. It's a good live album, and I'm glad I own it, but the one thing it makes me really want is an 'updated' version of a bunch of their old tracks, similar to what P-Model does.

In 2002, YMO refromed (sort of) with Hosono and Takahashi creating a new group with Sakamoto as a frequent guest both live and in the studio and Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) on guitar during the live shows (among other notables). The reason why Sakamoto was not a full-time member was presumably due to his extensive soundtrack and collaborative work, as he was (and still is) a very in-demand composer. The group’s name was Sketch Show (which their albums were credited to), but it was changed to Human Audio Sponge when Sakamoto was involved. The reason why they chose that name and not Yellow Magic Orchestra was probably due to a big shift in sound – this was still very electronic, but they had shifted to a warm glitch-pop sound that did not really resemble YMO much, although they still played old YMO tunes in concert (often in drastically reworked versions). In 2007, Sakamoto became a full-time member, and they released a single with a new version of “Rydeen”, cementing the bridge between YMO and this new group, and as a result they renamed themselves HASYMO (a combination of the two acronyms), releasing several singles under this moniker (but no full-length albums as of yet). The group has shown up at several high-profile events such as Live Earth and the Meltdown Festival in London, but billing themselves as Yellow Magic Orchestra. It’s all fairly confusing but it’s more or less the same band.

Sketch Show – Audio Sponge (2002)
The first album from Hosono and Takahashi’s new group is a fine effort but comes across as more of a “testing the waters” type of release. It takes advantage of new technology and crafts its own sound but musically doesn’t stray much from what they’ve done in the past. I guess the best way to describe it is electro-folk-pop, with the group writing a number of agreeable melodies in a host of styles (jazz, funk, ballad) with electronic backing. The result is a forward-thinking, warm and relaxing album – to the point that not even covers of classics such as “Turn Down Day” or “Theme From a Summer Place” stand out from the rest. The downside to this is that the album gives off the sense of being something of a toss-off, with covers, reprises (“Return”), fun but insubstantial funk workouts (“Gokigen Ikaga 1,2,3”, “Supreme Secret”), and one silly and obnoxious track that comes off as a joke (“Do You Want To Marry Me”). Yet at the heart of it there is some solid material – “Turn Turn” is a well-produced electropop tune with a great chorus, “Flying George” is familiar (recalling “Pure Jam”) and memorable, and “Microtalk” is a solid glitchy instrumental with a click-beep-scratch groove ripe for sampling. And even if you’ve heard various versions of it ad-nauseam, the cover of “Theme From a Summer Place” is genuinely one of the best I’ve ever heard. So what you have is a fun and well-produced but ultimately insubstantial album, which still should be enough to satisfy the longings of the YMO fans who must have been clamoring for a reunion at this point.

Wild Sketch Show in Shibuya, AX (2002)
Not an official release, but rather a bootleg version of the audio portion of a DVD that chronicled the group's performance at Shibuya-AX. It may be interesting to some fans - it contains four tracks from Audio Sponge, a couple that would appear on later releases ("Ohotozka", "Chronograph"), one that has gone so far unreleased ("Zoet Roope"), a few re-worked YMO tunes, and even Hosono's now quarter-century old "Paraiso" (!). They adopt the glitch-heavy sound to the YMO material as well, but there appears to be a few extra band members on stage near the end. It's a worthwhile listen from beginning to end, but my favorite parts are the astounding rework of "Gradated Gray" that again makes me wish for a disc of updated YMO tunes, and the techno cut-up of "Pure Jam" that samples "Rydeen".

Sketch Show – Tronika (2003)
This is a glimpse into the new direction that Sketch Show would take, and thankfully it’s a more serious one, venturing into the field of glitch-pop without losing any of the previous release’s warmth or calmness. Doesn’t get a rating though because it’s more or less a teaser EP for the Loophole release, with only one full track that doesn’t appear there (“Ohotzka”, which is almost breathtakingly pretty). The rest is remixes, short instrumental ambient pieces, a few tracks from the next album, as well as the original version of “Night Talker”, a relaxing glitch-folk tune where the electronic parts are out-of-sync, but in a very intriguing way (a fast-paced remix appears on the full-length). All that said, this is a pretty great listen, and unlike most 'teaser' EPs, this is still worth listening to even if you don't have the full-length. Cornelius shows up as a guest for some of the tracks.

Sketch Show – Loophole (2003)
It’s rare to find musicians as old as these guys are (one mid-50’s, one pushing 60) making something both truly innovative and creative, but as the hard-working and forward-thinking minds that they are, Hosono and Takahashi have done it with this album full of soothing, otherworldly, and sometimes stunning glitch-pop. It’s a mostly electronic album with melodies and rhythms cutting in and out and drum tracks consisting of mostly clicks and pops, but it’s the fluid melodic sense that takes center. It’s an album that seems to have been written while stargazing, which indeed the becalming final track is a tribute to (“Stella”). It still has the warm and folkier feeling of their earlier releases, and never feels entirely synthetic, as flashes of acoustic instruments do show up (Flemenco guitar, harp, bass guitar). And yet, as forward-thinking as it is, it does sound resigned in a way that only men this venerable could pull off. It’s more introspective and solemn then you could ever get out of a guy in his 20’s (“Mars”, “Flakes”), yet hip enough to still be exciting and upbeat (“Plankton”, the remix of “Night Talker”). To top it off there are a couple of tracks that really are stunningly beautiful – “Chronograph” sounds like a cosmic lullaby with an amazing attention to detail, and the rhythmic “Fly Me to the River” is charming and catchy in a way that recalls some of the best YMO tracks. It’s also the lone pop song on the album. The Cornelius remix of "Ekot" may well be the best track here - it's a space-age acoustic folk tune that's not only chilling, but absolutely pristine to boot.

I may seem overly praiseworthy of this album, but it does shake a few trends you see in older musicians - they lose their passion, they stop paying attention to detail, they're okay with resting on their laurels since they no longer have to prove themselves. I think that's something everyone fears when it comes to their favorite bands - that they'll get old and stop being interesting, that they're past their prime and will never again write the life-changing song that drew you to them in the first place. Now, Loophole isn't perfect, but to see this level of passion from a couple of guys whose combined discography spans over 50 albums is pretty rare.

HASYMO – Rydeen 79/07/Rescue (2007)
HASYMO is the combination of Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra, a moniker made more confusing by the fact that they are exactly the same band. I guess choosing this new name gives the appearance of moving forward in sound (as Sketch Show did), yet sticking to the time-tested ideals of YMO. Appropriately, their first release was a reframing of the classic “Rydeen”, using a plethora of new sounds, with the melody played out with xylophone and Spanish guitar during the “chorus”. The B-side, “Rescue” (sung by Hosono) was used as the theme to the movie Ex Machina (the soundtrack contains a few more HASYMO tracks, although none are as fleshed out), which is another piece of downtempo glitch electronica, this time based around a vocal melody. Both tracks put YMO back in the public consciousness, with “Rescue” hitting the Top 30 in Japan.

HASYMO – The City of Light/Tokyo Town Pages (2008)
Another single release, and again both tracks were written for other purposes (“City of Light” was written for a news show, and “Tokyo Town Pages” for a documentary). The first thing I noticed here was a return to the ‘band’ format – that’s clearly Takahashi drumming (and singing), and there’s a crisp bass sound that is assuredly NOT synthesized. Plus, although there are synthesizers, Sakamoto turns the piano back into a focal point. Both of the tracks are well done – “City of Light” features a dissonant and seemingly off-time melody with a solid vocal hook and Takahashi's upbeat drumming to propel it, and “Tokyo Town Pages” gets by on its jazzy and laid-back groove and interesting atmospheric touches. Also contains "ambient" mixes of both tracks which basically take away the drums and add in synth washes.

LondonYMO – Live in London 6/15/08 (2008)
This was a recording of a performance played at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of an event curated by Massive Attack. They took back the name "Yellow Magic Orchestra", but that's misleading, as they only play 3 YMO tunes. I might as well name them - "You've Got to Help Yourself", "Ongaku", and "Cue". Out of the 18 tracks here, 11 are from either Sketch Show or HASYMO. There are even a few tracks pulled from the recent Hosono tribute album - "Sportsmen" and "Turn Turn" are played here the same way they were on the tribute. The set list is probably not what anyone was expecting - this was a festival crowd that presumably hadn't really been keeping with the guys in recent years, and the absence of their "classic" material is a little striking, particularly considering that the set they played two years later at their own World Happiness festival was full of old YMO songs. But it works - their sound has changed quite a bit in the new decade, and they’re still producing quality material. They're joined on stage by a few extra members, notably Christian Fennesz who provides a lot of the distortion effects and Cornelius who plays guitar and does some backing vocals. Notable in the mix are steel guitar and some brass, but overall it's still based on the whole click and pop sound of the Sketch Show albums. It's nice - there is kind of a jazzy feel to this, as there is some improvisation between the spaces of the tracks, and the group certainly sounds professional. If you're wondering whether more subdued and ambient tracks like "Mars" or "Flakes" work in a live setting, the answer is not really, but since this album is expertly produced and the crowd noise is turned down in the mix, it's not really dependant on any live energy anyway. You really can't tell who the frontman is or if the band even has one - the music speaks for itself. This is definitely a headphone album; layered but not really energetic.

As far as the actual performances go - "Ongaku" turns into the shimmering pop song it was always meant to be, and its extended coda is my favorite part of the album. The addition of Hosono's "Sportsmen" is a welcome surprise - it's a great song with some pretty interesting lyrics. They do play three of Sakamoto's compositions - "Riot in Lagos" and "Tibetan Dance" are both classics, but "War & Peace" strikes me as a pretty heavy handed and studio-bound track that doesn't really make sense live. As far as the newer stuff goes, some of the HASYMO tracks worked well - "The City of Light" and "Rydeen 79/07" both capture the essence of their new sound, but "Tokyo Town Pages" (a pleasant, but kind of aimless track that doesn't really work in a live setting) and "Rescue" (which was only a half-song to begin with) aren't necessary. The 7 Sketch Show tunes mostly worked, though I wish they had included "Ekot" and "Night Talker" as well. "Supreme Secret" and "Wonderful to Me" both had a nice live jam feel to them, but they're far from the best of what this group has to offer. "Fly Me to the River" was certainly a high point. Basically, if you like the direction these guys have been going in for the last 6 or 7 years, then you'll like this album, as it's well produced, professionally performed, and has enough differences from the studio versions that it doesn't feel superfluous.

Discography note: there's another album called GijonYMO which is the same set as this minus two tracks - I haven't listened to it yet to see if there are any major differences, but it looks like this is the one to get.

Appendix: Miscellaneous YMO-related albums

Oriental Magentic Yellow

OMY is a group of four video game soundtrack composers (who seem to work mostly for Namco, which Hosono also had some involvement with) who were so influenced by YMO that they decided to pay their tribute to them long after they broke up. Basically it's kind of a "parody" group, kind of along the same line as the Rutles. I guess the joke is that they're a more depressing or trivial band, with every track name being some sort of a play on words based on the original YMO track. So "Mass" becomes "Miss", "Castalia" becomes "Cafeteria", and so on. As for the music, most of the songs are essentially the same as the originals with a few different chords. Sometimes they can be pretty good in their own right. You may wonder what the point is of doing this sort of a parody of a band that was never really 100% serious in the first place, but I think the whole idea is that it's kind of a bad joke and a pointless endevor. If you're like me and you listen to way too much YMO it's kind of neat to hear familiar tunes with different hooks, and they weren't exactly slouching on these albums. They clearly listened to their heroes even more than I have. They even nail Takahashi's goofy vocal tics.

The band is:

Shinji Hosoe as Haruomi Hosonoe
Nobuyoshi Sano as Ryuichi Sanomoto
Takayuki Aihara as Takayukihiro Aihara
Hiroto Sasaki as Hideki Sasatake

I was actually pretty impressed that they felt the need to even have someone to be their own Masutake-type member. Obviously the cover art all parody existing YMO covers and are usually worth a laugh. All information found here. For now I'm not going to grade this, since there's not much to go from, needless to say it's a fun listen if you're already familiar with the source material, but besides that there's really no audience for this.

Sonic Skate Surveyor (1994)
The cover is a tribute to YMO's own SSS, but the tracklisting seems to hint that this is actually a re-make of BGM. I haven't been able to find this one.

Oriental Magnetic Yellow (1995)
A pretty fun tribute to the first two YMO albums. As far as I can tell, only "Cosmic Surfin" and "Absolute Ego Dance" are left out. Basically every song is structured about the same, with every melody getting a few "mutations". A fun listen, but then again so were the first two YMO albums. They seem to replicate the feel of those albums well, though it's clear that OMY has their own set of (more modern) synthesizers. It's really not surprising that these guys compose video game music as their day job. Some of the sounds seem right at home with the Sega Genesis. It reminded me a lot of the music of the three original Sonic games. For the most part there's nothing that really stands out about this, although I thought "La Femme Blondine" was done pretty well, and "Gay Stripper" - a cover of YMO's "Day Tripper" cover, which was almost a parody to begin with - is as wonderfully bizarre as you'd expect. You have to at least give them credit for capturing a lot of the little nuances that appeared on these songs. The music comes first, and you can tell they have a good idea of what made YMO tick. There are some pretty funny moments - where "Firecracker" ended with an explosion, "Fiber Cracker" ends with someone munching on a cracker. Yep, that's their sense of humor. Otherwise there is not really much to laugh at besides the song titles, since this is mostly instrumental.

Breeding ~ XO Breeds (1996)
It doesn't get more post-modern than this; a parody of a comedy album that was already used post-modern humor. They don't do any skits, but they do cover the four actual songs on Xoo Multiplies. The "Tighten Nap" bass line sounds like a parody on the Seinfeld incidental music, and it actually ends up being pretty funny and addictive in its own way. Of course the Elmo-style vocals are attempted. "Rice Age" and "Cetaceans of Saizance" are pretty good parodies of Takahashi's strained vocals. Sounds sort of like a depressing band trying to do something upbeat. Tracks 6-12, called the "Personal Pleasure" side, is a mini live album. I can't believe they even have an audience. Sounds like there was a gear malfunction on "Fiber Cracker" - is Sasatake not doing his job?

Technoderuck (1997)
This one covers the Technodelic period, with a couple of BGM tracks thrown in ("Due", "Mool"). There doesn't seem to be any overlap with Sonic Skate Surveyor. Since there are more lyrics (written by "Peter Barakawa"), it opens the door for the group to do more. The opener "Pure Gum" is nearly as catchy and addictive as the original, and "Circulation" ("Stairs") is legitimately scary. In fact, besides "Pure Gum" and "Taishoku" ("open the door/take out the garbage/take the train to the city dump"), there is really not humor on this album at all, mostly because the original material is so dark. They do capture the mood well.

O.M.Y. Solo Works (1999)
Here's where the concept gets even weirder, as they start to parody some of the member's solo albums that were released from 1980-1982. I haven't heard it but it is kind of fun to look over the tracklisting and guess which song they're parodying. Looks like they did finally get around to "Absolute Ego Dance".

Nancy Boys/Nervous (2001)
I can't believe these guys have made six albums. This covers YMO's last two (the Naughty Boys period), so unless they want to take on Technodon, this is going to be their last. Knowing these guys they'll probably get around to it in 2011. Contains song titles like “Circus” (“Focus”), “The Ratmen” (“The Madmen”), “Japanese Wrestlers” (“Chinese Whispers”), “I’ve Got an Objection Myself” (“You’ve Got to Help Yourself”), and “She-loses” (“See-through”). The copy I have covers the first four songs of Naughty Boys and all of the actual songs on Service. You have to admire the dedication; it’s obviously not as good of a listen as the real things, but they really go to painstaking detail to recreate the feel of the originals, and again they pretty nail Yuki’s somewhat bland singing voice and vocal tics. Boy, they even nail Hosono’s goofy baritone range too. Again, this is a fun listen.

Remix/tribute albums

High-Tech/No Crime (1992)
A YMO remix album. Maybe this was assembled to ‘update’ YMO’s sound the same way Kraftwerk did with The Mix, but this one is done by outside artists, with scattered big names (The Orb, 808 State, Orbital). Compared to most other remix albums, it’s pretty good – the only case where the source material isn’t prominent in the mix is the Orb’s remix of “Tong Poo” (which sounds basically like any other Orb track in the Ultraworld era). It’s a nice listen, if not overlong (as with all remix albums, most of the mixes could use a minute or so of trimming), and there are a few great ideas (the “Tighten Up” remix totally reinvigorates the tune). The downside is that instrumentals are favored and vocals are downplayed, and since this is 1992 it makes things sound awfully close to a video game soundtrack at times. In the end, there aren’t really any tracks here that I would prefer to the originals – Orbital’s “Behind the Mask” is a nice, straightforward dance mix that’s pretty nice, but YMO’s own Technodon Live had a much better version of that idea, and Altern 8’s “Multiplies” mix is lots of fun but very slight. But as a whole, it’s fairly melodic, and unlike most remix albums, you don’t get the sense that these mixes were formed out of discarded loops, and in the end, YMO fans should be glad they tracked this one down.

Tribute to YMO (2004)
This is a cover album, not a remix one - the difference is that none of the actual sounds from the original YMO albums are used, as the songs are reconstructed from scratch. The lineup card features a bunch of Japanese artists, including one former collaborator (Snakeman Show). Surprisingly, Takkyu Ishinio and Yoshinori Sunahara (of Denki Groove) are nowhere to be found - you'd think they'd jump at the chance. Stylistically, this is as diverse as it gets - the only album that doesn't get touched is Technodelic, and only a few sections are done in the technopop style ("Kimi Ni Mune Kyun", "Nice Age"). I guess you could also count Ken Ishii's "Firecracker" cover, but I don't think of it so much as technopop as I do Ishii-style techno with an actual melody. Similarly, "La Femme Chinoise" (here called "Chuugoku Onna") is given an abstract, low-key techno production that can't really be called pop. Besides that, the electronics are generally kept down - there's a couple of tracks done in full-thrash style ("Cosmic Surfin", "1000 Knives"), a jazzy "Simoon" that is essentially the original track minus the electronic production, a ska rendition of "Rydeen", and Jazztronik turns "Behind the Mask" into an R&B number. I'd say this is one of the better tribute albums I've heard - nobody seems to really be "mailing it in", and despite some consistently too-long track times it's entertaining all the way through. The downside is that the shifts in style can be jarring and nobody really nails their track, although a few are close ("Cosmic Surfin", "Nice Age", "Firecracker").