Yellow Magic Orchestra solo projects
NOTE: This page is a little defunct as of now. All three YMO members have released more solo albums than YMO ever did, and Sakamoto's name appears on nearly 100 releases. They all deserve to have their own pages, but I don't really feel like I should just delete this one. So right now I'm going to use it to catalogue the albums I've heard so far and offer a few thoughts on each one. Right now I'm not going to assign many ratings but the full pages will have them.
UPDATE 6/22/2010 - Yeah, this page is really really dead, but I'm going to update a few comments and add some of the albums I've picked up lately. Full pages for these guys coming when I can get through their massive discographies.
Haroumi Hosono
------------------
This guy appears on an awful lot of albums, and may have the most diverse discography of them all - he started doing the same type of exotica stuff that YMO started with and, like Sakamoto branched into world music, and then techno and other such genres. Like Brian Eno, Hosono is also notable for his production work. I do believe that Hosono is one of music's great innovators and one of the most forward-thinking figures making music today.
Hosono House, Tropical Dandy, Bon Voyage Co. (1972-1976)
Assorted tropical/R&B style albums that Hosono did in the beginning of his career, when he was still bassist for folk rock group Happy End. All three are pleasant with some good cuts and a real laid-back atmosphere. Light but fun.
Paraiso (1978)
Credited to Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band. This is more of an exotica album rather than an electronic one. Regardless it's still a fun listen with some great pop tunes scattered about and a little bit of experimentation.
(6/22/10): This has since become one of my favorite YMO-related albums. Don't bother waiting for the actual page, I'm convinced this is a 5-star effort. Very psychadelic with lots of interesting effects I hadn't heard before alongside some of the best song material Hosono ever wrote.
Cochin Moon (1978)
Along with Sakamoto's Thousand Knives this was a great precursor to the YMO sound. The idea was to fuse traditional Indian rhythmic elements with electronic sounds. Lots of neat synthesizer pulses and effects. Side two has one of my favorite tracks, "Hum Ghar Sajan", a very exotic-sounding track that's one of the most beautiful pieces of music the man's produced.
Philharmony (1982) ***1/2
This was made during YMO's year off. Continues some of the experiments of Technodelic with a lot of sampling. Kind of has a minimal feel in spots. Some of the tracks have an abstract and unsettling feel to them. There's a couple of first-rate technopop songs that make this worth picking up.
S-F-X (1984)
Credited to Hosono and F.O.E. (friends of Earth). The CD edition contains the Making of Non-Standard Mixture EP, which is nice, because without it this is only 6 tracks. This takes things into a more dance-oriented techno direction although there's a few vocals. Recommended if you like early 80's drum machine tracks like Herbie Hancock's "Rockit". Like Philharmony this has some creative stuff that shows how ahead of the pack Hosono was, but you can tell he's not quite at his destination yet. Contains a very moody solo-piano piece that's definitely worth hearing.
Of particular interest is the track "Body Snatchers", which I've heard in two different versions, and there's supposedly another. Very quick-paced cut track that's funky but downright bizarre.
Nokto de la Galaskia Fervoso (1985)
The first of many soundtracks Hosono would score. The title is in Esperanto. The movie was an anime interpretation of a somewhat famous Japanese fable. From what I've heard it's very abstract. This music is mostly minimal, sometimes playful, but sometimes very cold. The best metaphor I can come up with is sitting on the moon, gazing back at the Earth - it's majestic and awe-inspiring, but also lonely and very cold. Some of this is just plain haunting and some of the synth noises used here I haven't heard anywhere else.
N.D.E. (1995)
A modern-day sounding tribal drum-n-bass album. Features Bill Laswell. A good collection of rhythmic music in a time where Hosono's earlier experiments were finally being developed.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
----------------------
Easily the most famous of the YMO members due to his collaborations and soundtrack work, there's two things I find fascinating about the man; one, he has an ability to bring together several styles of music from throughout the world together, and two, he's one of the few electronic musicians who can really play. If you've ever seen the man play, you'd know he's really fantastic on piano and the keyboards, which can give his compositions a unique element.
1000 Knives (1978)
Released about a month before YMO's s/t album. This was Sakamoto's debut. Shows off a bit of his compositional brilliance as well as his interest in electronic blips - many of the sounds found on this album would show up on the YMO album. Kind of scatterbrained though, as Sakamoto didn't yet know where to take these pieces. Of particular interest as three of these tunes would be covered by YMO (the title track on BGM, "The End of Asia" on Xoo Multiplies, and "Plastic Bamboo" which was played live).
Summer Nerves (1979)
Not sure what I think of this one - it's just a bunch of pop songs with a goofy album cover. Two of them were written by Akiko Yano. Fun but not particularly original or catchy. Gets compared to Hosono's Paraiso album a lot but IMO Paraiso blows this out of the water.
B-2 Unit (1980)
A very forward-looking electronic album. Similar to YMO's early material but most of the pop elements were taken out. This is an important album in the formation of techno music. One track in particular, "Riot in Lagos", still sounds like it's from the future, nearly 30 years later. Andy Partridge guests.
Left Handed Dream (1982?)
Interesting material that sounds like a fusion of Sakamoto's more "wordly" music and something like David Bowie (who was certainly the inspiration for the cover). Pretty good and much more accessible than the bulk of his material. Adrian Belew guests. This is maybe one of the closest to a 'pop' album that he's released.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1984)
Sakamoto's first soundtrack. He's done many more since. Still, the title track became his most famous composition. A vocal version with David Sylvan became a decent-sized hit in Japan. Some very pretty synthesizer noises here. This is going to sound nerdy but I suspect some of these pieces were used as inspiration for the music to the SNES game Link to the Past. Although it's clearly soundtrack music much of it stands well on its own. The short ambient pieces remind me of Eno's Another Green World at times, except they are often colder. At 19 tracks it's hard to get bored here.
Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (1986)
Music of the world, all given an 80's sheen. Has a number of interesting compositions and rounds out with a couple of pop tunes, one of which is sung by Thomas Dolby. A good listen all the way through.
(6/22/2010): I just picked up the album Ongaku Zukan, the Japanese version of this. The Dolby tune is dropped, along with the one Akiko Yano wrote, but there are six (!) tracks that didn't appear on the US version (plus a dub of "Tibetan Dance"), including the haunting and beautiful "Replica".
Chasm (2005)
Having done lots of collaborations and soundtracks around this time it's only natural Sakamoto was composing music for a new solo album. Unsurprisingly it's divided, with the running time perhaps 10-20 minutes longer than it should be, but the best material on here stands tall. He seems to be combining a lot of different influences here into a very Oriental-sounding smorgasbord. Features David Sylvan on a couple of tracks. "Undercooled" is a hip-hop track featuring a guest rapper over strings and what sounds like CD glitches. Very cool.
Yukihiro Takahashi
--------------------------
Probably the member to get into if you liked YMO songs like "Cue", "Key", "Pure Jam", "Nice Age", and the cover of "Day Tripper". He's definitely more into the electro-pop side of things, which can be a nice change of pace from Sakamoto and Hosono's more minimal or ambient work.
Savarah! (1977)
This was the first time Hosono, Takahashi, and Sakamoto played on an album together. I would have expected it to be similar in style to his Sadistic Mika Band stuff, but this sounds nothing like it, perhaps suggesting Takahashi wasn't much of a creative force in that band. Instead it sounds like a tribute to French disco. Violins, horns, Takahashi singing in French, female backing vocals, and a few key guest spots (Sakamoto's wild keyboard solo ought to stick out). Unexpected, but not really appriciated.
Murdered by the Music (1980)
Takahashi's second solo album should probably be subtitled "the songs YMO wouldn't let me record". Drawing from a variety of styles, Murdered by the Music goes in several directions at once. This is essential for anyone who likes the Xoo Multiplies album. Has some very catchy stuff on it. It's not just technopop - there's some R&B, reggae, and even ska to be found here. Lots of fun.
Neuromantic (1981)
As the title alludes to, this is Takahashi's tribute to New Romanticism. It's a decent pop album, but I prefer the previous one and the next one. Takahashi's great pop sense doesn't come out much until the second side.
What? Me Worry? (1982)
A good pop album that makes a great companion piece to YMO's Naughty Boys. Once again, the style changes between tracks, although a few sound like they could be leftovers from Neuromantic. Some of Takahashi's best work can be found here. You can tell he's trying to break out of the YMO shell and write great material on his own. Has a number of guest vocalists, one of which was a member of Tubeway Army.
Tomorrow's Just Another Day (1983)
Kind of bland. Still has a few electronic sounds but it seems he was moving away from the technopop style. A few tracks stand out but none are really memorable, as they mostly seem to have slower tempos.
Time And Place - Live 1983 (1984)
A decent live album. As suspected the low points are the tracks from the last album, but the other stuff works well. Has Keiichi Suzuki (Moonriders) as a guest.
It's a Y.T. World (1983?)
Live + rarities
Poisson d'Avril (1983?)
Soundtrack work. The title track is a great pop tune, the rest are weird, mostly instrumental work. Pretty interesting but not something you'd listen to often.
Wild and Moody (1984)
Didn't much care for this one either, save for the last track. Thankfully it's pretty short at only seven tracks. Again takes Takahashi in a much more boring direction.
Only When I Laugh (1985)
Simply put, this is an okay pop album, venturing towards adult contemporary. I found it better than his last few efforts, though. It does grow on you.
La Pensee (1986)
This was music used as a soundtrack to a fashion show. It looks like Takahashi's weird side is finally coming out again...some of this is downright bizarre. Pretty good listen although it's mostly instrumental (which may actually be a good thing for this guy)
EGO (1987)
A return to pop music. Contains a cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows". Honestly I found the mid-80's production quite tedious but some of the material is good.
