Hey, how’s this thing work again?

Why the even longer break than usual? Well, the typical “I can’t find anything to share” excuse aside, this year has proven to be incredibly busy for me. Since my last post, I got a new job! I’m still teaching English in Japan, but now I’m working for a company that doesn’t seem to actively hate me, so that’s nice. I am working more hours though, which means it’s harder to dedicate free time to creative endeavors. And since more people seem to be visiting my YouTube channel and listening to my podcast than frequenting this blog, those have taken precedence, sorry.

As I’ve said before though, this blog isn’t going anywhere. On the off chance that I do decide to shutter it for good, I’ll definitely put out an update, but again, that’s not likely.

I got some really cool and rare video game music recently, but I know that most people who read my blog don’t come here for that and would be bummed if my first post in nearly half a year was dedicated to Double Dragon remixes, so I’ll save those for next time. Instead, hey check it out more YMO.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Tong Poo (Special DJ Copy)
La Femme Chinoise (Acoustic Version)
Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (Acoustic Version)
Greenback Dollar (Re-Mix)
My new job is in an area with some record stores. As you can imagine, this is a problem. Thankfully the really good record store is some distance away, just far enough that I can’t make it there during my usual lunch break. However, if a student cancels their lesson, and that lesson is right before my scheduled lunch break, then I have more than enough time to make the walk and spend too much money on CDs I don’t need!

For example, I bought yet another Yellow Magic Orchestra greatest hits compilation. That brings the total number of YMO albums in my collection to a completely unsatisfying 87. That number is like a dare. It’s sitting there, egging me on to see if I can get to an nice big round and even 100. Goddammit.

Anyways, the compilation in question is YMO Go Home!, which the group released in 1999. It’s a two disc set, and while it’s not as good as what I consider to be their definitive greatest his set, UCYMO, it’s still damn good. In addition to all the bangers you’d want, it also has a few harder to find tracks, which are the ones I’m sharing here. The Special DJ Copy of “Tong Poo”was first made widely available as a part of the 1992 Techno Bible 5CD box set (which I own). I think before that it was only on some promo 12″ singles. It’s not crazy different than the original, but it has enough deviations to make it worth a listen.

When this compilation came out in 1999, it was probably most notable for being the exclusive home of both of those acoustic tracks. They have seen been re-released as a part of the 2005 8CD mega box set L-R Trax, which I do not own because I own nearly every single song in that box set and it usually goes for hundreds of dollars these days. I’m crazy, but I’m not an idiot.

The acoustic tracks are great. “La Femme Chinoise” works oddly well as a slow, acoustic number. The song’s melody sounds surprisingly haunting when plucked on an acoustic guitar. Makes me wish for acoustic re-workings of more YMO classics.

“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” is a bit, well, weirder? First of all, it’s a cover of a Pete Seeger song. How/why/when the hell YMO decided to do a Pete Seeger cover is a mystery. It’s probably for the best that they kept in an acoustic affair though. Pete Seeger’s quiet, contemplative anti-war ballad didn’t need a sequenced beat. Like the other acoustic number, it’s very good. And again, I hope that YMO have some more hidden acoustic gems in the vault that they’ll release someday.

Finally, there’s “Greennack Dollar,” which is on an entirely different YMO compilation called One More YMO, which collection of live cuts. I think that every track on that compilation was previously released save for this one. It was recorded in Budokan in 1980, but not as part of the December concert that served as the source for their legendary Budokan live album, it was recorded earlier in the year.

If you don’t know, “Greenback Dollar” is a cover of a Hoyt Axton song from the early 60s. So, yes, this is YMO covering a song written by the dad in Gremlins. The world is weird sometimes.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2022 at 4:59 pm and is filed under live, remixes, Yellow Magic Orchestra. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.