Archive for the ‘YMO’ Category

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Remixes from Needless Purchases

Friday, April 15th, 2016

Thanks for all the kind messages celebrating my 10th anniversary, means a lot to me.

Now, onto new and (hopefully) bigger things. It’s been a busy year for me so far. I got a big update to my guide to Tokyo record stores in the works, and I should have another piece of YMO up sometime relatively soon, hopefully by the end of the month. In the meantime, I recently wrote a piece over on my other blog about the insanity of Robot Restaurant which I hope you’ll find fun and entertaining. I also wrote a piece on the current state of gaming, which I hope you’ll find soul-crushingly depressing.

Sorry. Here’s some pop music to cheer you up.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Haruomi Hosono Special Message
Rydeen (Live 2-6-80 Yoru No Hit Studio)
I have what I would consider to be a rather expansive YMO collection. I have every proper album on CD, as well as more than a fair share of compilations, remix albums, singles and other miscellany. I also own several of their albums on vinyl, some multiple times over. For example, in America I have the regular black LP edition of Service, but here in Japan I have a copy on translucent yellow vinyl. I also have every re-issue that Music On Vinyl have put out to date.

However, that didn’t stop me from buying this.

20160415_225125

That massive box is the YMO LP Box set, a huge 13 LP box set that includes every YMO album proper that was released on vinyl, including both the Japanese and American versions of their self-titled debut and ×∞Multiplies.

I got it for a pretty good deal, less than $100, which is how I justified buying it despite owning nearly everything on it on CD and LP already. It was nice to buy and fill in the remaining holes in my YMO vinyl collection.

To my surprise, when I got home I discovered that it had a bonus record, a bonus record that is literally titled “Bonus.” See?

20160415_225148

Bonus.

What’s the bonus? Well, sadly it’s not much. Most of the record is an interview with Haroumi Hosono. I’d love to offer you a complete transcript of what he’s saying, but my Japanese is garbage, and my boyfriend has better things to do than feed my unhealthy obsession with YMO and translate it for me.

The real treat, however, is this exclusive version of “Rydeen.” From what I read online, it’s apparently a live version that was performed on a Japanese TV show, although to me it sounds more like a remix. Regardless, it’s a pretty radical version, deviating from the original in some subtle, but great ways, such as a slightly more analog-sounding synth and a more pronounced sequencer rhythm. The guitar work is a bit more noticeable too. All in all, it’s a stellar version, and while I wouldn’t go as far to say it was worth the money I paid for the box set, it sure as hell was a pretty nice bonus, so I guess that 13th LP was named properly.

Filter & The Crystal Method
(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do (Danny Saber Remix)
(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do [Instrumental]
This is the second-best Filter song. The first is obviously “Hey Man Nice Shot.”

There is no third-best Filter song as Filter is not a very good band.

I got this off of a strange EP called Spawn The Album 2nd. Obviously a sequel to the fantastic Spawn soundtrack, it also included a remix of Marilyn Manson’s “Long Hard Road Out Of Hell” and a track by Apollo 440 and Morphine that was probably cut off of the original soundtrack because it’s not very good. I’ll probably share these soon though, so all your Apollo 400 and Morphine completists (I assume those groups don’t overlap all that much) take note!

Posted in B-sides, Filter, remixes, The Crystal Method, YMO | 5 Comments »

Sighing to Prog Rock and Writing About Blondie

Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

I have nothing to say in regards to recent events that I feel like sharing with anyone aside from this: when faced with crippling dread and/or anxiety related to world suffering I find that prog rock helps.

I recommend Yes’s third album. It’s a good one.

I wish I had prog rock to share with you tonight, but instead some post-new wave disco remixes and Japanese covers of German techno will have to do.

Blondie
Good Boys (Giorgio Moroder Extended Short)
Good Boys (Giorgio Moroder Single Mix)
Good Boys (Scissor Sisters’ Gyad Byas Myax Mix Extended)
Good Boys (Scissor Sisters’ Gyad Byas Myax Ya Mix)
Good Boys (A1 People Full Version)
These are remixes of a track from Curse Of Blondie, the Blondie album nobody bought. I include myself in that royal nobody, so I can’t comment on the quality of said record. “Good Boys” is a pretty dope track, and the Moroder remixes really channel the frantic and dark energy of their classic “Call Me.” It’s no “Call Me,” obviously, and the weird Queen-esque rap is a bit out of place, but it’s still pretty good.

I don’t know what the fuck “extended short” means in terms of remixes though. That’s not a thing, Blondie, don’t say that!

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Radioactivity
If you’ve been reading my massive all-encompassing review of YMO’s work, you’d know that this song opens their most recent live album, No Nukes 2012. It’s a good live album, but the only thing that makes it stand out at all is this somber and haunting cover of the classic Kraftwerk tune, which I feel that YMO have made their own with this fantastic take on it. I hope one day that I get to hear YMO perform live in person. Takahashi has a new studio album coming out this year so hopefully I’ll at least get to see him sometime soon.

Posted in Blondie, remixes, YMO | No Comments »

YMOMG

Tuesday, August 4th, 2015

 

I recently bought a 3CD set entitled イエローマジック歌謡曲, which according to my boyfriend translates to Yellow Magic Popular Music. It’s a compilation from a few years back that collects various pop tracks from the 70s and 80s that members of Yellow Magic Orchestra were involved with in some degree or another.

With 55 songs in total, it’s all over the place tonally, and includes everything from 80s J-pop, experimental electronic music and even some traditional Enka tunes. It’s a weird collection, and while it is a little uneven at times, I’m still incredibly happy that I was able to find a copy (and a cheap one at that), as I feel that it’s exposed me to a treasure trove of obscure pop acts from the 80s that I must unearth.

Tonight’s tracks were all taken from said compilation. I hope you enjoy them, especially since I plan on posting a lot more Japanese electronic pop in the coming weeks, from this compilation and elsewhere.

Koharu Kisaragi
Neo-Plant (12″ Version)
On the CD this track is credited solely to Kisaragi, but the truth is that it’s a collaboration between her and Ryuichi Sakamoto, something I could gleam even just by listening to the track. It sounds very similar to many of the best tracks on Sakamoto’s Futurist Bastard, an album that came out the same year. Both are heavily rooted in sampling technology and at times incredibly manic, seemingly drawing upon both the same technological and philosophical influences that The Art Of Noise were pulling from. Neeless to say, if you like Art of Noise or late-era YMO, this track should be right up your alley.

As for the woman who is credited with performing it, I really can’t find out all that much about her. She only released one album, Tokai No Seikatsu, which also came out in 1986. It’s never been re-issued and damn near impossible to find now. I did score a copy online though, and you can do the same here if you’re so inclined. It’s not bad, albeit a little uneven.

Cosmic Invention
Cosmic Surfing
The same blog I linked to above also has a page on this band, which also has a download link to their sole album, which came out in 1981. Outside of the information that page, I can find very little on this group. They were apparently a trio, they worked with Sakamoto at some point, and were able to score a couple hit singles before vanishing in the pop ether. This single, which is not on their album, is a cover of the YMO song of the same name. This was already a poppy tune, the jacked-up production and the cheery vocals make it even more upbeat. I need to add this to my jogging mix.

Susan
Ah! Soka!
サマルカンド大通り
Thanks to her incredibly generic stage name, it’s pretty hard to find information (especially in English) for this one. From what I can gather, mostly from Discogs information and an incredibly sloppy Wiki entry, Susan is a Japanese/French singer-songwriter who worked with YMO’s Yukihiro Takahashi to release two LPs and several singles in the early 80s. Sadly, nothing she ever put out really set Japan on fire, and it would appear that she hasn’t released much since. She does have a webpage, but I don’t think it’s been updated since 2007, so I don’t know if she’s really all that active today.

Too bad though, because these two songs are fantastic. Her voice has a squeaky-yet-haunting quality to it ala Kate Bush, and the fast-paced, energetic production is complex and layered enough to avoid sounding too terribly dated. There was a compilation released in 2005 that collected everything she ever released, I hope I can find that somewhere, I really want to hear more from her.

Posted in Cosmic Invention, Koharu Kisaragi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Susan, YMO, Yukihiro Takahashi | 6 Comments »

Transcontinental Covers

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

I’ve been slightly more prolific than usual this week. I continued my Scrunged series with a look at Candlebox, and I also wrote up a quick little thing on UFO catchters in Japan and the various Mario related goods I’ve snagged in them. Check them out if you’re interested.

You know that next year marks the 10th anniversary of this stupid little blog? I wonder if I should plan something.

YMO vs. The Human League
Behind The Mask
Kimi Ni Mune Kyun
Kimi Ni Mune Kyun (Extended Version)
Firecracker～Tong Poo /東風 (Bonus Track)
A while ago I wrote a little thing about the song “Behind The Mask,” mainly tracking how it started as a jingle for a watch commercial only to find its way to Eric Clapton by the way of Michael Jackson’s keyboardist. It’s a weird story, and if you like tracing some of the more unlikely links in pop music history, I suggest you check that article out.

I cited quite a few different versions of the song when I was writing that piece, but somehow this amazing version made it past my radar. Don’t know how the fuck that happened, as this is definitely one of the better takes on the Michael Jackson version of the song. It certainly more faithful to the original from a musical standpoint than just about any other Westerner’s take on the tune – thanks to the fact that it’s actually being covered by a synth-pop act and not a white blues guitarist. Phil Oakey’s vocals oddly match up to the original’s too.

The other two songs are also YMO covers, with their version of “Kimi Ni Mune Kyun” shockingly similar to the original. Their cover of “Tong Poo” takes some pretty interesting liberties, but it still keeps the basic melody that makes the song work so well. All of these tracks were taken from the YMO vs. The Human League EP that was never released outside of Japan.

I wonder if YMO were an influence on The Human League. Of course, The Human League pre-date YMO by a couple years, but they radically changed line-ups and sound in 1981 with Dare, and part of me imagines that perhaps some of that change was inspired by YMO. While YMO were not the first electronic act in the world, the argument can be made that they were the first one that tried to move electronic pop music past something that was cold and distant and into something that was more fun and upbeat – something that The Human League were trying to do in the early 80s as well.

 

Posted in remixes, The Human League, YMO | 1 Comment »

Transcontinental Remixes

Tuesday, December 16th, 2014

I’ve bought so much music the past two weeks I don’t know what to do with it. I mean, besides listen to it. I know I should probably listen to it. But you know what I mean.

Busy times! Apparently Japanese people want to learn English before New Year’s. At least that’s what it feels like, as I am hella busy with work at the moment. There was also an election this past week, so everyone was talking about it.

And when I mean “it” I mean they were talking about the “big erection.” I heard how the “erection is mostly for show” and that “older people mostly care about the erection.”

Pronunciation is important people! Just last week I was trying to teach how to schedule meetings and one of my students kept saying “I have a slut available around 1pm.”

The best is when their English is good enough so I can actually explain what they’re saying, then they get a laugh out of it too. While those kind of mistakes are fun, I do remember that these people can speak English far far better than I can speak Japanese, and that I can make my own pronunciation mistakes as well. For example, last week I was trying to say “you are good looking” in Japanese, but instead I ended up saying “you got a nice pussy.”

So yeah, mistakes happen.

Speaking of mistakes, I wrote about Seven Mary Three and Paw last week.

Björk
Bachelorette (RZA Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Blue” Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Zip” Remix)
Bachelorette (Mark Bell “Optimism” Remix)
My Snare
I got these mixes from a CD-single/VHS tape box set that I bought for about three bucks. That means that since I arrived in Tokyo I’ve bought CDs, LPs, VHS tapes and even a pair of cassette tapes. I know it’s just a matter of time before I go full dumbass and buy a freaking laserdisc or betamax tape. Sigh. Someone stop me before it’s too late.

Madonna
Bye Bye Baby (N.Y. Hip Hop Mix)
Bye Bye Baby (Madonna’s Night On The Club)
Bye Bye Baby (Tallahasee Pop)
Bye Bye Baby (Rick Does Madonna’s Dub)
I own over 60 Madonna singles now. Japan’s been a great place to find some of her lesser work, like this forgotten single from the Erotica album. I really love the effects they put on Madonna’s vocals for this tune. She sounds like she’s singing through a tin can, but in a cool way. I enjoy the club mix the most, although all the dance beats and effects layered onto it really make the vocals sound out of place.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Firecracker (Main Mix)
Firecracker (Beats Mix)
Technopolis (The Readymade Darlin’ Of Discotheque Track Dub Version)
Okay, real talk. These remixes aren’t that great. But I was really committed to this “three continents of remixes in one post” idea that it got the better of me. Sorry.

Kinky Go
Gimme The Love (Vocal Version)
Gimme The Love (Instrumental)
Gimme The Love (Radio Version)
Special italo disco request for the Pope. Well, a dude named Pope. Not the pope. At least not yet.

Posted in B-sides, Bjork, Kinky Go, Madonna, remixes, YMO | 2 Comments »

Yen Memorial Album

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

yen

I’ve written about Yen Records before, but in case you’re just joining us for the first time – Yen Records was a sub-label of Alfa Records, launched in the early-80s by Japanese electronic superstars Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO).

The label pretty much became a clearinghouse for YMO to release music by their friends and colleagues. YMO members Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono often performed on many Yen releases, as did Ryuichi Sakamoto, albiet to a lesser extent.

In 1984, Yen Records founder Kunihiko Murai passed away, and this record is a tribute to him – featuring many exclusive tracks and remixes by a wide variety of Yen artists. It’s a great record, and an excellent summary of the Yen label. I hope you like it.

Yen Artists
God Be With Us Till We Meet Again
Platonic Stochastic
I don’t know who the “Yen Artists” are, but if the rest of this album’s tracklisting is any indication, I suspect that these tracks include all three members of YMO, Tachibana, Koji Ueno and Jun Togawa, among others. The first track is, I think, an adaptation of an old hymn, and it was written by Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono. The second is a very unusual, almost musique conrete, composition that was written by Ueno.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Rydeen (Remix Version)
I own 27 different versions of “Rydeen,” so I’m fairly confident in saying that this remixed version is exclusive to this album. It’s not all that different than the original cut, it actually comes off more like a single edit with some really random sound effects thrown in, but goddamn if it isn’t a great piece of synthpop.

Hajime Tachibana
Rock (New Recording)
Previous Tachibana I unearthed featured him sounding like Art Of Noise. This has him sounding like Art of Noise meets 80s-electro era Herbie Hancock. Robot vocals! Sweet keyboard riffs! Sequencers! Loving every minute of this.

I bet Daft Punk have this track on vinyl.

Sandii & The Sunsetz
Sticky Music (Remix French Version)
I posted some Sandii stuff a few months back. I’ll probably be deleting those links in a day or so. So if you’re interested in them, check that post out.

Sandii is fucking great though and I love her. So expect more Sandii on Lost Turntable in the near future.

Guernica
Maronie Dokuhon (Remix Version)
Guernica is Kenji Ueno and Jun Togawa. Seperately they released classical piano music, synthpop, prog rock and damn near everyting in between. Combined they sound like some bizarre fusion of opera, cabaret and YMO backing tracks. Like Klaus Nomi? You’ll probably like this.

Miharu Koshi
Petit Paradis (English Version)
One of the many idol-type singers who Haruomi collaborated with during the Yen years. I don’t know how popular she was during her peak, but she’s continued to be incredibly prolific, sometimes going through periods of releasing albums on a near annual basis. This is a cute song, very typical of the kind of stuff that Hosono was releasing with other artists at the time.

Inoyama Land
Pokala (Remix Version)
Inoyama Land were a duo comprised of Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita. In 1983 they put out their first album, Danzindan-Pojidon, on Yen Records. It’s a pretty great collection of ambient electronica, and if you dig Tangerine Dream, Diskjokke or The Orb, I think you might like it. It’s never been released on CD outside of the super-pricey Yen Box though, so it’s probably a bit hard to find. I’ll probably put it up here someday.

The group also has two other releases, both coming out years later in the late 90s. I think at least one is a compilation of unreleased material. Outside of Inoyama Land both Yamashita and Inoue were members of a group called Hikashu, one of the only Japanese synth-pop acts from the era who don’t seem to have any YMO connections.

Keiichi Ohta
Seean No Kodomoichiba (Remix Version)
This man only released one album, the utterly strange collaborative effort with no English title that is based on an obscure Japanese novel. This track is a remix of a song from that album, and features operatic vocals by Makito Hayashi, who never released anything on her own. The track was written by Keiichi, but was produced by Hosono and Takahashi, and features keys by Koji Ueno, practically making this a YMO track.

Koji Ueno
Adagietto (Remix Version)
Ueno is on so many tracks on this record that it’s nearly an Ueno LP. All this Ueno has left me wanting to know more about him, so I went digging on Discogs. Apparently this man is (or at least was) a goto studio player in Japan, and has appeared on dozens of albums, including many from YMO members and associates. From what I can gather, he’s an accomplished pianist, violinist and bass player – but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an accomplished marimba, saxophone and flutist as well. Dude seems like the type.

This is a very mellow piece, unlike just about anything else on the album – classical almost. Very relaxing.

Yukihiro Takahashi
It’s Gonna Work Out (Remix Version)
This is a remixed version of a track that appears in its original version on Takahashi’s 1982 album What, Me Worry? Like pretty much all things Takahashi-related from the 80s, it’s pure gold. The more of Takahashi’s solo stuff I hear, the more I think he was the most talented pop musician in YMO. Sure Hosono and Sakamoto may be more technically gifted and diverse than Takahashi, but I’ve never heard pop music by either that’s as good as some of the stuff on Takahashi’s solo records. The man is incredible.

Super Eccentric Theater
Beat The Rap (Remix Version)
Super Eccentric Theater (Or S.E.T.) was a comedy troupe that was on Yen Records. I think I can hear Yukihiro on this track in the chorus.

This is their send-up of rap music.

It’s not funny.

Testpattern
Modern Living (Remix Version)
Testpattern released one album, 1982’s Apres-Midi, which I snagged a while back. I love it, even if they do sound a bit like YMO also-rans with a more mellow, easy-listening sound. This is a remixed version of a track from that album, and it’s better than the album version thanks to some nice added synths.

Jun Togawa
Do Not Renai (New Recording)
The singer of Guernica strikes again, this time with a nice synthpop ballad. This sounds like early Kate Bush. So those with a low tolerance for squeaky vocals may want to proceed with caution.

Interior
Hawks (Remix Version)
Interior put out a couple of records in the early 80s. I have one, and to be honest it’s nothing to write home about. Their instrumental tracks were okay, but whenever they tried to add vocals to the mix they just sounded bland and boring. This is an okay song, but nothing really memorable either.

Tamao Koeike
Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu (Remix Version)
The name may read Tamao Koeike in the LINER notes, but this is a YMO track. They wrote it, and they perform all the instrumentation on it. Koeike is just the singer. And she apparently didn’t really impress anyone at Yen Records, as the single for this track was the only thing she ever released. A shame, as it’s not a bad tune and she has a nice voice.

Haruomi Hosono
Yunemiru Yakusoko (Original Version)
Typical Hosono stuff from the 80s – meaning that it’s really damn good.

Posted in Complete Albums, Guernica, Hajime Tachibana, Haruomi Hosono, Inoyama Land, Interior, Jun Togawa, Keiichi Ohta, Koji Ueno, Miharu Koshi, Sandii, Supper Eccentric Theater, Tamao Koeike, Testpattern, YMO, Yukihiro Takahashi | 5 Comments »

坂本龍一 リミックス

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

In complete and total shit news, Ryuichi Sakamoto has been diagnosed with throat cancer.

As you probably know, Sakamoto is one of my favorite composers/performers/songwriters/people alive. As the keyboardist of Yellow Magic Orchestra, he is responsible for some of the greatest synthpop of all time, and as a solo composer he created some of the most hauntingly beautiful music I’ve ever heard, including the Oscar-winning score for The Last Emperor.

Here’s hoping that devil cancer was caught early enough so that the treatment is effective in slaying the fucker and getting Sakamoto back to full health as soon as possible.

Here’s some rare Sakamoto I’ve never posted before.

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Behind The Mask
Risky (Untitled Remix)
Risky (Remix)
Risky (Ultimix Edit)
This version of “Behind The Mask” is drastically different than the original version by YMO, featuring an entirely new arrangement and vocals written by Michael Jackson. How the hell did that happen? Well, I wrote about it a while ago for my other blog Mostly-Retro, so head over there and check it out for the full story!

As for “Risky,” the original version of that track first appeared on Sakamoto’s album Neo Geo, which I think was the closest he ever go to mainstream solo success in the states (which is to say not that close). The track was a superstar collaboration of sorts, featuring music co-written by producer/songwriter/bass player extraordinaire Bill Laswell (of Material fame) and lyrics/vocals by the legendary Iggy Pop. At least, I think that’s him.

Okay, well I know it’s him on the latter two mixes, but on that untitled remix, which is taken from the “Behind The Mask” single, it really doesn’t sound like Iggy Pop. However, there is no vocalist credited in the linear notes, so I have no idea as to who it might be. Anyone out there know?

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Behind The Mask (SEIKO Quartz CM Version)
This is the original version of “Behind The Mask,” recorded for the a watch commercial. This makes “Behind The Mask” the most successful commercial jingle of all time I think. Yes, even more than “Convoy.”

Posted in remixes, Ryuichi Sakamoto, YMO | 4 Comments »

We’re YMO, We Come From Tokyo

Tuesday, July 1st, 2014

Okay, so I said I was going to do it and here I am. Five posts a week, every week, for the entire month. I hope this can get me back into the habit of writing on a regular basis. I tend not to write when I’m busy, but I noticed that when I don’t write, I often find myself getting depressed easier. Of course, when one gets depressed it becomes harder to write. So here’s hoping I can break that stupid cycle once and for all and get back into the thick of things, some seven months after my arrival in Japan.

So here we go, and I’m starting with a doozy.

002

Yellow Magic Orchestra – YMO World Your 1980 (Complete Album Download)

There are many YMO live albums. Of those, some seem like proper, well thought-out releases (Complete Service, Public Pressure) while others seem more like crash grabs released by a label desperate to milk a fanbase for more money (Live At Budokan 1980).

That is thankfully not the case with World Tour 1980, a 3LP/2CD live set that was first released in 1996. Unlike many of the other YMO live releases, World Tour 1980 takes the chance to showcase never-before-released live versions of many YMO tracks, as well as several YMO-related tracks that were previously only available on various solo albums by the band members.

For example, this album features live band versions of Sakamoto’s “Riot in Lagos,” as well as Takahashi’s “The Core Of Eden,” which was first released on his incredible 1980 album Murdered By The Music. It even features tracks that were originally released by YMO-collaborators, such as Kenji Omura’s “Maps” and the song “Kang Tong Boy,” which was originally recorded by Sakamoto’s then wife Akiko Yano. The album also includes one bonus studio track, “Jiseiki Hirake Kokoro,” which was never released on a proper YMO album (although it’s appeared on a few compilations).

I have a lot of YMO (okay, I have all the YMO) and World Tour 1980 is one of my favorites. Not only is it a stelllar live LP, but it’s a great sampling of some of their best works. If you love YMO you’ll obviously love this album, but if you don’t know much about the group, consider this to be a great sampler into their imp
ressive catalog of work.

Posted in Complete Albums, YMO | No Comments »

My irresponsible spending, your gain.

Thursday, February 6th, 2014

Japanese synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra were a pretty big deal in Japan throughout much of the 80s. They were such a big deal that they were able to form their own vanity label called Yen records in the early 80s, one they kept going well into the 90s (I actually talk about Yen a bit on the episode of Retronauts that I guested on last year, if you’re interested).

Many of the best albums that Yen put out remain out of print, making them sought after collectibles on both sides of the Pacific. Of those, none are more in demand than the Yen Boxes, two massive CD box sets that collected many of the rarest and hardest-to-find albums in the Yen catalog, as well as several tracks that were never released commercially at all. When one shows up in a used record store, it can go for insane prices.

I would know. I bought one last week.

Sigh, okay…I’m not going to tell you all how much I paid for it. Let’s just say I paid a lot, okay?

Look, don’t you fucking judge me.

Besides, if I hand’t have bought it, then you wouldn’t get a chance to hear these awesome and awesomely-rare Japanese synthpop cuts tonight, now would you?

Hajime Tachibana
Theme From Barricade (Another Version)
Replicant J.B. (Remix Edit Version)
Hajime Tachibana was the guitarist for a Japanese new wave act called The Plastics. They only put out three records during their short lifespan in the late-70s/early-80s, but they were pretty interesting. I might do something on them some other time. Right now though I want to focus on Tachibana though, because this motherfucker is goddamn crazy.

Even before The Plastics broke up, Tachibana was branching out. In 1980 he guested on YMO vocalist Yukihiro Takahashi’s excellent 1980 album Murdered By The Music, playing guitar on one track. I assume its from there that he got in with the YMO crew, who signed him to Yen Records in 1982 for the release of his first album, H.

H…is a jazz record. I mean, yeah, it’s a jazz record with some interesting electronic elements and some experimental diversions here and there, but from what I can tell it’s a jazz record. And as I don’t like jazz, I’m not a fan.

The following year Tachibana followed up H with Hm, which largely abandons jazz for insane avant-garde minimalist experimentalism ala Philip Glass. It’s CRAZY, but damn if it isn’t some complicated listening. This is not one I take with me for my morning commute.

The year after that Tachibana returned with yet another solo record, the amazingly titled Mr. Techie and Miss Kipple.

THIS. SHIT. IS. DOPE.

My guess is that sometime in 1983 someone gave Tachibana an Art of Noise album, because that’s exactly what this LP sounds like. It’s crazy. It’s insane. It’s awesome.

The Art of Noise’s largely instrumental new wave/post-punk/ambient/industrial sound was very rarely imitated during the 80s, so to hear anyone give it a go  shocks the hell out of me. And to hear anyone do it as great as Tachibana pulled it off is blowing my fucking mind. This is literally all I’m listening to right now. It’s kicking my ass in so many ways. This is my new shit.

These remixes are taken from the “Male” bonus disc of the Yen Box. I’ll be posting more of his stuff in the future though, don’t worry.

Sandii
Idol Era
Drip Dry Eyes
Alive
Sandii is a Japanese/American singer who released a couple of albums in the 70s to little fanfare in both the states and Japan. But apparently YMO were fans, as they recruited her for the Yen label in the early 80s. Her 1980 record Eating Pleasure is pretty much a YMO record. She sings on it, but more than half the songs were written by either Hosono or Takahashi from YMO, and almost all of the lyrics were written by YMO’s English songwriter Chris Mosdell. And all three members of YMO, including Sakamoto, play on every song on the album. She even covers Takahashi’s hit “Drip Dry Eyes.” Great shit. Once again, I’ll be posting more of her stuff in the future.

I only have two of her albums, but they’re both fucking fantastic and I desperately want more. Goddamn, Japan is going to be expensive.

 

Posted in Hajime Tachibana, Sandii, YMO | 4 Comments »

I’m more like an A380

Saturday, January 8th, 2011

When I proclaimed that “The Time (Dirty Bit)” was the worst song of the millennium behind “My Humps” I had not yet heard “Like A G6” by The Far East Movement. So she wants to be like a private jet that drinks purple drank? Yikes. Sometimes I just wanna give up on pop culture and move to Yemen or something.

Yellow Magic Orchestra
 Limbo
S.E.T. 1
The Madmen
S.E.T. 2
Chinese Whispers
S.E.T. 3
You’ve Got To Help Yourself
S.E.T. + YMO
Shadows on the Ground
S.E.T. 4
See-Through
S.E.T. 5
Perspective
S.E.T. 6
Just like I promised, here’s some more from Ryuichi Sakamoto! All these tracks are from Service, which is the only Japanese Yellow Magic Orchestra album I own. Not surprisingly, it’s also the weirdest. While the Americanized versions of their albums are just all music, most of their Japanese albums also included comedy bits by the Super Eccentric Theater (or S.E.T.). YMO performed most of their songs in English, the bits by S.E.T. are strictly in Japanese. So, unless you speak Japanese, they’re pretty much pointless to listen to. As far as the actual music goes…well, it’s okay. Its a very good 80s synthpop album, but their earlier albums are much better and far more experimental. This was the last YMO album proper, and the group didn’t record together again until a decade later.

Posted in Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yellow Magic Orchestra, YMO | 2 Comments »

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