Yup. It’s music.
Yellow Magic Orchestra – X∞Multiplies
Nice Age
Behind The Mask
Rydeen
Day Tripper
Technopolis
Multiples
Citizens Of Science
Solid State Survivor
Talk about a band that’s criminally underheard (in America anyways). Yellow Magic Orchestra is one of the synth-pop bands. As far as I’m concerned they’re one of the first bands to perfect the electronic-pop sound, nearly beating Kraftwerk to the punch. So why haven’t you heard of them? Well, most likely it’s because they’re from Japan, and us American assholes just don’t seem to dig on Asian pop musicians, no matter how amazing they are. NONE of YMO’s discography is currently in print in America, although the import price for their first two albums aren’t that bad at Amazon at the moment. In the age of MP3s and digital music stores this is really inexcusable. Hey, whoever owns the rights to YMO’s music, if you make it available to purchase I’ll buy it. You’re making it hard for me to give you money.
The history to this album is a bit confusing but also appropriate, considering that there are multiple versions of it. The Japanese version came first, and that featured a collection of new tracks as well as some sketch comedy bits. The American and European versions cut out all the comedy bits and instead treated the album as a compilation, taking the best bits from the band’s first two albums and throwing them in with the tracks that were already there. The tracks listed here tonight are from my copy, which is the American version.
And that version of “Day Tripper” is something else.
Thanx a lot! My (European) copy of this album has been damaged some lightyears ago by my girlfriend at that time. When I told her "buy a new copy of this LP or f*ck off" she thought I was joking. I was not!
Great stuff! There are actually several different versions of the album. The original was an 8-track release on 10" vinyl, which featured four songs broken up by "Snakeman Show" comedy clips.
Japanese comedy not being in hot demand in the rest of the world, it was released in the 8-track form you have provided on standard 12" vinyl outside Japan. This same version was released in Japan three months after the original release.
There are at lease two other versions of the album, including the "Snakeman Show" version fleshed out to 12 tracks.
I would also recommend the remix album 'Hi-Tech/No Crime' which features three of the tracks here remixed by early 90's luminaries as Altern-8, Orbital, and 808 State.
Eclectro,South England.
At last i get to hear something other than 'Technopolis'. If i'd never had taken a risk & bought the 12" of 'Technopolis' at a boot sale in the early 90's(just on the 'Space Invaders' cover alone!),i mite never have heard them(they weren't promoted 2 much in England either!).
I wish now i'd also had bought the yellow vinyl 12" of 'Technopolis' i saw in a charity shop at the same time!
To the bloke in the last comment who said buy me a new record or @uck off-good 2 see other people have their priorities right! I'd had done the same!
Yeah Anonymous, you've got your priorities right! A quote from a song I first heard by (Swedish) The Nomads comes to mind: " You came and took my stereo away, you came and took my heart" etc. (The Way You Touch My Hand)
Wv: illyzat (that must mean something, somewhere…?)
Hey, this sound makes my heart pumping! YMO was my first encounter to electronic music, even earlier then DM (and we listened to them ever since "Hey you're such a pretty boy – P-R-E-TT-Y") or Kraftwerk – o.k. my dad always played Autobahn on the recordplayer -! The comedy on X°° multiplies was rereleased in europe as "The Snakman-Show" but I think noone has ever bought the record…
Stupid! It's really fun we always recall the conversation to Mr. Ohira 🙂 "Japans are crazy"-"Do you understand Mr. Ohira?" "ho, ho, – NO!" "Japans are crazy- small leged yellow monkeys!" "Do you understand Mr. Ohira?" "ho, ho, – NO!"
Think we never again laughed that much about a really good record!
And that's some thirty years ago…
Ya, don't forget to talk about Youkihro Takahashi, he had an own sideproject and he made some fantastic records (O.K. he featured Sakamoto and Hosono – and YMO just got another name :-))
Love to read your blog!
Not to forget either!
Sakamoto composed the openingceremony of the '82 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The Song is called "El mar medeterrani"
brilliant
i lived in japan when YMO were really making it big (early 80's), and count myself lucky to have been so fully acquainted with them. have continued to follow sakamoto over the years, though he's taken a real hard turn through classical and jazz.
i played YMO for my sister, and she thought they sounded like cartoon music. no appreciation.
Heard of them but never actually heard them before. A Japanese Kraftwerk meets Devo…works for me! Always appreciate your '80
s stuff, thanks.