Archive for July, 2020

Obscure synthesizers and amazing suits

Tuesday, July 21st, 2020

Graziano Mandozzi – Bach Handel 300 (complete album)
Sometimes I want to write about something even though I’m woefully lacking in the knowledge to do so. Here’s one of those times. Apologies for omissions or errors. Correct me (politely) in the comments!

Bach Handel 300 is a collection of synthesizer covers of compositions by (duh) Bach and Handel. It was originally released on by the influential and prestigious Deutsche Grammophone record label in 1985. Now, if you’re like me and you obsess over synthesizer covers of classical compositions, that date probably surprises you. Most classical synth albums came out in the first half of the 70s, all of them riding the coat tails of Wendy Carlos’ legendary Switched On Bach album. By the mid-80s, the novelty of the format had long worn off. Even in Japan, where synth covers albums seemed to be much more popular, I don’t see many from after 1978.

But this one probably had a very specific reason for existing; I think it was serving a commercial for the synthesizers used on the album. This album doesn’t feature Moogs, nor Korgs, nor any early digital synthesizers like the Fairlight or Synclavier. This album was made entirely on PPG Wave synthesizers. PPG was a German company. Deutsche Grammophone was a German label (duh) so, yeah, the synergy makes sense.

Never heard of the PPG synthesizer? Me neither! But apparently they were used a bit by synthpop acts of the era, if the Wikipedia page is to be believed. I’m not very good at picking up individual synths in songs aside from old-school moogs and the Synclavier, so I couldn’t tell you which songs have good examples of the PPG Wave, but I know they’re out there.

The PPG Wave was a different style of synthesizer. While the synths of the 80s were almost exclusively pure analog, and the synths of the 80s were digital affairs, the PGG Wave series were something in-between, analog/digital hybrids that provided a wide range of sounds with superior audio quality. They were apparently groundbreaking in a few different ways, but again, this is not my element so I’m not going to speak too much about it. But I will definitely say that the PPG has a unique sound that reminds me of analog synths of the 70s, with the variety and range of the 80s digital stuff. You get your warped, ghostly analog sounds alongside your crystal clear, bright, 80s notes. It also has a grit to it that was probably to its detriment at the time, but gives it a unique quality now that makes it stand apart from the cleaner all-digital synths of the era. I have another classical synthesizer album from the same year called Bachbusters. It’s on all digital synthesizers. It’s boring as hell. This one has way more personality.

But it never did reach the popularity of those other synths, sadly. This album came out in 1985, and PPG went belly-up just two years later. A lot of PPG systems still seem to be out there though, so if you dig the sound on this album head over to YouTube and you’ll find more examples of the sounds it can create.

I just realize that I’ve spent over 500 words going over the synthesizers used on this album but I haven’t even mentioned the man playing them! The man with a fantastic mustache and wonderful suit, exuding the confidence that only a man surrounded by thousands of dollars of digital equipment can.

That would be one Graziano Mandozzi, credited on the album as simply “Mandozzi” like he’s synth Prince or something. Ballsy move. I respect it. A Swiss composer, Mandozzi has a short, but insanely interesting discography that I hope to dig into more. He has an album called Masada that was recently released on vinyl and digitally via Bandcamp that is just insane. It’s some funk/jazz/experimental/psych rock monstrosity that was apparently the soundtrack to a ballet?! How anyone danced to it is beyond me. It’s rad as hell though. If you download this and like it, do the right thing and go buy that album to show support. Digital copies are cheap, and the vinyl comes with a download code.

I feel like I end all my posts recently in the same way, but I hope you all are doing well out there. Things are really scary right now, especially in the states. If you can, stay home, listen to stupid records like this and get drunk. That’s what I’ve been doing and it usually works for me.

Posted in Complete Albums, Mandozzi | 2 Comments »

Yumi Yato Yay!

Sunday, July 12th, 2020

Yumi Yato
Makin’ It
Eat You Up
Follow Me
Cupid Girl
Cupid Girl (Rollercoaster Version)

Yumi Yato is one of those artists that I stumble upon, get really into, and then hit a brick wall when it comes to finding out damn near anything about them. I feel that it’s safe to assume that she wasn’t all that popular, but developed a cult following years later. I parsed this out by seeing that she has an extensive Japanese wikipedia page, and many audio rips on YouTube, but no normal person in Japan that I’ve talked to has any idea who the hell she is, and original copies of her sole album and few singles go for a fortune on Discogs.

That, and my boyfriend has never heard of her, and he knows his 80 idols.

I assume her albums go for a bit online because nothing of hers was in-print or available on CD until last year, when a 2CD set comprised of her album and all her single tracks was released here in Japan. That’s how I found her, picking up the CD on the strong recommendation of the guy at Mecano, the synthpop music store in Nakano Broadway.

He knew I loved synth and sampler-heavy 80s pop and figured I would dig this. He figured right. Because while her album is good, not great, but very good 80s Japanese pop music, the bonus single tracks are fucking fire. They have all the synths. Give me all the synths. I need more synths. It’s the only way I can feel anything anymore.

The album proper came out first, the bonus tracks are from singles that came out later. They have an energy and an inventiveness that the album itself lacks. And the songs are just better. They’re catchier with better hooks and stronger melodies. “Makin’ It” is a killer track. It sounds like a theme song to a lost 80s sitcom about “makin’ it” in the big city. Or maybe it could have been used as a track to a raunchy teen sex comedy about “makin’ it” in a much more carnal fashion. “Follow Me” follows (hah) in the footsteps of “Makin’ It,” and is just as frantic and frenetic as that tune. The tempo never stops and it never gives you a chance to rest. It’s hard to listen to either track while sitting down. I’m tapping my feet so hard that my downstairs neighbors are liable to kill me. Or maybe I’m just drunk and have too much energy from being pent up in the house all day/week/month/year WHO KNOWS?!?!

“Eat Me Up” is a bit slower, but also a bit more emotional and powerful. Of the tracks I’m sharing tonight, Yano’s vocals are the strongest here. If this isn’t a touch song it’s definitely a “I need that ass” song. Good synth/sequencer/samplers here. Sounds like Erasure.

It’s actually hard to compare these tracks to Western pop music of the era. These singles all came out in 1985 or 1986. I’ve recently been writing a lot about music from that same time. Very little of it sounds like this. In mid-80s America, we were down with Dire Straits, Duran Duran and Mr. Mister. The biggest synthpop song of the year was “Take On Me,” and let’s be real that was because of the video. We just weren’t the audience for stuff like this. We were still giving hit records to John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. We couldn’t take “Follow Me” and its layers upon layers upon layers of every computer, keyboard, and drum pad imaginable. England was giving The Art Of Noise hits in the 80s, maybe they would’ve been receptive to this stuff more.

Of these tracks, the only one that sounds like it could’ve been in a hit in America to me is “Cupid Girl.” It’s a little slower and a little more restrained. The synth keyboards are scaled back just a touch and it’s mostly just percussion and bass, a bit like a slower Madonna tune. And the melody has a melancholy feel that gives the song a slightly somber feel that’s definitely lacking on the other, hyper-energetic tracks. Of course, I have no idea how well if fared in Japan. Maybe it was her biggest hit! It’s a solid tune, but I prefer the “Rollercoaster Version” it takes the song and beats the fucking shit out of it. Sampled elements are chopped up and repeated, breakdowns are extended, some fucking record scratches thrown in for no damn reason. It’s crazy. It makes no sense. I love it.

Strangely enough, Yoshihiro Kunimoto, who brought us the game music remixes of my last post, worked on all of these tracks as well. I did not plan that. I swear. Cosmic synthpop powers are at work to make this coincidence happen. It makes sense though, his synth work on those tracks was top-notch, he would’ve had to have been an in-demand session guy at the time.

Also, he’s not the only game music connection on these tracks! All of Yumi’s songs were produced by Kyoji Kato, who went onto produce a lot of Yuzo Koshiro’s work, including the Streets Of Rage soundtracks!

Small world.

Or, more accurately, Japan is a small country with a small music industry.

Posted in Yumi Yato | 4 Comments »

Re-arranged Tecmo Tunes

Wednesday, July 1st, 2020

Yoshihiro Kunimoto
Star Soldier (Arrange Version)
Championship Road Runner (Arrange Version)
Super Star Force (Arrange Version)
Mighty Bomb Jack (Arrange Version)
I stumbled into a riches of vintage game music this week, thanks to a soundtrack sale at HMV, walking away with two rare game music vinyl records.

The first was the single for the theme to Star Soldier, a 1986 schmup by Hudson. This version of the Star Soldier theme is different than the arrange version (Japanese game music English for “remix”) that appeared on the Hudson Game Music LP. The version from that LP was great, this version is RAD AS HELL. It’s so good, seriously it’s so good! It’s great! It’s like the theme music to V meets the theme music to Dallas meets the theme music to Knight Rider meets Tron. It’s bombastic and big, with massive power chords rocking those keyboards 80s style. The drums got that gated reverb to the nines, and whoever was playing them was smacking the everloving shit out of them. And the bassline (SYNTH BASS YES MORE SYNTH BASS) grooves and just keeps the whole thing moving until it builds to a fantastic crescendo that then fades away for that dope as all hell keyboard melody’s encore performance. THOSE DRUMS ARE SO GOOD.

The b-side is another arrange version, this one for Championship Road Runner. It’s very weird. Again, it’s still all synthesizers but the mood is 100% different. It starts out as a music box lullaby. Eventually more sounds are added to it, giving a robust and big sound, but still more low-key and relaxed and the theme to Star Soldier. It reminds me of the underwater music in a Mario stage, kind of ethereal or dreamy. It’s not as much of a HARDCORE BANGER as the Star Soldier music, but it’s a solid take nonetheless.

The other release I picked up was the Tecmo Game Music album, which also came out in 1986. Like the single, it was a GMO release. As I’ve mentioned before, GMO (Game Music Organization) was a sub-label of Alfa Records, set up by members of Yellow Magic Orchestra for the sole purpose of releasing game music albums. Almost all of their early album releases are compilations dedicated to single game companies. There’s Nintendo Game Music, Taito Game Music, Data East Game Music, and so on. Games didn’t get album-length soundtrack releases back then, I assume because no game had enough music to fill an entire LP. It wasn’t until Dragon Quest that we had proper video game soundtracks.

Like most of the GMO releases of the time, most of Tecmo Game Music focuses on straight rips of game audio. Sometimes they even had sound effects put over them, so it was more like you hearing someone actually playing the game than a proper recording of the game’s music. It’s honestly a little annoying.

But two tracks of Tecmo Game Music were arrange versions. The last track on side A is the remix of the music to Super Star Force, a strange-looking shooter that seems to be half Xevious and half The Legend of Zelda. It’s a space-themed game, but instead of going the over-the-top route of the Star Soldier arranged version, this one starts by playing up the “spacey” aspects of the music with more of a Close Encounters vibe. Very mysterious sounding. Then it picks up and goes full-on Giorgio Moroder in Electric Dreams. I dig it. Great keyboard melody.

Of the bunch, the Mighty Bomb Jack arranged version is the most video gamey. It’s very focused on the melody and sound effects from the game, and at times goes too minimal in my opinion, barely sounding like an arranged version at all. But the second half of the track picks things up with some great, light, upbeat synthesizer melodies and its saved. This sounds like the soundtrack to a children’s cartoon or something. It’s so damn happy. I needed that.

All of these remixes were by Yoshihiro Kunimoto, who was GMO’s in-house arranger for most of the mid-80s. I think he did the arrange versions on all their early releases. I wish it was possible for GMO (or whoever owns them now) to do a compilation of all his work, he was really good at this stuff. I assume legal rights to all of the music by all of the companies would make that an impossibility though.

Stay home and stay safe with arranged video game music everyone. And if you have to venture into the horrible, terrible, no-good world, for the love of dog wear a motherfucking mask.

Posted in Game Music, remixes | No Comments »