RFI: Yellow Magic Orchestra

Somebody really needs to write me a good, thorough examination on YMO and the Japanese New Wave (400 pages at least). I like the process of rooting around and finding out little bits and pieces of information but I need some cultural CONTEXT dammit!

I'm thinking that Nick Kent (the guy who runs technopop.info) could probably do something like that. YMO are interesting enough to warrant their own book but Japan is such a small country that all that stuff really ran into each other at some point. Like there's 3 degrees of seperation between pretty much every one of those bands. Most of it is probably through Harry Hosono, who seemingly appeared on everything that came out of Japan from 1976 to 1990 or so.

Too true, Hosono is a walking infographic.

a book like that would leapfrogbs to the very top of my reading list, for real

it's weird how popular ymo seem to be when reading about them, but every time i've asked a native japanese if they've heard of them, they haven't. maybe it's a generational thing?

I've experienced this a couple of times with some Japanese aged under thirty or so, although they seem to know Sakamoto for some reason.

What's interesting is that if they are aware of YMO they're often interested that a westerner would be bothered listening to 'old' Japanese music, or even Japanese music period.

yeah it seems like japanese don't have the same retromania that americans do, but i have no idea really

Somebody really needs to write me a good, thorough examination on YMO and the Japanese New Wave (400 pages at least). I like the process of rooting around and finding out little bits and pieces of information but I need some cultural CONTEXT dammit!

― Late night with Amazing Bo (MaresNest), Monday, April 1, 2013 5:42 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've not felt the urge to write about music much over the last few years, but I *really really* want to write a longform piece on Jun Togawa. Never going to happen without a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese, though.

If you want to blow the mind of a 40+ Japanese person, tell 'em you love Ippu-Do or Guernica.

I know a lot of big music nerds who have no idea who Kraftwerk are, for instance...some people just don't really care about anything older than they are

You know, I heard an phone interview on Resonance last week with Akiko Yano (interspersed with some of her music), it was a show called Clear Spot. Maybe you could speak directly to Jun herself? If she speaks Eigo of course.

emily - have you read this?
http://www.groundzeromongkok.com/2010/12/memory-and-gender-in-music-of-jun.html

oops, XP

Frogs, yeah, it's a good piece (and I love the toilet ad it links to), but I want more! I guess really I want something book-length, with a really good biographical content as well as analysis.

basically, a book version of this would be the most amazing thing:
http://park10.wakwak.com/~techno/jgenealogy.html

and yeah, togawa is really fascinating. would read all of these imaginary books.

Wow - I need to hear that Akiko Yano Resonance show.

CJV - I imagine it'll turn up in the Resonance 104 Soundcloud page if you check there in the next few days.

found it!
http://www.mixcloud.com/alberto-umbridge/akiko-yano-broadcast-on-resonancefm-25th-march2013/

Japan is such a small country

It is?

Not in terms of population, but in size - like in the US, in the 70's you had the Detroit scene, and the New York scene, and the Nashville scene, and the Chicago sound...in Japan it kinda feels like everybody knew each other and played on each others' records.

Of course theres no book about any of this so I'm just guessing here. Didn't Takahashi and Hosono produce or otherwise appear on all the YEN records stuff, which made up a large portion of Japan's new wave scene?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8sc3sC5F91qz9lsso1_500.jpg
(sakamoto being cool)

http://chinmai.net/~ichiyanagi/img/060403/ymo.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YjYEJ9WHt4

awesome!

(cuts off halfway through, but you get the idea)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkPeDQKRpEk

The syndrum break in that BBC version is proper!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GncUycY9N34&list=PL2D3C508F366E5AD3&index=3

Confession, I have gone since about 1998 thinking that the record is called 'X∞Multiples' but it's *not* it is 'X∞Multiplies' what the fuck? I have a tour poster and everything, I feel so stupid.

For your ignorance you must relinquish your tour poster to me!

i thought it was "multiples" too until recently

I have owned two copies of this album for about a decade and also thought it was 'X∞Multiples' until 5 minutes ago so you are not alone

xp

Thankful, seriously!

It's like finding out that Dark Side Of The Moon is actually called Dark Slide Of The Moon or something.

Brimstead, I just had a look on Ebay because some guy was selling the same poster there for quite a while and they weren't expensive, but not at the minute unfortunately.

one joy of "multiplies" is that i can (mostly) understand the japanese sketches and they're fucking hilarious

It's their Neu2

holy shit, also thought this was "X∞Multiples"!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00rHV1ZGrlw

this should be on all the radios all the time

I wonder if the cover art sort of leads the mind, in this case?

The Neu! 2 comparison is sort of spot on - it's somewhere between a full-length and an EP, and it occupies a very strange space in my record collection. There isn't quite anything else like it. I still find all the sketches hilarious in their absurdity.

speaking of the xp'd vid has anyone heard zaine griff's music? figures has pretty great cover art (by peter saville):

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-1634587-1233568008.jpeg

kate bush, yuki takahashi and hans zimmer (meh) are listed as personnel. it must've been crazy hyped at the time, right?

oops image didn't link

http://img.sharedmp3.net/files/pics/8130/8129058/img_1_pr.jpg

I subscribe to this Facebook group called YMO Stream, it is mainly Japanese dudes in their late Forties posting up loads of ephemera, tour pics, programs, tickets, pics of Tape bootlegs, it's fantastic.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2nh24o1.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/10ht5dv.jpg

that is amazing

whenever i hear the skits on that record i think of the skits on "the chronic."

also, I need to join that FB group. i can never get enough YMO.

"would you care for a cigarette"
"oh no thank you, i've stopped smoking"
"ah, that's good for your health"