How do you guys rate Pacific?
― Wimmels, Sunday, 12 March 2017 17:30 (seven years ago) link
Hosono-produced stuff can go from shiny, glorious synth/sample based pop to fairly standard commercial production. As the '90s loomed the guys seemed to fall in love with cheesy "rave" sonics and lost much of their charm. I like the glitchy "clicks-n-cuts" approach of HASYMO and the Hosono/Takahashi collabs of the early '00s but - again - they seem to have gotten stuck in this sound, or at least Sakamoto has, for the last 10 years or so.
yea this is pretty much spot on. so weird hearing Hosono do straight techno stuff in the mid 90's, still kind of strange though. Medicine Compilation (not actually a compilation) has some great stuff on it. N.D.E. I never got into. Sakamoto fell into some bad habits in the early 90's too, trying to do overly commercial pop stuff that IMO just wasn't very good. not surprising that the YMO reunion album was kind of a dud. for what it's worth Takahashi had a bit of a career renaissance in the 90's; his late 80's period is where he really fell off, but from like '95 on he really seemed to find himself again. he has a song that's like a half-cover of Underworld's "Jumbo", it's incredible.
really wish Sketch Show would've gone beyond the two albums. I thought Loophole was really special.
― frogbs, Sunday, 12 March 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link
Pacific is bad smooth ez jazz "fusion" (speaking as someone who likes that kind of stuff) BUT the early version of "cosmic surfing" (the only electronic song on the album) is vital to the YMO story
― a but (brimstead), Sunday, 12 March 2017 19:51 (seven years ago) link
Love "Loophole". To me the last great YMO tune was this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPkiVRbJts
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 12 March 2017 20:10 (seven years ago) link
omg no pacific is the best kind of library jazz
― clouds, Sunday, 12 March 2017 20:51 (seven years ago) link
to each his own, it gets much too "sweet" for my tastes
― a but (brimstead), Sunday, 12 March 2017 20:56 (seven years ago) link
yeah, was hoping more for American Garage circa Metheny vibes but listening now, it's nowhere near as awesome as that. Not hating it though, it might perfectly slot into my life at a late date, but right now there's too much other stuff on this thread to binge on
― Wimmels, Sunday, 12 March 2017 22:53 (seven years ago) link
I'd highly recommend asami kado's la fleur bleue. takahashi produced that one & it's basically the optimal ver of his more sentimental style. great record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFIJtZjISWo
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Sunday, 12 March 2017 23:09 (seven years ago) link
he does backing vocals on this too right? definitely sounds like a number of YT tunes.
I'm guessing most of you have heard this, but if not - Akiko Yano's "Rose Garden" is on another planet. Up there with anything YMO themselves did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRSm1osRINo
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:14 (seven years ago) link
sure sounds like it but I've never been able to find a physical copy for a reasonable price :-/
tadaima is so great.
anyone familiar with her stuff from the 90s on? I caught her live a few years ago and it was she was def in jazzy singer songwriter mode. it was fun but I for sure gravitate towards her electronic records & I get the sense that's the style for much of her later material. but I'd be interested in some highlights if anyone knows this stuff.
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:31 (seven years ago) link
mega dated 90s fun with photoshop techno cover for go girl is making me want to start there:https://www.discogs.com/Akiko-Yano-Go-Girl/release/3731210
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:41 (seven years ago) link
These Miharu Koshi records may be of related interest too, if you didn't already know them.
there are some really cool music videos of her on youtube
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:45 (seven years ago) link
You may want to check out the yanokami records then - a collab between her and Rei Harakami. sadly Harakami passed on at a rather young age. Here's a cover of Sylvian/Sakamoto's "Bamboo Music", with Yoshinori Sunahara (ex-Denki Groove, now in METAFIVE) taking over Harakami's role:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WnjiGYxsRI
the other song I found from that performance is great too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG8OjWhFMlE
For the most part I don't know her 90's stuff too well - I think I've heard her 91 album Love Life and it was incredibly pretty, as is basically everything she's done. But if you're looking for more stuff like Tadiama that ain't it. Her latest (Welcome to Jupiter) is full of younger collaborators and seems very interesting, but I've only heard a couple tracks (which were great). In general she seems like the sort of artist who has a lot of great stuff but you have to know which albums are which since there are a lot of solo piano and covers discs in her catalogue.
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:49 (seven years ago) link
that reminds me, there is a sort-of guide here - not updated since 2005 thoughhttp://technopop.info/ay.html
Go Girl(@) 99.8.4 Epic cd: ESCB 2006This one has sort of high tech album art. While not at all old fashioned, its not the sort of techno collage music the cover looks like. It was recorded with American musicians and Jeff Bova (the Hammonds) co-produces about half the album with her (she the other half, he shows up on most tracks). Her son Futa Sakamoto sings backup on a track. Enjoyable, plenty of synths, though no, as I like to call them, synth thrills.
(@) 99.8.4 Epic cd: ESCB 2006
This one has sort of high tech album art. While not at all old fashioned, its not the sort of techno collage music the cover looks like. It was recorded with American musicians and Jeff Bova (the Hammonds) co-produces about half the album with her (she the other half, he shows up on most tracks). Her son Futa Sakamoto sings backup on a track. Enjoyable, plenty of synths, though no, as I like to call them, synth thrills.
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:51 (seven years ago) link
Why hasn't more Japanese music spread on digital paysites? I did see P-Model's Perspective and Another Game was released two years ago on mp3.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 16 March 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
I'd guess it's bc japan's record industry has been slow to adapt to streaming services in general. there was almost nothing on spotify a few years ago unless labels outside of japan put out the records (e.g. sakamoto). but I've been noticing that newer acts are frequently on there lately. noticed just about all of the suiyoubi no campanella catalog went up when their first major label record dropped, presumably bc they are being marketed towards a younger demographic? (catalog acts like ymo, yano, etc. are still largely absent.)
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Thursday, 16 March 2017 15:11 (seven years ago) link
and thank you for the yanokami rec! familiar w/yano & harakami (r.i.p.) but not this collaboration. cool!
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Thursday, 16 March 2017 15:14 (seven years ago) link
it's been strange to see things pop up on the US iTunes store that has no Western presence whatsoever - the new Denki Groove album just went up on there, I also found the latest by Yasuyuki Okamura (!!) and Ryukyudisko (!!!). strange because this is not stuff you'd normally find on file sharing services, or even what.cd when that was up. it's funny to search through all the usual channels and come up empty and then to be like...oh, it's on iTunes
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 March 2017 15:50 (seven years ago) link
The Denki Groove album is on amazon too.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 16 March 2017 16:13 (seven years ago) link
And for supreme Hosono production beauty you can't pass up Chiemi Manabe. It's criminal how much this album goes for on Discogs. This def. needs a quality vinyl reisssue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BcacNcpQ3c
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 16 March 2017 16:32 (seven years ago) link
Rei Harakami's own records are all pretty great too, particularly 'Lust'
I love 2004's Honto No Kimochi, a really great mixture of styles even getting close to some raucous Number Girl style guitar pop, also featuring Harakami on a couple of tracks.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 16 March 2017 16:37 (seven years ago) link
that sounds great. will check it out soon, thank you!
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Friday, 17 March 2017 05:03 (seven years ago) link
how is the new denki groove? they're all p good, so I imagine that it's at least p good
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Friday, 17 March 2017 05:12 (seven years ago) link
XP - Welcome, ping an mail to my profile address (not the webmail link) and I'll send it to you.
― MaresNest, Friday, 17 March 2017 12:29 (seven years ago) link
I'm saving it for a bit later :) but the samples I've heard have been good. the album title seems to give away the album's overall sound
I'm probably not the guy to ask though since I love pretty much everything they've done, so I'm just gonna say that yes, it's excellent.
― frogbs, Friday, 17 March 2017 13:51 (seven years ago) link
cool :)
and xp - appreciate that but I have a copy. gave it a cursory listen yesterday. 行かないで is beautiful. will need to spend some more time w/it.
also randomly tried out yano's elephant hotel, and wow, some really great songs on here. super eclectic; working in a large variety of styles & sounds. sounds like a lot of session players to me. very nice.
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Saturday, 18 March 2017 23:42 (seven years ago) link
here's something I happened across - a cover of Hosono's "Sports Men" by Kimonos, a duo featuring Leo Imai. covering Hosono's stuff is tough but I think they nailed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gi8futLRbM
― frogbs, Tuesday, 21 March 2017 13:55 (seven years ago) link
Sports Men is one of my favourite Hosono solo tracks and that's a really fantastic cover
― ufo, Tuesday, 21 March 2017 14:42 (seven years ago) link
just want to say that I totally love the two yanokami albums & thanks for the rec frogbs
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 03:12 (seven years ago) link
no problem - they're definitely very cool albums
by the way I've been really digging the new Denki Groove...it's longer and less refined than anything they've done since their comeback, with a number of extended tracks and a lot of great melodies (as usual). definitely going on my year end list.
― frogbs, Thursday, 25 May 2017 13:28 (seven years ago) link
Another great member of the YMO family is Masayoshi Takanaka:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv_YC56zq4c
He was the guitarist on YMO's first (and best, I think) album. The song above has Sakamoto on keys, and while discogs doesn't credit him for writing or arrangement, it's clear he co-wrote the song. Compare it to Tong Poo and Sakamoto's influence is unmistakable.
Here's another with Sakamoto on keys.
Here's a rare example of all four YMO members coming together on a non-YMO album. Even Matsutake is on this one:
Rajie - Giraffe Landscapes (1979) -- you can hear Tong Poo again, Behind the Mask, the elements are there. Unmistakably YMO.
― 3×5, Friday, 30 June 2017 14:54 (seven years ago) link
just snagged this during last night shopping spree
http://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/ijcAAOSwo3pWctwE/s-l200.jpghttp://www.ebay.com/itm/YELLOW-MAGIC-ORCHESTRA-YMO-YMO-USA-YELLOW-MAGIC-ORCHESTRA-2-VINYL-LP-NEW-/332158065189
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 30 June 2017 14:58 (seven years ago) link
Lucky you, that's the best YMO album. That pre-Jpop YMO is so embedded in every anime and NES soundtrack. Japanese to the core.
― 3×5, Friday, 30 June 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
YMO user's guide in Wire issue 404
― willem, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:18 (six years ago) link
Cool, I might keep an eye out for that.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:45 (six years ago) link
Me too, I bought an old Wire mag from Ebay with a really nice Hosono interview recently.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:58 (six years ago) link
I think I hit the motherlode today.
Kamiya - Mu (1980) The whole album is amazing.
Osamu Shoji - Night Flight (1979) Also amazing all the way through.
Himekami - 年 全辑 (1981) This album is great and the one after is pretty good too.
None of these are in the YMO family but the sound is exactly right for what I want. Hope you enjoy.
― 3×5, Thursday, 14 September 2017 21:59 (six years ago) link
wow @ the Kamiya one, I can't figure out which tune from the YMO s/t that's modeled after because it basically sounds like every one of them
the other ones sound a lot better to me, will definitely be checking both those out
― frogbs, Thursday, 14 September 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
Good to see this thread being revived again. I've been obsessively listening to Sakamoto's Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia this week. Such a wonderful album.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 14 September 2017 22:49 (six years ago) link
i started listening to a youtube playlist after the Kamiya song, and it eventually led to this, which i think is great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRza12FLW4
especially the part after the breakdown, around 2 minutes in. siiiiick1983, i think.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 14 September 2017 23:02 (six years ago) link
Right on, 3x5!
― brimstead, Friday, 15 September 2017 00:16 (six years ago) link
love Night Flight.
<3 been on a major YMO kick this year too. i want to hear "Simoon" on a constant loop for the rest of my life
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 15 September 2017 13:07 (six years ago) link
awesome will check those recs.
These days, my main YMO jam is Technodelic, which some seems more fun to me than BGM, and the songs are a little less obscured by the recording/technology. It's weird that a lot of people lump YMO into the "sounds like Kraftwerk" bucket, because they were really a different thing altogether. I almost want to look at them as a (fairly radical) extension of exotica composers like Les Baxter and Martin Denny, but using modern technology.
― Dominique, Friday, 15 September 2017 13:19 (six years ago) link
totally and the reclaiming of "Firecracker" is the gateway.
id also put The Ventures in that list.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 15 September 2017 13:48 (six years ago) link
posting here bc i think y'all will enjoy it + the production is v honoso i(y)mo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17OeCznSm5I
― clouds, Friday, 15 September 2017 13:55 (six years ago) link
xxp yea I think a comparison like that makes more sense if you consider them to be an offshoot of what Hosono was doing from 76-78, though they quickly evolved into their own thing. it's nuts that the self-titled and Technodelic were only three years apart.
I agree that Kraftwerk comparisons are mostly bogus, if only because these guys were actual musicians and the stuff they wrote was a lot more melodically complex than anything Kraftwerk could do. That said I don't really mind the label, it gets people interested
right now one of my favorite YMO things is this tune from Akiko Yano from when YMO was essentially her backing band. it's 8 minutes long and feels a bit like a showtune medley. there's an amazing electronic drum freakout about halfway through. I feel like this album is up there with anything YMO did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk8NScB_R7Q&t=2675s
― frogbs, Friday, 15 September 2017 13:57 (six years ago) link
there's such a richness/depth to their compositions, they obviously know a lot about classical and tin pan alley (ha) type stuff
― brimstead, Friday, 15 September 2017 14:48 (six years ago) link
xpost One of my absolute favorite albums. Pretty much perfect straight through. Was listening to this and Tadaima before bed last night.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 15 September 2017 15:02 (six years ago) link
Love the "choir" vocals (throughout both those albums) and tonal shifts in that tune.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 15 September 2017 15:04 (six years ago) link
I've somehow ignored YMO until recently (maybe because I confused them with ELO, who I also don't listen to?), but finally ended up here after going down a Youtube hole of Haruomi Hosono stuff, all of which is just insanely ahead of its time.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 15 September 2017 16:20 (six years ago) link