Yukihiro Takahashi: S & D

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P-UNIT

P-UNIT

Neuromantic

I just dug up a solo record by Takahashi, from the back of my closet. From 1981, I think? I can't remember much about it, to be honest, but the first track is essentially YMO--the credits list Hosono and Sakamoto ('on Fairlight'!)

Neuromantic

this is my all time takachan jam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXiosaWjsM

the synths in the chorus are so sick

Who wrote the lyrics for that? They don't seem like they were written by an English-speaker. Either way yeah thats one of his best

ha! there's something very '80s Bowie about that video clip

wow! That's Bill Nelson playing guitar!

both Sakamoto and Takahashi seemed to imitate Bowie at some stage - look at "Left Handed Dream"

turns out Peter Barakan wrote the lyrics to that song which is weird b/c they're oddly clumsy. i love when Japanese bands write their own English lyrics, it results in things like "fall in love with elevator/see you later, re-frig-u-ra-ator"

another great album to search out is the beatniks. Takahashi & Keiichi Suzuki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iLNQcTkETI

has anyone heard YT's later stuff?

I have some of his 80's and 90's albums and they're usually decent with at least one awesome tune on each. His stuff with Hosono as "Sketch Show" is really great and I've heard his later solo albums all sound like that

three days to SF YMO show

damn it if I was within like 16 hours driving distance to that i'd be there

COME TO CHICAGO OR MINNESOTA OR SOMETHING

im actually really bummed out about this. this might be the last chance americans get to see YMO

I expect the US YMO shows will be close to what they've been doing live for the past few years: acoustic reinterpretations with some glitchy elements. Very stripped down. Light on synths. Therefore a big yawn IMHO.

Hate to be a party poop but - you know - I could be proven wrong. i hope so!

i like the sketch show albums and the HASYMO singles but I don't see them working live at all. the LONDONYMO disc didn't even feel live but it was a really good listen regardless

the World Happiness set they did last year was something different and probably closer to your liking

saw some live clips from a few years ago and it sounded like bad lite jazz. and i like lite jazz.

oh, and some shitty beatles coverzzzz

i dig that Beatniks record

when i saw YMO a few years ago it was like weird glitchy minimalist lounge music w/ epic visuals, though think it was technically HASYMO. def completely electronic. it was pretty good but not something i'd usually seek out. the version of "Ongaku" was completely amazing

I regret not buying tickets and flying to LA from from NY for this. As frogbs said, they're moving away for the glitchy Sketch Show sound. I saw a photo of them rehearsing and there's a Prophet 5, so there ya go!

I can't believe I started this thread 7 years ago. I'm still as big a fan as ever.

Rehearsal Pics!

That's Bill Nelson playing guitar!

Yeah, Takahashi featured on Bill's excellent "Chimera" EP along with Mick Karn.

Just saw this Pocky ad with YMO (×∞ Multiplies-inspired design--I dig it)

http://pocky.jp/index.html

are you in the J, geeta?

lol at hosono napping in those rehearsal pix

has anyone heard YT's later stuff?

i really like his 2009 album 'Page By Page', has collaborations with Cornelius, Steve Jansen, Lali Puna

are you in the J, geeta?

ha, i wish--I've never been to Japan (will hopefully remedy that sometime soon)

you lucky sods who are going to the LA or SF shows over the next couple of days, report back

ha ha the Pocky ad is still blowing my mind!!

make sure your speakers are on, 'Rydeen' is the soundtrack

new Beatniks album coming soon, that's unexpected
apparently Towa Tei did a track with him on his new album. awesome how Towa keeps paying respects to YMO, I think all three members have guested on an album at some point. you can clearly hear Hosono doing backing vocals on "G.B.I." but he's uncredited

as for as the albums go - his late 80's/early 90's work seems a little weak, but the 'new' version of "Betsu-ni" from A Day in the Next Life is so incredibly beautiful

I'd be interested in giving that Beatniks album a listen. There was a few weeks earlier this year when all I listened to were the four albums he did from Murdered By The Music to Tomorrow's Just Another Day. It was amazing finding basically a bunch of other brilliant YMO albums, especially as Naughty Boys is my favourite and they're quite similar.

This is one of my favourite songs from those albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbAoCw1gSgU&feature=related

So many great tracks though, School Of Though, Drip Dry Eyes, Blue Colour Woker, My Bright Tomorrow and Kagerou especially.

The great thing about What, Me Worry? is all the guest vocalists that kinda take the pressure off Takahashi. His voice is decent but I don't know if I like it to carry a whole album. That said I think it did improve a little as he went on.

That is a great album but I've never really had a problem with his vocals. My favourite YMO song is Opened My Eyes which is made by his vocal, especially the way he sings " I couldn't sleep in my bed at night, I didn't have any appetite for anything"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZSUEJgM47Q

The new Beatniks album came as a surprise to me as well (Amazon Japan is good at notifying me). I pre-ordered it this morning!

IMO his best vocal is that garbled up thing he does in "Camoflauge"
I dunno, I did get annoyed by the way he seems to add an extra syllable to some of his words. That said the vocals in "It's Gonna Work Out" are pretty ace. As long as he stays within his limitations he does fine.

kitchen you've heard "Exitenialism" haven't you?

Neuromantic is a masterpiece

p much

http://www.discogs.com/Yukihiro-Takahashi-Live-1998-Run-After-You/release/782065

Been geeking out over this one lately. I like YT's work in general but I have tended to notice that many of his albums are a little uneven, and almost all of them feature at least one or two totally knockout tracks. Here's a 1998 live release that focuses a lot on his mid-to-late 90's work, but with some great callbacks to his early solo albums ("Something in the Air" and "Kid-Nap the Dreamer"). His work certainly took a turn for the more mature crowd (in other words: kinda boring) but the songs on here are almost universally gorgeous, alternating between big, powerful ballads and really pleasant pop songs. Production is great and Yuki himself sounds about as good as he ever has. Check it out!!

finally listening to What Me Worry? after being obsessed with Neuromantic for several months. It's great! "This Strange Obsession" seriously should have been a massive global hit.

"flashback" is the bomb

try "murdered by the music" next!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVWwb8LQCpM

yeah "murdered by the music" is great - kind of like a more fleshed out companion album to Xoo Multiplies

"school of thought" is so good, the main synth riff kinda reminds me of sparks for some reason.

Takahashi, Towa Tei, Yoshinori Sunahara (ex-Denki Groove), Cornelius, Tomohiko Gondo, and Leo Imai to form a supergroup, good God:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/07/15/music/ymos-yukihiro-takahashi-recruits-towa-tei-cornelius-yoshinori-sunahara-tomohiko-gondo-and-leo-imai-for-an-impressive-supergroup/#.U8XjdCj23QU

Towa Tei ft. Yukihiro Takahashi and Kiko Mizuhara - "The Burning Plain"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769QwzmW22Q

Great song. Amusingly enough the song is about the act of watching the movie rather than the movie itself.

have you heard his metafive supergroup album? towa tei is in that one too. and cornelius.

http://coolestsound.jp/Takahashi_Yukihiro_Metafive_Techno_Recital_Takahas/2014.07.20/010395/

Had no idea they actually released something - will try to grab as soon as I can find a cheaper copy ;) The trailer sounds good. The In Phase release seems interesting too, I dig the more mature stuff too so long as the songwriting is there. I've posted about his "Run After You" live release which is maybe my favorite YT album overall but I don't think anyone knows those songs.

Lately I've been obsessed with a song called "'00" from his 1999 album The Dearest Fool. Can't find it on Youtube but it's really neat, has a really similar groove to "Jumbo" by Underworld

Really enjoyed that! Tracklist normally gets added when the show is archived, will post a link when it goes up

could someone please re-up the poisson d'avril movie?
i always enjoyed the soundtrack and came too late for the link posted a few posts up...

best ymo members with a better solo output: takahashi and hosono

XP - Here y'go - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eg69fi25suep02a100xmn/h?dl=0&rlkey=8613qupgg3bl7btlitu8qmzzq

whoa!
1000 Dank!!!
(̶◉͛‿◉̶)

Cheese & wine party w/Yuki (and eng subs) count me in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll86KLqZFTg

A master of French cuisine!

its recently occurred to me how many of his lyrics I absolutely love. I know they're translated by Modell and Barakan but they kinda try to keep the structure of the original which results in a lot of cool and odd phrases. "Feel like I've been through a washing machine", "It doesn't take a genius to know", "I think I'm out on a winning streak", "This must be the ugliest piece of bread I've ever eaten", pretty much everything on "It's All Gonna Work Out", etc.

the strangest of the strangers...secondhand teenagers

Finally watched the movie. it is insane! highly recommended.

The link from poster visiting is fine if you've got an ad blocker

oh yeah, I forgot to report back but watched that basically immediately after grabbing it. a total blast! the kind of thing I'd picture grabbing at the video store and seeing a quote like "a truly delightful romp!" on the cover.

re: movie + the wine and cheese vid - was mr. yt known for being a francophile or something? or maybe everyone was in the 80s...

also recently watched obayashi's the island closest to heaven, he's in that one too, tho briefly. loved it, in any case.

back cover of his first album
https://i.discogs.com/YG39ydbuIyKovYS8vw5CTfGfyolRrPKJeY7YgTv5QcI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc3NjMx/MC0xMzk0MDY5MjM4/LTIzMzguanBlZw.jpeg

was mr. yt known for being a francophile or something?

well Keiichi Suzuki (the other half of Beatniks and one of his best friends) for sure was. plus there's the whole first album thing.

well, here's where I admit I've never listened to the first YT record...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxctAzCKkE

Also 71 today!

lol he calls Steve Jansen "Steve-O"

The Alfa YT channel is v underrated, so much great stuff in there.

Here's a translation of Sayonara, one of the two Japanese songs on What, Me Worry?

...

(spoken)
It's really such good, bright weather...
The sun's glare casts a shadow behind the two of us.

(sung)
You swing your hand so broadly it seems it's about to fall off.
I close my dazzled eyes.
Such nice weather
and I'm going to say goodbye...

A bright goodbye
A bright goodbye

(spoken)
In such good, quiet weather,
the cicadas are singing a little too loud...

(sung)
You swing your hand so broadly it seems it's about to fall off.
I'll be alright -- for sure I'll be alright.
I'm going to say goodbye sadly to you,
bathed as you are in the bright light.

A bright goodbye
A bright goodbye

...

This song could bring me to tears before I even attended to the lyrics; how much more so, now? I love you forever, YT.

And the other, Flashback (Sakamoto's music, Takahashi's words). Didn't quite cry while translating this one, but a couple times I had to stop and say, "Holy fuck." There are elegant elements of the Japanese that I couldn't get across in English -- places where Takahashi's text is poignantly succinct, or beautifully vague, or drifts off in just the right way.

...

A phantasm drifts at the edge of the water,
rustling faintly and sadly in the weeds.
Back then every day was like a dream.
That fragrance always flooding everything.

In the full light of a lovely morning,
my heart cracked. Come, let's find somewhere to throw it away.

And honestly, I didn't understand any of it,
any of the absurd falsehoods spoken over and over and over again.
To this day, I try and summon the faded images of what I witnessed --
though, where...? I can't remember.

Deep in the tender twilight,
my heart cracked. Come, let's find somewhere to throw it away.

[instrumental verse]

To this day, I try and summon the faded images of what I witnessed --
though, where...? I can't remember.

Deep in the tender twilight,
my heart cracked. Come, let's find somewhere to throw it away.

To this day, I try and remember
the fading colors, the timeworn tale, the customary scene.

A phantasm drifts at the edge of the water,
rustling faintly and sadly in the weeds.
Back then every day was like a dream.
Always that faint fragrance in the shadow of the flowers.

Love this. Hosono looks so happy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzIpofcS3e0

Listening to Tomorrow's Just Another Day. I don't know why I waited this long, it's fantastic! That bittersweet spirit permeating his post-Murdered by the Music stuff, oh man. And there's a song on here that's like a vocal version of Final Fantasy airship music, it's the best I've ever heard gated drums sound.

Is it the time of day or the... time of life?

Damn it! Wrong! Time of year...

Point is, Tomorrow's Just Another Day, despite some thinness relative to What Me Worry, is amazing.

Been listening to What, Me Worry after seeing it namechecked by Imai Hisashi. This is genuinely lovely and I can see why he digs this album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L5V0lLw5e8

It's driving me batty trying to work out what that intro reminds me of. For once, I don't think it's B-T. Might be Pure Phase era Spiritualized?

The George Harrison cover was a nice surprise. They have quite similar vocal qualities.

And what a surprise to see Urban Dance up thread! There's a Soft Ballet link with Urban Dance but the details have escaped me. I think they were good mates of Morioken?

So many broken links on this thread of images I wanted to see and tracks I wanted to listen to. (sadface)

it's poisson d'avril and I know what I'll be watching tonight...

oops, link got snipped!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ_TQwI38-w

These ymo and related threads are a godsend. Thank you instigators. I like you, I like you, I love you

Aren't they? One of the most joyous things on the Internet.

I wish I could find the rest of this interview because the few snippets I have are Takahashi dissing things that Hisashi loves and Hisashi swinging between fanboy and (sad face)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54565236906_ccd0ec05e8_o.jpg

Hisashi: I love Bauhaus
Takahashi: I HATE Bauhaus, they're so pretentious it's embarrassing
Hisashi: (sad face)
Takahashi: I saw that Joy Division do a 3-hour show in London and they were TERRIBLE
Hisashi: (impressed face) but you watched them for 3 hours?
Takahashi: NO WAY! I can't stand it! Peter Barakan and I walked out halfway
Hisashi: (sad face)

I've never heard of YT dissing anything!

^^^ this. Those comments are pretty funny as YT usually seems so easy going.

wait a minute...3 hour Joy Division show???!

Assuming he's intentionally exaggerating there.

i guess!

funny enough..
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/watch-peter-hooks-3-hour-tribute-to-joy-divisions-ian-curtis/

It's funny because Takahashi actually talks about his easygoing image in the interview, how he seems really chill but he can be very extreme when he gets angry. This seems like it's missing quite a bit. Because I got this off a BT fan resource, the pages with only photos of Takahashi but not Imai were missing. I'll have to dive into the depths of Tumblr or VK to find the rest. But I'll spare you the luscious pouting twink photos and copy the text I do have:

今井：僕はYMOがきっかけで、ロックを聴き始めたんです。
中3の時、TVのCMかなんかで『テクノポリス』をいてカッコいいなと思って、シングル買ったんです。
高橋：まあルックスだけ似てるグループはいっぱいいるけと。みんな明るい歌ってたりするじゃない、普通のラヴソングだったり。でも、とっかかりって何でもいいんだよね。例えばヴィジュアルであったり、珍しいとか。暗いって言われるでしょう？
今井：ええ、だから、デビューの頃とか「ハリー・アップ・モード』の方がいいって言う人もいます。
高橋：だけど、今はバクチクはバクチクであるわけで、YMOを聴いてたっていうのは、ファンには関係ないことなんじゃないかな。
今井：でもファンの中には、僕たちが聴いてたからってYMOを聴いてるっていう人もいるみたい。
高橋：でも、それもバクチクを通してのことだから本質的なことじゃないよね。今井くんが受けたような影響を、今YMOを聴いて受けるわけがないわけで、音楽も時代といつも関連していくから。
今井：僕、ずっとヒトラーが気になっていて、最新作は彼をモチーフにして作ったんです。
高橋：うん、僕は「プロパガンダ』のステージを思い出すね。
今井：それは、すごく意識してます。ヴィジュアルも含めて。「プロパガンダ」はヴィデオで見たんですけど、あのコンセプチュアルな感じは真似したいって、思ってました。
高橋：ただ僕は、ああいう退廃とかデカダンとか、最後の「プロパガンダ」の感じって、すごい嫌いだったの。
今井：それは何かのインタビューで読みました。あれが嫌いだって言ってたんで少しガッカリしたんですけど好きだと思ってたから（笑）。でも、幸宏さんが、そうおっしゃるのはわかるような気がします。
高橋：あの時アート・ディレクターが3人もいたから。井上ツグヤと、奥村ユキマサと、そして佐藤さんが監督だったわけで。黒テントですからね、なんてったって（笑）。で、もうちょっと僕はYMOの最初のイメージっていうのは、ヤケッパチの尖った部分っていうのは、ずっと後期になって好きなんだけど、やっぱり最初の頃のドライな感じっていうのが、イメージだったからね。どうしてかって言うと、80年代ニュー・ウェイヴから出てきてテクノとか言われた、アンチであることが正しいっていう考え方の時代があったでしょ、2、3年間。79年ぐらいから。あれが凄い楽しくてね。高野なんかもそれは言ってる。あの時代だけは生き生きできたって。バクチクのヴィジュアル感って見ると、やっぱりそれなりの、完成品という感じがするんだよね。またちょっと違うとらえかたかなと思うけと。けっこう耽美的だよね。
今井：ええ、バウハウスとか、好きなんで。
高橋：バウハウスってグループじゃなくて、ホントのバウハウスの方？
今井：ええ、両方とも。
高橋：俺、グループのバウハウスって嫌いなんだよ
（笑）。とうしてかって言うと、おこがましい。だって、生意気だよ。僕だったら、恥ずかしくってつけられないなあ。そんな名前。
今井：あ、名前が生意気。
高橋：でも、あの人たちも好きなんだろうね。あの頃のロンドンは、飽きなかったな。1年のうち半分くらい行ってても飽きなかった。ジョイ・ディヴィジョンとかニュー・オーダーのステージに行くと、3時間ぐらい、つまんないステージやってんの。暗くて（笑）。でピーター・バラカンと「こりや耐えらんないな～」とか言いながら見てんの（笑）。
今井：でも3時間見たんですか？
高橋：いや、耐えられなくて僕は途中で出た（笑）。
耽美的なものには、それほど憧れてないの、実は。ただナイーヴなものには、すごく憧れる。例えばガラス細工のような、とか。それは裏を返すと、ガラス細工が壊れた時の角なものに憧れるのと同じようにさ。あるじゃない、子供時代で言えば、喧嘩は強くないけど、怒らしたらアイツ人殺すかもしれないぜっていうヤツの方が好きなの。だって、僕ってねえ、すごい喧嘩弱かったの、子供の頃。高校ぐらいかな。でもぜったい自分で許したくないことってあるじゃない？人に犯されたくない部分。それを守るためにナイフを持って歩いてた時期があった。何かあったら殺してやろうと思って。
今井：アブナイ奴ですね。僕だったらナイフ持つってことを考えたとしても、実行には移さないと思うな。
高橋：それぐらい僕ってアブナイ人間だったの。今でもそれはあんまり変わってなくて。
今井：ナイフ持って歩いてるんですか
高橋：それはないけど、いつもニコニコしてるわりに、スタッフなんかは知ってるけど、いきなり怒りだすと、極端な方向に行っちゃう。でも、そういう興奮のしかたって残ってるうちは、音楽とかやれるなって思う。やっぱり憧れるのは中原中也ですね。
今井：中原中也の詩集、僕も最近買ったんです。ずっと前から欲しくって探してて、やっとこのあいだ

Machine translation of the relevant bit:

Imai: Yes, I like Bauhaus and stuff.
Takahashi: Bauhaus is not the group, but the real Bauhaus?
Imai: Yes, both.
Takahashi: I don't like the group Bauhaus
(laughs). To put it simply, it's presumptuous. I mean, it's insolent. If it were me, I'd be too embarrassed to have a name like that.
Imai: Ah, it's a cheeky name.
Takahashi: But I guess those guys like it too. I never got bored of London back then. I never got bored even if I went there half the year. When I went to see Joy Division or New Order, they would do a boring show for about three hours. It was dark (laughs). So Peter Barakan and I were watching it and saying, "This is too much for me to bear" (laughs).
Imai: But did you watch three hours?
Takahashi: No, I couldn't stand it so I left halfway through (laughs).

Aww, but you know the Japanese and their modesty! I'm sure all these remarks were being delivered with that lovely Yuki smile and modest head-nods in Mr. Imai's direction.

Thanks a lot for that, Ether <3

Agreed! I don't think Takahashi is being mean with his dissing of Hisashi's favourite bands here. He's laughing throughout, I think what he's saying is quite playful.

Especially in the context of the previous bit of the conversation about Bakuchiku fans compared to YMO fans (like Hisashi). He's acknowledging that he's from a very different generation. I'm pretty sure YMO were all - I don't know the Japanese expression but the German word would be 'Nachgeboren'. Like Kraftwerk. Born in the late 40s / early 50s. Born into a ruined, occupied country. Stunde Null. While Hisashi's generation, Gen X, the Band Boom generation, have a different relationship to the imagery that they were discussing.

But I just found it funny - both haha funny and interesting funny. Takahashi's discomfort with YMO's image during the Propaganda era. Which Hisashi loved and found very influential and frequently paid homage to.

Anyway, now I need to watch Propaganda.

I love how he pulls in New Order, a band who, in the early 80s at least, rarely played for more than 40 mins :)

I think the implication is, he found them so intolerable that 40 minutes felt like 3 hours! 🤣

Oh sure, it makes me realise that I don't know very much about what YT's roots were, musically speaking.

There's plenty that is obvious about Hosono, we know Sakamoto had a Tokyo School of Fine Arts upbringing, but other than drumming in the SMB, I wonder if he was a Beatles kid, into folk perhaps, or the Group Sounds scene.

oh he was definitely way into the Beatles

Not relevant to the question of origins, but I just remembered a great YT anecdote.

Hosono had wanted Caramel Mama's Tatsuo Hayashi to be YMO's drummer (so: Hosono / Sato / Hayashi versus the triumverate we all know & love) but Hayashi hated playing along to a click track, which Hosono deemed a requirement for this new, more electronic project.

Enter Takahashi, who blew his audition out of the water AND, in playing along with a computer-dictated beat, felt like his entire drumming life had been justified. Apparently the Sadistic Mika Band and earlier bands he'd been part of were always complaining that YT played too fast. "SEE, you assholes? I was right on goddam time ALL ALONG"

I've probably mentioned this before but I feel like Takahashi's drumming was always the secret sauce to what make YMO's stuff so ahead of its time. there were definitely some cool sounding drum machines back then but most of them felt tinny and kinda blocky. even Kraftwerk's drum pads (or whatever they used) sounded like thin layers of foil. YMO had a drummer who could play like a drum machine, but on an actual kit. the first time I heard them I thought it *was* a drum machine and wondered how something from that long ago could sound that good. I thought the lack of any reverb at all was a giveaway. it's such a joy to watch live footage of him too. he doesn't screw up. like...ever.

I have now watched Propaganda during a slow afternoon at work. I am somewhat at a loss as to the plot or purpose of the non-concert scenes. Kind of an extended extremely 80s extremely arty extremely concept music video. But it was fantastic to see YMO live at the height of their powers. Really interesting to see how much of the instrumentation my ears got wrong. Hosono played a lot of live bass, which contributed to how incredibly funky they were. Yet many sounds that I had previously thought were guitar were actually Sakamoto playing a distorted synth sound with pitch bend and glissando. And how much drumming David Palmer did at the lives, allowing Takahashi to take more of a traditional frontman role.

But I also laughed a lot. Because there were several points in the film where I laughed aloud, suddenly seeing even more imagery that B-T referenced.

But yeah, I have much more appreciation for Takahashi now. And had I first seen this film at the age Hisashi did, I would probably also have been tying a red armband round my leather jacket and running around pasting my band's logo over everything in Tokyo haha.

Is "Present" the ultimate city pop song?

Is the above a rhetorical question?

Brought to helpless tears by Sayonara again, goddam.