Yellow Magic Orchestra

YMO was Japan's answer to Kraftwerk - the idea came from Haroumi Hosono, who had an increased interest in tropical music and electronic sounds. He more or less created a full-on fusion of synthesizer and world music on his Cochin Moon album. He rounded up two other members - the now-famous Ryuichi Sakamoto, then an eclectic amateur composer just starting to make a name for himself, and Yukihiro Takahashi, the drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band, whose pop instincts would help ground the two other members. Although Hosono was fairly busy and well-known already, having been active for nearly a decade (beginning as the bassist for Happy End), none of the three members really reached notoriety until they formed Yellow Magic Orchestra, originally an attempt to reconcile the new fascination with electronic music (particularly synth-pop) coming out of Europe at the time with older influences such as jazz and exotica. It became a hit, and suddenly the one-off project became a career for these three men. They quickly dropped the old influences and switched their style to techno-pop in the style of Kraftwerk, and from there they became more and more New Wave. They quickly became hot property, each releasing a number of solo albums and doing plenty of session work, all while putting out a YMO album almost every year until calling it quits in 1983. Even so, they never had that 'side project' feel that plagued many other supergroups.

Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978) ****1/2
Exactly the type of album I doubt any of these guys would be able to come out with on their own, YMO's debut is a fusion of techno-pop and many older (pre-Beatles) styles such as exotica and jazz. At first it sounds gimmicky, but repeat listens reveal a lot of complexities beneath the songs. Has a multilayered feel that other synth-pop bands weren't really doing quite yet. As became common in Sakamoto's later career, much of the music draws on different parts of the world, but when put through the YMO filter, it sounds distinctively Oriental. Thus the single "Firecracker" (their only overseas hit), which is played entirely on synths and piano with an electronic rhythm, giving it a techno-pop flavor, but there's a very Eastern feel to it. The actual song is a Martin Denny cover. The rest of side one (minus the "Computer Game" segments, which as dated as they seem today, were quite revolutionary in '78) seems to draw from familiar themes such as Caribbean jazz ("Simoon", which seems to be in the same style as Cochin Moon) or surf music ("Cosmic Surfin'").
On side two they start to show off their compositional brilliance with tightly arranged pieces that were well ahead of their time. "Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)" is bouncy and energetic, with a long bass and piano line that's clearly Sakamoto's, and "La Femme Chinoise" is a precursor to the technopop of the future. Both quickly became live staples. They break it down with "Bridge Over Troubled Music", a short segment which isolates the electronic rhythms, until Takahashi lays on the beat again and goes into "Mad Pierrot", perhaps the album's most addictive and catchy track.
Although the theme of the album is decidedly electronic, it doesn't take that style exclusively. Most of the melodies are played by synth, yet there's lots of piano under the surface. There's electronic rhythms that stand out to punctuate the melody, yet Takahashi's drums keep things grounded and danceable, and Hosono's fluid bass playing injects a little bit of groove into the tracks on side two in a way that electronics couldn't really provide at the time. There's even some electric guitar on "La Femme Chinoise", as well as Takahashi's unfiltered vocal - all the rest are either heavily computerized or come from outside the band (the female vocal on "Tong Poo", which seems to be a precursor for many future electronic bands such as Orbital to do the same thing on their albums). And all the while, the album never gets heavyhanded - there's a prevailing sense of humor among all of this. Quite an accomplishment.

One note - the original album included another catchy and short track of primitive computer noises, "Acrobat", as a closer, but it seems to have been dropped for all subsequent releases.

Solid State Survivor (1979) ****
The sudden popularity of the debut album convinces YMO to stick around a while. They drop the exotica thing altogether and just stick to making straight up technopop - in that regard, this is one of their most accessible albums and often voted as the best. It's not too far from the stuff Kraftwerk was doing at the time, only more dance oriented. It's about as straight-up 'techno' as they could get - nearly all the real instrumentation is gone, save for a few flashes, such as Hosono's slap bass during opener "Technopolis", used to give the song more of a funk feel, although the second half of the album mostly switches to real drums. The first three tracks are all four-to-the-floor dance tracks, with Takahashi's "Rydeen" becoming a huge hit in Japan. It's no wonder - its Oriental-themed melody is instantly catchy, and the synth tones, despite now sounding like something an SNES would produce, must have been pretty exciting in its time. The other big hit was Sakamoto's "Behind the Mask", maybe one of the best fusions of electronic music and pop ever - even today, it's simply sublime, which led Eric Clapton to score a minor hit with it. Elsewhere the band shows their slower side with the haunting "Castalia" and "Insomnia", leaving just two - the closing title track, which sounds something like a "La Femme Chinoise" knockoff, and a real oddity, a cover of "Day Tripper". It's got real guitar and drums but still leans on the synths, and Takahashi's vocal delivery is just too weird to go unnoticed. Yet it seems to fit the YMO aesthetic - they've still retained their sense of humor throughout most of the album. A welcome introduction to the then-fledgling world of technopop.

Public Pressure (1980) ****
A live album from YMO's 1979 World Tour. Contains only nine tracks, fragmented between shows in London, Los Angeles, and New York. YMO's live sound is generally played straightforward, with the rhythm section of Takahashi and Hosono being ever present, although many of the electronic percussion noises are still there. The tour also featured Kazumi Watanabe on guitar who usually jams during the solo sections. For this album however there was a record company conflict and as a result Sakamoto overdubbed all his parts. Surprisingly it doesn't bring down the quality of the album at all - you'd otherwise never be able to tell. The solo sections are all pretty great, and the songs are played at a standard "live tempo" (which is slightly faster than the studio albums, to give it more energy), with the arrangements generally tampered with enough to be interesting to those who already have the studio albums. Their instrumental skill is really apparent here - Sakamoto's synth jamming is always tuneful and attention-grabbing, the sound effects are used well, Takahashi actually shows off his ability to play fast, and Hosono's bass playing is better than it's ever been. They bring a real swing to the step of "Cosmic Surfin" and "Rydeen", and the version of "Tong Poo" is simply amazing - Sakamoto's on fire and Hosono's talent on bass really shines, prompting a huge response at the end of the extended solo section. Oddly enough the album doesn't include "Firecracker", "Technopolis", or "Behind the Mask", perhaps three of their biggest songs at the time, but instead one of Sakamoto's compositions from his solo Thousand Knives album ("The End of Asia"), and "Radio Junk", a fantastic Sheena and the Rokkets cover. Between that and the amazing "Tong Poo" there's reason enough for the fans to get this, but luckily it's solid all the way through. Fans should definitely seek this one out.

Faker Holic (rec. 1979, rel. 1991) ***1/2
A two-disc set of YMO’s 1979 world tour, which has got to be the most heavily-recorded tour of their career. This is roughly the same feel as Public Pressure, but without the overdubs. So if you already have it, you’ll know what to expect – a mostly-live band experience with a bit of sequencer and a lot of synthesizer. The difference is that you get to hear Kazumi Watanabe’s guitar, which gives the performances something of a fusion sound as he takes solos on most of the tracks, which on Sakamoto’s pieces tend to be longer (“The End of Asia”, “Tong Poo”, “1000 Knives”). Combined with Sakamoto you’ve got two soloists in this band which is a definite rarity for a technopop band. Akiko Yano is on most of these tracks too, and one of the compositions is hers (“Kang Tong Boy”). It's a neat song - the melody is certainly bizarre at first, but it turns into a very agreeable funk tune with Yano doing vocal acrobatics on top. Her voice is very chirpy and unrestrained (and frequently off-key), making her an interesting lead singer but a sort of grating back up one. Despite the lower rating, this basically renders Public Pressure superfluous, as most if not all of the exact same performances (sans overdubs) make it here. It seems that the better performances got put into that album though, and that tunes like “Behind the Mask” and “Firecracker” don’t create as much of a live spark as “Tong Poo” or “Cosmic Surfin” did. So it’s not as consistently entertaining as Public Pressure was and there’s a lot of repetition between the two discs, so you really can’t listen to them in a row. But if that album left you wanting more (as it did for me) I definitely recommend this.

Note: This set appears as discs 3 and 4 of the L-R Trax compilation.

Xoo Multiplies (1980) ***1/2
More of an EP than a real full length, as there's only four actual songs here, with the rest being filled with comedy sketches and other oddities. I'm convinced this album is a riff on Japanese people - the English sketches are a satire on Japanese businessmen, and most of the voices seem to be stereotypes. I'm guessing Snakeman Show, who does the comedy bits, also had a hand in the synth-enhanced cover of "Tighten Up" which features Elmo-style MC vocals and lines such as "Sock it to me Sakamoto!" Hilarious if you're into this postmodernist kind of humor and obnoxious if you're not - personally I find it fairly brilliant, but comedy albums generally become boring after a few spins. Luckily the songs are pretty good - they churn out the great pop tune "Nice Age", one of the few YMO songs with prominent guitar backing, and "Citizens of Science", a quality technopop song reminiscent of the better cuts off Takahashi's then-brand new solo album Murdered by the Music - it's definitely tongue-in-cheek, but it's clear they knew what they were doing - case in point, the instrumental "Multiplies" which takes a boppy and familiar Russian theme and riffs the hell out of it. It's all good, but perhaps a little confusing to American audiences.

Since Solid State Survivor wasn't released Stateside, the record company decided to release an abridged version of both these albums for the American release. It makes for a good compilation, but American collectors should be aware of it - if you already have Solid State (which has since been released in the US) you may be only getting the song-themed half.

BGM (1980) ***
Although YMO hadn't taken any breaks, their next album seemed to be comprised mostly of leftover solo pieces. So there's experimental electronic ambient tracks ("Happy End", "Loom") which use the same techniques as found in solo albums like Sakamoto's B-2 Unit, some of the vocal tracks sound like the lesser tracks from Takahashi's Neuromancer ("Music Plans", "Camoflauge"), and one of the tracks is a cover off Sakamoto's debut! Many point to this as their pinnacle but to me it's very hit-or-miss. There's one menacing piano-based instrumental that foreshadows their next album ("U-T"), a nice technopop tune ("Ballet"), and Hosono and Takahashi turn in perhaps the most effective and memorable electro-ballad of the New Romantic era ("Cue"). But for each one of these, there's an experiment that goes underdeveloped or an idea probably best left unused ("Rap Phenominon"), and some of the tracks are just faceless even after repeat listening. The good news is that the "1000 Knives" cover pretty much rules. So it's spotty, but worth it for "Cue" alone.

Technodelic (1981) ****1/2
Japan's #1 technopop group decides to go New Wave, and, well, you know how I feel about that. Unlike BGM, this seems more like a band effort than a collection of solo tracks - this music is layered, interspersing memorable vocal melodies with dark piano lines and industrial rhythms. There's a couple of top-notch technopop dance cuts ("Taiso", which does mean “dance” in Japanese), one of which became one of YMO's best and most forward-looking singles ("Pure Jam", which sounds much more like 1991 than 1981), but the rest is more in the vein of the sentimental and robotic New Wave that was coming out at the time from detached youth like Gary Numan and John Foxx, but denser. While the YMO vocals generally sounded light and emotionless before (not counting "Cue", of course), here they seem moody, apprehensive, and sometimes downright scared ("Stairs"), a surprising feat coming from a trio of so-so vocalists - it certainly helps that the lyrics are better than they've ever been (credit goes to Peter Barakan for that). So maybe the sound is thick, but they lighten the mood at the right times, and the instrumental tracks are well developed - resonant but not overbearing ("Light in Darkness", "Epilogue"). To top it all off, you get my favorite YMO song ever, Hosono's "Gradated Grey", which shows that above all, synthesizers could express feeling, and it's possible for a tune to be intensely emotional and wickedly catchy at the same time - this is a real synthpop triumph that takes the genre into a new dimension. It would be worth it for that track alone, but thankfully there's more - it might stray from YMO's original intentions, but in my mind it's their best, not to mention one of their most innovative, and it's aged better than their previous albums. Recommended not just to fans of technopop but New Wave in general.

Naughty Boys (1983) ***1/2
The boys decided to take a year off for solo projects - Sakamoto began his career as esteemed film composer with Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Hosono was continuing his work with electronic experimentation, and Takahashi was becoming something of a pop star in his own right. I think at this point it became clear that they were going in different directions, but they decided to reform and record a pop album as a gift to the fans, which spawned a number of singles and took the group to a new height of popularity. There's still plenty of synths, true to the YMO sound, but they're playing Oriental-themed pop songs (indeed, this is their only album that makes their Japanese origin really obvious). Most of the material is quite catchy and cheery (leadoff single "Kimi Ni Mune Kyun", "Expecting Rivers"), with the only downtempo tune being Hosono's "Lotus Love", sounding like it's about to fall apart at any second. Maybe that's due to the murky production, which piles on the reverb, giving the album a strange and memorable overall sound. It's all good, but only a handful of songs stand out as being particularly meaningful in the YMO canon (closing track "Wild Ambitions" is certainly one of them, with its rolling electronic percussion), although you'll probably have them all in your head at some point. Features one real oddity - a 'preview' version of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which would appear on the next album in full form. Are they the only band to do this? Anyways, this is a good release that shows that YMO could have easily taken over the Eastern world as a pop band. Unfortunately one of the best tunes, "Chaos Panic", was relegated as a B-side, so if you like this, be sure to track that one down.

Service (1984) ***
This would be the last YMO studio album for a while. Like Xoo Multiplies, the songs are interspersed with comedy routines, but unlike that album, they don't really seem to fit with the music. Furthermore, they're long and make no sense to non-Japanese speakers, so you're pretty much forced to skip them. I'm guessing they just didn't have enough material left for a full album. So what about the songs? They're moodier than the Naughty Boys ones, throwing out the playfulness in favor of a more mature, adult-contemporary like sound. They're still pretty catchy, the arrangements are surprisingly full, and about half of them were released as singles. The full version of "You've Got to Help Yourself", with a triumphant synth line and sing-along chorus is one of their best - I can only imagine how great this would have sounded with better vocalists. It's also the only song on here with any Japanese - the other lyrics are pretty clear (and usually confusing). Well-written stuff, but pretty unsubstantial, and if you skip the comedy tracks it's just too dang short.

After Service (1984) ***
A live album. Pretty decent if you like YMO the pop band, kind of disappointing if you're expecting YMO the technopop wizards or YMO the synth-fusion virtuosos. All the neat improvisation and jamming that highlighted Public Pressure is gone - instead, the old tracks are sort of put into the new style. This does interesting things to "Technopolis" and "La Femme Chinoise", but in general they're weaker than the studio version, even dropping the vocoder on staples like "Behind the Mask". And that's this album's main crux - without much that's really 'extra', you don't really need to bother, as the newer tracks are pretty much played just like the studio versions (Takahashi even seems to double-track his vocals from them). Oh, but then you wouldn't get to hear the legions of screaming girls (who positively freak out when "Technopolis" drops - but hey, I would have too) - what are they, the Japanese Beatles? The setlist is mostly based off the last couple of albums, with the beginning and end drawing from the first couple, with a non-album single "Kageki Na Shukujo" and a lengthy minimal intro track ("Propaganda"). So there's "Ballet" and "Key" in between but otherwise fans of the middle period get screwed. Still, they're playing good material (I do appreciate the darker synth tone on "Wild Ambitions"), and nothing really seems off, but it's apparent they weren't really interested in pushing forward the band's boundaries anymore and have settled into their role as pop megastars. Originally released on 19 tracks, but the CD version shortened it to 16. Later CD versions were a double disc with the full set.

Complete Service (rec. 1984, 1992) ***
Well, there's more tracks, and the sound (produced by Brian Eno!) is a little cleaner, but this is just the same thing as After Service. All the extra tracks come from the previous two albums as well, so there's not like a bitchin' rendition of "Cue" or anything. Strangely this one's out of print, not After Service. Whether or not the extra production helps is up to you - it doesn't retain the thick sound that emulated the studio albums like the other one did, and the drums don't seem as powerful - plus, the main hook on "Focus" is nearly inaudible. On the flip side this sounds a lot clearer.

Technodon (1993) **1/2
Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi got back together for a one-off album and tour. Their record label had gone under in the interim, yet they still held the rights to the YMO name, so the band adopted the moniker "NOT YMO". Given all three of them were pretty active for the preceding 10 years and have evolved their sound, I'd say it's appropriate - they're still electronic, but other than that there's not much to relate this to the older material. The sound this time is minimal techno, which means it's a smooth and chill, but most of the tunes are underwritten. Some of it does fare well - "Floating Away" has a nice sense of rhythm, "Hi-Tech Hippies" and "O.K." are neat technopop tunes, and "Waterford" is a really beautiful ambient piece (using a bagpipe-imitating synth, of all things). There's a few spoken word samples from William S. Burroghs that turn "I Tre Merli" into a drugged-out trip. Altogether I can really see the sound that they were going for, but they didn't have much to back it up, and as a result the tunes just go nowhere (case in point, leadoff track and single "Be a Superman", which doesn't develop beyond its first few bars). It's expertly produced and has a few keepers, and you'll definitely want to stay around for the cover of "Pocketful of Rainbows" at the end. But ultimately it's not worthwhile.

Technodon Live (1993) ***1/2
Thanks to the three members staying active and YMO's technology-infused sound probably appealing to young ones who were in their 20's in '93, their reunion tour was unsurprisingly high-profile. True to its title though, they did rely mostly on Technodon material, to the point where the first six tracks match the studio album exactly. This was probably a disappointment to the crowd, no part of which became a fan because of THAT album, but the good news is they sound much fuller here, making this a better buy than the studio album. The tempo's notched up slighty, and the electronic drums are enhanced with Takahashi's booming real drums. No idea what the other guys are doing, but it seems to be just enough to keep the tracks interesting. In particular, the two best Technodon tracks are big highlights - Takahashi's drumming on the second half of "Floating Away" turns it into a neat jam, and bringing a guitar to the forefront of "Waterford" was an inspired stroke. It goes to show that maybe if they stuck around they'd have figured out how to make something that could stand up to the YMO canon. But, as much of it doesn't, many of the better moments are with the older tracks, drawn from their first two albums. In particular "Behind the Mask" gets a nice facelift, turning it into a punchy techno jam, which I actually prefer to the already excellent studio version. Likewise, "La Femme Chinoise" is given a futuristic render, and the surprise inclusion of "Castalia" fits in really well with the newer material. Oh, and they tease the audience with a few bars of "Rydeen" at the end of "Chance" but they don't actually play it. How cruel is that? Either way, any YMO fan's gonna want the re-done versions of the classics, and the now fleshed-out newer tunes don't lag too far behind them.

In 2002, YMO refromed (sort of) with Hosono and Takahashi creating a new group with Sakamoto as a frequent guest both live and in the studio and Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) on guitar during the live shows (among other notables). The reason why Sakamoto was not a full-time member was presumably due to his extensive soundtrack and collaborative work, as he was (and still is) a very in-demand composer. The group’s name was Sketch Show (which their albums were credited to), but it was changed to Human Audio Sponge when Sakamoto was involved. The reason why they chose that name and not Yellow Magic Orchestra was probably due to a big shift in sounds – this was still very electronic, but they had shifted to a warm glitch-pop sound that did not really resemble YMO much, although they still played old YMO tunes in concert (often in drastically reworked versions). In 2007, Sakamoto became a full-time member, and they released a single with a new version of “Rydeen”, cementing the bridge between YMO and this new group, and as a result they renamed themselves HASYMO (a combination of the two acronyms), releasing several singles under this moniker (but no full-length albums as of yet). The group has shown up at several high-profile events such as Live Earth and the Meltdown Festival in London, billing themselves as Yellow Magic Orchestra. It’s all fairly confusing but it’s more or less the same band.

Sketch Show – Audio Sponge (2002) ***
The first album from Hosono and Takahashi’s new group is a fine effort but comes across as more of a “testing the waters” release. It takes advantage of new technology and crafts its own sound but musically doesn’t stray much from what they’ve done in the past. I guess the best way to describe it is electro-folk-pop, with the group churning out a number of agreeable melodies in a host of styles (jazz, funk, ballad) with electronic backing. The result is a forward-thinking, warm and relaxing album – to the point that not even covers of classics such as “Turn Down Day” or “Theme From a Summer Place” stand out. The downside to this is that the album gives off the sense of being something of a toss-off, with covers, reprises (“Return”), fun but insubstantial funk workouts (“Gokigen Ikaga 1,2,3”, “Supreme Secret”), and one silly and obnoxious track that comes off as a joke (“Do You Want To Marry Me”). Yet at the heart of it there is some solid material – “Turn Turn” is a well-produced electropop tune with a great chorus, “Flying George” is familiar (recalling “Pure Jam”) and memorable, and “Microtalk” is a solid glitchy instrumental with a click-beep-scratch groove ripe for sampling. And even if you’ve heard various versions of it ad-nauseam, the cover of “Theme From a Summer Place” is genuinely one of the best I’ve ever heard. So what you have is a fun and well-produced but ultimately insubstantial album, which still should be enough to satisfy the longings of the YMO fans who must have been clamoring for a reunion at this point.

Wild Sketch Show in Shibuya, AX (2002)
Not an official release, but rather a bootleg version of the audio portion of a DVD that chronicled the group's performance at Shibuya-AX. It may be interesting to some fans - it contains four tracks from Audio Sponge, a couple that would appear on later releases ("Ohotozka", "Chronograph"), one that has gone so far unreleased ("Zoet Roope"), a few re-worked YMO tunes, and even a recording of Hosono's "Paraiso" (!). They adopt the glitch-heavy sound to the YMO material, but there appears to be a few extra band members on stage near the end. It's a worthwhile listen from beginning to end, but my favorite parts are the astounding rework of "Gradated Gray" that makes me long for a disc of updated YMO tunes, and the brief "Rydeen" sample during "Pure Jam" that drives the audience nuts.

Sketch Show – Tronika (2003)
This is a glimpse into the new direction that Sketch Show would take, and thankfully it’s a more serious one, venturing into the field of glitch-pop without losing any of the previous release’s warmth or calmness. Doesn’t get a rating though because it’s more or less a teaser EP for the Loophole release, with only one full track that doesn’t appear there (“Ohotzka”, which is almost breathtakingly pretty). The rest is remixes, short instrumental ambient pieces, a few tracks from the next album, as well as the original version of “Night Talker”, a relaxing glitch-folk tune where the electronic parts are out-of-sync, but in a very intriguing way (a fast-paced remix appears on the full-length). All that said, this is a pretty great listen, and unlike most 'teaser' EPs, this is still worth listening to even if you don't have the full-length. Cornelius shows up as a guest for some of the tracks.

Sketch Show – Loophole (2003) ****1/2
It’s rare to find musicians as old as these guys are (one mid-50’s, one pushing 60) making something both truly innovative and creative, but as the hard-working and forward-thinking minds that they are, Hosono and Takahashi have done it with this album full of soothing, otherworldly, and sometimes stunning glitch-pop. It’s a mostly electronic album with melodies and rhythms cutting in and out and drum tracks consisting of mostly clicks and pops, but it’s the fluid melodic sense that takes center. It’s an album that seems to have been written gazing out at the moon and the stars, which indeed the utterly becalming final track is a tribute to (“Stella”). It’s still got the warm and folkier feeling of their earlier releases, and never feels entirely synthetic, as flashes of acoustic instruments do show up (Flemenco guitar, harp, a bit of bass guitar). And yet, as forward-thinking as it is, it does sound resigned in a way that only men this venerable could pull off. It’s more introspective and solemn then you could ever get out of a guy in his 20’s (“Mars”, “Flakes”), yet hip enough to still be exciting and upbeat (“Plankton”, the remix of “Night Talker”). To top it off there are a couple of tracks that really are stunningly beautiful – “Chronograph” sounds like a cosmic lullaby with an amazing attention to detail, and the rhythmic “Fly Me to the River” is charming and catchy in a way that recalls some of the best YMO tracks. It’s also the lone pure pop song on the album. The Cornelius remix of "Ekot" may well be the best track on the album - it sounds like a space-age acoustic folk tune that's not only chilling, but absolutely pristine to boot. If this sounds like an album that will put you to sleep, it probably could, as much of this teeters close to ambient territory, but it’s so packed with melodic ideas and interesting arrangements that it will more likely leave you calm and fascinated.
I may seem overly praiseworthy of this album, but it does shake a few trends you see in older musicians - they lose their passion, they stop paying so much attention to detail, they're okay with resting on their laurels since they no longer have to prove themselves. I think that's something everyone fears when it comes to their favorite bands - that they'll get old and stop being interesting, that they're past their prime and will never again write the life-changing song that drew you to them in the first place. Now, Loophole isn't perfect, but to see this level of passion from a couple of guys whose combined discography spans over 50 albums is impressive to say the least.

HASYMO – Rydeen 79/07/Rescue (2007)
HASYMO is the combination of Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra, a moniker made all the more confusing by the fact that they are exactly the same band. I guess choosing this new name gives the appearance of moving forward in sound (as Sketch Show did), yet sticking to the time-tested ideals of YMO. Appropriately, their first release was a reframing of the classic “Rydeen”, using a plethora of new sounds, with the melody played out with xylophone and Spanish guitar during the “chorus”. The B-side, “Rescue” (sung by Hosono) was used as the theme to the movie Ex Machina (the soundtrack contains a few more HASYMO tracks, although none as fleshed out), which is another piece of downtempo glitch electronica, this time based around a vocal melody. Both tracks put YMO back in the public consciousness, with “Rescue” even becoming a Top 30 hit in Japan.

HASYMO – The City of Light/Tokyo Town Pages (2008)
Another single release, and again both tracks were written for other purposes (“City of Light” was written for a news show, and “Tokyo Town Pages” for a documentary). The first thing I noticed here was a clear return to the ‘band’ format – that’s clearly Takahashi drumming (and singing), and there’s a crisp bass sound that is assuredly NOT synthesized. Plus, although there are synthesizers, Sakamoto turns the piano back into a focal point. Both of the tracks are well done – “City of Light” features a dissonant and seemingly off-time melody with a solid vocal hook and Takahashi's upbeat drumming to propel it, and “Tokyo Town Pages” gets by on its jazzy and laid-back groove and interesting atmospheric touches. Also contains "ambient" mixes of both tracks which basically takes away the drums and adds in synth washes.

LondonYMO – Live in London 6/15/08 (2008) ****1/2
Taking back the YMO name, the guys decided to play some sporadic and carefully picked live dates. This one was part of a festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where their services were called upon by Massive Attack. I realize that this is a high rating, especially for a reunion, but it does the things that great live albums should do – that is, pick a good mixture of tunes, play the material in a way that’s more spontaneous than the studio albums yet well enough that there’s no notable mistakes, re-work a few tunes and add a few elements to the mix, and present it all with sound quality that’s good enough to not give the listener a reason to flock to the studio takes. Well, they’ve done it all here – the setlist is interesting (although the title is a little misleading – there’s only 3 YMO tunes here…“Rydeen 79/07” doesn’t count), the material DOES feel like a performance and not just a playback of pre-recorded sound, a few of the songs are reworked drastically, and the sound quality is as full and crisp as it could be. Most important is that there does not seem to be anything missing from the live performances, and that in most cases there’s a few additions. You’ve got a steel guitar in the background, accenting many of the tracks, Sakamoto (I’m assuming) adds keyboard flourishes, and the addition of brass to replace some of the synthesizers gives the group a more natural feel. On the second half of the set, the band aesthetic fully comes into play, as Takahashi takes the drums and Hosono the bass. It’s here you really get to see the aim of these guys – the music they make is undoubtedly manipulated and punctuated with synthesizer washes and glitch effects, yet it’s played in a way that almost resembles a jazz session – there’s improvisation and plenty of emphasis on the rhythm. In this way you come to the core of what’s been part of Hosono’s vision all along – combine the spontaneity and soul of a group of musicians with the precision and manipulation of sound that machines provide.
As for the setlist – all of the four tracks from the HASYMO singles appear, along with three other regular YMO tracks (“You’ve Got to Help Yourself”, “Ongaku”, and “Cue”), seven from Sketch Show, three from Sakamoto solo albums (“Riot in Lagos”, “Supreme Secret”, “War & Peace”), and one of Hosono’s (“Sportsmen”). So while this is still YMO, they seem comfortable to let the past be the past for the most part, and concentrate more on what fits their style now (which is what I thought the HASYMO moniker was for, and indeed I have seen the album marketed under that name too). In particular, I love the new version of “Ongaku”, which shimmers and charms like the saccharine pop song it always was, the jazzy and fleshed out “Wonderful To Me” which actually manages to jam out a bit, the epic and affecting “War & Peace”, which builds to a stunning climax, and the subtly enhanced “Chronograph” which proves just as entrancing using more natural instrumentation. But it really is all good – there’s more to concentrate on here than there is on the studio versions, and the combination of glitch electronics and thoughtful songcraft provide a great listening experience, one that seems unhindered by any live “artifacts” at all (there is applause at the end of the tracks, but it seems to be turned down in the mix).
There was another live album released at the same time, GijonYMO, which contains all the tracks here minus “Sportsmen” and “Fly Me to the River”. So that one’s redundant, but unfortunately both are only available as Japanese imports. Either way I would definitely recommend tracking down one of them – not only should YMO fans enjoy this immensely, but it’s one of the only cases of a band reuniting, escaping under the shadow of its former self, and doing something that’s both fresh and worthwhile.