BGM

Bypassing the rubbish sleeve, what's on offer here is some excellent upbeat Kraftwerk clones from around the same period.

Fans of electronic music will love this. There are quite a few elements of 'Sylvian's Japan' present which is understandable considering it was released in the same year as 'Tin Dum' with the help of Sakamoto. 'BGM' is, however, far more electronic and seems to exist in a world of its own. The drums and percussion are as straight as a die, the vocals are androgynous and surprisingly Steve Strange-like. The keyboards are colourful but very early 80's sounding. All of which points in the direction of Kraftwerk.

A more than decent album like all of their recordings up until 1983.

A number of people have wondered if YMO really belong on a "progressive" webiste. It's true that this as virtually nothing to do with "King Crimson" or "Genesis" or "Canterbury Scene". But let's face it. Progression doesn't have to be done with rock instrumentation only. Case in point this, one of the all time greatest synthesizer albums. Forget the Kraftwerk comparisons for a minute. I love the hell out of KW but they simply didn't have the talent or ingenuity of YMO. This is certainly technopop of the highest order but there is so much going on behind the scenes, some of which you can't hear unless you've got the right system. The overall sound is murky but this was a very conscious decision. Songs like "Camoflague" and "Music Plans" have a skittering, dark feel to them that take several listens to fully digest. And one of the tracks is basically a symphony ("Mass") with electronic beats. You want to talk progressive? Nobody was using an 808 in 1981 for Christ's sake. "1000 Knives" gives you a big dose of the 808 behind one of Sakamoto's earliest compositions, and the result is something incredible. Certainly you've seen people breakdance to beats like this but the frantic synth stabs behind it are something that is rarely heard. YMO was certainly at a highpoint creatively with this - they had enough left over for another album the same year, also a classic.