YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA

With the return of synth-wave, also known as chillwave or vapourwave, we are drowning in keyboard nostalgia. I'm not the one who will complain because I embrace this style with open arms. As the grandfather of synthpop, YMO gaved us some thick and juicy songs with Solid State Survivor. While Kraftwerk (bless their hearts) is pioneering electronica, I never really cared for it; their bland and repetitive soups are quickly boring me. Okay, we get it. You're sad mannequins behind keyboards. On the other side, YMO is colorful, quirky, jumpy and surprisingly sunny. A more attractive approach, to me at least.

Feeling like a blend of The Cars, Kraftwerk, Daft Punk and DEVO, YMO were creative and full of textures. I'm frankly surprised this was made in 1979. I didn't believe it at first, checking on the Internets for more input. Wow!

A musical cartoon on record, for those who enjoy vintage mangas and electronic wizardry. Short but sweet.

Whereas their former opuses are rather playful and could be compared to KRAFTWERK, "BGM" sees the band definitely entering the 80's by offering dark/cold-wave compositions and weaving icy synthetic soundscapes. The title of the album means "BackGround Music", but the music is only partially ambient, as we will see. To be honest, this is also one of the most experimental opuses of the band. The seventies games are now over.

The beginning of the record is curiously not the most interesting. "Ballet" is cold synth-pop tune with a few French spoken words, followed by the robotic "Music Plans", a bit harsh and average with its dated drum sounds. Then come the strangest compositions of the disc. The messy and dissonant "Rap Phenomena" is a bizarre mixture of various atmospheres, including a cheesy Japanese rap. Concerning "Happy End", the music has absolutely no relation to the title. First, this is not the end of the album, and second, this is not happy at all but rather an even weirder ambient experimental piece, mimicking glass sounds. Fortunately arrives now the best track, "1000 Knives". A futuristic opening, a fun ambiance, pre-breakdance beats and playful oriental melodies, no doubt, only a member of YMO could have composed this. In fact, this version is an upbeat and concise reinterpretation of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Thousand Knives", released 3 years earlier. Refreshing and ahead of its time!

The second half of the record is more homogeneous. "Cue" is robotic cold wave with a slight DAVID BOWIE's feel, whereas the energetic cold-wave "U.T" is darker. "Camouflage" could be described as a ramshackle crossing between KRAFTWERK and Detroit techno, and you can imagine listening the pulsating new-wave "Mass" while playing a vintage video-game. The disc ends with the light aerial "Loom", an ambient track in the style of BRIAN ENO. Enjoyable, but not remarkable. At least, "background music" is an appropriate term here.

What can be said about this curious album? For sure, it's uneven, contains weaker moments, but definitely proves that YMO remains an influential pioneering electronic band at the dawn of the eighties. They searched to evolve and did not want to reproduce the musical recipes of their first records. Even if the final result is not always perfectly balanced, the ideas are various and still present. Adapting their style to then nascent cold/dark-wave ambiances was not as easy, however this opus possesses some pretty cool futuristic and icy passages.

Not the disc to start with for newcomers, nonetheless recommended to fans of the band or early 80's electronic music adventurers.

"Yellow Magic Orchestra" is one of the first synth-pop albums, mixing the then nascent pre-techno music of KRAFTWERK with prehistoric video-game sonorities, exotic and Asian melodies. For their debut album, the band were already very creative and innovative at the time, as such musical marriages were entirely new for the the late 70's. Once said, how does it look like?

The two "Computer Game" pieces are fun short compilations of ancient computer and console games sounds, with a few known themes. The playful KRAFTWERK-ian "Firecracker" is in fact a cover the orientalist composition of the same name by Martin Denny. Cool and refreshing. Even if the chosen electronic sonorities contrast a little with the voluptuous ambiance and the jazzy piano, the strange "Simoon" remains enjoyable. However, the tropical "Cosmic Surfin'" is the best track of the record. A fruity electronic energetic tune, with a bass sounding a bit hip-hop!

"Tong Poo" comes in fact from a Chinese song created during the China's cultural revolution. It pre-dates 80's synth-pop and may have inspired eighties' French pop band RITA MITSOUKO. Concerning the robotic and naive "La Femme Chinoise", this track may have influenced this time VISAGE for their well-known hit single "Fade to Grey", with its pre-new wave sonorities and French spoken words. "Bridge Over Troubled Music" is just an ambient transition for the futuristic "Mad Pierrot". An uneven composition, with varied synthesizer sounds.

Compared to the rest of the disc, the bonus track "Acrobat" is rather optional.

"Yellow Magic Orchestra" is a joyful and colorful album in the nascent electronic musical landscape of the late 70's, containing many different ideas that will be reused in the next decade. The music have influenced different styles, such as video-game music, Detroit Techno, hip-hop or even maybe modern experimental electro-pop bands such as STEREOLAB for example. With their first effort, YMO were already considered as pionneers, presenting an Asian and fun response to KRAFTWERK.

An essential listen for synth-pop and vintage computer music lovers, or if you just want a refreshing and original cocktail of various ingredients.

The tunes and vocals are actually very pleasant to my ears, but I'm sure most Prog aficionados will have their hair standing on end and toes curled up in a cramp whilst listening to this synthetic plastic android mess.

The last Yellow Magic Orchestra worth finding. Even then, it may alienate many fans due solely to it's easy listening pop sensibilities. Brilliant production, excellent keyboard separation with decent tunes, but YMO really were light hearted clown buffoons at this point in their careers, with the singular aim of fame and fortune.

It didn't really quite come off, but Ryuichi Sakamoto did have his 15 minutes of glory while starring with Bowie in the excellent film 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' from the same year.

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.