Yellow Magic Orchestra was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music. They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, and digital recording technology, and effectively anticipated the "electropop boom" of the 1980s. They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, including synthpop, J-pop, electro, and techno, while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.
Uwe H. Schmidt, also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He was active in the development of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton music. In the nineties, Schmidt moved to Chile and developed part of his career there, adopting the alias Señor Coconut.
Haruomi Hosono, sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades as well as pop music outside of Japan. He also inspired genres such as city pop and Shibuya-kei, and as leader of Yellow Magic Orchestra, contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous electronic genres.
Yukihiro Takahashi was a Japanese musician, singer, record producer, and actor, who was best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band. He was also a member of the group Metafive.
BGM is the fourth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released on March 21, 1981. The title stands for "Background music", though Japanese TV and press advertising alternately used "Beautiful Grotesque Music". This album was produced by Haruomi Hosono. Recording started on January 15, 1981, in an effort to release the album by March 21, 1981. The album was the first of any kind to feature the Roland TR-808, one of the earliest programmable drum machines; YMO had already been the first band to use the device, featuring it on-stage as early as 1980. In addition to the TR-808, this was also their first studio album recorded with the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer.
Technodelic is the fifth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1981. The album is notable for its experimental approach and heavy use of digital samplers which were not commonly used until the mid-to-late 1980s, resulting in a more minimalist and avant-garde sound compared to their previous work.
Neuromantic is Yukihiro Takahashi's self-produced 1981 album and featured his YMO colleagues Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards, as well as contributions from Tony Mansfield of New Musik and Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay. The title is a pun on the early 1980s British fashion movement, the New Romantics.
Technodon is the eighth and final studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra and released in 1993, a decade after the band's original breakup. Because the name Yellow Magic Orchestra was owned by former record label Alfa Records, the band were forced to release the album under the name YMO. For the tour that followed, they were billed as Not YMO. Future releases by the band would be made under the names Human Audio Sponge and HASYMO.
Alfa Records Inc., originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records in 1977. A short-lived American subsidiary operated from 1980 to 1982.
Kuniyuki Takahashi is a Japanese DJ and music producer, sound engineer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
Sketch Show was a Japanese electronic music duo formed in 2002 by two of the three former members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. In some live shows, Ryuichi Sakamoto joined in band performances, which eventually led to the three readopting the YMO name in the latter half of the decade.
Audio Sponge is the debut album by the electronica duo Sketch Show.
Takako Minekawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and writer.
Wild Sketch Show is a live video album by Sketch Show. It features a mix of Sketch Show songs and Yellow Magic Orchestra songs performed in the Sketch Show style. Sketch Show were joined by fellow YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as two guitarists and two keyboardists. This is the only live show released under Sketch Show's name.
Loophole is the second album by Sketch Show.
EUYMO – Yellow Magic Orchestra Live in London + Gijón 2008 is a live album compilation by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It collects two live double-disc YMO albums, LONDONYMO – Yellow Magic Orchestra Live in London 15/6 08 and GIJÓNYMO – Yellow Magic Orchestra Live in Gijón 19/6 08. It is performed in the style that the group built up as Sketch Show and as HASYMO. Unlike all other YMO live albums, these only have three songs from YMO albums. Most of the songs played are Sketch Show/HASYMO material, as well as songs from the individual members' solo careers. Two tracks are performed in the way they were on the "Tribute to Haruomi Hosono" album. Both albums are very similar, with the main distinction between them being GIJÓNYMO having its songs on a different order, fewer songs, and "Riot in Lagos" being performed differently.
Paraiso is Haruomi Hosono's fourth solo album and Yellow Magic Band's first album. This album continues the tropical style of Hosono House, Tropical Dandy and Bon Voyage co., while being influenced by the music of Hawaii and Okinawa, incorporating electronic sounds that would be later developed on Hosono's and YMO's careers. YMO, The Yellow Magic Band at this point in time, was composed of Tin Pan Alley members and studio musicians, such as Hosono's former Happy End bandmate Shigeru Suzuki and future YMO members Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, as well as guitarist Hirofumi Tokutake.
This is the discography of Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO).
Mellow Waves is the sixth studio album by Japanese musician Cornelius. It was released on June 28, 2017 by Warner Music Japan. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and it reached the top ten of the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan and the Billboard World Albums chart in the United States.
Murdered by the Music is Yukihiro Takahashi's second solo album, released when he was a member of YMO. As well as his YMO bandmates Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, and longtime YMO collaborator Hideki Matsutake this album also features contributions from Sandii and Makoto Ayukawa of Sheena & the Rokkets.
