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.
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.
×∞Multiplies is a mini-album and the third studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra released in 1980. It contains a mixture of songs and instrumentals by YMO, interspersed with comedy sketches. These sketches are performed by Snakeman Show in both Japanese and English, with YMO participating in some of them.
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.
Service is the seventh studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released on December 14, 1983. The band dissolved the following year after a world tour, but would later reform in 1993 for a one-off reunion album, Technodon. Like ×∞Multiplies, it contains a mixture of YMO songs and comedy sketches performed by Super Eccentric Theater, or S.E.T. The first Dutch/German edition of the album omitted the sketches, effectively cutting the album's length in half. In 1999, the album was remastered under Hosono's supervision with new liner notes provided by lyricist Peter Barakan.
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.
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.
UC YMO: Ultimate Collection of Yellow Magic Orchestra is a compilation album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. The songs were selected by keyboardist and pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album was also released as a premium edition. The premium edition came with a long-sleeved white shirt emblazed with the yMo logo as well as a yMo bandana that the band wore on the 1980 world tour 'From Tokio to Tokyo', along with a special Liner Notes Booklet and an autographed print by drummer and sometimes singer, Yukihiro Takahashi. It was cataloged as MHCL 291-4 and sold in Japan for 21,000 yen.
WORLD TOUR 1980 is a live album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It was recorded during the band's 1980 international tour. This is the only YMO live album to include songs originally released on X∞Multiplies; it also features six songs from YMO members made for other projects and two covers. It was released, with a book with photographs taken during the tour, as both a 2-CD set and a 3-LP set, which had a bonus track. "Jiseiki Hirake Kokoro" was originally made for a Fujifilm cassette commercial. It was included in Snakeman Show's self-titled album in mono so that the lyrics, which reference Fujifilm cassettes, could not be understood properly; it was presented here in stereo, and was included in the UC YMO compilation.
WINTER LIVE 1981 is a live album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It was recorded during the band's 1981 tour of Japan during the winter season of November and December 1981. A set of performances were first released in Betamax and VHS in 1983, featuring illustrations by Yakov Chernikhov. This is the only YMO live album from the BGM/Technodelic era of the group ; although this album only features one song that wasn't in either BGM or Technodelic, YMO also performed "Technopolis" and "Rydeen", as well as more songs from BGM and Technodelic and the unreleased "Loop".
Technodon Live is a live album by Yellow Magic Orchestra. It was recorded on the band's second and last show at the Tokyo Dome in 1993, and is the only full music album of the band's Technodon era. It is composed mostly of Technodon material with a few songs from Yellow Magic Orchestra and Solid State Survivor performed in the Technodon style. During the live performance, special audio effects were performed by Goh Hotoda, who also mixed both Technodon & this album, and computer graphics created by Daisaburo Harada were projected on a screen on the back of the stage.
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.
Saravah! is Yukihiro Takahashi's first solo album. It is named after Pierre Barouh's record label of the same name. Takahashi conceived the album during his tenure on The Sadistics; he based his music on French pop music, this influence would later show up on early Yellow Magic Orchestra material. Besides Takahashi, this album features performances by members of The Sadistics, YMO and Tin Pan Alley. Due to the album being made before YMO members started using computers, Sakamoto got involved in arranging the music; all the keyboard parts on the album are dubbed instead of sequenced.
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.
What, Me Worry?, released in 1982, is Yukihiro Takahashi's fourth solo album. As well as his YMO bandmates Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, this album features guest appearances by Zaine Griff, Tony Mansfield, and Bill Nelson.
