Yellow Magic Orchestra

[Anonymous]

I Know FireCracker/Computer Games and Tighten Up but could anyone recomend anything else by them please???

[Noman]

Well you've mentioned the "highlights".

Check out the former of YMO - Ryuichi Sakamoto. He has been very productive. The album "Beauty" is highly recommended. He's done a lot of strange music but most of it is very good.

[ComputerDisco]

"Solid State Survivor" is probably the best full-through album, although "Absolute Ego Dance" - which is right in the middle, is a distinctly low point. But most of the other tracks - "Technopolis," "Rydeen," "Insomnia", "Behind the mask," and the title track are excellent.

It's also been reissued recently with a very high quality master.

I also recently got a double album of theirs recorded in 1984 - "Naughty Boys/Instrumental." They're mostly the same tracks, except that "Naughty Boys" has (mostly Japanese language) lyrics on it, while "Instrumental" is just that - except that some of the tracks really expand greatly on small themes on "Naughty Boys."

Best songs there, IMO, are "Expected Way," "Kai-Koh," and "Ongaku" - but one of the best on there is the heavily expanded "You've got to help yourself" instrumental. A 4 minute version of something that's only a few seconds on "Naughty Boys."

This later stuff sounds a bit like Gary's Gang.

The early stuff, on the debut album and "Solid State Survivor" is their best work.

If you like them, you'll also like Telex - a Belgian band who's work is remarkably similar.

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by Noman

Well you've mentioned the "highlights".

Check out the former of YMO - Ryuichi Sakamoto. He has been very productive. The album "Beauty" is highly recommended. He's done a lot of strange music but most of it is very good.

Sakamoto's 'Riot In Lagos' was a big tune on the Electro scene here in the UK - revived three years on from its 1980 release.