Artificial Radio Hour with Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill Part 42

Hey folks!

Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi

This week’s show is music from Japan! It’s mainly electronic-based music from Yellow Magic Orchestra and associated acts, but there are a few other interesting bits thrown in.

The Mops!

So after last week’s return trip to Latin America, I decided to go to Japan. I was going to just do one show and try and cover all the bases, but I quickly realized that I have at least two shows worth of Japanese music. (This means a garage/psych show featuring Japanese bands is in the works!)

Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals), and Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals)

The core of this show is the band Yellow Magic Orchestra. Formed in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, it was a supergroup of sorts as he and the other band members (Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi) had already been working in the music industry for many years.

The Yellow Magic Band, relaxing

They had worked together in various ways, but the first time they all worked together was recording Hosono’s 1978 “exotica-flavored” synthesizer-laden album Paraiso. They were credited as “Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band” apparently as a satire of Japan’s obsession with black magic at the time. The track “Shambala Signal” comes from that recording.

Hosono recorded a series of Exotica-styled albums with a loose association of artists under the name Tin Pan Alley after his band Happy End broke up in 1974. After Paraiso, he recorded Cochin Moon, a soundtrack to an imaginary Bollywood film. This featured the track “Hum Ghar Sajan”, perhaps the first example of an electronic raga.

Yukihiro Takahashi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Haruomi Hosono

Yellow Magic Orchestra was hugely successful in Japan and internationally. They are considered innovators in the field of electronic pop music. They were one of the first bands to incorporate video game sounds, and later the favor was returned when cover versions of their song “Rydeen” appeared in more than one video game.

Hideki Matsutake

Isao Tomita

The unofficial “fourth member” of YMO was Hideki Matsutake, a composer, arranger, and computer programmer. He was primarily responsible for the synth programming on the early YMO albums, using techniques he had learned under “classical electronic” superstar (Isao) Tomita whose assistant he had been. Matsutake formed the group Logic System in 1981 with Makoto Irie, and they have released 10 albums to date.

"Takoyaki (たこ焼き or 蛸焼) is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. Takoyaki are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito."

- Wikipedia

As for the Takoyaki Song, I don’t really have much info.

Katamari Damacy (塊魂 Katamari Damashii, lit. "clump spirit") was a PlayStation 2 game from 2004 that was a whole lot of fun. You had to roll a sort of sticky ball around the world, and stuff would stick to it, making it bigger. You had a time limit to build it up to a certain size, so that your father, the King of the Cosmos, could turn it into a star to replace the stars he had accidentally destroyed. Only things smaller than the ball would stick to it, so initially you’d roll up stuff like matches and coins, work your way up to bikes and sharks and people, then later cars, buildings, ocean liners, and finally the Moon. It was amazing. The music, by Yuu Miyake, is as fun as the game itself.

Himuro Yoshiteru is an electronic music musician and DJ from Japan, but I don't know much about him past that. Wikipedia isn't a whole lot of help either:

"His style is often described in the media as very playful. It consists of finely chopped, fast rhythms in combination with jazzy bass and synthesizer lines and 8bit sounds (like video game music). In this area he is one of the prominent Japanese musicians of this time. In his Live Acts he uses primarily his laptop, MIDI controllers and effects processors."

That's what Wikipedia calls a "stub".


Leave a question or comment where you read this, and I'll talk to you next week!

Enjoy!

-Rev. Dr. Dr. Phill

The Sea Named "Solaris" (Based on Three-Part Invention No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 788; Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639) - Tomita (1978)

Intro - Logic System (1981)

XY? - Logic System (1981)

Citizens Of Science - Yellow Magic Orchestra (1980)

Shambhala Signal - Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band (1978

Jordan, Jesse, Go! Episode 457: Wet Spot with Janine Brito 12/05/2016

Rydeen - Yellow Magic Orchestra (1979)

たこやきのうた (Takoyaki Song) - 宇高香里とたこボールキッズ (Utaka Kaori & Tako Ball Kids) (2011)

Paraiso - Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band (1978)

Non-Standard Mixture - Haruomi Hosono (1984)

Stop Podcasting Yourself Episode 446 - Taz VanRassel 10/03/2016

“Katamari Nah-Nah" (ナナナン塊 Nananan Katamari) (Katamari Damacy Main Title) - Yuu Miyake (2004)

"The Moon & The Prince" (月と王子) (Katamari Damacy Bear Stage) - Akitaka Tohyama (vocals by Kenji Ninuma & Fumina (chorus)) (2004)

One Day Of The Beetle - Himuro (2004)

The Jackie and Laurie Show -  Start With A Dead Guy 10/03/2016

Hum Ghar Sajan - Haruomi Hosono & Tadanori Yokoo (1978)

Dark Side Of The Star / 地球の夜にむけての夜想曲 - Haruomi Hosono With Friends Of Earth (1984)