Album Review
November 3, 2024
Album cover for Yellow Magic Orchestra by Yellow Magic Orchestra (Japan, 1978), courtesy of Alfa Records.
“Are you a wake-up revolution out of the impression / You make on the modulation, Susie Wong and girl.” With these closing lines of “Mad Pierrot,” the final track on the U.S. release of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s debut album, listeners are left with a provocative message. It’s almost a challenge — an invitation to break free from surface impressions and see past the Orientalist stereotypes that, in the late 1970s, were still all too common in Western portrayals of Japanese culture.
Yellow Magic Orchestra, or YMO, was founded on experimentation and defiance. With the founding trio — Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi — leading the way, the group embraced playing with and even subverting stereotypes. Their debut album, released on November 25, 1978, began as a one-off project inspired by the “exotica” genre. “Exotica” is a music genre from the 1950s and 1960s when Western composers created works that imitate sounds from distant regions, particularly Asia and tropical areas, often featuring simplistic and stereotyped undertones.
YMO’s debut album is a playful homage to, and critique of, how the West often perceives Japanese culture. From start to finish, it’s an intricate electronic soundscape that both nods to these stereotypes and turns them inside out.
The album opens with “Computer Game (Theme From The Circus),” a burst of arcade-inspired sounds that instantly sets a playful, surreal tone. This track feels like stepping into a video game arcade, with sound effects swirling around the listener, making you question if the music is coming from within or around you. YMO drew inspiration from early games like Space Invaders and Circus, tapping into the emerging video game culture of the time. The sense of energy and unpredictability here established YMO as sonic visionaries ahead of their time, much like Kanye West did decades later with the frantic, disorienting opener “On Sight” for his 2013 album Yeezus.
A big part of YMO’s unique sound came from the Roland MC-8 microcomposer, which allowed for an unusual level of control over its overtones and rhythms. Although it was designed for studio use, YMO took it on stage, with Hideki Matsutake (often considered the “fourth member”) running it live. Matsutake would load data from cassette tapes in real time, ensuring each performance had a distinctive edge. In that sense, the album is completely “sample-free” by today’s standards, with every sound effect and melody meticulously recreated by hand. Matsutake provided synthesizers and programmed patches to mimic arcade waveforms, creating near-perfect covers of these game sounds in 1978 before digital samplers even existed.
Next is “Firecracker,” a reimagined take on Martin Denny’s 1959 exotica classic. It’s probably the album’s most “Japanese” sounding track, thanks to its orchestral sound and Sakamoto’s piano outro. YMO’s “Firecracker” peaked at 17 on the UK Singles Chart and 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. It quickly entered the burgeoning hip-hop scene, particularly in the Bronx, where Afrika Bambaataa sampled it on his 1983 track “Planet Rock.” It also impacted Detroit techno and even extended to pop, where it was sampled on Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Real” and the original version of Mariah Carey’s “Loverboy.”
“Simoon,” the album’s third track, brings a dreamy, laid-back vibe with delicate synth lines and a touch of jazz from Sakamoto. It’s the first track with vocals and feels almost cinematic, like a scene out of Star Wars. Years later, this smooth, nostalgic sound laid the groundwork for mellow video game soundtracks—think “9 AM” from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The vocals were delivered through the VC-10 vocoder by Shun’ichi “Tyrone” Hashimoto.
Then there’s “Cosmic Surfin’,” which lightens the mood with its breezy, surf-rock vibe. Originally a rework of Hosono’s earlier track under the same title, it combines futuristic synths with a Western surf rock feel, playfully commenting on how YMO approached “Asianness” from a Japanese perspective. Exotica was on its way out when surf rock started booming in the ‘60s, so this track’s ironic twist makes it feel both nostalgic and fresh.
The brief interlude “Computer Game (Theme From The Invader)” marks a return to the video game-inspired motifs that opened the album. At just over a minute long, the track serves as a sonic reset, much like a loading screen between levels in a game, hinting that the record’s second half will continue the exploratory sonic journey.
“Tong Poo,” the sixth track, opens the album’s second part with a complex, layered sound that’s hard to forget. The track’s intricate rhythms and shifting melodies reveal Sakamoto’s background in classical composition and jazz. It captures a Stevie Wonder-like vibe, reflecting the experimental energy of Songs in the Key of Life. By the end of the track, we’re led into a smooth transition to the next piece.
“La Femme Chinoise,” or “The Chinese Woman,” dives back into YMO’s exploration of Orientalist themes, but with a clever twist. This is the only track featuring unaltered vocals from Takahashi, which gives it a strikingly human touch amidst all the synths. This also highlights YMO’s potential as a vocal group, not just an instrumental one. Adding a guitar behind the main synth line creates a dynamic, layered effect, making this track stand out. It’s the only track on the album to feature unaltered vocals by Takahashi, highlighting YMO’s potential as a vocal group, not just an instrumental one.
As we near the end, “Bridge Over Troubled Music” steps into more experimental territory. It flows more as a a soundscape than as a track, featuring some of the album’s darkest and most haunting sounds. But just as it feels like we’re drifting into eerie territory, lighter synths break through, guiding us back toward the album’s more playful tone.
Finally, “Mad Pierrot” closes the U.S. version with a funky, mischievous spirit. The track brings each member’s skills into the spotlight, blending deep vocals, crisp drums, sparkling keyboards, and an impressively tight bass line. The lyrics—“Now we’re welcome to generation out of the impression / You make on the operation, Susie Wong and dolls”—seem to comment on breaking out of stereotypes. Susie Wong, referencing the character from the 1957 novel The World of Suzie Wong, had become a Western symbol of Asian femininity, often simplified and exoticized.
The Japanese version wraps up with “Acrobat,” an unpredictable and perfectly fitting finale to this musical journey. Like a skilled circus performer, the track twists and reimagines elements from earlier tracks, turning them into something fresh and unexpected. By this point, listeners might think they’ve gotten a handle on YMO’s style—but just as they settle in, the band surprises them again. It’s a lively, exciting closer that leaves you feeling both satisfied and wanting more, capturing the playful, innovative spirit that defines the whole album.
The album’s success catapulted Yellow Magic Orchestra to international fame. Unlike most bands, where unknown talents come together to make a name for themselves, each YMO member was already a major player in Japan’s music scene.
After its initial release in Japan, the album caught the attention of U.S. label A&M Records, which remixed and released it worldwide in 1979. The US album cover features a Geisha in a traditional kimono holding a fan, but with a twist: her head is surrounded by colorful, swirling electric cables.
The album’s 1978 release coincided with Japan’s arcade game boom, and YMO’s influence on the gaming world was profound. Their music inspired generations of Japanese game composers, marking the beginning of Japan’s rise as a powerhouse in both music and tech. Yet, despite their pioneering impact, YMO remains relatively unknown in the English-speaking world—a gap fans hope to close through continued appreciation and sharing of their work.
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