Yellow Magic Orchestra

Look up any interview with these three musicians, small in stature but towering in stature otherwise: their voices articulate calm, affable, almost sly words, as if a mocking glance rested on the traces of a greatness they pretend not to understand. But there's no trick to it: it's the humility of genius, of true intelligence, the kind possessed by those who give birth to a masterpiece and then have a laugh about it. But perhaps they genuinely don't realize that "Solid State Survivor" is a hapax of electronic music as a whole, a record that managed to relaunch the entire musical landscape of a country on a global scale. They'd deserve monuments, medals of honor, iconography and memorabilia hung on the walls of Hard Rock Cafes the world over; but come to think of it, they don't need any of that. The stage costumes, the set designs, the pioneering graphic effects were, for them, mere divertissement. Their real weapons were scores and synthesizers. No image-boosting scaffolding, no commercial compromise, just the authenticity of one of the most creative and fruitful partnerships in the history of music. So, within the space of two years, the three friends who dreamed of Düsseldorf crossed the ocean and set sail for the most distant, long-coveted markets, European and American, first haunting small dingy London clubs, then filling grand international Odeons. Japanese techno-pop caused a sensation, and success was immediate.

Ryuichi Sakamoto (a pianist since the age of four, a recent graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts as a composer of excellence, as well as an expert in traditional Japanese music) was still at an early stage in his studio and live experience, while Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi had already spent years working in projects oriented toward jazz and the most varied rock hybridizations. Their bond began as that of session musicians, first on Hosono's solo albums and then on Sakamoto's debut work, "Thousand Knives". The creative atmosphere, increasingly blending the potential of its creators, conceived those brilliant melodic intuitions that would soon lead not only to the band's consolidation but also to a sudden spike in popularity. Cage's experimental spirit, the lightness of the Beatles and the formalism of Kraftwerk were the cornerstones underpinning this peculiar blend of sugary electronics with sounds from every corner of the world: Asian and exotic, eclectic and ironic.

The most eccentric and rich turns took place on their self-titled debut album from 1978, a record that sounds like a triumph of drum machines, sequencers and winning compositions from all three members of the trio: cutting-edge synthetic instrumentation through which Oriental-flavored melodic lines unfolded, spiced up by playful, psychedelic effects, frenetic beats and flashes not only of jazz, but also disco and Caribbean sound. A debut brimming with surprisingly effective ideas, which were meticulously refined on the following album, perhaps their true masterpiece.

"Solid State Survivor" brings order to that creative flow, presenting clean, tidy, perfectly structured arrangements. The chemistry is at its peak and the three personalities seem to have merged into a single genius, so much so that each member's contributions are indistinguishable: every sonic piece is in its place and the melodies are nothing short of memorable. The impression is that of a commercial turning point, especially given the immediacy that characterizes every single track; "Technopolis" is the absolute example of this: an anthem to an avant-garde Tokyo, first through meticulous vocal fragmentation, then through its now-historic main theme, evocative and luminous, while the rhythm section spares no invitation to dance, aided also by the diachronic, alienating electronic engineering of Hideki Matsutake, the band's "unofficial" fourth member. What follows proceeds along the same sinuous line: the bizarre, dense synthetic blasts fill every second of "Absolute Ego Dance", where flute-like verses overlap in a headlong rush toward futurism, with brilliant Arabesque touches and a vaguely trance-like echo. An energetic drive (a tribute to a historic sumo wrestler and a famous animated robot, both sharing the same name) takes shape with "Rydeen", one of the band's signature tracks: once again the main melodic line (very disco-oriented) sounds like the theme song of a '70s anime: exemplary in its build-up (complete with a trotting horse) to the legendary chorus, immersed in an impressive tangle of meticulous sequencers that infuse feverish dynamism and complete the brilliant work of a drum part that was already remarkably driving on its own.

The record's obsessive rhythm is soothed by an unexpected arrival: "Castalia" (inspired by Tarkovsky's film "Solaris") is a splendid electric ambient ballad, with only a hushed beat sustaining its dark, choral, cosmic melody, touched with classicism through sparse piano interventions.

After this brief pause, the record sheds its languor and picks back up the path it was originally set on. "Behind The Mask" is not only one of the band's most famous tracks, but one of Sakamoto's most accomplished compositions: the psychedelic, almost spectral chorus is accompanied by dreamlike sound fragments and a slow, enveloping rhythm, punctuated by the recurring robotic verses of Chris Mosdell. The alternation between melodic tension and ballad-like concessions gives the track a versatility that would go on to show itself not only in Sakamoto's numerous electronic and classical reworkings, but also in the pop/rock tributes by Eric Clapton and Michael Jackson, who, in his version, would give more room to the lyrics.

There's even room for a cover: the Beatles' "Day Tripper" is interpreted through Takahashi's processed, sobbing vocals, accompanied by classic electric bass, liquid keyboards and Makoto Madoka's guitar right up front, even given room for a solo.

After the dark, nocturnal “Insomnia”, written by Hosono alone, the album reaches a joyful conclusion with a digital-punk piece of dreamy, cybernetic character: “Solid State Survivor” is a shining new wave new wave essay that manages to keep a solid dance groove despite plentiful guitar distortion, vocal cacophony and a decadent vocal delivery.

Never lapsing into preciousness or the slightest crowd-pleasing shortcut, the magical yellow orchestra succeeded in fusing a thousand cultures and sounds, polishing it all with an extraordinary and utterly original patina of Japanese-ness — their true trademark, the thing that made them famous the world over. A deluxe blueprint for a popular product, a dazzling banner for a new kind of music that outlives technology and trends, proving an unyielding interpretive flexibility and tirelessly confirming a success that has made history.

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21/08/2011