Technodelic

Production

Most of the sampling was made with an , a custom-built digital sampler developed by Toshiba-EMI engineer Kenji Murata. The LMD-649 was the first PCM digital sampler, capable of playing and recording PCM samples with a 12-bit audio depth and 50 kHz sampling rate, stored in 128 KB of dynamic RAM memory. It also had sampling drum machine capabilities. Notable samples used include Indonesian gamelan music and short looped vocals ("paa", "fuku", "chiki") for percussion in "Seoul Music", Indonesian kecak chanting in "Neue Tanz", and the final two tracks feature industrial factory noises. The LMD-649 was later used by other Japanese synthpop artists in the early 1980s, including YMO-associated acts such as Chiemi Manabe and Logic System in 1982.

The album also features use of speech through a two-way radio, a prepared piano, a Roland TR-808 drum machine (previously used in BGM), and Prophet-5 synthesizers. In another departure from previous albums, Haruomi Hosono has a more prominent role playing the bass guitar as opposed to playing bass lines on synthesizers (this trend will appear again on the album Service).

As with many of YMO's releases, song titles are printed in both Japanese and English. For "Seoul Music", the kanji "京城" are used, referring to Gyeongseong (경성; known as Keijou in Japan), the name of Seoul when Korea was under Japanese rule. "灯" refers to the light of a lantern. "Neue Tanz" is German for "New Dance", while "Taisō" is Japanese for "gymnastics" or "calisthenics".

For its single release, the track "Taisō" was given a music video directed by Haruomi Hosono and Norimasa Okumura. The video features the members of YMO, dressed in uniforms designed by Yukihiro Takahashi, along with Takahashi's then manager Hiromi Kanai performing calisthenics against various chroma key backdrops, parodying real-world televised calisthenics broadcasts in Japan.

Track listing

Peter Barakan

Personnel

Yellow Magic Orchestra – Arrangements, Electronics, Sampler, Mixing engineers, Producers

• Haruomi Hosono – Bass, Synth Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
• Ryuichi Sakamoto – Keyboards, Vocals
• Yukihiro Takahashi – Vocals, Drums, Electronic drums

Guest musicians

• Hideki Matsutake – Technical assistance
• & Akihiko Yamazoe – Equipment
• Peter Barakan – Lyrics, Transceiver Voice on "Pure Jam"

Staff

• – Executive Producer
• Mitsuo Koike – Recording & Mixing engineer
• Yoshifumi Īo – Assistant Engineer
• Hiroshi Yuasa (JVC Cutting Center) – Mastering engineer
• Kazusuke Obi – A&R Coordinator
• Yōichi Itō & Hiroshi Ōkura – Management
• Plan-New Werk – Creative Services
• – Art director, Photography

Charts

References

References

1. (16 June 2012). "Proto Synthpop Turned Yellow Magic Orchestra Into Godfathers of Electro". [[Wired (magazine).
2. (2004-01-08). "Yellow Magic Orchestra, Technodelic".
3. "Yellow Magic Orchestra - Technodelic".
4. (2 April 2023). "Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Borderless Brilliance". [[Pitchfork (website).
5. (6 August 2021). "Yellow Magic Orchestra: Explorations, Part 1 (1978-1981) Part II". Analog Planet.
6. Carter, Monica. (2011-06-30). "It's Easy When You're Big In Japan: Yellow Magic Orchestra at The Hollywood Bowl". The Vinyl District.
7. Condry, Ian. (2006). "Hip-hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization". [[Duke University Press]].
8. {{Discogs release. 4389700. 不思議・少女
9. {{Discogs release. 703523. Orient Express
10. Yoshimura, Eiichi. (2020-02-05). "Winter Live 1981". GT Music.
11. Yellow Magic Orchestra. (2020-04-22). "Taiso (Official Music Video)". [[Alfa Music]].
12. "Yellow Magic Orchestra". Yamachan Land (Oricon archives).