I am from the real generation. YMO was formed in 1969 by Haruomi Hosono's group Happiendo, and since 1973 they have been active as the backing band for numerous works under the name Caramel Mama. The song "Yellow Magic Carnival" is one of the first songs in the album. The "Happi End" group's musical sensibilities were too far ahead of their time to be accepted by the general public, but only by a core group of people. One of the group members was a musician named Eiichi Otaki. He released "A LONG VACATION" in another musical career, and "Kimi wa natu-iro" was his breakthrough song in Japan in 1981. The song is refreshing. The song is a true story about Eiichi Otaki and how he felt when he nursed his younger sister when she was ill and had to carry her around on his back. The younger sister passed away at a very young age. Eiichi Otaki also passed away in 2013. This is a very good album. Haruomi Hosono formed Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 and was a member of drummer Yukihiro Takahashi's group "Sadistic Mika Band. Yukihiro Takahashi was in charge of costumes for YMO. Ryuichi Sakamoto was considered a genius in the Department of Musical Biano at Tokyo University of the Arts at the time. He was a friend of Yukihiro Takahashi, so he participated in the event. The album was released in London in December 1979 and became a hit, changing the music scene in Japan by being imported back into the country. The tempo of the song "Raideen" was The tempo of the song "Raideen" was inspired by the sound of horses running in the battle scene in Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". YMO related series. Chris Mosdell, the poet who wrote all the lyrics to the early YMO songs, released the album "EQUASIAN" in 1982. EQUASIAN" and more. Other releases around this time include. Mariah's experimental rock album, formed in 1983 with Yasuaki Shimizu. Mariah/Utakata no Hibi This is a Japanese-style album with a strange tempo. This is Yasuaki Shimizu's second solo album. Scarecrow. This album symbolizes the atmosphere of the times, incorporating techno and rock. As a side note, I have met Mr. Haruomi Hosono, and his grandfather aboard the Titanic. He was saved by holding on to a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
One reason the sounds are unique compared to today is that this was 1978, and YMO were using lots of analog rather than digital synths. Analog synths, especially modular ones like the Moog III-C and the Korg PS-3100, are going to be harmonically natural and "fatter." It's like comparing a vinyl record to a CD. Each sound was often more difficult to produce because you're plugging physical patch cords into oscillators, low frequency oscillators, filters, and amplifiers.
Hi, Caroline! Yellow Magic Orchestra is my favorite band, and I was already excited when you made that video a few months back reacting to random songs by them on UA-cam (including two videos I uploaded on another account!) and even more excited when you uploaded this. I might be biased here, but I think if you continue reacting to their discography it will be extremely worthwhile, since their sound transformed so much in the short time they were together. In that way I feel like they are truly comparable to the Beatles, even if they seem like a novelty synth band on the surface. The 'Computer Games' tracks may seem a bit overwhelming, and well, that’s because they are, and I don’t blame you for not being into them! But it’s also worth noting that for those tracks, the band didn’t simply sample actual arcade cabinets (they tried to but couldn’t figure out how to mic it). They actually recreated all of the sounds on their synthesizers. Which is a monumental feat by 1978 standards. I’ll also mention that the version of the album is not actually the original version, but rather a version that was released in 1979 for the US market and remixed by American producers to be a bit more suited for the disco club. The mix is not that much different from the original, but the US version of Tong Poo has vocals in the bridge that aren’t in the original Japanese version you reacted to in your first video. They were performed by Minako Yoshida, a labelmate of YMO’s who made lovely jazzy singer-songwriter stuff. The original Japanese version of the album also has an additional track after Mad Pierrot titled Acrobat, which is like a more musically traditional version of the Computer Game themes. Also, to answer your question at the end of the video, you basically nailed it. For this album, they hired a guy who specialized in sequencing synth and electronic drum patterns named Hideki Matsutake, and when they went out on the road they couldn’t do it themselves, so they brought Hideki with them. He’d usually be at the back of the stage operating a ginormous computer which would replicate the intricate sequences you hear on the studio recordings, and Yukihiro Takahashi (the band’s drummer) would drum over them with a live drum kit. Speaking from experience, it is insanely difficult to drum over an electronic sequence, but Takahashi is simply one of the best drummers out there, and has been called "the human metronome" for a reason. Anyways, clearly I love YMO, and I really enjoyed watching someone so passionate about the ins and outs of crafting music listen to them for the first time, even moreso than I did with your Beatles videos. If you continue with their discography, I’ll be sure to tune in and leave a comment on each video. :) Cheers from California!
It's a sunny Saturday morning. I get up, log into my computer, and there's a Call Me Caroline video in my notification list. The day just got even sunnier! 😎
Wow I'm so glad you chose this album! Gave me a great excuse to go back and re-listen. It's wild to think how ahead of its time this was. Plus I always love how you end up dancing along to these tracks.
Such a great choice to react to YMO and go completely left field with the choice of artists. Helps the audience discover them too, rather than us just watch you discover something we've always known
I had this album sitting on my hard drive and had sort of forgotten about it, but this video inspired me to go and play the album again... so much fun! I hope you can react to more YMO albums in the future.
Great to see you back Caroline. Also great work you are doing with Jazza, when I saw you on his page it was like my worlds coming together as I follow both of you. I love both music and other art forms. Great analysis!
Welcome back, Caroline! The individual members of YMO had interesting and varied backgrounds, but in the mid-late 70s there was a lot of nostalgic music evoking the 20s and 30s floating around. The original concept behind YMO seemed to be to carry that forward and blend it with new synth technology arriving on the scene. So yeah -- come up with a sticky melody, drop it into a 20s jazz arrangement, set it to a 70s disco backbeat, deliver it all on state of the art synths and away you go! As others mention, their next couple of albums are stronger overall. I hope you extend the reaction series (and try more snacks!)
YMO must've obsessed with Kraftwerk at some point or another. The 1st thing I'd ever heard remotely like this was Autobahn by Kraftwerk. And what was that, 1974 or so ? Thank you, Caroline !! 🚬😎
So cool. The synth has made such a contribution to the world of music over the past 50 years. So many great sounds coming from that invention, that the synth has even changed how some legendary bands, (RUSH, GENESIS), approached their craft. Amazing! Thanks for another fun reaction Caroline! 😊☮
And Dont forget The Moody Blues. Justin Hayward is a beautiful song writer and has one of the best voices in the genre, but just think of Knights in White Satin without Pinder. Whole different song.
It's very fun watching this and watching your reactions. I remember my first reaction when I played this (when it was first released in the US). And I thought -- this is certainly the music of the future! I imagined one day I would have a party with lots of people and this album would be the soundtrack (that never happened. Mainly because I'm an introvert). Still sounds great. And although I've heard this album a hundred times, I'm hearing new nuances through your video. thanks!
Great vid. I would love to see how you react to the live performance of their songs, and making comparisons. Like RYDEEN at Greek Theatre back in 1979 vs RYDEEN 79/07 back in 2007.
they were inspired by chiptune music from the early arcade machines , you can hear some samples of those machines in some of the songs. but they were also inspired heavily by Kraftwerk. lots of the famous Japanese arcade and console games music took que from them afterwards... if you check their members wiki - they worked in composing music for games themselves.
Watching your reactions to music is always enjoyable. You rapidly assimilate music upon listening - this is a great skill as a musician. It always takes me awhile to become comfortable with various musical genres or even bands. Strangely, this is not the case with your own songs - which I was drawn to almost immediately. One thing that often distracts me at length, that some find pleasant, is a droning effect - like with a bag pipe or sitar. So far in this music, the drone effect is captured by the percusion - the frenetic droning beat. Interesting. But it seems to create a continuing constant tension - which could be either good or bad, depending on what you look for in music. I suppose, once accustomed to it, it could create a resassuring affect in the consistency. Great to watch your reactions as always.
Please listen to some Jean-Miichel Jarre, an electronic artiste who's core is that of a classical composer. I think he would be more up your street with his albums Oxygene and Equinoxe and although everything is electronic, you can sense that there is a classical composer behind it all as he layers some wonderful soundscapes to lose yourself in. After all, his father, Maurice Jarre was a famous classical composer as well as a film score composer, scoring such high profile films as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Passage to India, amongst others.
That music is so far out of my musical comfort zone that it's difficult to know what to make of it on a first half listen. Nice video though, always good hear new things.
The Iero Magic Orchestra was the The first concert in Japan was held at Nakano Sun-plaza around 1977, but it was not accepted. At that time, new music, Yumi and Mayo Shono were popular. Yukihiro Takahashi was the drummer of Sadis Mika Band and played the piano for the song "Ieromagic Alley" by Hosono Bandtimbang Alley, which became the starting point of YMO. Yukihiro Takahashi was the owner of the fashion brand Bricks, and he was also in charge of the costumes. At the time, it was not accepted. They decided to go overseas and were accepted as the front runners in London, and they were recognized around the world. I had met Haruomi Hosono-san in 2000. Mr. Hosono's grandfather was a passenger on that Titanic and saved the day with a Louis Vuitton suitcase. If Louis Vuitton had not had it, there would have been no YMO.
Hey, greetings from Polska! Any chance you could react to The Kinks (for example The Village Green album)? They're like the most underrated band ever (but sound similar to The Beatles). Please consider doing this. Cheers.
Well, anyone who likes 60's and later rock likes the Kinks. They just somehow have this "under the radar" vibe despite having had so many well-known hits and great songs. I've no doubt that she would love them. I mean, Waterloo Sunset! Lola! You Really Got Me!
Ray is a flat out genius. Talk about absolutely nailing the English culture he grew up in. Songs like "Get Back In the Line" shows his passion for the working class while he pokes fun at the idle rich with songs like "Sunny Afternoon" And is there a more beautiful song than Waterloo Sunset? And Dave is criminally under rated as a guitarist. His work in "Victoria" for example. His guitar drives that song from beginning to end. Yea a person can do worse than giving the Kinks a real shot
So glad to see you back! This music is not really my kind of thing, but interesting nevertheless. I'd like to put in a request once again for you to listen to Aurora from Norway. I think you'll really enjoy her music.
Wow! I k ow it probably wasn't me, but when I suggested that Caroline review Yellow Magic Orchestra's computer game. Well I have Original bought Japanese version my brother brought back from Japan in 1979. Wow! Thank you so much Caroline. This along with Kraftwerk (Pocket calculator) started road to discovering synth pop, alternative, new wave, new romantics, all just at it was beginning in late '70s!
Sooo... Until today, I thought I had Computer Game by YMO mixed with Computer Games by Mi Sex in my head. TIL that I had Firecracker mixed. Both were peripheral to my youth in the late 70. But just to be sure for the comment that I knew what I was talking about, I went back and listened to both singles. The single version of Computer Game by YMO contains Firecracker. Now a memory I'm not sure I wanted is something I now have to think about. Heck with it, I'm going to listen to Pop Muzik by M.
You should listen to Germany’s Kraftwerk, (“Man Machine”, “Computer World”) sometime… originators of the template of much of YMO’s music… also, France’s Jean-Michel Jarre, specifically his “Zoolook” album… an obvious YMO influence.
YMO is really a band I can have eras of my life I only listen to them haha They're great musicians, the live versions add new elements sometimes like some funky guitar which I love and it works super well on their songs most of the time. Cosmic Surfin' and Tong Poo have alternate versions that I would recommend you listen to because they're so different and yet remain the same at the core while really being different songs with different moods: it' "Cosmic Surfin" (or "コズミック・サーフィン" ) from Haruomi Hosono's Pacific album and the reworked version of "Tong Poo" by Akiko Yano (a talented musician who accompanied YMO on tour and was married to one of the band members, her albums are quite a ride to experience as well!) Encore: Simoon (i pronounce it like "Simon" of Simon and Garfunkel, in French it is a first name, idk if in English it's other than a last name, but I love the imagery of that first name mixed at the end with the word "moon", it's a very melancholic title for this song in my mind)
Hey Caroline, good to see you back doing reaction videos. That first song had me thinking "Hmmm...sounds a bit like George Harrison's Electronic Sound album," Actually, when I hear that kind of stuff it reminds me of Pete Townshend's experiments with the ARP synthesizer in the early 70s or even Todd Rundgren's "Breathless" from Something/Anything.
I enjoy YMO and have became a fan a couple of years ago. I suggest you also listen to their album x Multiplies and the song Nice Age. I enjoy your observations for the album.
If you have, Caroline an affinity for electronic music, why not listen to perhaps the most famous electronic music creator Jean-Michel Jarre You can listen to the masterful album, "Oxygen" or "Magnetic Fields" I'm sure you will be excited about these albums and more.
Unbelievable! You are listening/ reviewing YMO! I found electronic music first through Donna Summer (and Giorgio Moroder). I was so much into that synth sound so I wanted to find more. First I founf Jean Michel Jarre, then Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk and finally Yellow Magic Orchestra. I still think these are one of the best ever electronic music bands even these 4 were only the pioneers of everything that came after them!!! I would want someone (maybe you @CallMeCaroline) to listen 1 album from each of these groups about from the same time (1978 - 79 would be very good year! J-M Jarre - Equinoxe, Tangerine Dream - Force Majeure, Kraftwerk - Man Machine and YMO - Yellow Magic Orchestra) and maybe we would all get a perfect understanding about the meaning of all these albums and these 4 artists and bands.
Electronic music goes way back to the early 20th century, especially when vacuum tubes were invented and instruments like the theremin could be invented. Listen to pioneer EM musician Clara Rockmore's "The Art of the Theremin." She was playing since the 1920s, but released her album in 1977. Wendy Carlos's 1968 "Switched-On Bach" was a pioneering EM album, reaching #10 in the US and winning several Grammy awards. In the 70s you had a real explosion with people and groups like Jean Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Tomita, Klaus Schulze, and Human League (early albums). If you want to listen to something really cool, try the group Chris & Cosey (aka Carter Tutti). I recommend listening to Trance (1982) which is on UA-cam.
I'll add Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgar Varèse as examples of electroacoustic composers working completely within the avant-garde world. Also Olivier Messiaen, who championed the Ondes Martenot, a very rare instrument now with a wide range of expressive capabilities. His wife's sister Jeanne Loriod was the most famous player of the instrument.
(I took a class on electroacoustic music years ago, that was my first real exposure to using samples in a DAW, I had to make some of my own compositions at the time. :P That's why some names have stuck in my mind this whole time.)
what a happy reaction! smiley, shiny room, japanese snacks :) i love mad pierrot. plz keep on. do you know 3 dancing girls on techno music, called Perfume? plz try!
Happy Easter to you Caroline and as I've caught you early on for a change let me remind you that you should catch 'Goodbye' on the Super deluxe version of Abbey Road because you'll !ove it as it rivals Blackbird ! And please don't overlook Walls and Bridges , Imagine or Band on the Run! Take it slow don't tire yourself!
You mentioned the drums being natural and artificial, i think some PETER GABRIEL solo stuff would really be the next stop for you. Hes the master of making you feel like you're in a new place and home at the same time. I think alot of the viewers on the channel would really like that journey as well.
Well, and to invoke a well-regarded UA-cam music critic, that was weird! Of course you were never likely to follow up your epic Beatles reaction series with something similarly "serious", not quite yet at least, and you do have this whole other "fun" pop/video game reaction video side, so way to make a "comeback" from your premature micro-retirement phase! But yeah, given the hauntingly beautiful and breezily uptempo songs on your recently released album, delivered with your exquisite vocal stylings (I've always wanted to use that term), that was weird. 🤨 Time to revisit Revolution #9, perhaps? Yeah, I know, too traumatizing, so NEVER! (Don't worry, we don't listen to it much either, it's more of an inside joke than anything, still too weird to describe.) Incidentally, first use of a video game sound in a pop/rock song that I know of was in Supertramp's The Logical Song, at the 3:23 mark, off their album Breakfast in America, which was hugely popular at the time. I'm pretty sure that it was from a similarly popular handheld video game that was supposed to simulate playing American-style football. Very primitive and cheesy by today's standards but it was so cool back then. Oh, and I hope you're well-rested and the promotion of your album is going well!
Well, if anything the most apropos Brubeck album for her to react to after she "took five" would have been "Time Out". But, she's too cool for that jazz...
Maybe you could disclose what weird album you will have your sights set on next ... it would give your followers a chance to prepare and acquire suitable snacks!
Haruomi Hosono's first group was Pappy End was too far ahead of its time and was only accepted by core fans. Eiichi Otaki, a member of the group, wrote the poem "You're a Natural Color," which reminded him of his actual sister's illness. It is a gorgeous song, but the poem is sad. album is also good. After the breakup of the group Tempan Alley and studied world music. The album is Caramel Mama is good. Yukihiro Takahashi was in Sadys Mika Band It's a psychedelic song. recommended to watch.
I want that banana Kit Kat! / What's interesting about "Firecracker" is that they're doing something from Martin Denny. If you look at that album cover, it says "the exotic sounds of Martin Denny". They're doing their interpretation of an American interpretation of something Japanese, or "exotic". /"Simoon" has a Brazilian samba feel. / The song I like from this album most is "Mad Pierrot"! You said it best: cool!/ Yes, do the next album, "Solid State Survivor", I like that album better, actually. I usually don't put a Yellow Magic album on and leave it on, I cherrypick tracks, so there's no one album I can really say is my fave. But "Solid State" has a few faves.
After growing up with the likes of Walter/Wendy Carlos and the GENIUS Tomita I just cant take this band all that seriously. It's kind of like obsessing on Pat Boone singles after experiencing Abby Road. And yes there is that much of a difference in creative ability. To each their own I guess ;) And man because of Tomita I really wanted to like these guys and gave them a real shot. I was desperate for someone to carry on and help expand the genre. I Kept telling myself they arent Tomita so stop comparing them, but it was too late. I finally realized why my symphonic cellist father just found a lot of pop music boring. Heh, he tried to steer me away from The Beatles by buying me a Dave Brubeck album. He became a reluctant fan tho when Revolver came out and he loved Abby Road, go figure
@@group-music Fair enough. You caught me doing something I did years earlier in my life with ABBA. First song I heard was Dancing Queen. I categorized them as "Disco" and dismissed them utterly. Years later Fernando came on the car radio and I sat in my driveway and listened till it was over and my jaw dropped when the DJ announced it was ABBA. Been a fan ever since. So yea you made a valid point. It's a matter of genre for me tho. I dont deny these guys may be genius, any more than I would deny Bill Monroe or Earl Scruggs are geniuses. Or Tupak Shakur for that matter. (And they definitely are) Now Ill listen to Flatt and Scruggs or The Osborne Bros. all day, but contemporary county? Ill pass ;) And Im sure there are great writers and musicians in modern country also. Just boils down to what you like I guess. I posted out of frustration mainly because Tomita especially is so deserving of more recognition but people always default to later synth groups kinda like UA-camrs always default to any Pink Floyd stuff from DSOTM on, dismissing the large body of work that came before their break through album. And I dont think its a stretch to say Tomita and Carlos helped pave the way for groups like LMO in some small part at least. And yea, outside of Japan Tomita is only known for his covers (But man what covers! Revolutionary!) But before he did Snowflakes are Dancing Tomita was a VERY successful score composer for Japanese film and TV. Classical music was his passion tho and he wanted to interpret it in his own way.
@@sonnymaupin9267 Hideki Matsutake, an indispensable programmer for the early YMO, was a disciple of Tomita's. The three members of YMO have confessed to being shocked by Tomita. The three members of YMO have a long history of solo work, from Grammy award-winning music to corny comic songs, and they have all taken their music seriously and presented its possibilities to the world. I hope you open a different door and see the world anew! Thank you.
For your next series you should do Pink Floyd! Another band like the beatles whose sound changed a lot from start to finish over the albums, Dark Side Of The Moon is an almost perfect album
I noticed a BIG(!!!) difference in the number of views you have while reviewing Beetle albums vs everything else. I think you need to cut the Beetles a check. (half joking)
I am from the real generation.
YMO was formed in 1969 by Haruomi Hosono's group Happiendo, and since 1973 they have been active as the backing band for numerous works under the name Caramel Mama.
The song "Yellow Magic Carnival" is one of the first songs in the album.
The "Happi End" group's musical sensibilities were too far ahead of their time to be accepted by the general public, but only by a core group of people. One of the group members was a musician named Eiichi Otaki.
He released "A LONG VACATION" in another musical career, and "Kimi wa natu-iro" was his breakthrough song in Japan in 1981. The song is refreshing.
The song is a true story about Eiichi Otaki and how he felt when he nursed his younger sister when she was ill and had to carry her around on his back. The younger sister passed away at a very young age. Eiichi Otaki also passed away in 2013. This is a very good album.
Haruomi Hosono formed Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 and was a member of drummer Yukihiro Takahashi's group "Sadistic Mika Band. Yukihiro Takahashi was in charge of costumes for YMO.
Ryuichi Sakamoto was considered a genius in the Department of Musical Biano at Tokyo University of the Arts at the time.
He was a friend of Yukihiro Takahashi, so he participated in the event. The album was released in London in December 1979 and became a hit, changing the music scene in Japan by being imported back into the country.
The tempo of the song "Raideen" was
The tempo of the song "Raideen" was inspired by the sound of horses running in the battle scene in Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai".
YMO related series. Chris Mosdell, the poet who wrote all the lyrics to the early YMO songs, released the album "EQUASIAN" in 1982.
EQUASIAN" and more.
Other releases around this time include.
Mariah's experimental rock album, formed in 1983 with Yasuaki Shimizu. Mariah/Utakata no Hibi
This is a Japanese-style album with a strange tempo.
This is Yasuaki Shimizu's second solo album.
Scarecrow.
This album symbolizes the atmosphere of the times, incorporating techno and rock.
As a side note, I have met Mr. Haruomi Hosono, and his grandfather
aboard the Titanic.
He was saved by holding on to a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
One reason the sounds are unique compared to today is that this was 1978, and YMO were using lots of analog rather than digital synths. Analog synths, especially modular ones like the Moog III-C and the Korg PS-3100, are going to be harmonically natural and "fatter." It's like comparing a vinyl record to a CD. Each sound was often more difficult to produce because you're plugging physical patch cords into oscillators, low frequency oscillators, filters, and amplifiers.
Interesting. I had no idea this was that old. I actually thought it was fairly recent. Not my cup of tea but at least I learned something new!
We both share a love for YMO. Their song “Perspective” is a big favorite in my house. Thanks for the wonderful reaction.
Hi, Caroline! Yellow Magic Orchestra is my favorite band, and I was already excited when you made that video a few months back reacting to random songs by them on UA-cam (including two videos I uploaded on another account!) and even more excited when you uploaded this. I might be biased here, but I think if you continue reacting to their discography it will be extremely worthwhile, since their sound transformed so much in the short time they were together. In that way I feel like they are truly comparable to the Beatles, even if they seem like a novelty synth band on the surface.
The 'Computer Games' tracks may seem a bit overwhelming, and well, that’s because they are, and I don’t blame you for not being into them! But it’s also worth noting that for those tracks, the band didn’t simply sample actual arcade cabinets (they tried to but couldn’t figure out how to mic it). They actually recreated all of the sounds on their synthesizers. Which is a monumental feat by 1978 standards.
I’ll also mention that the version of the album is not actually the original version, but rather a version that was released in 1979 for the US market and remixed by American producers to be a bit more suited for the disco club. The mix is not that much different from the original, but the US version of Tong Poo has vocals in the bridge that aren’t in the original Japanese version you reacted to in your first video. They were performed by Minako Yoshida, a labelmate of YMO’s who made lovely jazzy singer-songwriter stuff. The original Japanese version of the album also has an additional track after Mad Pierrot titled Acrobat, which is like a more musically traditional version of the Computer Game themes.
Also, to answer your question at the end of the video, you basically nailed it. For this album, they hired a guy who specialized in sequencing synth and electronic drum patterns named Hideki Matsutake, and when they went out on the road they couldn’t do it themselves, so they brought Hideki with them. He’d usually be at the back of the stage operating a ginormous computer which would replicate the intricate sequences you hear on the studio recordings, and Yukihiro Takahashi (the band’s drummer) would drum over them with a live drum kit. Speaking from experience, it is insanely difficult to drum over an electronic sequence, but Takahashi is simply one of the best drummers out there, and has been called "the human metronome" for a reason.
Anyways, clearly I love YMO, and I really enjoyed watching someone so passionate about the ins and outs of crafting music listen to them for the first time, even moreso than I did with your Beatles videos. If you continue with their discography, I’ll be sure to tune in and leave a comment on each video. :)
Cheers from California!
It's a sunny Saturday morning. I get up, log into my computer, and there's a Call Me Caroline video in my notification list. The day just got even sunnier! 😎
Wow I'm so glad you chose this album! Gave me a great excuse to go back and re-listen. It's wild to think how ahead of its time this was. Plus I always love how you end up dancing along to these tracks.
Yay! You're back!
Next, please review the album *Solid State Survivor* 🙏
Such a great choice to react to YMO and go completely left field with the choice of artists. Helps the audience discover them too, rather than us just watch you discover something we've always known
I had this album sitting on my hard drive and had sort of forgotten about it, but this video inspired me to go and play the album again... so much fun! I hope you can react to more YMO albums in the future.
Great to see you back Caroline. Also great work you are doing with Jazza, when I saw you on his page it was like my worlds coming together as I follow both of you. I love both music and other art forms. Great analysis!
One of my favorite albums ever, so great to watch a reaction of it, especially such a thorough and intelligent reaction! :)
Gotta give this a listen, sounds like a fun album!
Welcome back, Caroline! The individual members of YMO had interesting and varied backgrounds, but in the mid-late 70s there was a lot of nostalgic music evoking the 20s and 30s floating around. The original concept behind YMO seemed to be to carry that forward and blend it with new synth technology arriving on the scene. So yeah -- come up with a sticky melody, drop it into a 20s jazz arrangement, set it to a 70s disco backbeat, deliver it all on state of the art synths and away you go! As others mention, their next couple of albums are stronger overall. I hope you extend the reaction series (and try more snacks!)
YMO must've obsessed with Kraftwerk at some point or another. The 1st thing I'd ever heard remotely like this was Autobahn by Kraftwerk. And what was that, 1974 or so ?
Thank you, Caroline !!
🚬😎
So cool. The synth has made such a contribution to the world of music over the past 50 years. So many great sounds coming from that invention, that the synth has even changed how some legendary bands, (RUSH, GENESIS), approached their craft. Amazing! Thanks for another fun reaction Caroline! 😊☮
And Dont forget The Moody Blues. Justin Hayward is a beautiful song writer and has one of the best voices in the genre, but just think of Knights in White Satin without Pinder. Whole different song.
It's very fun watching this and watching your reactions. I remember my first reaction when I played this (when it was first released in the US). And I thought -- this is certainly the music of the future! I imagined one day I would have a party with lots of people and this album would be the soundtrack (that never happened. Mainly because I'm an introvert). Still sounds great. And although I've heard this album a hundred times, I'm hearing new nuances through your video. thanks!
Great vid. I would love to see how you react to the live performance of their songs, and making comparisons. Like RYDEEN at Greek Theatre back in 1979 vs RYDEEN 79/07 back in 2007.
they were inspired by chiptune music from the early arcade machines , you can hear some samples of those machines in some of the songs.
but they were also inspired heavily by Kraftwerk.
lots of the famous Japanese arcade and console games music took que from them afterwards... if you check their members wiki - they worked in composing music for games themselves.
Welcome back. I missed you every day.ita wonderful to see you so happy. The music was far out.
I would agree with far out haha
Watching your reactions to music is always enjoyable. You rapidly assimilate music upon listening - this is a great skill as a musician. It always takes me awhile to become comfortable with various musical genres or even bands. Strangely, this is not the case with your own songs - which I was drawn to almost immediately. One thing that often distracts me at length, that some find pleasant, is a droning effect - like with a bag pipe or sitar. So far in this music, the drone effect is captured by the percusion - the frenetic droning beat. Interesting. But it seems to create a continuing constant tension - which could be either good or bad, depending on what you look for in music. I suppose, once accustomed to it, it could create a resassuring affect in the consistency. Great to watch your reactions as always.
Never heard of them before your videos… funky AF!
Please listen to some Jean-Miichel Jarre, an electronic artiste who's core is that of a classical composer. I think he would be more up your street with his albums Oxygene and Equinoxe and although everything is electronic, you can sense that there is a classical composer behind it all as he layers some wonderful soundscapes to lose yourself in.
After all, his father, Maurice Jarre was a famous classical composer as well as a film score composer, scoring such high profile films as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Passage to India, amongst others.
That music is so far out of my musical comfort zone that it's difficult to know what to make of it on a first half listen. Nice video though, always good hear new things.
Just got into them recently! Great stuff
The Iero Magic Orchestra was the
The first concert in Japan was held at Nakano Sun-plaza around 1977, but it was not accepted.
At that time, new music, Yumi and Mayo Shono were popular. Yukihiro Takahashi was the drummer of Sadis Mika Band and played the piano for the song "Ieromagic Alley" by Hosono Bandtimbang Alley, which became the starting point of YMO. Yukihiro Takahashi was the owner of the fashion brand Bricks, and he was also in charge of the costumes.
At the time, it was not accepted. They decided to go overseas and were accepted as the front runners in London, and they were recognized around the world.
I had met Haruomi Hosono-san in 2000. Mr. Hosono's grandfather was a passenger on that Titanic and saved the day with a Louis Vuitton suitcase. If Louis Vuitton had not had it, there would have been no YMO.
Hey, greetings from Polska! Any chance you could react to The Kinks (for example The Village Green album)? They're like the most underrated band ever (but sound similar to The Beatles). Please consider doing this. Cheers.
Well, anyone who likes 60's and later rock likes the Kinks. They just somehow have this "under the radar" vibe despite having had so many well-known hits and great songs. I've no doubt that she would love them. I mean, Waterloo Sunset! Lola! You Really Got Me!
Ray is a flat out genius. Talk about absolutely nailing the English culture he grew up in. Songs like "Get Back In the Line" shows his passion for the working class while he pokes fun at the idle rich with songs like "Sunny Afternoon" And is there a more beautiful song than Waterloo Sunset? And Dave is criminally under rated as a guitarist. His work in "Victoria" for example. His guitar drives that song from beginning to end. Yea a person can do worse than giving the Kinks a real shot
Caroline, it's good to see you back on UA-cam! Virtual hugs coming your way!! 🤗
interesting album. definitely hooked me in and will give them more listens.
So glad to see you back! This music is not really my kind of thing, but interesting nevertheless. I'd like to put in a request once again for you to listen to Aurora from Norway. I think you'll really enjoy her music.
Wow! I k ow it probably wasn't me, but when I suggested that Caroline review Yellow Magic Orchestra's computer game. Well I have Original bought Japanese version my brother brought back from Japan in 1979. Wow! Thank you so much Caroline. This along with Kraftwerk (Pocket calculator) started road to discovering synth pop, alternative, new wave, new romantics, all just at it was beginning in late '70s!
yellow magic orchestra is so great!
Sooo... Until today, I thought I had Computer Game by YMO mixed with Computer Games by Mi Sex in my head. TIL that I had Firecracker mixed. Both were peripheral to my youth in the late 70. But just to be sure for the comment that I knew what I was talking about, I went back and listened to both singles. The single version of Computer Game by YMO contains Firecracker. Now a memory I'm not sure I wanted is something I now have to think about. Heck with it, I'm going to listen to Pop Muzik by M.
Firecracker is credited to Martin Denny but the melody is actually an old Chinese folk song. La Femme Chinoise has a similar origin.
You should listen to Germany’s Kraftwerk, (“Man Machine”, “Computer World”) sometime… originators of the template of much of YMO’s music… also, France’s Jean-Michel Jarre, specifically his “Zoolook” album… an obvious YMO influence.
IMO Tong Poo has a strong Stevie Wonder vibe, both sonically and rhythmically. I bet they were listening to Songs In The Key Of Life around this time.
YMO is really a band I can have eras of my life I only listen to them haha
They're great musicians, the live versions add new elements sometimes like some funky guitar which I love and it works super well on their songs most of the time.
Cosmic Surfin' and Tong Poo have alternate versions that I would recommend you listen to because they're so different and yet remain the same at the core while really being different songs with different moods: it' "Cosmic Surfin" (or "コズミック・サーフィン" ) from Haruomi Hosono's Pacific album and the reworked version of "Tong Poo" by Akiko Yano (a talented musician who accompanied YMO on tour and was married to one of the band members, her albums are quite a ride to experience as well!)
Encore: Simoon (i pronounce it like "Simon" of Simon and Garfunkel, in French it is a first name, idk if in English it's other than a last name, but I love the imagery of that first name mixed at the end with the word "moon", it's a very melancholic title for this song in my mind)
Hey Caroline, good to see you back doing reaction videos. That first song had me thinking "Hmmm...sounds a bit like George Harrison's Electronic Sound album," Actually, when I hear that kind of stuff it reminds me of Pete Townshend's experiments with the ARP synthesizer in the early 70s or even Todd Rundgren's "Breathless" from Something/Anything.
PS: loved the breakdown of the synth. Encore: Mad Pierrot or Simoon.
Never listening to them before but some of these songs are pretty cool.
I enjoy YMO and have became a fan a couple of years ago. I suggest you also listen to their album x Multiplies and the song Nice Age. I enjoy your observations for the album.
Caroline, I would love for you to react to some Beach Boys Tracks, especially "Caroline, No" because it has your name 😁
If you have, Caroline an affinity for electronic music, why not listen to perhaps the most famous electronic music creator
Jean-Michel Jarre
You can listen to the masterful album, "Oxygen" or "Magnetic Fields" I'm sure you will be excited about these albums and more.
Unbelievable! You are listening/ reviewing YMO!
I found electronic music first through Donna Summer (and Giorgio Moroder). I was so much into that synth sound so I wanted to find more. First I founf Jean Michel Jarre, then Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk and finally Yellow Magic Orchestra. I still think these are one of the best ever electronic music bands even these 4 were only the pioneers of everything that came after them!!!
I would want someone (maybe you @CallMeCaroline) to listen 1 album from each of these groups about from the same time (1978 - 79 would be very good year! J-M Jarre - Equinoxe, Tangerine Dream - Force Majeure, Kraftwerk - Man Machine and YMO - Yellow Magic Orchestra) and maybe we would all get a perfect understanding about the meaning of all these albums and these 4 artists and bands.
Great to see you back! I hope all is well.
Electronic music goes way back to the early 20th century, especially when vacuum tubes were invented and instruments like the theremin could be invented. Listen to pioneer EM musician Clara Rockmore's "The Art of the Theremin." She was playing since the 1920s, but released her album in 1977. Wendy Carlos's 1968 "Switched-On Bach" was a pioneering EM album, reaching #10 in the US and winning several Grammy awards. In the 70s you had a real explosion with people and groups like Jean Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Tomita, Klaus Schulze, and Human League (early albums). If you want to listen to something really cool, try the group Chris & Cosey (aka Carter Tutti). I recommend listening to Trance (1982) which is on UA-cam.
I'll add Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgar Varèse as examples of electroacoustic composers working completely within the avant-garde world.
Also Olivier Messiaen, who championed the Ondes Martenot, a very rare instrument now with a wide range of expressive capabilities. His wife's sister Jeanne Loriod was the most famous player of the instrument.
(I took a class on electroacoustic music years ago, that was my first real exposure to using samples in a DAW, I had to make some of my own compositions at the time. :P That's why some names have stuck in my mind this whole time.)
Also, Bebe and Louis Barron's film score to 1956's sci-fi film, Forbidden Planet.
what a happy reaction! smiley, shiny room, japanese snacks :)
i love mad pierrot.
plz keep on. do you know 3 dancing girls on techno music, called Perfume? plz try!
I feel the purchase of a synth coming.... (or will you go for a soft synth?).
It is not an Arpeggiator mounted on an analog synthesizer! The Arpeggiator you are saying is a programming sequence sound by Roland MC-8!
Oo not heard this before either. Exciting times!
Edit: That was FUN!
If you wanna get adventurous in electronic music check out Brian Eno and also Rick Wakeman. Nice video!
Happy Easter to you Caroline and as I've caught you early on for a change let me remind you that you should catch 'Goodbye' on the Super deluxe version of Abbey Road because you'll !ove it as it rivals Blackbird ! And please don't overlook Walls and Bridges , Imagine or Band on the Run! Take it slow don't tire yourself!
You mentioned the drums being natural and artificial, i think some PETER GABRIEL solo stuff would really be the next stop for you. Hes the master of making you feel like you're in a new place and home at the same time. I think alot of the viewers on the channel would really like that journey as well.
Check out "The Mo - Fred Astaire", one of amazing 80's synth pop from Dutch. You'll love it.
You should check out The Electric Light Orchestra.
Sounds like my kids when they were struggling for control of the keyboard.
Bought this album the day it came out…
Well, and to invoke a well-regarded UA-cam music critic, that was weird!
Of course you were never likely to follow up your epic Beatles reaction series with something similarly "serious", not quite yet at least, and you do have this whole other "fun" pop/video game reaction video side, so way to make a "comeback" from your premature micro-retirement phase!
But yeah, given the hauntingly beautiful and breezily uptempo songs on your recently released album, delivered with your exquisite vocal stylings (I've always wanted to use that term), that was weird. 🤨
Time to revisit Revolution #9, perhaps? Yeah, I know, too traumatizing, so NEVER! (Don't worry, we don't listen to it much either, it's more of an inside joke than anything, still too weird to describe.)
Incidentally, first use of a video game sound in a pop/rock song that I know of was in Supertramp's The Logical Song, at the 3:23 mark, off their album Breakfast in America, which was hugely popular at the time. I'm pretty sure that it was from a similarly popular handheld video game that was supposed to simulate playing American-style football. Very primitive and cheesy by today's standards but it was so cool back then.
Oh, and I hope you're well-rested and the promotion of your album is going well!
I'm glad you've found sometime to entertain us, now onto something more "normal" if you get my drift😁👍
Maybe you could listen to the 20 greatest albums of all time? There' are greatest album lists by for example NME or Rolling Stone.
Love La Femme Chinoise
私は40年以上、YMOを聴き続けています。
Most of this actually sounds cool 😎
I can't wait for you to react to PaulMc Cartney's RAM album
The first song is a reproduction of this.
ua-cam.com/video/zJ6rDMEJg58/v-deo.html
I love "Mad Pierrot".
R.I.P. Yukihiro Takahashi
Have you ever heard the synth version of Claude Debussy by Isao Tomita. Snowflakes are Dancing.
Encore: Simoon, also I would like to request a video on jazz impressions of Japan by the Dave Brubeck Quartet if that’s not too forward cheers
Well, if anything the most apropos Brubeck album for her to react to after she "took five" would have been "Time Out". But, she's too cool for that jazz...
Maybe you could disclose what weird album you will have your sights set on next ... it would give your followers a chance to prepare and acquire suitable snacks!
🎶🎶🎶👌👌👌🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️👏👏👏
If you like that stuff, you should check out Sevish or Max Ox
You might like Frank Zappa. Check out the album Hot Rats.
I did not like any of this music. 😆 But I love YOUR love and knowledge of music. Why I watch your videos. 👍🏼
🤣🤣
nice one
Please react to greek rock music. If you wanna i can send links on UA-cam to hear one of the good ones. You gonna like the Greek rock music.
I thought you were gonna do ABBA next?
素晴らしい
You should check out The Seaside by Cardiacs!
You should listen the album "Computer World" by Kraftwerk, its a cool album that have a YMO vibes but its a early album thath YMO
Pierrot is French for a kind of (sad) white doll/marionet/clown, pronounced pee-air-row. ;-)
You should react to Solid State Survivor
That aint no Beatles song! Ha ha!!!
Haruomi Hosono's first group was
Pappy End was too far ahead of its time and was only accepted by core fans. Eiichi Otaki, a member of the group, wrote the poem "You're a Natural Color," which reminded him of his actual sister's illness. It is a gorgeous song, but the poem is sad.
album is also good.
After the breakup of the group
Tempan Alley and studied world music. The album is
Caramel Mama is good.
Yukihiro Takahashi was in Sadys Mika Band
It's a psychedelic song.
recommended to watch.
Can you react to sloans twice removed :)
Try 10000 maniacs very good music
I want that banana Kit Kat! / What's interesting about "Firecracker" is that they're doing something from Martin Denny. If you look at that album cover, it says "the exotic sounds of Martin Denny". They're doing their interpretation of an American interpretation of something Japanese, or "exotic". /"Simoon" has a Brazilian samba feel. / The song I like from this album most is "Mad Pierrot"! You said it best: cool!/ Yes, do the next album, "Solid State Survivor", I like that album better, actually. I usually don't put a Yellow Magic album on and leave it on, I cherrypick tracks, so there's no one album I can really say is my fave. But "Solid State" has a few faves.
Que pesadilla...
After growing up with the likes of Walter/Wendy Carlos and the GENIUS Tomita I just cant take this band all that seriously. It's kind of like obsessing on Pat Boone singles after experiencing Abby Road. And yes there is that much of a difference in creative ability. To each their own I guess ;) And man because of Tomita I really wanted to like these guys and gave them a real shot. I was desperate for someone to carry on and help expand the genre. I Kept telling myself they arent Tomita so stop comparing them, but it was too late. I finally realized why my symphonic cellist father just found a lot of pop music boring. Heh, he tried to steer me away from The Beatles by buying me a Dave Brubeck album. He became a reluctant fan tho when Revolver came out and he loved Abby Road, go figure
@@group-music Fair enough. You caught me doing something I did years earlier in my life with ABBA. First song I heard was Dancing Queen. I categorized them as "Disco" and dismissed them utterly. Years later Fernando came on the car radio and I sat in my driveway and listened till it was over and my jaw dropped when the DJ announced it was ABBA. Been a fan ever since. So yea you made a valid point. It's a matter of genre for me tho. I dont deny these guys may be genius, any more than I would deny Bill Monroe or Earl Scruggs are geniuses. Or Tupak Shakur for that matter. (And they definitely are) Now Ill listen to Flatt and Scruggs or The Osborne Bros. all day, but contemporary county? Ill pass ;) And Im sure there are great writers and musicians in modern country also. Just boils down to what you like I guess. I posted out of frustration mainly because Tomita especially is so deserving of more recognition but people always default to later synth groups kinda like UA-camrs always default to any Pink Floyd stuff from DSOTM on, dismissing the large body of work that came before their break through album. And I dont think its a stretch to say Tomita and Carlos helped pave the way for groups like LMO in some small part at least. And yea, outside of Japan Tomita is only known for his covers (But man what covers! Revolutionary!) But before he did Snowflakes are Dancing Tomita was a VERY successful score composer for Japanese film and TV. Classical music was his passion tho and he wanted to interpret it in his own way.
@@sonnymaupin9267 Hideki Matsutake, an indispensable programmer for the early YMO, was a disciple of Tomita's. The three members of YMO have confessed to being shocked by Tomita.
The three members of YMO have a long history of solo work, from Grammy award-winning music to corny comic songs, and they have all taken their music seriously and presented its possibilities to the world. I hope you open a different door and see the world anew!
Thank you.
For your next series you should do Pink Floyd! Another band like the beatles whose sound changed a lot from start to finish over the albums, Dark Side Of The Moon is an almost perfect album
It's been done before, try listening to Man Parrish, Six Simple Synthesizer, you'll definitely be able to break that one down 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹👍
you skip the songs BAD BAD BAD seriously
You should be a Tiktok dancer.
I am going to write a song about you.
I noticed a BIG(!!!) difference in the number of views you have while reviewing Beetle albums vs everything else. I think you need to cut the Beetles a check. (half joking)
Thank you