compiled by Nicholas D. Kent
email: ndkent "at" optonline.net
Last updated 02.6.30
(*) means I don't own this album
(@) means I've heard this album but don't own a copy
Thanks for listens- D.Mac, R.G.
(@) 99.7.1 ki/oon KSC2 292
Has some tacky old 70s synths and synths in general in the remixes. 6 remixes includeing the 1995 original and a live version. one of those singles that gets trying after so many remixes.
(@) 00.3.18 ********* records cd: COCP-50256
6 song mini album by this Japanese duo on Yasuharu Konishi's label. Includes a Beck cover sung by Yukari Fresh and and a band theme sung by her also.
(@) 99.7.23 Robin/Sony ESCB 1998
This is very interesting even though its not my favorite kind of music. Its like set of orchestral pieces played by a digital MIDI orchestra. Its in this sort of 80s progressive instrumental synth rock. Another way of thinking of it in my opinion its like quality music for a giant corporate presentation. Includes arrangements of Bartok's Romanian Folkdances (a suite of 6 pieces). The album features nice computer graphics of trains and machinery. The combo (orchestral synths/samples and computer animated train imagery) perhaps unintentionally brings to mind Gadget from a few years back, but this is original in its own ways.
there is an earlier album called Epoch 1./Platform and a site here
96.1.21 (@) Sony cd: SRCL 3462
This is the one with the blue cover with just white text. Terribly strange
and interesting easy listening performed on servo controlled electro mechanical
instruments. I like this first album over the others. Has some female singing.
96.8.21 Sony cd: SRCL 3629
The cover art looks like a Gerry Anderson sci-fi miniature. A mini-album with cover versions of Jobim, Mancini's Baby Elephant Walk and Ravel. Nothing wrong but I want more!
(*)1997.8.21
a mini album with sort of a red sphere on the cover
(@) 98.5.21
Cover with a Japanese character made of go chips. Another mini albumt not as
strong and clever.
other works - all (*)
Edelweiss (Single CD) 1997.7.21
Ore-wa Uchu-no Fantasy (Mini-Album) 1997.10.1
SAVAO (Mini-Album) 2000.7.26 -- I looked all over for this one, I couldn't find a copy to buy
NK: Very French since they are French. Fairly straight forward and simple arrangements. Probably just picked up by HH but it fits in with NonStandard. Out of print in this japanese format though a 'complete' collection was released in 1998 in europe.
Czerkinsky has since worked with Kahimi Karie.
(*) 85.10.21 Non Standard 12" 12NS-1004
He was a former Far East Family Band-mate of Kitaro. I was totally unimpressed by these two early albums by him. Here he has a kind of thin low cost sound with nothing special melodies. He has several newer albums now available in the U.S. I've only heard one but they have more happening. On these his name is just Fumio.
All unsophisticated synthesizers. Not very impressive. Out of print?
In the last several years Fumio Miyashita has released about 3 albums in the US. The one I've listened to is certainly more skillful than the early 2 that I have.
1989 BIWA cd: BW-6600
this is part of his Healing Music® series. Since I didn't expect too much, I really did appreciate his clean clear simple music on this album
91.3.6 Pony Canyon PCCA-00231
this album gets listed with soundtracks so I assume it has to some kind of one. It opens with a slightly Klaus Schulze reminicent piece (KS did produce him as a member of the Far East Family Band in the 70s.). As the album progresses it gets more and more relaxing. The material is simple and I'm not sure how much I like the use again and again on many tracks of slow alternating drum woodblock sleighbell beats. Like sort of hypnotic but also sort of "not that again".On the other hand the whole mood is very calm, elegant and pleasant with good quality synth colors. Then near the end it gets spooky and finally a lite pop song with male singing, so the mood goes out the window.
Mosdell wrote and translated lyrics for YMOs first several albums. Javelin Opera includes Kenji Omura. The computer programming is courtesy of Hideki Matsutake. Album is a collaboration with Yu Imai. Has a substantial book of artwork and lyrics.
Deluxe packaging. Album is a collaboration with Yu Imai.
Nav Katze (which probably means Nervous Cats) are a pair of female composers who do a sort of ambient pop. This album is much more dense than the below remix and has Phil Manzanara and Andy MacKay (who have been mixed out of the below).
One of the best remix albums out there. It's a remix of Nobody Home. Remixers are Aphex Twin (x2), Black Dog (x2), Ultramarine, Reload, Global Communications. The pieces work well together and it has a wonderful airy vocal feel with strong beats
Not as brilliant as volume 1 but still worthwhile. Remixers: Gentle People, Disjecta(x3), Sun Electric, Seefeel, µ-Ziq, Autechre. The booklet is by Designers Republic
94.10.21 Endorphine/JVC VICL-584
Nice Music are the sort of lounge duo of Seiki Sato and Yushi Shimizu. The album art consists of NASA model kits and some retro future art, like the future as seen in Japanese 1960s sci-fi. The music though is only somewhat space age oriented, I was hoping for something more thoroughly yesterday's future or space themed, more just EZ I guess. Not great but I'll concede it is likable and Nice Music. Sato later formed the duet Microstar with a singer named P-chan.
Frederic GUYADER adds: There is also a great cover of “Little chanson doll” (in french, “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” written by Gainsbourg and sung by France Gall who won the Eurovision with it). This cover was on a single issued by Nice Music, a japanese techno-pop duo from the nineties that has split up since.
(@) 2002? Elektrolux / Intergroove (Germany) e1110000cd
most definitely lounge style electronica. very pleasant and skillful though I can't say it is completely inspiring to me. The melodies keep moving in a relaxing solid way but also kind of the same way a lot of other pro musicians seem to use as a recent musical vocabulary too. Sounds are pro quality but are like the sounds on other slick stuff.A little bit of an asian touch on some tracks though almost the feel of a westerner dropping asian influences. One track has a kind of interesting electronic-ish sax lead that is sort of a less dark and brooding Blade Runner feel which I'd suspect was an intentional nod. Has a track with some american soul vocals and a technopop-ish remix of it - plus some sprinkled japanese woman soundbytes which sort of fits in with my sounds kind of like asian flavored comment above. All that said I think it might go over quite well with someone deeper into lounge electronica
Well recorded peaceful electro-acoustic music. A little like Kitaro with hints of Enigma, though his style sounds more original than that description. Recorded in London.
(*) Other cds I haven't heard -all on IC:
This is a CD of music performed by the composer. He plays percussion backed by synthesizers in a wide variety of styles. There are a number of marimba highlights. Even some rock and pop.
You can contact him through HCO Music Factory Group
Kenji Omura was often YMO's guest guitarist and played live with them on many occasions. He died 11/98. This album has YT on drums and HH playing bass throughout. Sakamoto plays on 7 of the 10 tracks. Akiko Yano guests on 2 tracks and Hideki Matsutake programs. Chris Mosdel writes lyrics. YT writes 2 tracks. Arrangements are by Omura and Takahashi. They continued to work together on other projects. More rocking than YMO, though the Sakamoto co-written Seiko is Always on Time is full of clockwork sequencing and is bonafide technopop.
Paul Rymer adds:
(Recorded in the last half of 1980 before, during and after the YMO 1980
World Tour). Musicians: YMO, Akiko and Kazuhiko Katoh (1 track) Style: electronic.
Highlights: Seiko Is Always On Time (Sakamoto/Omura - in B-2 Unit style), The
Defector (Takahashi/Barakan) and Maps . Also, the track Prince Of Shaba
was performed by YMO on the Technopolis 2000-2- tour . Let me know if you need
more information.
NK: he died in the late 1990s
An album by album parody of YMO. These guys are real committed and do recreations of YMO albums track by track with new parody lyrics and twisted melodies. These were originally on a small independent label for a couple years but recently Pony/Canyon has reissued them mainstream. The band: Shinji Hosoe, Takayuki Aihara, Nobuyoshi Sano and Hiroto Sasaki. Only 3 of them are depicted in album art to bwttwe mimic YMO, the 4th I guess is the Matsutake counterpart :-). I understand this was a side project from their regular gigs at video game scoring.
Has a wacky cover of playing mah jong with a Korg MS-10 synth. This one is just kind or YMO reminiscent with original melodies, I'm not hearing that much of a parody of actual YMO tunes on this one rather tracksl in the style of YMO's Solid State Survivor. The other later album I have has much more vocals and direct parodies of specific tracks.
X0 BREEDS
(*) 97.2.21 Scitron/Pony Canyon ('97) PCCB-00246
includes the bonus live album Personal Pleasure
weird to hear fairly accurate sounding YMO parodies. They turned the original YMO logo, already a parody of the Japanese symbol for a public bathhouse into an OMY jellyfish logo. This is a parody of both BGM and Technodelic. It would have been more impressive if the 2 wern't combined. Perhaps they felt pressured to wrap it up, but they have since done a 'compilation' apparently parodying YMO members solo albums
00.5.24 Flavour of sound FVCC-80112
A 3 piece band with female vocals and lots of little blips and jingles + lite fake drums, peaceful guitar and sliding bass. Very charming with a nice sound. This is their second album.
http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wb/onestar/
they have a U.S. released first album, triangulum, and The Jelly is Set! single on March, I've not heard them yet.
http://www.marchrecords.com/onestar/
Part of the Music Interior Series, Interesting instrumnetals. Includes a Nakanishi and a Shimizu composition. My LP does not list musicians. Real eerie minimalist photo of NYC on the cover.
with John Zorn, eccentric and jazzy acoustic guitar based. Ono plays 12 string guitar and somtimes sampler and synth. from the Made To Measure series.
with 1 cut each with Dougie Bowne and Marc Ribot. Eccentric instrumentals.
I'm not sure how much of the original 2 volumes are on the 1 current CD which contains 15 tracks plus a 9 track 1998 remix disc by Seigen Ono and Arto Lindsay. Eclectic jazzy material.
Guests (partial list): Arto Lindsay, John Zorn, Sussan Deihim, Tatsuji Kim, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot
some info came to me on Seigen Ono from Yamada78, it seems to be translated from www.saidera.co.jp
2001
Maria and Maria / Seigen Ono SD-1017 (said to be a SACD with a regular CD layer
for compatibility)
Seigen Ono Ensemble at the Blue Note Tokyo SD-1016
Saidera Paradiso SD-2000 20 CD BOX /SEIGEN ONO SD-2000 BOX
Maria Six plus S&R Remix /SEIGEN ONO (Featuring Sound & Recording Magazine
remix) SD-21C1
1999
WHO IS SHE? ME? /SEIGEN ONO SD-1013
1997
forty days and forty nights / Seigen Ono KITTY: KTCR-1487 (re-mastered)
LA MOVIDA / SEIGEN ONO SD-1007~9
1995
SEIGEN ONO ENSEMBLE MONTREUX 93/94 SD-1004
Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1993 & 1994 and featuring
Peter Scherer, Bobby Previte, Roy Nathanson, Alexander Balanescu, Dougie Bown,
Paul Shapiro, Maxine Neuman.
BAR DEL MATTATOIO / SEIGEN ONO SD-1003
Featuring John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, Marc Ribot, Bobby Previte, Cyro Baptista,
Roy Nathanson, Alfredo Pedernera, Romero Lubamba, Jill Jaffe, Bob Stewart, Carol
Emanuel
From 1994 and recorded in NY, Rio de Janeiro, Milan, Sao Paulo, Paris and Tokyo.
1991
COMME des GARCONS Volume One+Two/ SEIGEN ONO SD-1001~2
1989
COMME des GARCONS Volume One / SEIGEN ONO Virgin U.K. CDVE-51/Tokuma
COMME des GARCONS Volume Two / SEIGEN ONO Virgin U.K. CDVE-52/Tokuma
Monica Tornera Dominica Sera/Seigen Ono Virgin U.K./Virgin Japan VJD-10218
1988
The Green Chinese Table / Seigen Ono Virgin U.K. CDVE-10
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