Ghostwriters - Objects In Mirrors Are Closer Than They Appear (1981)

Heard about this duo when "Swizzle" was featured on Jason Urick's excellently curated Fly Room mix.

"Swizzle" is a great example of what these guys were able to do: make totally locked-in yet exploratory, funky melodic music using modular synths (I believe Charles Cohen is a Buchla man).

This is arpeggiated music that doesn't feel repetitive; there's a new idea, a shift around every corner.

And silly! The Peter Gunn intro to "Sleedermauseman" before things get really "out" at the halfway mark.

It's a real pleasure to listen to. That's all I have to say.
Oh yeah, "Emotional Momentum" is also utter joy.  
 
Amuse-toi bien!

Inga Humpe - Planet Oz (1990)

I first encountered the Humpe sisters, Annette and Inga, via the excellent Dustin Wong/Takako Minekawa mix over at Portals (by the way, if you haven't checked out their collaborations out on thrill jockey, do yourself a favor and do so). Apparently, "Yama-Ha" is a pretty well-known track, and what's not to like about two German ladies singing Japanese product names over some pretty inventive pop production?

This album doesn't really fall into the same vein of synth pop - think European club music of the time and you've got a good frame of reference. When that house beat isn't pounding (and even when it is), there's some lovely double-tracked harmonies and plenty of  production ear-candy. I wish the rest of the album sounded like "Cowboy Song," but what you end up getting is pretty good too. 

enjoy 

Friends of Earth - Sex, Energy and Star (Non-Standard, 1986)

This one seemed too fun not to share right away. The Godfather of Soul and genre-hopping whiz dude Haruomi Hosono, together at last with F.o.E.! It sounds like what you'd expect - which means you probably want to get down with it. The rest of the album is a treat too, all over the place in terms of style. "Total Eclipse" is an electro-tribal burner with some great female vocals, "Opera" is old-school Hosono MIDI spazz shit. There's a nice Dr. John cover. For my $$$ though, check out "In My Jungle," an exemplary sexy synth jam with some lovely piano touches halfway through...

enjoy

Seesselberg - Synthetik 1 (Self-released, 1973)

Hello again!

That's a little misleading, I've been here, grabbing choice albums from you denizens of the 'sphere (shoutout to my wall of fame on the right). And I feel a little guilty about that. So let's see if I can keep this up (my post just below would suggest I've not very good at keeping up, but we'll see) and give back the love. I've got a back-load of music a hard drive wide (mixed metaphors anyone?!?!) and I'm ready to jump back in...

That grid of knobs should tell you something about this one (if you haven't heard it yet, I have a feeling this one's made its rounds). I heard about it from this fun little article about obscure "krautrock" gems. But I would place this more in the musique concrète, electroacoustic, fun with oscillators category (keep your eye out for more of this kind of sophisticated tomfoolery on this blog). Like the dark side of Manhattan Research Inc. enjoy yourself! viel Spaß!

enjoy

Thanks to the blog I pilfered this from, which should win an award for the craziest/cheesiest-in-a-good-way banner: http://el-sumergible-neuronal.blogspot.com.es/

Yukihiro Takahashi - What, Me Worry? (Alfa, 1982)

I don't want anything to do with anything
That isn't going to make the world a better place to live in

You know what I mean
There just isn't enough time for that...

Yuki with a special one. The intro to "Flashback," then the big strings... Bill Nelson, YMO's secret weapon, on eBowed guitar... "My Highland Home in Thailand"... pop hooks galore. Enjoy.

Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony (Yen Records, 1982)

Another one I've been searching for for quite a while. 

If I had to sum it up in one word - make that two: "Sports Men." 

This was my introduction to Hosono's solo career (via the excellent root strata mix). As I listen to it on repeat while writing this, the song's got to top anything YMO ever put out. This is a non-argument, like when Freud says it's a manifestation of your unconscious.

Released in '82 on his and Yuki's Yen label, this is a freewheeling, joyfully disorganized record, with aforementioned pop tunes rubbing shoulders with a cover of a well-known 19th century Italian song, takes on traditional Japanese percussion ("Luminescent/Hotaru"), and one-man choral pieces ("Philharmony"). Some of the sonic risks he takes on numbers like "Birthday Party" remind me of Ryuichi's dance soundtrack "Esperanto" - or some of the MIDI play employed by contemporary sound artists like Oneohtrix Point Never or Demdike Stare. A joy to listen to.

So, enjoy!

Various - Yen Manifold Vol. 1 (Yen Records, 1983)

I've been searching for this one for a while... Leonidas over at Warm & Gooey does a great job of telling the story of Harry Hosono and Yuki Takahashi's Yen Records (or the lack of story thereof) and the grail quest for collectors of finding their records/information about them (Also, check out the nice mix he made!). Fortunately, the far reaches of Google offer up gems like this from time to time. 

This label sampler offers 4 tunes from Interior to start us off (you might know their excellent eponymous LP that root strata was kind enough to supply).  These have a slightly different vibe from the Interior sound I was familiar with (except 'Hot Beach' from the LP) - and vocals - but still solid. Side 2 is more my speed: 3 tracks from Koji Ueno, whose music is pretty unavailable online (anybody got a copy of "Music for Silent Movies" they'd be willing to share?) and two non-LP songs from  Testpattern, one of my all time faves. The Ueno stuff is in the same vein as the Ryuichi soundtrack I posted last time - speedy orchestration that would sound at home in video game or anime scenes. And "Friday" is the most blissful of Testpattern tracks IMHO.

Here's to hoping someone reissues the Yen Box. Until then, happy hunting!

My favorite Koji number from this one:

Enjoy

Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Adventures of Chatran (Midi Inc., 1986)

As the internet and the back cover attest, this is Ryuichi's (stellar) soundtrack for the Japanese release of "Milo and Otis." I feel like my young life would have been cooler had I been hearing these MIDI-fied jams instead of whatever stringy schmaltz Disney cooked up. Lots of lovely numbers ranging from songs that sound teased up from the Synclavier-type technology Ryuichi was using at the time to seemingly fuller orchestra numbers (but who can tell?). He brings it, as always. If you're as into the 80's Japan scene as me, you'll want to hear this.

Enjoy

New Mix

I'm yours if you'll have me, LA area independent radio stations...

Listen here or get it there

Youtubin': Oneohtrix Point Never @ Café du Nord, SF, CA, 2010

Synth envy, sampler envy...

Info on this festival, long past, is here - not surprised root strata had something to do with it...

Youtubin': Ray Lynch - "The Oh of Pleasure" (w/ Laser Show!)

This is deep at dinner time too... this was the least annoying video counterpart to this song on youtube, I promise.