‘From Deewee’ is the first studio album from Belgium’s SOULWAX in twelve years, the core of the act are brothers Stephen and David Dewaele and their return has seen a shift towards using more real drums, employing JAMIE T’s Victoria Smith, TURBO WOLF’s Blake Davies and SEPULTURA’s Igor Cavelera (all percussionists) to help achieve this vision.
The usage of live / acoustic drums with electronic music has often been a contentious issue amongst the synthpop fraternity.
By its very nature, synthesizer-based tracks should sound rigid, robotic and missing the dynamic that an acoustic instrument can bring. There have however been bands that have carried it off: DAF, NEW ORDER, VISAGE to name a few… but with that Basildon band now back in the limelight, it’s hard to wipe the mental image of a certain insensitive drummer beating the life out of a band’s back catalogue on stage…
The band obviously had a clear concept in mind before sitting down and making ‘From Deewee’; that being the successful melding of up to three live drummers with a primarily electronic musical backbone. But before you go running to your nearest copy of ‘Dare’, this has really worked incredibly well and if you’ve seen the band’s ‘Part of the Weekend Never Dies’ live set, you’ll know that this will translate incredibly well into their live experience too.
The instrumental overture ‘Preset Tense’ has an arpeggiated TOMITA feel to it with warm Moog textures before hitting an electronic crescendo and seamlessly mixing into the 303 driven ‘Masterplanned’. What sets SOULWAX apart from some of their contemporaries is that in amongst their collection of cool analogue electronic sounds, they still retain an ear for melody and adherence to writing actual songs rather than coasting along on a few semi-decent synth patches. At the musical heart of ‘Masterplanned’ you can also hear the ghost of the kind of chords that Martin Gore is a huge fan of…
Photo by Alex Salinas
‘Missing Wires’ starts off with a ludicrously over the top drum roll before a rising/flanged segue into a mid-range reverbed synth bass.
It’s hard not to smile and appreciate the attention to detail when the phrase “missing wires” is first featured in the lyric and a synthetic hand clap is deliberately dropped out of the mix. A loping sequenced part which recalls ULTRAMARINE joins the mix and the final two minutes features a cheeky re-work of the ‘White Lines’ bassline.
With melodies that could have been fleeced from the debut YMO album and the GARY NUMAN trademark of following the vocal line with a synth melody, ‘Missing Wires’ is a definite highlight here. ‘Conditions Of A Shared Belief’ is a modular synth lover’s wet dream, featuring the style of detuned blippy sounds favoured by Daniel Miller on the early Mute releases.
It’s not just live drums that get their chance to shine here, ‘Conditions’ features a brilliant homage to the white noise percussion synth break from ‘Being Boiled’ and drum pattern from ‘The Black Hit Of Space’ too.
‘Is It Always Binary’ features a Burundi styled ADAM & THE ANTS live drum mantra before breaking into a DAF-style sequencer pattern which perfectly matches the snares beat for beat. A drop into a vocal section (which sounds like the band have sampled their own track ‘Krack’) leads back into the driving rhythmic section again. Probably the nearest to a filler track on the album, ‘Is It Always Binary’ works, but it’s not the strongest track here.
‘Do You Want To Get Into Trouble’ starts with a GLITTER BAND double drummer stomp and live guitar and bass. After vocalist Stephen Dewaele’s menacing intoning of the song’s hook, a wonderful Mellotron string break shows that it’s not all monosynth action here and the outro of the song again owes a big debt to Germany’s DAF.
Photo by Younes Klouche
‘Here Come the Men in Suits’ pinches a lyric from THOMAS DOLBY’s ‘Commercial Breakup’ and starts like an out-take from the ‘Stranger Things’ TV show before heading into a funky modular synth break down.
Solina strings flesh out the song towards the end before closing with the down-tempo ‘Goodnight Transmission’.
One thing that cannot be denied is that SOULWAX have immaculate taste, they are the synthpop equivalent of a fine dining experience, each track has a superb provenance of sounds and influences featuring an enviable range of vintage analogue equipment.
Elsewhere, this album has been compared to a “batshit crazy sci-fi disco concept album” which sort of hits the nail on the head, although it does stick within certain conventions and could be accused of being a little two-dimensional in places.
‘From Deewee’ does what it does extremely well and will translate superbly into the band’s live shows, especially as the band’s new trio of drummers will be taking to the road too. The album was apparently recorded ‘live’ in one take, but this is hard believe considering some of the vocal overdubbing present, especially on closing track ‘Goodnight Transmission’.
If you are a synthpop fan that is put off by the words “features live drums”, don’t let it deter you; this is a superbly produced piece of work that although does take risks, ultimately succeeds and adds another fine set of songs to the SOULWAX back catalogue.
SOULWAX play London’s Electric Ballroom on 8th April and Manchester O2 Ritz on 9th April before a two night stint at Brussels Ancienne Belgique on 11th-12th April 2017
DISQO VOLANTE is Korean-American multi-instrumentalist Matthew Booth, a sax virtuoso with a penchant for synthpop.
Originally from Seoul but now based in Carrboro, North Carolina, the hybrid of his musical and cultural heritage has produced a familiar yet unusual sound with a modern aesthetic.
Indeed, the inclusion of sax does set DISQO VOLANTE apart from the competition, recalling aspects of David Bowie.
Inspired by his return to South East Asia since leaving as a child following his adoption, the single ‘Pretend For A Day’ successfully pulls off a jazz / synthpop integration without descending into the banality of the horrible electro swing sub-genre.
Meanwhile, the pentatonic melodies provide a marvellous uplifting quality, with only some overdriven drums slightly spoiling the fun. The template recalls the legendary YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA who showcased some jazz leanings on their eponymous debut album with tracks like ‘Simoon’ and ‘Cosmic Surfin’.
DISQO VOLANTE’s debut EP ‘re: lit’ is a musical homecoming journey via Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul. From it, the excellent synth stabbing ‘Never Said’ comes over like an EDM tinged version of THE FAINT, while the arpeggio laden ‘Love Game’ recalls a club friendly version of cult Merseyside duo DALEK I LOVE YOU reborn for the 21st Century. On both tunes, the sax breaks really sound like they shouldn’t be there, but they work!
‘re: lit’ reveals an artist not afraid to experiment, but willing to maintain a musicality to catch the attention of the listener. While not yet fully formed, DISQO VOLANTE possesses crossover potential.
Forming in 2001, Swedish duo 047 began their chiptune experiments through a mutual appreciation of vintage video games.
After a couple of self-released albums, ‘Robopop (Vi Tar Cdn Dit Vi Kommer)’ was their first proper long player in 2006. But Peter Engström and Sebastian Rutgersson began to evolve from their minimalistic beginnings to incorporate melodic song based elements and even pop. Collaborating with other artists, 047 started to incorporate vocals into their music.
The end results led to the impressive debut album ‘Elva’; released in 2011 on the Gothenburg independent label Killing Music, it featured the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA musical salute ‘Kanpai!’ and the rich Lisa Pedersen vocalled Scandipop of ‘Everything’s Fine’.
Combining blurry soundscapes and pulsing reality, Engström and Rutgersson are back with a new single ‘Follow Me Home’. Featuring Östersund born vocalist Daniella Kruth whose debut album ‘Kill It Slow’ was released in 2014 , it is a story about standing strong despite inherent vulnerabilities.
Encased with a syncopated pop structure, the whispering tones soon break out loud and clear with Kruth’s more indie inclined sensibilities adding a fresh slant to the electronically derived backbone. With further vocal based recordings on the horizon, all bodes well for 047’s follow-up to ‘Elva’.
‘Follow Me Home’ is released as a download via Killing Music
When YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA formed in 1978, it was intended to be a one-off project for producer / bassist Haruomi Hosono and the two session musicians he had hired: drummer Yukihiro Takahashi and keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Prior to the group’s formation, the classically trained Sakamoto had experimented with electronic music at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Hosono had been involved in the recording of several early electronic rock records in Japan. Meanwhile, Takahashi was in THE SADISTIC MIKA BAND, a prog outfit who were signed to PINK FLOYD’s label Harvest and had appeared on ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’.
Hosono began formulating the idea of an instrumental disco band which could have the potential to succeed internationally. The format was formally defined when Sakamoto introduced the music of KRAFTWERK to the other two. KRAFTWERK’s artistic outlook, along with acts such as TANGERINE DREAM, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF had helped restore a sense of Germanic identity in reaction to the Americanisation of European post-war culture.
The trio were feeling this was needed in Japan too, so they endeavoured to make something very original using electronics. As Sakamoto remarked, this involved using the “very Japanese” approach of merging many different styles like a Bento box in a reliable, forward thinking fashion.
The technology used on their 1978 debut album included the Moog III-C, Korg PS-3100, Polymoog, ARP Odyssey, Oberheim Eight Voice, Minimoog, Korg VC-10 Vocoder and Roland MC-8 Micro Composer. With the latter programmed by fourth member Hideki Matsutake, the result was a crisp, exotic pop sound that was unusual and ahead of its time, even in the synthesizer heartland of Europe.
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA scored a UK Top 20 hit single in 1980 with ‘Computer Game (Theme From The Invader)’ . Recorded in 1978, the main section of the track was actually ‘Firecracker’, a cover of a 1959 composition by Martin Denny. The single also gained traction in America where the trio made a memorable appearance on the prestigious music show ‘Soul Train’. It subsequently made an impact out on the block as it was later sampled by Hip-Hop godfather Afrika Bambaataa on ‘Death Mix’ and then in 2001, it was used again by Jennifer Lopez on ‘I’m Real’.
The international popularity of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA (or YMO as they came to be known) coincided with the burgeoning synthpop scene in Britain which had embraced the affordable synthesizers from Japanese manufacturers such as Roland, Korg and Yamaha. VISAGE’s Rusty Egan in his dual role as DJ at the legendary Blitz Club in London had been spinning YMO tunes while acts such as TUBEWAY ARMY, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, ULTRAVOX, OMD, SOFT CELL and DEPECHE MODE started achieving mainstream success.
YMO went on to be the one of the most popular bands in South East Asia, but despite this success, the trio went into hiatus in 1984, with each member continuing their already established parallel solo careers. While the trio said they were “spreading out” rather than splitting, they continued to play on each other’s recordings and made guest appearances at various live shows.
Sakamoto achieved the highest international profile from his ventures into acting and soundtrack work. His Oscar winning success for ‘The Last Emperor’ in 1988 helped expand his soundtrack portfolio to include films such as ‘Black Rain’, ‘The Sheltering Sky’ and ‘Little Buddha’, while he also composed music for events like the Opening Ceremony of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
A short reunion took place in 1993 for the ‘Technodon’ album where the band had to be known as YMO, but there was no further activity until 2007 when Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi were reunited for a Kirin Lager advertising campaign, performing one of their most popular numbers ‘Rydeen’.
Hosono and Takahashi had been working together in a project called SKETCH SHOW and on a number of occasions, Sakamoto was invited to join in. As a result, he proposed that the group rename itself HUMAN AUDIO SPONGE (HAS) for whenever he was involved. Inevitably, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA reformed again when they played the 2007 Kyoto Live Earth event, although for recording purposes they combined names and went out as HASYMO.
In Summer 2008, the trio played the Meltdown Festival curated by MASSIVE ATTACK billed as YMO, although only four YMO songs were played while the rest of the set comprised of SKETCH SHOW, HASYMO and solo material. However in 2009, the trio performed at the World Happiness festival in Japan and confirmed that YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA was their official name, while there was a further appearance at the 2010 event. Despite the confusion over names, it would appear YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA are still a going concern, although Sakamoto is presently taking an extended break recuperating from illness.
So with their place in electronic music history assured, what twenty tracks would make up an imaginary CD compilation album to act as Beginner’s Guide to the iconic trio? ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK made the following selections for its YMO Bento box…
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA Tong Poo (1978)
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s debut self-titled album was noted for its use of the then brand new computerised Roland MC8 Micro-Composer to control the synthesizers. With their use of modern technology, they became standard bearers for what eventually became known in Japan as technopop. Despite its pulsing electronic disco bassline, the Sakamoto penned ‘Tong Poo’ was inspired by the music from China’s Cultural Revolution.
With ‘Behind The Mask’, YMO’s influence touched rock, pop and soul. Michael Jackson loved the track so much, he penned additional lyrics to it during the ‘Thriller’ sessions. Unable to be released at the time by Jackson himself, he gave the reworked track to his musical director Greg Phillinganes who had a surprise Top 5 hit in the US R’n’B charts in 1985. This proxy collaboration was then later covered by Eric Clapton in 1987. The remixed MJ demo appeared on the posthumous album ‘Michael’.
Back from when Sakamoto spelt his first name as ‘Riuichi’, ‘Riot in Lagos’ has often been seen as a pivotal track that anticipated the beats and pulses of house music. A frantic but danceable instrumental that conveyed the rhythmic tension and violence of the title, it was a fine example of the visual narrative of Sakamoto’s compositional mind. It would serve him well in a burgeoning career that would eventually lead him to the cinema.
Available on the RIUICHI SAKAMOTO album ‘B-2 Unit’ via GT Music Japan
Following the success of JAPAN’s third album ‘Quiet Life’, Sakamoto was assigned by a magazine to interview David Sylvian. The meeting led to the beginnings of a long standing friendship and a magnificent collaboration entitled ‘Taking Islands In Africa’ which ended up closing the long player. The music was entirely Sakamoto’s while Sylvian contributed the worldly lyrics. There were to be further collaborations between the pair, the most recent being ‘World Citizen’ in 2004.
‘BGM’ was the first album to use the now iconic Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer and a 3M 32-track digital recorder. But Hosono did not like the latter’s aural sharpness and preferred to record the rhythm sections on analogue tape first before copying them to the 3M machine. ‘Camouflage’ was a curious beat laden blend of Eastern pentatonics and Western metallics. German trio CAMOUFLAGE took their name from this song.
Available on the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA album ‘BGM’ via Alfa Music
The Roland MC-8 Micro-Composer programmed by fourth member Hideki Matsutake was a key part of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s early production and live performances. In 1981, Matsutake formed his own project LOGIC SYSTEM. Inspired after hearing Wendy Carlos’ ‘Switched-On Bach’, he went on to be the technical assistant of Isao Tomita. ‘Domino Dance’ was from the acclaimed ‘Logic’ and while less immediate, it was worthy of his better known employers.
Available on the LOGIC SYSTEM album ‘Logic’ via Express Japan / Toshiba EMI
After guesting on ‘Absolute Ego Dance’ from ‘Solid State Survivor’, Hawaiian Japanese vocalist Sandy O’Neal began working with Hosono, who was producing called THE SUNSET GANG. Convincing the all-male combo that her Kate Bush influenced vocals would be ideal fortheir brand of chunky music, SANDII & THE SUNSETZ were born. The highlight of the album ‘Heat Scale’ was the Chinese infleunced ‘The Great Wall’.
Available on the SANDII & THE SUNSETZ album ‘Heat Scale’ via Alfa Music
Being YMO’s main vocalist did not necessarily mean Takahashi-san was a great singer and indeed, it very much had a Marmite effect. With his solo albums of course, his voice took centre stage. And with his afflicted, semi-croon in the vein of Bryan Ferry, he showed his passionate side on ‘Something In The Air’. Not a cover of the THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN song, it came from ‘Neuromantic’, considered to be one of Takahashi’s best; it featured Tony Mansfield, Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay.
Available on the YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI album ‘Neuromantic’ via GT Music Japan
YMO’s experimental fourth LP ‘Technodelic’ was notable for its use of an LMD-649, a hand-made sampler developed by Toshiba EMI engineer Kenji Murata. Although ‘Neue Tanz’ was a tribute to KRAFTWERK, Hosono played bass guitar on the track, adding a dark funkiness that once merged with the Indonesian Kecak chanting samples, recalled David Byrne and Brian Eno’s ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’. KRAFTWERK borrowed back the concept for ‘Musique Non Stop’.
Available on the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA album ‘Technodelic’ via Alfa Music
Franco-Japanese beauty Susam was a protégée of Takahashi and ‘I Only Come Out At Night’ was produced and written by him with lyrical assistance from Peter Barakan. Gloriously detuned and pentatonic, this was a example of how new technology was allowing the smarter than average drummer to challenge their perceived role in pop. Takahashi provided a heavier, more leftfield sound compared with Hosono’s production work for Idol singers such as Seiko Matsuda.
Available on the SUSAN album ‘Complete’ via Sony Music Japan
‘Naughty Boys’ was YMO’s most commercial album of their career. On the massively popular and joyous lead single ‘Kimi Ni Mune Kyun’, the trio were the oldest J-Pop boy band in town, looking like ARASHI’s great uncles! A YMO vs THE HUMAN LEAGUE EP featuring a remix with new English lyrics and vocals by Phil Oakey was released in 1993. In 2009, the song was the closing theme to the Anime series ‘Maria Holic’, sung by the voice cast.
Available on the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA album ‘Naughty Boys’ via Alfa Music
DAVID SYLVIAN & RIUICHI SAKAMOTO Forbidden Colours (1983)
Following a joint single with David Sylvian entitled ‘Bamboo Music’ in 1982, Sakamoto made his acting debut alongside David Bowie in ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’. He also composed the soundtrack with Sylvian providing lead vocals on the single version of the WWII drama’s haunting theme tune. Retitled ‘Forbidden Colours’, the lyrics reflected the taboo love story of the Nagisa Oshima directed film.
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA You’ve Got To Help Yourself (1983)
Like the polarising ‘∞Multiplies’ mini-album from 1980, ‘Service’ contained YMO songs alongside various skits, performed by the comedy combo SUPER ECCENTRIC THEATER. Whether this was an ironic act of cultural subversion is a mystery to Western ears, as the sketches were all in Japanese! The best song on ‘Service’ though was the poppy ‘You’ve Got To Help Yourself’ which tellingly had previously featured in instrumental taster form on ‘Naughty Boys’.
Available on the YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA album ‘Service’ via Alfa Music
Hosono was one of the first to acknowledge the appeal of video game sounds and arranged an album containing Namco arcade game music. ‘Video Game Music’ was acknowledged as being the first chiptune record. A subsequent maxi single release ‘Super Xevious’ had Hosono actually composing and performing around original game music by Yuriko Keino and Junko Ozawa. ‘Gaplus’ with its phased gunshots, blips and classical overtones was the undoubted highlight.
Available on the HARUOMI HOSONO EP ‘Super Xevious’ via Scitron Digital Content
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO featuring THOMAS DOLBY Field Work (1986)
Most of the tracks for what was to become ‘Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia’ were originally recorded in 1984 and as the title suggested, saw Sakamoto exploring a variety of styles and genres including jazz and soca. Initially only released in Japan, the album was altered for the international market with some new tracks. One of these was this great collaboration with Thomas Dolby. Entitled ‘Field Work’, it united both artists’ concerns for the environment.
YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI & STEVE JANSEN Stay Close (1986)
Takahashi’s solo albums featured JAPAN’s bassist Mick Karn and drummer Steve Jansen. In 1986, Jansen and Takahashi released a brilliant joint single ‘Stay Close’. Additionally featuring the talents of legendary rhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar, Jansen in particular did a very able impression of his older brother David Sylvian, while Takahashi provided his usual mannered “will he make it – won’t he?” vocals. It remains possibly the best song that JAPAN and YMO never recorded.
Available on the YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI album ‘Once A Fool…’ via Pony Canyon
The dreamy ‘Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II)’ saw David Sylvian give a raw passionate vocal performance which was counterpointed by a whispery spoken word passage from Ingrid Chavez. The two emotionally connected in real life and got married after the recording. More organic than previous Sylvian / Sakamoto collaborations, the bed of the song was Sakamoto-san’s eerie piano and ‘Twin Peaks’ strings, while out of nowhere came a rousing solo from noted jazz guitarist Bill Frisell.
Available on the RYUICHI SAKAMOTO album ‘Heartbeat’ via Virgin Records
For their comeback ‘Technodon’, the band were forced to release it under the moniker YMO as the name YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA was owned by Alfa Records. Songs like ‘Hi-tech Hippies’ had more straightforward techno arrangements than any of the trio’s more recent solo work. The album was also sample free to save any potential copyright infringements. ‘Pocket Full Of Rainbows’ was a Japanese language cover of the tune made famous by Elvis Presley in ‘GI Blues’.
Available on the YMO album ‘Technodon’ via Toshiba EMI
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO Anger – Rare Force 2 Meg Remix (1998)
Sakamoto’s soundtrack success led him to sign with Sony Classical. His first work for the label ‘Discord’ was a four movement avant-garde composition exploring dissonant musical structures. Two of the tracks ‘Anger’ and ‘Grief’ were given out to remixers, thus cementing the link Sakamoto had with dance culture since ‘Riot In Lagos’. The aggressive, almost industrial ‘Anger’ was given a dark breakbeat treatment by Skint Records signings RARE FORCE which got the adrenaline pumping.
Available on the RYUICHI SAKAMOTO album ‘Moto.tronic’ via Sony Music
Producing a single ‘Rescue’ for the Anime film ‘Appleseed Ex Machina’, Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi utilised a leftfield jazz techno sound and the pretty female voice of Chiho Shibaoka. The soundtrack featured two further HASYMO tracks ‘Method’ and ‘Weather’ as well as solo contributions from Hosono. The recorded reunion put YMO back into the public eye and led to invitations for a variety of prestigious events.
Available on the HASYMO single ‘Rescue’ via Commmons / Avex Trax
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has compiled a playlist entitled ‘Yellow Magic Axis’ which features the work of Hosono – Sakamoto – Takahashi in their various guises and productions 🎹🥁🎹🇯🇵 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RketGtiWJruVvzkY4r3az
Japanese interactive theatrical performance combo SIRO-A have been making a splash in the UK with guest appearances at ambassadorial culture events such as Hyper Japan and Japan Matsuri.
They also won the ‘Spirit Of The Fringe’ award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011. Steadily, their audience has been building and they are now back with an autumn residency at the Leicester Square Theatre, deep in the heart of the London’s West End, for a third successive year.
Their name is derived from the Japanese word for ‘white’.
SIRO-A are often seen as Japan’s answer to BLUE MAN GROUP, the acclaimed international multi-media mime act… but err, white! Now if Neo from ‘The Matrix’ took the blue pill and went clubbing, then SIRO-A is what he might see.
SIRO-A’s show was a dynamic, theatrical slice of entertainment fusing tightly choreographed mime, computer generated visual effects, optical illusions and a Technodelic backbone… musically, there are some parallels to YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s same titled album of experimental rhythm construction and sonic interplay.
The music was controlled by on stage DJ Kentaro Homma, while to his side was visual director Daichi Norikane who blended the show’s distinct aura. At the front though were versatile performance artists Fumiya, Toshiya Arai, Keiji Miya and Yohei.
Strangely as people took to their seats, the foursome were mingling with the audience and true to Japanese stereotype, having photos taken with them… little did they know they were about to become part of the show!
With a sharp electro soundtrack, SIRO-A had the crowd immersed in their own iPad game with a series of sketches that required lightning sharp human interaction with the pre-programmed graphics and laser effects while clothed in bizarre but futuristic costumes. Imagine six Chris Lowes dressed as Lieutenant Commander La Forge of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ moving to the music of PET SHOP BOYS ‘Relentless’ crossed with LOGIC SYSTEM. It was a highly enticing spectacle but also witty and humourous.
There was a tribute to Nintendo’s Mario who literally danced across the stage with the performers using only hand held screens to catch the fast moving projections while a series of white cubes were also used to colourful effect in a similar fashion to PET SHOP BOYS ‘Pandemonium’ tour while synchronised to a mutant chiptune. Indeed, SIRO-A and PET SHOP BOYS would make a rather interesting visual combination.
In a break from technology, there was a homage to cinema with amusing tributes of films such as ‘Skyfall’, ‘Rocky’, Rambo’, ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Singing In The Rain’ but with the visuals and even characters from those movies amusingly transformed on the screen into block capital letters.
Then there followed an affectionate send-up of Japanese culture with Sumos, Ninjas, Samurais, Yoko Ono and Pikachu all referenced before a Pythonesque animated foot stamped the end to the proceedings.
The show was then temporarily halted as SIRO-A endearingly filmed selected members of the audience shouting and waving to camera. The final two girls who participated were asked to scream the word “HAPPY”… and in a flash, all the segments were sampled and manipulated into a hilarious rendition of PHARELL WILLIAMS ‘Happy’ promptly danced to by the troupe!
But to finish the main part of the show, SIRO-A gave a rapidfire performance of their calling card routine ‘Barcode Man’. A frantic cerebral cacophony of white light polarised against a sea of black, the robotic moves combined with hypnotic but enjoyable technopop to demonstrate why SIRO-A have been impressing audiences around the world. As effectively non-verbal entertainment, SIRO-A have overcome any language and cultural barriers with the bonus of being able to be enjoyed by all generations.
And in less than an hour, it was all over. There was a short encore synching the photos from the pre-show mingling to an ensemble dance finale but SIRO-A left observers wanting more. And that’s how it should be. Theatre experiences in the West End can often be gruelling affairs to those more used to a live gig setting. But SIRO-A did not outstay their welcome and formed a perfect bridge between visual theatre and electronic music. They are a wonderful futuristic adventure into escapism.
With thanks to Georgina Hayward at Team International
SIRO-A have regular matinee and evening performances at the Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX until 11TH JANUARY 2015
For more information, visit the SIRO-A website or Leicester Square Theatre for tickets
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The usage of live / acoustic drums with electronic music has often been a contentious issue amongst the synthpop fraternity.
via Alfa Music
via Alfa Music
via GT Music Japan
via Virgin Records
via Alfa Music
via Express Japan / Toshiba EMI
via GT Music Japan
via Alfa Music
via Sony Music Japan
via Alfa Music
via Editions Milan Music / BMG
mini-album from 1980, ‘Service’ contained YMO songs alongside various skits, performed by the comedy combo SUPER ECCENTRIC THEATER. Whether this was an ironic act of cultural subversion is a mystery to Western ears, as the sketches were all in Japanese! The best song on ‘Service’ though was the poppy ‘You’ve Got To Help Yourself’ which tellingly had previously featured in instrumental taster form on ‘Naughty Boys’.
via Alfa Music
via 10 / Virgin Records
via Pony Canyon
via Virgin Records
via Toshiba EMI
was a four movement avant-garde composition exploring dissonant musical structures. Two of the tracks ‘Anger’ and ‘Grief’ were given out to remixers, thus cementing the link Sakamoto had with dance culture since ‘Riot In Lagos’. The aggressive, almost industrial ‘Anger’ was given a dark breakbeat treatment by Skint Records signings RARE FORCE which got the adrenaline pumping.
via Sony Music
via Commmons / Avex Trax
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