A sojourn into any old Paris nightclub, circa late seventies. The suave and funk-laced exotica from those speakers just might have sounded like something straight from Yukihiro Takahashi’s glossy debut record Saravah! While 1978 was the year of the Yellow Magic Orchestra trio’s pivotal debut record, it also marked the debut solo offerings of members Ryuichi Sakamoto (Thousand Knives) and Takahashi. A suave affair featuring his YMO bandmates and other Japanese all-stars like guitarist Shigeru Suzuki, Takahashi takes on Italian and French pop, borrows elements from his previous glam/art-rock group Sadistic Mika Band and much more.
Category: Yukihiro Takahashi
Sketch Show :: Audio Sponge
Even for Yellow Magic Orchestra loyalists, the new millennium timing of the short-lived Sketch Show made the project easy to fly under the radar. Audio Sponge is the 2002 debut from duo Hauromi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. While veering back at seminal influences like Brian Wilson, the mellowness of the compositions here are downright hypnotically restrained; a canopy of soft glitch samples, acousto-electric rhythms and relaxed vocals that simply evaporate as soon as they’re uttered.