Robyn Writes

J-Pop Sunday – Yellow Magic Orchestra

I feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew this week. I underestimated how varied the music styles of Yellow Magic Orchestra are or how influential the band is. They were mentioned on BBC Radio 2’s PopMaster quiz for goodness sake! You would have thought that would have set off an alarm bell or two. Something along the lines of “Kaito! What are you doing? You won’t be able to give these guys the literary justice they deserve! This is the kind of band that The Guardian writes about, not you! Just write about someone like Gackt or something!” But no, I got cocky and thought I could fob them off with some silly line like “They’re like a super happy Japanese Kraftwerk” and for that, I apologise to the band, and to you, the reads. Never the less; I’m contractually obliged to write something that will embarrass both YMO and myself. So, let’s get started.

Form a queue, ladies.

Quick Guide
Act Name: Yellow Magic Orchestra
Line-up: Haruomi Hosono (細野 晴臣) – Bass, Keyboard & Vocals
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏) – Drums & Lead Vocals
Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一) – Keyboard & Vocals
Years Active: 1978 – Present.
Genre: Electronica, Experimental, Synthpop, New Wave.
Notable Tracks: “Firecracker” (1978), “Tong Poo” (1978), “Behind the Mask” (1979) “Rydeen” (1980), “Tighten Up” (1980) – Oh, hell, most of their stuff’s pretty good! There’s also “Tokyo Town Pages” (2008)

Before we get to the band’s history, I’m going try and give an idea of how big these guys are. A list of musicians that either have Yellow Magic Orchestra as a creative influence or has sampled or covered one of YMO’s songs might demonstrate my point: Greg Phillinganes, Senor Coconut, The Human League, Gary Newman, POLYSICS, Japan, Eric Clapton, Duran Duran, Afrika Bambaataa, Depeche Mode and Michael Jackson would all feature. That’s right; the King of Pop sang an English vocal cover of YMO’s 1979 hit “Behind the Mask”.


YMO performing “Behind the Mask” live in 2010.

The trio met in the 70’s. Each had been experimenting with electronic instruments and sounds. In the mid 70’s keyboardist Sakamoto discovered Kraftwerk and introduced the Germans to his colleagues. They were impressed, but wished to avoid Kraftwerk’s stern Germanic style and sound. Contrary to their contemporaries in Japan at the time – who were becoming increasingly focused on emulating Western acts – the three wanted to create something with a more Japanese feel: Fusing many different styles of music like the mix of foods in a bento box. The three also wished to avoid the heavier, somewhat dystopian sounds that were common in electronic of the time. Yellow Magic Orchestra’s self-titled first album – originally a one-off side project for bassist Hosono, with Takahashi and Sakamoto involved as hired session musicians – was released in 1978 and sold 250,000 copies in Japan alone. The album later saw a slightly edited mix release in the US and UK. After the success of their first album, the three decided to stick together and keep performing as “Yellow Magic Orchestra”.


A live performance of “Firecracker”. The song was Yellow Magic Orchestra’s 1st single and featured on their 1978 “Yellow Magic Orchestra” album.

I could turn this week’s piece into a long winded article about how Yellow Magic Orchestra are keystones in the histories of electronic, pop and even hip-hop music in general, but, I’m there are better people to hear that from, rather than me. We’re here to discover new music and as such I think it’d best that we let the music do the talking. I’ll leave you all with a few more choice tracks from Yellow Magic Orchestra and I encourage anyone who has enjoyed what they’ve heard today to explore YMO a little more. It’s worth it.


“Rydeen” (1980) is a personal favourite of mine; partially because of the trippy 80’s graphics in the video. (Strobe effect warning, people!)


“Tighten Up” is a cover of a song originally performed by 60s/70s American R&B group Archie Bell & The Drells, but with a YMO style twist.


Finally, we’ll close on a fantastic ambient track. In this video we see the band performing “Tokyo Town Pages” in Gijon, Spain.

Until next time!

Mallory Knox – Cathouse, Glasgow, 23/4/13

Taken by Lisa Matthews

My preparation for this gig was less than adequate. I’d been up all night several nights beforehand frantically typing uni coursework and had completely forgotten that my cousin invited me to it, and had to drive 50 miles from Edinburgh to Glasgow running on energy juice to make it! But we made it in time, and commencing proceedings were Evarose (4/5), a four-piece all-female rock/pop outfit from Oxfordshire. Now I know the cliché with any band with a female member in it these days is to instantly compare them with Paramore, but these girls definitely have a similar vibe. Punchy, anthemic pop-punk is the score, and they don’t hold back at all on stage – at one point bassist Connie Raitt was so into it that she nearly clobbered singer Danikka Webber in the face. A special mention as well for the steely-eyed determination not to acknowledge the drunken heckle from a punter at the back of the room which had something to do with an ‘embarrassing boner’ – make of that what you will, but I wouldn’t mess with this quartet. BASS TO THE FACE OOOOOH – keep an eye oot.

Next up, Natives (3/5), whose set positively flew by. Four lads from Hampshire who clearly eat their porridge each morning dealt out a further foray into pop-punk but seemed to focus more on crowd participation – in a 35 minute set they only managed to fit in 4 songs, though this may have been somewhat due to the dance-off which broke out halfway through where anyone with moves slick enough to impress lead singer Jim Thomas cab win a photograph of the crowd doing the band’s apparent signature symbol ‘The Point’. A decent set but nothing terribly exciting.

Natives certainly got the crowd whipped into a frenzy for Mallory Knox (4/5) whose gig this is after all. Currently promoting full-length release Signals and buzzing from being announced as one of the main stage acts for Reading and Leeds this year, the quintet makes the tiny Cathouse stage seem more crowded than the room they’re playing to. This audience is as captivated by the bands newer, more radio-oriented tunes as by their older stuff; the room positively erupts at the mere mention of mellow ballad ‘1949’ from Signals, proving this is a group who can do heavy, moshable pop-punk alongside less pacey works, all the while pushing their audience’s buttons. A cracking display, and many happy returns to guitarist Joe Savins who celebrated his birthday onstage!

Pushmen – The Sun Will Rise Soon On The False And The Fair

Oh sweet, sweet heavy metal, look at what Pushmen have done to you. Stripped you of much of your steadfast clichés and injected you with a fervent animosity and immediacy that belies your old age; even as your arthritic hands remain bent out of shape after years of speed-metal and aborted attempts at two-handed tapping. Now metal is rejuvenated once again, still sticking to the same diet of whiskey and cocaine but aware of the power that fresh perspective and open mindedness can bring to a genre as senile and cumbersome as heavy metal. All this means the catchily titled The Sun Will Rise Soon On The False And The Fair is far from resembling a by-numbers record of recycled riffs headed straight for the ever growing pool of stagnation. It is by all accounts a thrilling listen that is made vital because of a mutating form of punk’s abhorrence that runs through the protruding, strained veins of these angry Pushmen fellows.

Occupying a left-field metal sound which resides in very similar territory to Mastodon’s crossover appeal but without any of the sprawling classic rock pretensions, The Sun Will Rise Soon… is a continuation of modern metal’s unholy matrimony of cerebral, dexterous passages with outright aggression and pulverising, sweat-inducing riffs. Pushmen already have some serious metal pedigree amongst their ranks, comprising of ex-members of The Sword and Heartless Bastard to name but a few of their previous metal muses with which the members have already clocked up thousands of hours touring, excreting thousands of bucket loads worth of sweat in the process. On top of their impressive CV’s, Pushmen boast some of the finest ink-on-flesh in the business and an abundance of facial hair of Nordic proportions. So far, so metal.

The guitars are far from the standard metal fare of solid, distortion ridden bludgeons. Whilst they are well versed in straight up power chords, Pushmen prefer to whip their instruments into a frenzy, as guitar lines dart back and forth, prodding at your ears and teasing with dissonant fretboard workouts before delivering the payload in a furious outburst of attack. Riffs are unorthodox, cutting jagged edges through the songs and sitting somewhere between Slayer’s aural brutality and The Jesus Lizards raucous re-appropriation of jazz scales.

Thundering opening track ‘Child From Chaos’ features a surprisingly melodic chorus, touching upon the subversive attitudes of pop-savvy modern metal bands of the calibre of Torche and Baroness. ‘Vortex Philosophy Blues’ is a swirling, well…vortex of virtuosic riffs that descend into the bowls of hell before emerging with a pretty catchy central hook and a bought of chanted vocals. Don’t get deterred by un-metal phrases such as ‘swirling’, this album is still as macho-metal as a Hells Angels pre-show barbeque before a Metallica concert. Opening in a foreboding barrage of feedback and atmospheric dissonance, ‘Amass’ is left to simmer for some time before the huge riffs are brought out to play. ‘Blaze Some More Hate’ and ‘The Year of Hands and Neck’ are two sublime showcases of outrageous musicianship as drums nail some truly furious fills whilst never falling into over-indulgence whilst guitars wail in a selection of high fretboard moments that proves Pushmen are unafraid to use more minimalist tendencies instead of the usual one-hundred-notes-per-second heavy metal fare. As the album progresses the guttural screams and bellows of the throaty terror unleashed from bloody vocal chords may prove to be difficult for some listeners to endure, as the vocalists mid-range screams tear at the ears like rabid claws and leave you pleading for even the slightest variation. ‘Crime Again’ begins in a distinctly un-metal fashion, its main guitar part sounding resolutely odd but not out of place amongst the stomping riff which brings the track to a punishing close. ‘Western Medicine’ signs the band off on a six minute expedition through a selection of riffs that veer towards the weird end of the metal spectrum and the vocalist on a quest to see if he can scream so violently that his lungs come flying out of his mouth.

A solid record, commendable for keeping its gaze forward rather than behind into the over-mined metal back catalogue. Its fault are few, but the hardcore bellow that persists throughout all nine tracks will surely deter and/or intimidate some would-be fans. Their loss.

4 out of five high fives!

Count To Four – Between Two Cities

It’s been well documented that on TwoBeatsOff, we’re big fans of the beard. To this day, the number one search string that leads you to our website is ‘punk rock beards’, which links you to the page of ours that gets the most hits – this top ten article I did on a presumably dull afternoon when I was 18. And if you like beards, then it stands to reason that you’ll like Count To Four, because they cram a ridiculous amount of beard references into their lyrics. The guys themselves range from the sexy five o’ clock shadow to the standard-yet-awesome beard punk grizzle. And that’s kind of how their debut, Between Two Cities, feels – ranging between playful, almost flirty pop-punk licks to deeper notions of troubled hearts.

Opener ‘I Hope Not’ is as good an indicator of this as any. Filled with clever puns (and those all important beard gags) as well as devastatingly catchy verses, it’s sweeter than a slice of Victoria sponge. Beneath all the bouncy riffs though, it’s a journey of self realisation; an affirmation that in fact, that one girl might not be life or death after all, and that’s okay. Count To Four continue to charm and disarm throughout the rest of the album. Tracks like ‘Plastic Dinosaurs’ and ‘Tear It Apart’ are all about growing up and getting out without losing sense of yourself, all layered over with ridiculously speedy palm mutes and pounding drums. It never really lets up, either. Sure, there’s tracks like ‘Get Into It’, which feels far more intimate due to the lyrics and a slower tempo, but they still provide a massive rush and provoke enormous grins. And yet, Count To Four are perhaps at their best when they throw down to some minor chords. ‘My M.O’, an ethics driven plea, is the most impassioned song on the album, and it’s filled with wonderful touches like a xylophone in the bridge and unexpected breakdowns. Not to mention that’s overlooking the fact that it’s the track where Mike Hayden’s vocals break from their usually measured and dulcet tones to a desperate and damning shout – and it works.

If there is any fault with Between Two Cities, it’s that the band don’t take a risk when they really should, and while for the most part, what they’ve got there is excellent, there’s a couple of tracks that could benefit from taking the plunge. For example, ‘Bottles and Books’, the closer, tries to deliver a similar kind of “you suck and I’m okay without you” effect as some of the earlier songs but nowhere near as well, perhaps due to a lack of ‘My M.O’ style passion coming through the vocals.

It’s very clear where Count To Four pull their influences from – there’s a strong sense of that early 2000s Drive-Thru kind of sound throughout – but Between Two Cities still sounds totally fresh. If you like your pop-punk with an old school feel but with a revived sense of reckless abandon and twenty-something feels, then Count To Four are the band for you. And beards, man. Beards.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Forever After – Wilderness

Forever After has made a real splash in the pool of UK emergent pop-punk with their catchy and hard-hitting sound. Having already secured themselves a strong local following in their home county of Essex, the young four piece has been delighting crowds all over the country, supporting other UK breakthrough acts such as Mallory Knox and Futures.

Within the folds of the six songs that make up Wilderness, the boys smash out true pop-punk, revealing apathy for popular culture and the stagnating society that is Britain in recession. There is more catchy melodies and sophistication than the “F**K YOU!” of straight up punk and there is much more honesty and aggression than the “love me, love me” of pop music. The lyrics emit the typical socialist vibes, “it’s down to us in the community”, delivering songs for the fans to empathise with, sharing the collective disdain for the mess today’s youth has been left with.

Opening track ‘I’ve Got Friends’, hooks in the listener with punk riffs, crashing drums and a sound which sees every instrument blend together to compliment Dom Littler’s vocals. With lyrics such as ‘I’ve got friends but they’re leaving me all the time’ it can show the sacrifices in dedicating your life to a band in its infancy as other friends go off to University or get ‘real’ jobs. The track is aggressive in a passionate way, delivering every line with a punch.

‘Game Over’ is just as catchy, although a tad slower, with verses that build up to a chorus packed with foot-tapping melodies and a fistful of energy. The drum and bassline bounce off each other joyfully alongside Littler’s raw, powerful vocals and this carries on into ‘Grab A Drink’ which screams to life with a strong riff before swirling into a combination of raw verses and a rhythmic chorus.

‘Stay’ swirls into life with an introduction that grabs the listeners unwavering attention. The song is one of the EPs most instrumentally refined, showcasing impulsive tempo transitions between verse and chorus with polished guitars, a leading bass and a supportive drum beat which forms the backbone of not only the track but the EP in its entirety. All four of them successfully flaunt their musical prowess to round off the song with a modest yet fruitful instrumental.

The stand out track on the release definitely comes in the form of ‘Stupidity’ which displays the songwriting talents of this young band. The vocals really come to the fore helping to emphasise what is without a doubt the lyrically best track on this release. Although it is vocally simplistic, the strength of deliverance and lyrical dexterity make up for it, with a cheekily rebellious feel to every line. The instruments again merge together as delicate guitars and a subtle beat support Littler’s singing to create an all-rounder hit. The Essex quartet really strike gold with this track, hitting out at popular culture and pop music in a similar vein to fellow Essex boys Inme with their ‘Single of the Weak’ a few years back.

‘Chapters’ rounds off the EP with the slow, simple, majestic feel of a ballad. An acoustic guitar and softer vocals hold the first half of the song until the drums kick in, but even then they manage to retain the slow and passionate feel it began with. As the only track that is not obviously pop-punk, ‘Chapters’ allows Littler’s emotive vocals layered on top of the musical accompaniments to provide a long outro to wind down the EP.

Considering the plethora of young pop-punk bands out there trying to be Blink-182 or Sum 41, in ‘Wilderness’ Forever After remain very pop-punky, but they do it bloody well. For fans of Mallory Knox; We Are The Ocean; New Found Glory, the Essex lads don’t reinvent the genre, but they don’t just copy all that has gone before either. ‘Wilderness’ forms a statement of intent for climbing high up the pop-punk ladder.

4 out of 5 high fives!