| BGM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 21, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | January 15 – February 20, 1981 | |||
| Studio | Alfa Studio "A",Shibaura,Minato, Tokyo | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:06 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Haruomi Hosono | |||
| Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology | ||||
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| Singles from BGM | ||||
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BGM is the fourth studio album byYellow Magic Orchestra, released on March 21, 1981. Theelectronic music album, whose title stands for "Background music",[1] was produced byHaruomi Hosono. Recording started on January 15, 1981, in an effort to release the album by March 21, 1981.
It was one of the first albums to feature theRoland TR-808,[7] the most influential early programmabledrum machine, along with YMO memberRyuichi Sakamoto's solo albumB-2 Unit (1980).[8][9][10] YMO was the first band to use the device, featuring it on stage in 1980.[11][12] In addition to the TR-808, this was also their first studio album recorded with theRoland MC-4 Microcomposermusic sequencer. The album, particularly its use of the TR-808, was influential on the development of electronic,hip hop anddance music.[2]
The title stands for "Background music".[1] However, Japanese TV and press advertising alternately used "Beautiful Grotesque Music".[13]
Alfa Records, YMO's record company, had installed a3M 32-track digital recorder in its studio shortly before YMO started recordingBGM. Since Hosono was not fond of its overly sharp sound quality, he recorded all the rhythm sections forBGM on aTASCAM 80-8 analog recorder first and copied them with the 3M machine, resulting in the fuller, much compressed rhythm tracks. Unfortunately, no known working samples of the 3M recorder exist in Japan today, making it quite difficult to play the master tape.
The then brand new Roland TR-808, prior to the drum machine's official release in 1980, was rented out to YMO. One of the earliest uses of the TR-808 for a live performance was by Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1980 for the song "1000 Knives", anelectro/techno rendition of member Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Thousand Knives" (1978).[6] The 808's chief engineerTadao Kikumoto was unaware Roland had rented out the machine to YMO before release and was surprised to hear it on a liveFM radio broadcast of YMO'sBudokan 1980 performance.[14] The hand-clap sound was later publicized on this album, being used again on "1000 Knives" and in "Music Plans", another of Sakamoto's songs.
Peter Barakan debuts as YMO's co-lyricist, replacingChris Mosdell. Barakan had previously provided lyrics forRyuichi Sakamoto's solo track "Thatness and Thereness".[2] Sakamoto himself was often absent from theBGM recording sessions due to creative differences with Hosono; he notably refused to play on "Cue", and his distaste of the song was so strong that he refused to play the song's keyboard parts live, instead switching to drums while Takahashi played keyboards. Sakamoto turns in "Music Plans" as his only new composition for the album, since "1000 Knives" (from his 1978 debut albumThousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto) and "Happy End" were new recordings of his earlier materials.[2] Sakamoto's version of "Happy End" was released as the B-side to his solo single "Front Line" in April 1981. Another song, "Rap Phenomena", was an early attempt at electronichip hop music.[1][5]
"Loom" is a re-working of "The Infinite Space Octave" by YMO computer programmerHideki Matsutake, and features a slow, upwardShepard tone glissando anticipating theDeep Note,THX'saudio logo. A similar sound was previously used by YMO membersHaruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto for their 1978 albumCochin Moon. Like most YMO albums, song titles were printed in both Japanese and English, as listed below. "来たるべきもの" more accurately translates to "What should come".
It was one of the most expensive albums to produce at the time. The production budget was ¥51,250,000,[2] equivalent to $604,000.[6] The TR-808 cost the equivalent of $4,000 adjusted for inflation in 2021.[2] In addition to the TR-808, otherelectronic musical instruments used include twoRoland MC-8 MicroComposer sequencers,ARP Odyssey andProphet-5synthesizers,Pollard Syndrumelectronic drums, aYamaha E-1010delay unit, andSony C-37Pmicrophone.[6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Analog Planet | 9/10[6] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10[2] |
| Stereo Review | Positive[4] |
When released in 1981, the album's reception was positive.Stereo Review described the recording as "crystalline" and the performance as "the twain meet", praising the album for its "remarkable" blend between "East and West", its "catchy tunes", its "ambitious collection of electronics" and for "pushing at the frontiers ofelectronic rock", but noted that this affected the album's accessibility.[4]
In 2021,Noah Yoo ofPitchfork gave it a positive review. According to Yoo,BGM "presented a startlingly prescient glimpse into electronic music’s future." He noted "BGM hones in on the “techno” aspect of the groundbreaking trio’s “techno-pop,” channeling each member’s unique personality into a monument of electronic music history" which "is a foundation for all manner of “synthetic” music that would follow, fromsynth-pop andIDM to hip-hop and well beyond." He described "Rap Phenomena" as having "subtle echoes of its resonantgroove andpolyrhythmic vocalsample manipulation everywhere" in modern electronic music, "Happy End" as "a progenitor of theambient techno that would emerge in the following decade from artists" such asCarl Craig orThe Orb, "1000 Knives" and "Camouflage" as demonstrating the TR-808's "relentless mechanical hi-hats" and "crisp" claps later used in hip-hop and dance music for the next several decades, "Camouflage" and "U.T." as anticipating "the skittering drum programming" ofAphex Twin, "Mass" as anticipating the "ominous drama" ofsynthwave, and theambient "Loom" as having "a patiently ascending, two-minute-longShepard’s tone" that anticipated theTHX trademarkDeep Note.[2]
Malachi Lui ofAnalog Planet also gave the album a positive review. He called it "the group’s mostexperimental, forward-thinking work" to date. He noted opening track "Ballet" has an IDM-like electronic soundscape that combines "electronic drums, persistent hi-hats, and sustained synths" with a "melancholic emptiness." He also described "1000 Knives" as a "techno re-recording" that "lacks the 1978 original’s subtleties," praises "Cue" for its "exuberant synth-bass with beautifully cold" synth melodies, and described the "slow, sweeping electronics" of "Loom" as "predictive of Aphex Twin’sSelected Ambient Works projects." He concluded "BGM’s influence is evident in most current electronic music" 40 years later and that "BGM, equally cutting edge as it is alluringly imperfect, will always sound like the past, present,and future."[6]
Chuck Clenney ofUnderMain Magazine noted the album's significance in the early history ofhip hop, describing its "use of the 808 as an instrument, played with character and emotion" as "groundbreaking." He describes the 808-driven "Music Plans" as where "the beginnings of that funky, electronic boom-bap vibe of hip-hop beats start to emerge" and the similarly 808-driven "Rap Phenomena" as "an auralAustralopithecus of electronic rap music." Hip hop pioneerAfrika Bambaataa cited theBGM tracks "Music Plans", "Ballet" and "Cue" as influences.[5]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ballet" (バレエ) | Yukihiro Takahashi,Peter Barakan | Takahashi | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Music Plans" (音楽の計画; "Ongaku no keikaku") | Ryuichi Sakamoto, Barakan | Sakamoto | 4:34 |
| 3. | "Rap Phenomena" (ラップ現象; "RAPPU genshō") | Haruomi Hosono, Barakan | Hosono | 4:33 |
| 4. | "Happy End" (ハッピー・エンド) | Sakamoto | 4:33 | |
| 5. | "1000 Knives" (千のナイフ; "Sen no NAIFU") | Sakamoto | 5:24 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cue" (キュー) | Takahashi, Hosono, Barakan | Takahashi, Hosono | 4:33 |
| 2. | "U•T" (ユーティー) | Yellow Magic Orchestra | 4:34 | |
| 3. | "Camouflage" (カムフラージュ) | Takahashi, Barakan | Takahashi | 4:34 |
| 4. | "Mass" (マス) | Hosono, Barakan | Hosono | 4:32 |
| 5. | "Loom" (来たるべきもの; "Kitaru beki mono") | YMO,Hideki Matsutake | 5:21 |
Yellow Magic Orchestra –Arrangements,Electronics,Vocals, Voices on "U•T",Mixing engineers
Guest musicians
Staff
| Year | Release | Chart | Peak position | Weeks | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | LP | Oricon LP Chart[15] | 2 | 19 | 175,000 |
| Cassette | Oricon CT Chart[15] | 4 | 21 | 100,000 | |
| 2022 | Album | Oricon Albums Chart[15] | 54 | 3 | 8,000 |
| Japan | 283,000 |
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