Pioneering Japanese electronic act Yellow Magic Orchestra turns 40 this year, and Sony Music Japan is celebrating with a massive re-issue campaign set to kick off in full next month. In the meantime, they’ve also put out this new compilation, curated by superstar Japanese DJ Towa Tei, designed to focus on YMO’s more eclectic and minimal output.

A lot of effort obviously went into this release. In addition to getting Towa Tei’s name on it, the album also features art by well-known artist Tomoo Gokita, and the tracks were newly remastered by ex-Denki Groove member Yoshinori Sunahara. Anyone into Japanese electronic music who already wasn’t interested in picking this up will no doubt see their names and be tempted even more to pick it up.

And they probably shouldn’t. Continue reading →