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Synthpop's YMO Returns as HASYMO for Appleseed Sequel
posted on by Egan Loo
YMO, the acclaimed electropop musical trio of the 1980s, reunited after 14 years this past February and recorded the theme song "Rescue" for this October's Appleseed movie sequel Ex Machina. YMO (short for "Yellow Magic Orchestra") was a major influence or collaborator of many figures in electronic music and cyberspace fiction, including Deee-Lite's Towa Tei and Neuromancer's William Gibson. The group have renamed themselves HASYMO (pronounced "hashimo"), a combination of YMO and the Human Audio Sponge (HAS) name that the three members once used for temporary reunions.
The three members have separately contributed to anime; most prominently, Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the soundtracks of The Wings of Honneamise, the first Appleseed movie, and Le Chevalier D'Eon. Haruomi Hosono composed Night on the Galactic Railroad, while Yukihiro Takahashi composed the song "Families" for Nadia - Secret of Blue Water.
The three have not recorded a new CD since 1993's Technodon, although Hosono and Takahashi had already reunited under the name Sketch Show. Sakamoto would contribute to some of the duo's performances and recordings, which is when he first proposed the temporary Human Audio Sponge name in 2004.
They recorded the "Rescue" single this past spring with a more contemporary R&B sound than their previous work, as well as with English vocals by Hosono and Takahashi. Avex will release this song with "Rydeen 79/07" (a remix of a 1979 song that was distributed online in February) on August 22. The trio will revive the original "YMO" name for their performance in the worldwide Live Earth concert event on July 7.
Source: Sports Nippon
Image © Light Publicity Co., Ltd.
