From: Terre Thaemlitz Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1993 11:40:22 -0500 HOSONO, HARUOMI albums: (far too many to list. Most ambient ones are...) Cochin Moon (78), NON- STANDARD: The Making of Monad Music (84), SFX (85), Coincidental Music (86?, piano & synth works), Paradise View (87, movie soundtrack), Medicine Compilation (From Quiet Lodge) (93), Mental Sports Mixes (93: remix album) An early innovator from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Hosono has had a quite prolific solo career parallel to his involvement in YMO. Of particular interest from an "ambient" perspective was the founding of his NON-STANDARD record label in 1984, who's first release 'NON-STANDARD: The Making of Monad Music' featured the ambient classics "Compositions 1 & 2", and "3-6-9". These tracks incorporate muzak styles with mellow industrial- based rhythms. The other side of the album is break-beat techno-pop. For Hosono, the most important concept behind "ambient" music is chaos and environmental engagement, not necessarily something "mellow." This first release was accompanied by a Japanese Cyberpunk book called "Globule," which featured articles and comics, and outlined the objectives of NON-STANDARD as continuing the "principles and ideas outlined by early ambient music as developed by Eno" etc. etc. NON-STANDARD was to continue publishing books as well, but I am uncertain as to whether this occurred or not. With the formulation of F.O.E. (Friends Of Earth - Hosono's alias and name for his music equipment), many of NON-STANDARD's releases ended up being break-beats, including a remix of Sex Machine with James Brown actually doing the vocals, so don't expect all NON-STANDARD to be traditional "ambient"! However, all the albums I listed above have traditional "ambient" elements. By far, his greatest ambient work is 'Malabar Hotel', from the album "Cochin Moon". This pre-YMO classic shows Hosono's innovation with synthetic music styles, and what he brought to YMO, particularly when compared to Sakamoto's release from the same era, "The 1000 Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto." 'Malabar Hotel' moves from synthetic ambient noise passages to bouncey analogue rhythms, creating a rich and dense electronic aura. I truly believe it's an absolute must-have; however, be ready to look long and hard, as the cover looks like a South-Asian movie poster and does not say Hosono's name on the front. I came across my copy by chance, as it was misfiled in a budget soundtrack section. --- "Medicine Compilation from Quiet Lodge" is the first Hosono album released domestically in the US for almost a decade. It's a pretty good mix of ambient, comtemporary ambient dub and Japanese synth-pop, with various tracks being played in various genres. (What I am terming synth-pop really doesn't stray far from the ambient tracks.) There is one track which is alot along the lines of Amorphous Androgynous (the fifth track on the Hosono CD). Overall mellow synthetic Hosono-goodness. (Although he still hasn't outdone Malabar Hotel IMHO.) Much more tolerable than Sakamoto's current solo work *blech*. Although "Medicine Compilation..." has major contributions by other Japanese artists working with Hosono, the end product is consistent and cohesive. A very interesting re-introduction to the scene within the context of contemporary ambient dub.