It would be easy to mistakenly believe the organic, folk-infused electronica-pop of the likes of Oval, Fennesz, B.Fleischmann and Four Tet were completely new. Japan’s Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi have something to say about that. As members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, they pioneered much of today’s music over 25 years ago. And Hosono has been at it since the 60s with psychedelic band Apryl Fool. Both have produced solo instrumental and soundtrack work throughout the 80s and 90s that could easily have been source material for today’s younger talents.
In 2002 the duo formed Sketch Show and released their impossible-to-find debut, Audio Sponge with another former YMO mate, Ryuichi Sakamoto, contributing to one song. With Sakamoto and Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) making live appearances, the band stole the show at the June 2003 Sonar electronica festival in Barcelona. Available in Japan since November, Loophole is an amazing display of glitch pyrotechnics and tightly polished songcraft, showing the kids how it’s done. Using sampled clicks and beeps in place of percussion, at first it sounds spare. The spare vocals, Flamenco-tinged acoustic guitar and overall sense of fragility belies the dense, rich detail which makes this album such an alluring, rewarding experience. The alien beauty of this music will most likely mystify and entrance these gentlemen’s grandchildren, as they have broken ground for a third generation.
