坂本龍一* – B-2 Unit

Grabbed with when I was in Osaka. The owner Norio at Rare Groove records was incredibly patient with me. Put on about 20 records before we found something I was looking for.

Over a decade before the Warp Records 'Artificial Intelligence' series, this album is not only an obvious influence for those electronic experimentations of the early 90's, but it greatly exceeds their ambition. A wild and wonderful listen!

Rigid dub album by Sakamoto
The reason for making this work began with having talked with Co-producer of B-2 Unit Yoshitaka Goto about Take Away made by XTC's Andy Partridge
(This dialogue is on the Japanese version Take Away LP liner notes)
That's why Andy participates, but since he did not have time he gave Sakamoto a tape that he played
Of course, not only that but Sakamoto's influence such as Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Kraftwerk, etc, which had been overwhelmingly there
In Sakamoto's hope was recorded in London for a dub mix of Dennis Bovell

Fantastic record. Makes most of the early-mid 90's IDM coming out of Europe seem like amateur hour in comparison. I would place this record up there with the best of Kraftwerk and Can. A forgotten gem for sure!

Masterpiece, indeed! B-2 Unit has a knack for being both experimental AND concise. Pop in structure but dissonant in execution, it sounds like where Kraftwerk left off for more efficient territory -- somewhere between Radioactivity and Trans-Europe Express. It's got this organic atmosphere that you don't hear in a lot of other 80s synthslop. Images of raw metals, industrial textiles, and engineered forms play against the sunny and decadent atmosphere of standard synthpop. In a lot of ways B-2 Unit has the dynamics that made The Pop Group or Public Image Ltd. so unique: dubby, caustic, rhythmic sound worlds. Sakamoto has fused Japanese minimalism with krautrock, dub and found sound to create infectious sound sculptures. Definitely worth hunting down!

Masterpiece, from beginning to end. Produced like a pop album, the music is bursting with originality and sensuality. Sakamoto is in total control of composition, tone colour and mix, without sacrificing anything to spontaneity. Most early eighties electronic pop music will bore the shit out of anybody listening to it now, but that won't be the case with B-2 Unit soon. Lots of non-harmonic content and obscured time signatures still effortlessly in balance with harmony and structure.
The pieces range from an almost-poppy ballad to idm-ish to abstract poly-rhythmic breaks, adding up to a greater whole, that is this album.