SOLID STATE SURVIVOR

Whilst their contemporaries Kraftwerk were pioneering an icy-cool brand of synthpop suitable for robots and cyborgs, Yellow Magic Orchestra's second album finds them examining ways in which electronic music can have a human heart. The emphasis more on cutting-edge synthpop, with the primitive computer game jungles from the debut being scrapped, and the band even turn their hands to a Beatles cover in the form of a sedated-sounding take on Day Tripper. Got a good reason to listen? Oh, most certainly, because this release finds the Yellow Magic Orchestra graduating from the one-off Ryuichi Sakamoto-led lark of the debut album into a true band effort.