Impeccable
Zane Trow | 09/26/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Nothing else sounds like it. Beautiful clarity in production. Guest voices from William Burroughs and William Gibson. A timelessness that transends the electronic zone YMO are often ghettoised into - this is music made in the late 20th century that stretches it's audio metaphors into the 21st. While it has been re-mixed and played and recorded again live this version remains an impeccably constructed and entertaining sonic journey through intellectually demanding territory."
TECHNO DONS
R M SMITH | Kingdom | 10/01/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"By the time of this release yellow magic orchestra had already tried and tested their unique quirky brand of electro, it was just a matter of perfecting it on technodon. The album kicks of with a personal favourite of mine containing a strange vocal that leads into one of their weird synth lines that leaves you no option other than to smile, and you may as well leave your face like that as this is the feel for the most of the album. It does have one particular track, Sakamoto of all people, thats to feel good even for y.m.o, but all is forgiven when the golden track of the album begins; 'Graduated Grey' one of the finest tracks from Takahashi and indeed from all of y.m.o 's releases. In the same vein as 'BGM'it also ends with two beautifuly deep reflective Sakamoto pieces. All in all worth the money and if you like y.m.o then your probably gonna buy the album any way"
The place to be ...
Steven Guy | Croydon, South Australia | 05/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Full of strange and subtle music. The most complex music "grooves" very agreeably - a friend thought it was a Trance album by a new and younger group - and the simplest music here is more complex that meets the eye. William S. Burroughs ("Be a superman") and William Gibson ("Drifting away") add spoken word vocal to two of the songs. The whole album is something of a "happening" from these great Techno gurus. In fact, one of the tracks suggests that YMO are "high-tech hippies". As with almost all Yellow Magic Orchestra albums, this one is predominantly instrumental. The closest album to "Technodon", in style and mood, would be "BGM", another firm favourite of mine for many years. The compositions from "Technodon" seem to have been written with live performances in mind, even though they feature some pre-recorded material. Go to YouTube to see "Be A Superman" and "Drifting Away" performed live in concert recently. The concert was a sort of gigantic Techno Love-in and the atmosphere was tangible, even in the YouTube clips.
A wonderful and rewarding album"
