From Japan! Technopop masterpieces and recommended popular tracks

MegaloopPerfume

[Official Music Video] Perfume 'Meguru-Loop'

Amid the changing seasons, even while carrying a vague anxiety about the future, you find your own place alongside dear friends.

It’s a captivating pop tune that feels like a snapshot from youth.

The structure unfolds from a quiet solo part into an exhilarating unison in the chorus, making your heart leap as you listen.

Released in July 2025, this song was chosen as the theme for the drama Chihayafuru: Meguri.

It’s a message song that will lend you strength.

O SupermanLaurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson – O Superman (Official Music Video)

Laurie Anderson is an American-born avant-garde artist, a film director, and a pioneering figure in electronic music.

Also known as the late Lou Reed’s partner, she wears many hats, and the song that dramatically raised her profile in the mainstream is “O Superman,” which we’re focusing on here.

Released as a single in 1981, the track won fervent support from figures like the legendary British DJ John Peel and, despite its avant-garde nature, reached No.

2 on the UK Singles Chart.

It has since become a classic, inscribed as an important number in the history of technopop and electronic music.

The song makes effective use of a vocoder; its voice sits somewhere between poetry reading and melody, and the restrained synth tones create an ambient atmosphere.

Don’t expect a catchy pop tune, but if you listen repeatedly, you may come to notice the song’s peculiar charm.

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Day TripperYellow Magic Orchestra

yellow magic orchestra – day tripper

This work boldly reconstructs the Beatles’ 1965 classic as reimagined by YMO.

Included on the 1979 masterpiece Solid State Survivor, it features a groundbreaking fusion of Makoto Ayukawa’s guest guitar and an austere, mechanical synthesizer sound.

While preserving the raw energy of the original riff, Yukihiro Takahashi’s cool vocals lend an urban sheen, elevating it into a distinctly YMO technopop.

It also appears on the live album Public Pressure, underscoring its status as a key repertoire piece that captures the fervor of the time.

It’s a track I can recommend to a wide range of listeners, from rock fans to electronic music enthusiasts.

EpilogueYellow Magic Orchestra

Epilogue – YMO

The album Technodelic astonished the world with its innovative sampling techniques.

Closing out the record, this piece is a beautiful instrumental that fuses industrial noise with serene synthesizers.

As the finale to an album released in 1981, it leaves a bittersweet aftertaste, as if the city nightscape were slowly receding into the distance.

The delicate melody crafted by Ryuichi Sakamoto conveys a palpable warmth amid its stark minimalism, and many listeners may feel a tightening in their chest each time they hear it.

There’s even an anecdote that its working title was “Good Night Music,” a testament to the soothing, restful quality of its sound.

massYellow Magic Orchestra

[HD] MASS (ONE MORE YMO Shinjuku Koma Theater 1981 Live 2005 Remaster) - YMO

A track whose heavy, cold-blooded beat and the curious interplay of English and Russian linger in the ear.

Released in September of the same year as a single cut from the acclaimed album BGM, which came out in March 1981, it stands as a song that symbolizes the band’s decisive shift away from their earlier bright, pop image toward a darker, more experimental new wave direction.

Many fans at the time were likely bewildered by the sudden change, yet found themselves captivated by its avant-garde stance.

chance encounterYellow Magic Orchestra

Yellow Magic Orchestra – Kai-Koh

Among the tracks on the 1983 album “Uwakina Bokura,” this piece stands out for its distinctly introspective beauty.

Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote and composed it, with Yukihiro Takahashi on vocals.

The shimmering, bell-like timbre of the synthesizer is striking, and its sound—radiant yet tinged with melancholy—resonates deeply.

The lyrics depict the protagonist, who can no longer sing of ideal love, expressing both determination and anxiety as they bid farewell to their former self and take a new step forward.

Although it isn’t a flashy single, it remains a perennial favorite among fans.

Human Factory -Electroformed Humans-Perfume

Human factory - Electroformed Human - [Official Audio]

An unconventional work set in a dark, mysterious world was released in February 2025.

Its distinctive sound fuses Perfume’s four-on-the-floor roots with grand synthesizers and a deep synth bass.

Through near-futuristic themes like artificial intelligence and robots, it carries a profound message about unconscious living in modern society and humans as beings embedded within systems.

Also chosen as the theme song for the film “Showtime Seven,” it brilliantly expresses the movie’s worldview from a musical perspective.

Coupled with vocal work that effectively employs mechanical effects, this piece exudes the ambiance of an SF film soundtrack, making it a recommended track for quiet nighttime drives or whenever you want to imagine the future.