P-Model - One Pattern LP (Alfa, 1986)

Tracklisting

Side A

Oh Mama!

Licorice Leaf

Astro Notes

Möbius Band

Drums

Side B

Zebra

Oyasumi Dog

Another Day

Harmonium

Sunpaleets

Here's P-Model's nearly-as-good follow-up to Karkador and their final album before going on a 6-year hiatus. Some really wonderful, spastic technopop production going on here, especially on tracks like Licorice Leaf and Oyasumi Dog. Those of you who are anime fans might recognize some of the melodies from Zebra, which is practically a blueprint for singer Hirasawa's later work for Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent series.

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P-Model - Karkador LP (Alfa, 1985)

Tracklisting

Side A

Karkador

On the Organ-Yama

Dance Subomp

Cyborg

1778-1985

Side B

Leak

Oar

Hourglass

Piper

Karcador

7th album from this long-running and much revered new-wave group. This one really grew on me after first being disappointed with how normal it seemed next to the zolo oddity of Perspective or the Devo-ish doink of their first two outings. Smart, sophisticated songwriting prevailed, and now I consider this to be one of the high-points in the P-Model discography. Cyborg and Piper are gems among gems...

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The Return of Video Game Music LP (Alfa, 1985)

Tracklisting

Side A

Fanfare From Pole Position II

Grobda

Dig Dug II

Dragon Buster

Metro Cross (Part I)

Gaplus

The Tower of Druaga

Side B

Mood Organ #27

Meta Magic Game

Merry Goes Around (Dedicated to Mariko Kunimoto)

Standard Theme

Mechanism of Vision

Metro Cross (Part II)

This LP is the sequel to the "Video Game Music" album arranged by Haruomi Hosono of YMO. This time around, arrangement duties fall in the hands of Koji Ueno of Guernica fame, who does a pretty alright job. It can't be a simple, really, as most of these early arcade compositions were meant to be looped indefinitely until the player succeeds or loses, cueing another soundbite. Ueno (and Hosono before him) don't ignore that fact, and admirably present the music in all its incessant glory, with in-game sound effects, chance deaths, and subsequent victories disrupting any sort of logical song-structure. This sort of video game music is actually pretty bizarre taken out of context...
Side B get's a bit bogged down with some original (non-video game) compositions, but the wacky "Meta Magic Game" is a highlight.

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