Yello - Touch Yello (15th Anniversary Edition) [Vinyl, 2LP] (2025)
FLAC, Lossless (track) | Run Time: 00:58:14 | 346.62 MB
Genre: Electronic | Label: Universal Music Group

Seit fast fünf Jahrzehnten prägen Yello die Entwicklung der elektronischen Popmusik, der Dieter Meier (Vocals) und Boris Blank (Keyboards, Sampling) ab Ende der 1970er Jahre mit Kulthits wie „Bostich“, „Oh Yeah“ oder „The Race“ ihren Stempel aufgedrückt haben. Mit ihrem collagenhaften Signature-Mix aus synthetischen Beats, organischen Soundbits und assoziativen Wortspielereien probieren sich die Schweizer immer wieder neu aus, während man sich sämtlichen Genreschubladen bis heute kategorisch mit unverbindlichem Lächeln verweigert.

Yello - Touch Yello (15th Anniversary Edition) [Vinyl, 2LP] (2025)
MP3 320 Kbps | Run Time: 00:58:14 | 140.24 MB
Genre: Electronic | Label: Universal Music Group

Seit fast fünf Jahrzehnten prägen Yello die Entwicklung der elektronischen Popmusik, der Dieter Meier (Vocals) und Boris Blank (Keyboards, Sampling) ab Ende der 1970er Jahre mit Kulthits wie „Bostich“, „Oh Yeah“ oder „The Race“ ihren Stempel aufgedrückt haben. Mit ihrem collagenhaften Signature-Mix aus synthetischen Beats, organischen Soundbits und assoziativen Wortspielereien probieren sich die Schweizer immer wieder neu aus, während man sich sämtlichen Genreschubladen bis heute kategorisch mit unverbindlichem Lächeln verweigert.

Flag was a watershed album for the group. On one hand, it is a refinement of all the ideas the band had been following through the '80s, on the other, in the wake of their high-profile success with "Oh Yeah," Yello had reached the point where ideas turned into self-parody - the cover art of Deiter Meier and Boris Blank pulled together into a human knot is horrifically appropriate. Nothing is a surprise here, apart from how "The Race" is a Xerox of their own 1981 song "Bostich." Tracks like "Of Course I'm Lying" are empty exercises in suave, like late-period Roxy Music without the pedigree. Billy Mackenzie returns to provide backup vocals on the more romantic tunes. This isn't to say that the album is a dull listen - "Tied Up," repeated here three times on a nine-track album, is a fascinating collage of Afro-Cuban rhythms, rain storm effects, drums nicked from a Broadway revue, monkey chatter, basso-profundo lyrics, and screams…

One Second expands the Eurodisco approach of Stella, and while it's considerably less adventurous than Yello's earlier works, it's engaging dance music, highlighted by some clever uses of Latin rhythms and vocal cameos from Billy Mackenzie and Shirley Bassey.

Yes, Stella is the album that includes Yello's biggest hit, "Oh Yeah." It's also their best single LP, an excellent production throughout by Boris Blank, from the theatric instrumentals "Stalakdrama" and "Ciel Ouvert" to the frenetic pitched percussion on "Let Me Cry." As well, Dieter Meier proves he's at his best vocally, whether it's the seamy side of life on "Desert Inn" or an exaggerated leer for "Koladi-ola." Both hit their peak on the same album, and Stella is a complete joy for fans of the vocal or production side of the group.

The seeds of Euro-dance sown on Claro Que Si reached fruition on Yello's next record, naturally titled You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess. There are fewer novelty synth tracks than before, those being replaced by a series of sleazy, deep-throated vocals on "I Love You," "Lost Again," "Heavy Whispers," and the title track. There are also a few exercises in worldbeat synth pop, with heavy percussion on the title track as well as the closing number, "Salut Mayoumba." Though Blank's production doesn't sound as consistently innovative as on the first two Yello records, that's probably due more to other synth pop groups catching up than any comedown on his part.

Another leap in musical sophistication made Yello's second album another high point in the development of synth pop. The future of Euro-disco and dance-pop are easily audible from the opening "Daily Disco" and other tracks like "Pinball Cha Cha," "The Evening's Young," and "Cuad el Habib." Though Claro Que Si is slightly more pop-oriented than the group's debut, with Boris Blank's electronics just as innovative and obtuse as before, that's hardly a step backward.

One of the founders of the Swiss synth-pop band Yello, Boris Blank empties his solo vaults on Electrified, an archival set that came into being with some help from online crowd-funding. The 40 tracks here are mostly instrumental, some of them simple sketches, while others sound complete. Blank's trademarks - gurgling synths, deep bass, Latin rhythms - are all present, and while this quirky, infectious set will likely please all as cheeky audio wallpaper, Yello fans will get the most out of all these peeks behind the curtain.

The most varied and accomplished of any synth pop debut, Yello's first album presents a few irresistible pop songs (the hit "Bostich," plus "Bimbo" and "Eternal Legs"), Boris Blank's synthesizer interpretations of several different forms of music ("Downtown Samba," "Bananas to the Beat," "Rock Stop," "Coast to Polka"), and even a three-song suite of atmospheric industrial music that functions as a miniature invisible soundtrack. The dark lyrical concerns and futurist electronics immediately lifted Yello above the rut of Kraftwerk imitators.

This collaboration with Yello mastermind Boris Blank displays the dark timbred voice of Malia in a set of pop titles created by the glitzy synths and sultry dancable rhythms of Blank, who uses the singer's voice like a solo instrument in the very front of a mix made by his tasteful synthetic soundscapes.
Convergence is one of the most sensual and elegant album we have heard in a long time. Its almost timeless aesthetics avoid clichés mostly associated with electronic soul music and seamlessly bring together two artists with a unique approach to their work - but most important of all: it’s got soul and sensuality, both in a very elegant and airy way but still has enough artistic weight to carry the promise of becoming a long term companion.

The quirky synthesized noises of Swiss duo Yello have been dance club staples since the early '80s. Early recordings such as Solid Pleasure and You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess were experimental but tuneful synth-pop experiments, combining Dieter Meier's bizarre vocals and Boris Blank's gurgling synthesizer effects to create distinctive, strange, yet compelling dancefloor anthems like "Bostich" and "I Love You." By the mid-'80s, Yello began to incorporate Latin rhythms into its sound, finding a larger U.S. audience along the way; the immortal "Oh Yeah," by far the duo's most recognizable song after being featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Secret of My Success, and countless commercials, even crossed over to the U.S. pop chart in 1987.

On "Resonance", Boris Blank's cinematic soundscapes unfold into expansive sound galaxies, with which the Swiss musician provides a fascinating glimpse into infinity from his studio on the famous Zürichberg. The twelve tracks on the new solo album originally emerged from a commission for the FORTYSEVEN thermal baths near Zurich, designed by Swiss star architect Mario Botta. Stefan Bock and Stefan Zaradic from the Munich-based company IAN Records worked with Boris Blank to create an elaborately staged 3D soundscape using the "SpatialSound Wave" system developed by the internationally renowned Fraunhofer Institute. A completely new challenge for the notorious sound researcher, who enters previously undiscovered ambient worlds on his new album.