BGM is the fourth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released on March 21, 1981. The title stands for “Background music“,[1] though Japanese TV and press advertising alternately used “Beautiful Grotesque Music”.[2] This album was produced by Haruomi Hosono. Recording started on January 15, 1981, in an effort to release the album by March 21, 1981. The album was the first of any kind to feature the Roland TR-808, one of the earliest programmable drum machines;[3] YMO had already been the first band to use the device, featuring it on-stage as early as 1980.[4][5] In addition to the TR-808, this was also their first studio album recorded with the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer.
Source: BGM (album) – Wikipedia
I am late to the party with Yellow Magic Orchestra. Dylan Jones touches on them in Sweet Dreams, placing them alongside Kraftwerk, but I had never consciously listened to their tracks. “Cue” (キュー) was shared with me on a playlist, which led me to BGM. I really enjoyed this album, its drive and textures. I assume YMO were an inspiration for Severed Heads and Lindstrøm. Also, pretty sure that Mark Ronson sampled “Ballet” (バレエ) in his track “True Blue”.
On a side note, I tried listen to some of the other albums, but was a bit confused by some of it.