Yopaakuyu with Me

I sometimes wonder Is it possible to make a totally new, different kind of music, one that doesn’t ape or rehash previous types? Usually, the answer seems to be No. But then new tools permit something like this album to be made and the answer, for a brief moment anyway, seems to be Yes. Then the reviewer’s conundrum – how to describe such a sound in words? And if described, does it imply that it wasn’t all that different all along? This is thrashy sample art, as though Hot Troche is spinning the tuning dial on a radio (or, in fact, a sampler) in hyperdrive; the hits on signals often by themselves constitute the rhythm track. I will note where tracks deviate from this basic formula. The second, and perhaps more important issue in addition to novelty is whether it was worth the effort based on its inherent, albeit subjectively judged, “quality”, which is, what? – listenability, enjoyability, danceability, or something much much more ineffable? On those criteria, I have my doubts about this release but it’s certainly bound to be something novel to almost all listeners so I can wholeheartedly recommend it on that basis.

1. Just to illustrate the basic formula
2. Somewhat subdued part starting about halfway, but then skips back into the “groove”
3. Noises recognizable as a human noise speaking Japanese and a barely melodic portion featured
4. More voices but now at sped-up-tape frequency
5. Almost loungy, with “mellow” guitar and vocals that occupy the fence between singing and dry-heaving
6. Aye caramba, distinguished by its length, its medley-like passage through various moods, and the fucked-up stereo panning near the end
7. A slight, strum-n-hum folkie tune interrupted in the middle for no seeming reason; perhaps in tribute to Japanese group Slapp Happy Humphrey
8. The fonky slapped bass is notably left un-effected for some time but alas, it too falls to the sampler in the end
9. Insect-buzzing quality to some of the passages but then that only makes the “straight” part of your brain cling that much more strongly to the few snippets of actual melodic and rhythmic normalcy
10. Voices, sickly twisted and sampled voices, screaming to be let out of their electronically constructed bags
11. Scritch-scratch-thump-bump-dump … running out of vocabulary here, folks
12. Lame-o nightclub crooning on a wicked speed jag; jeez this is some Royal Trux nightmare scenario or something
13. Plucky little pop tune featuring severely keeping-on-key-challenged vocal over a not-so-fucked-up rhythm track