🐣 KERO KERO BONITO — TIME TODAY

Taking off into a world of ceaseless leisure, whimsical hope, the hefty air of summer and free time finding its way into our hearts, this is the wonderful 'Time Today' by the trio that is Kero Kero Bonito. Usually and perhaps more well known for their bilingual Anglo-Japanese playground-rhyme-raps and polished analogue collages of electronic sound, 'Time Today' is a bouncy bopper of a track, with all the airiness, kinetic journeymaking rhythm, and tomorrow-never-comes sweet stoicism that'd make for a good ending theme for a slice of life (or other genre of) anime. The outward appearing of the track says as much, but so do the lyrics, cradling ambition in simple lines like opener, "I got so much time today / I got hopes and dreams and plans all yet to be made" and "But I don't / Even know / Where I should be trying to go / So I guess I'll follow my nose." All honest, all relatable.

It bears a resemblance to Shibuya-kei, the Japanese genre defined by its mix of styles, and yep it's all here: the lounge atmosphere, the electronic keyboard sounds, the jazz chord progressions, the busy upbeat tempo. Those gently unexpected progressions – founded on lovely warm bass, which really complement the cosy, comfy texture of the organ-ish chords – make it colourful and full of feeling, whilst typically KKB musical asides like chiming little melodies, sun-glinting sparkles, whoopy instrumental warbles, and drum machine fills decorate it with engaging nuance and keep things fun.

It is also brief—not too brief, but the sort of brief that mirrors how the song feels and what it says: that time, especially when everything feels right, seems to stretch on and on ahead of you – that "I got so much time today" refrain right? – but before you know it you're thinking, where's it all gone? With its lyrical references to day and night, dawn and sunset, you can see that it's a hopeful start-of-the-day song for the end of the day, a late afternoon reflection for tomorrow's bright morning.

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• 🔔 This lovely song is taken from the upcoming NEW Kero Kero Bonito album Time 'n' Place, which is coming soon. That's all we know.
• 🔔 KKB also took part in YES/NO's Lazy Interview series all the way back in 2014. Have a lil' read if you feel like it~

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📠
☟ Kero Kero Bonito Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr ⚘ youtube ⚘ instagram ⚘ wikipedia ⚘ songkick

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LULU + MIKENEKO HOMELESS – WATERMELON

三毛猫ホームレス or Mikeneko Homeless (that's "homeless tortoiseshell cat") is a musicmaking duo from Tokyo composed of Tokinori Kakimoto, a double bassist and composer who also makes music as mochilon, and Masahiro Oba aka hironica. These two have teamed up with singer Lulu to come up with the instant infatuation of 'Watermelon', a supremely bouncy and immediately likeable musical morsel that speaks of … how funny; I was just about to write that it speaks of crisp autumn days and the continuance of the early days of a developing romance, a tale begun and spun during the hot and humid hours of summer, when I read in the description of the track on SoundCloud: "Where you and me will be when autumn comes?"

And really, since this sort of sentiment is what came to mind when listening to the song – even without understanding the lyrics – you can say that the trio have achieved certainly asked the above question with their music.

In fact, it is a story told in different parts; firstly beginning with a cascade jazzy synth chords and tumbling rapid-fire acoustic guitar arpeggios; secondly launching into a jaunty upbeat chorus with fluttering synths soaring up to meet it, playful vocal melodies skipping over the dop-dop-dop-dop of chipper chords; thirdly we skim into a part where chords cushion a scorchingly modulated bleepy solo melody, the beat slow and evocative with virtuoso hi-hat rolls; fourthly, the realisation part – where perhaps what went before in summer will not carry on as days become chilly and leaves curl and crisp, falling orange and red – Lulu's melody is slower, emotional, the chords softer, gentler, rippling vacant and numb, you especially notice it in the song's final part, with Lulu singing wordless "ahhh-aa-aa…", a slight lament at unforseeable futures, unpredictable circumstances.

Even without paying this much attention, this is a sumptuous slice of electronic-flavoured, atmospheric, sunny-meets-chilly atmosphere-summoning music, the vocals by Lulu compelling, subtly harmonised at times, flustered with romance and uncertainty against the virtuoso nu-shibuya-kei city pop vibe effused from Mineneko Homeless; it seeps into your head, inspiring happiness as much as a pang of doubt in the heart.

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☟ Lulu Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • blog • Twitter • Tumblr • Instagram

☟ mochilon Social Media Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Myspace • Last.fm • Twitter • YouTube

☟ hironica Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • site • Twitter

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MIII EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO YOU

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL. What is a good way to start the New Year? With a list of resolutions and things to change about yourself, like some kind of end-of-year self-assessment? Maybe. I mean, it's not a bad thing to do; there's always room for improvement. One of mine will be to get up earlier. Because I woke up today on the 1st January 2014 and saw a glimpse of daylight – by the time I got to the window again it was dark. So I'm gonna wake up earlier. I'll have to hold me to that.

In other news, you could always just, I dunno, listen to a nice song that seems to be full of the promise of a New Year ahead, full of the potential and possibilities in each of these next few hundred days. Buuuut then again it's not so good to look far into the future. What is a good way to live, in that sense? Day-to-day? But then you like, can't have a calendar can you? What am I saying— this is nonsense. I've gotta stop and just introduce this song to you now.

It comes from Tokyo-dwelling 21-year-old Japanese producer called miii (real name: Mizuki Wada, who's also in band The Wedding Mistakes as well as being writer/editor for magazine, UNCANNY) and it is called 'Everything Happens To You' – whether that's in a positive-yet-envious or negative-yet-sympathetic sense, who knows, but it's certainly uplifting – it has an atmosphere to fit both a cathartic cure for being envious and a life-affirming pop of energy for those trampled by life's problems. It works wonders. Have a listen.

This is an genreless track in one sense, infused with things from pop, hip hop, juke, classical, but in another you can kind of rest it comfortably beneath the umbrella of Shibuya-kei and be done with it. If you're having trouble with it, that is. I know some people love their labels. But there are so many beautiful things in this song – from the eternal backing of an ever-so-slightly mournful organ to the occasional stabs of jaunty piano, to name just a couple. Then there's that plaintive flute synth melody running over the top – the song's refrain, and perhaps where most of its positive feeling comes from.

That's not all, of course. There's the indomitable beat, flying from here to there in maddening cycles of hi-hat fidgets, snare rolls and the odd woodblock tock, providing necksnapping bubbles of dynamism when it needs to. Then there's the vocal samples, which at times seem to follow the bass of the song (or vice versa) in a great partnership, giving it this gorgeously cute affiliation with harder, more urban music in an out-of-place yet genius stroke that often flavours this type of music. Then, and finally, there's the ending: squelching synth bass joins in with other sounds that appear out of the mix, finding affinity alongside the emotion-filled strings that rise up too; it's a whole mash of noises that suddenly fades into the winsome glare of the organ chords that led us into the song.

It's quite beautiful and it is the lead track from the EP of the same name Everything Happens To You, which is out as MARU-128 I-don't-know-when on the unique Japanese netlabel Maltine Records, who release everything on their site as a free download. On that note, I guess I should say that you can download one of miii's previous releases from Maltine, namely his Sunlight Disco EP (click!) if you want to.

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Like miii on Facebook
Listen to miii on SoundCloud
Hear more miii on Bandcamp
Visit miii's official site
Stream miii's music on Jamendo
Follow miii on Twitter

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PARKGOLF KISS ME

I've been wanting to write about PARKGOLF for a rather long time but for some reason I just never got round to it. I'd heard a few songs before the release of tofubeats' Lost Decade Remixes album (remixes of songs from his album Lost Decade) but it was PARKGOLF's remix of tofubeats' 'I Don't Care' that really won me over. But still, I didn't get around to writing about him. So you should go and listen to that song. Anyway, here I am now.

For those who don't know, PARKGOLF is a beatmaker/producer from Sapporo, Japan. His music is often punchy, energetic and filled with lovely synth, mostly with a leaning towards the quirkier side of what could be considered pop music. Sounds good right? Well it sounds even better when you actually hear it in your literal ears, I can tell you that. His latest offering, 'Kiss Me', is a rollercoaster ride of theatrical sounds, making for a sound that sounds almost like a song from a futuristic musical - West Side Story for the neon club generation. Maybe.

There's a lot going on here. The intro is so good it might as well be like some kind of electronic foreplay. The main synth melody is outrageous, high-register pitch-bent chords that have something of a Japanese scale to them - a gloriously unexpected melody; I love the audaciously long duration of some of the notes. All of this is intermingled with variously altered vocal samples (one of them chopped so well it sounds like someone waggling their tongue around) and, during the midsection, some funky slap bass and some house-style piano chords. Spacey synth and bulging bass counterparts make their presence known alongside a hefty beat whose snares and claps scream laid-back-down-south-hip-hop, accompanied by rollicking hi-hats. At 2:35 the chords are wonderfully stop-start, sharing space with playful piano sweeps and kick explosions - this part's almost like a bit of prog rock.

And that was the wonderful pop of PARKGOLF. There's a bit of house in there; funk, hip hop (perhaps more aligned with trap), as well as those notes that seem like a piece of traditional Japanese music in the hands of a genius robot. There's a great deal of punch here, too, almost like a statement to the world, a song that stops you in your tracks; the soundtrack to the sometimes risky request of "kiss me" indeed.

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Listen to PARKGOLF on SoundCloud
Follow PARKGOLF on Twitter

GUEST MIX 001 :: BAWXXX

It's a week of firsts so far. Sure, it's only been two days, but yesterday I premiered a track for the first time and TODAY I am posting the very first YES/NO Guest Mix! Isn't that exciting?

I'd seen a lot of other places do guest mixes and wondered "how in the hell did they get such-and-such a person to create a mix for them?" amongst other such incredulous inquiring. However, it turns out all you have to do is ask nicely. Be nice to people: there's a motto or mantra you can remember for like, ever. Anyway enough of the prologue. I'm all prologued out. Let's get to this mix eh? EH?

The first ever, FIRST EVER, guest mix on YES/NO comes from a guy called Bawxxx. I've been following him both on Twitter and SoundCloud and have always been very happy with the mixes they have made and uploaded to SC - full of gems that I never knew existed. In addition, following him on Twitter means that like every so often he'll like a song on SoundCloud and I'll hop right over to see if it sounds nice: more often than not, it sounds more than nice (HOME, for instance, came off the back of one of Bawxxx's likes). And that's how the world works. Word of mouth. Word of type. Symbol of like.

However, he describes himself modestly as a "company employee" from Nagoya, Japan. Judging from most of what he's posted and re-posted and liked and whatever, I'd've guessed this anyway, but he describes his taste in music as "pops, disco, funk... etc" and that is pretty much exactly what you're in for with this 第一GUEST MIX! For Bawxxx's own enjoyment, he's saved the best - in his opinion - till last and I gotta say it IS rather a special track. So please. Enjoy this selection of POP music, gems of pop in all styles from all over the world - from AlunaGeorge to Michael Jackson, from VentureX to tofubeats. It's wonderfully varied and a real joy to listen to. This resurgence in pop music - where POP is no longer a particular type, but a... form I suppose, a particular form of how to build a song and NOT a particular sound or style - is allowing a lot of different, interesting stuff to seep into the mainstream. Anyway. I'd need to think a bit more about that: it's a big thing. Sorry. I type! Too much! Here's the! Mix!

TRACKLIST
01. Penthouse Penthouse & Chloe Martini - Closer
02. Toro Y Moi - Still Sound (Casa del Mirto Remix)
03. tofubeats - Synthesizer (Okadada remix)
04. Kan Sano - Music Overflow (Martin Hayes Remix)
05. Venturex - Digital Work (Saint Pepsi Edit)
06. Club Sandwich - It's Okay
07. Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie (Mix Chopin Remix)
08. Michael Jackson - Rock With You • The Reflex Re√ision
09. Toshiki Kadomatsu - Do You Wanna Dance
10. Chromeo - Over Your Shoulder
11. AlunaGeorge - Outlines (Pat Lok 'Crayola' Edit)
12. tofubeats - Don't Stop The Music feat. 森高千里 [Chisato Moritaka]

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Listen to Bawxxx on SoundCloud
Visit Bawxxx at flavors.me
Follow Bawxxx on Twitter
Check Bawxxx on Tumblr