🐣 LLLL — FALLING FEAT. U-PISTOL

Shoegaze guitars stab out staccato patterns in this latest one from Tokyo musicmaker LLLL, 'Falling', a catchy cavalcade of sound that mixes those chorused guitar chords with the piercing neon ice of trance synth, and elements of pop rain down like little gemstones: the uptempo beat and its rollicking tom fills, the breezy chord progression, and not least the vocals of featuring artist U-Pistol.

Also known as Moon Mask, and previously making music under the name Ulzzang Pistol, the Manila-based producer and singer-songwriter sings with mellowed emotion, his voice crooning and fresh. He spoke to us above reverting back to his original moniker: "U-pistol still means Ulzzang pistol," he told yes/no. "Ended up shortening it because the term confuses even the people who are familiar with it. I think shortening it makes it easier for everyone to approach but the heart and meaning of the name still lives on."

His voice flows easily in the cold detachment of LLLL's overdriven drums and spectral javelins of synth, weaving warmly in and out of the sorrowjoy crush of this trance-pop-gaze cocktail, joining with the '80s flavour guitar and cinematic composition of the track to give it its lovable human heart; guitar solo at 2:47 screams virtuoso fire, emphasising the speed whilst contrasting the pop-ness of this track, echoing its title and the frustration of being in freefall.

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• 🔔 'Falling' is out today on internationalist label Zoom Lens. You can grab it here.
• 'Falling' is taken from LLLL's forthcoming Chains Phase 4, part of his 12-month-long "Chains" project, in which a new "Chain" will be released each month, split into 4 individual EP releases courtesy of emotive electronic label ZOOM LENS. Chains Phase 4 is out 28th February.
• The artwork was created by Brenden Savi, and reflects the twisting icy tumult that erupts almost chaotically throughout the track.
• 🔔 Back in the early days of yes/no we received a lovely guest mix from Ulzzang Pistol, representing a cluster of Manila music talent: here is YES/NO GUEST MIX 014.

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☟ LLLL Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ bandcamp ⚘ twitter

☟ U-Pistol Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ bandcamp ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr

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🐣 MOON MASK — TWENTY MINUTES DREAM RUNNER

Like a heavy heart this track shifts its way into your perception, that sinking stomach feeling, emptiness, beginning with a slow ominous luscious clopping clock and insectoid ticking and slumbering breaths and then we fall into the urgent synthpop of it all, and the vocals of Manila's moon mask opens up a deep croon: "Met you asleep in a dream…" Big thumping drums create a driving energy – a gotta-do-something '80s filmic montage of an atmosphere – with simple kick-snare alternation with stomping gloopy bass that cuts a basic booming groove beneath the miasma of electronics that glide and soar and punctuated by sparkling starlit melodies twinkling beneath it, bright neon chords electrify the heavenward introspective gloom of it, shocking strobes in the murksmoke.

But the dreamy atmosphere that dwells in 'twenty minutes dream runner' arises because, moon mask explained on Twitter, it's "based off a short story I wrote once about a decaying man reliving dream." There is indeed an aroma of decay that whirls around in this synth-laden dreamscape, the cardinal reverb that the drums are soaked in so they crack and roar in the song's verses, and in the literally decayed melody that twists and turns fizzing abrasive in the bridge, overdriven and piercing. The chorus is catchy, deliciously so, with rapid pogoing vocals: "20 minutes better run baby ah, 20 minutes left before they take you away…" A fantasy lovesong, an electronic pop elegy, this is the idealised grip of nostalgia manifested in the hazy hangover of something distantly dreamt.

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• 🔔 You may purchase 'twenty minutes dream runner' digitally via Bandcamp if you like. It arrives ahead of moon mask's EP scheduled for release early next year; "I've been trying to take a bit of a new direction in my sound," says our boy in the track's description, and the new EP will probably mirror that sentiment.

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📠
☟ moon mask Internet Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Bandcamp • Twitter • Tumblr

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MOON MASK – GONE (IN A MOMENT)

moon mask is the artist formerly known as Ulzzang Pistol, a change that occurred at the end of Ulzzang's finale, the Zoom Lens-released Waste. The Quezon City, Manila-based newly named moon mask is now prepping to release his debut EP under the new moniker, Irreversible, and in the lead-up has dropped the first taster, 'Gone (in a moment)'.

With pinging delayed guitars and staccato steel-pan synth chords painting a electro-tropical backdrop, a strong retro beat beating bouncy time, the whole thing drips in reverb like a hazy, soft-focus watercolour, painting memories tinged with regret, the combination of groove with the bass and beat, the spacey melancholic instrumental and vocals – positive melancholia? – reflects the bittersweet nature of the lyrics and meaning; a blast of pop as pop should be: catchy and meaningful.

mm spoke a little to me via email about song and the EP. "They're based on romantic pursuits I had long ago, written to be more general and relatable to anyone sharing similar experiences," he explained. The song "focuses on the feeling of getting a connection with a stranger at a certain place and all the thoughts that argue in one's head regarding them making the first move or not."

He went on;

"it's a bit pessimistic since the song is saying that there is only but little time and that the person will be gone eventually and even if one does make a move, relationships do end and someone has to leave."

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• The Irreversible EP will be self-released on... date TBA.
• Co-production on 'Gone (in a moment)' comes from mm's dad, Jun Gomez; mix and mastering by Jorge Juan Wieneke V (aka musicmaker similar objects)

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☟ moon mask's Social Media Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Bandcamp • Twitter • Tumblr

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Y/N GUEST MIX 014 :: ULZZANG PISTOL'S YOUNGLIQUIDGANG FOXHOUND MIX

I love the internet. I just love it. For things like this, i.e. actually communicating with artists on a one-to-one level, it's just the best thing ever. There are a lot of other inventions that are quite useful, like toilets, airplanes, and various medical advancements, but the internet is just parfait. So I was chatting to Zeon Gomez aka Manila-based artist Ulzzang Pistol on FB & I asked if he wanted to make a mix and he said yes, so here we are.

But this is a mix with a difference: besides being the 14th Y/N Guest Mix, it's also a showcase of a collective part-founded by Zeon himself. "I make my own music by mixing J-pop influences with house, disco and dream pop, usually through the use of Japanese lyrics," in an email he tells me about what he does. "I don't know if you can label it as J-pop, but I'd like to call it that way I guess. I am also a Co-founder of the Manila-centric collective called YOUNGLIQUIDGANG, where I handle PR and Artist Management duties."

Youngliquidgang itself is a hotbed of creativity – a 12-strong (and still growing) group of young and talented Filipino music artists, mostly all electronic; "Basically," says Zeon, "YLG is inspired by a family/brotherhood kind of feel, where like-minded artists support each other into creating material and refining their talents." The collective was co-founded along with No Rome (aka Rome Gomez, his brother) and Keats Collective affiliate, MERLINDA/WALLS (Ethan Namoch, also making music as COEXIST). Zeon describes the simple story behind its conception: "We only wanted to make a community of electronic musicians around our university [De Lasalle-College of Saint Benilde], but it ended up being a nationwide collective after we decided to move out of the school's music scene."

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though we are generally like-minded we also have our little differences that we love and try to accept about one another

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From the downtempo soul of singer/musicmaker Hana ACBD and the cosmic blizzards of Local Disk (C:), to No Rome's lush glitterscapes and vapor-leaning R&B tracks from Colombo Beats, YLG is a varied bunch – but there's a bond between all of them that's less loose collective, more tight-knit gang (hence the name, I guess). "What connects us all together, apart from similar tastes in music," Zeon elaborates, "is this CULTURE we shaped inside our group, this family-like atmosphere, where we don't just meet on a artistic level but on a personal one as well, we sort of look out for each other." You can see this in the various remixes they do for each other's tracks, or in the way that vocals are offered up from one to another, etc.

"In short," he continues, "it's about love and respect, where we believe in the skill of others (especially the under-appreciated artists/talents)." Which is a lovely message that I imagine (or hope?) many others in the music community share and equally uphold; I mean, it was/is the YES/NO's raison d'être in the first place.

As for the mix itself, it's choc-a-bloc (bet you never thought you'd hear that ever again) with goodness from the fair isles of the Philippines, beginning with the moody 'ALWAYS' by MSN メッセンジャー (that's 'Messanger' in katakana btw) with its booming kicks, pitch-shifted vocals and classical ambience, continuing on a smooth journey of differing slices of electronic chill, and ending on a high with colourful dose of electro-pop The Valiant Vermin (self-described as: "Bedroom Project of some high school chick") with cute 'n' catchy rapid-fire vocals.

Zeon sums it up: "This mix goes to show that, though our artists are from different genres of electronic music, we share a form of cohesiveness or oneness with the vibe our tracks emit, to give a tag it'd be 'UNITY IN DIVERSITY', much like a family."

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• T R A C K L I S T •

1. MSN メッセンジャー – ALWAYS
2. What is Andromeda – If these trees could talk
3. MERLINDA/WALLS – Departure
4. SOUL_BRK – Nights
5. Local Disk (C:) – Event Horizon
6. Colombo Beats – Cater 2 U Edit
7. Hana Acbd – Like Butter
8. COEXIST – Fare Thee Well
9. Ulzzang Pistol – ??????????
10. No Rome – Heaven
11. The Valiant Vermin – Good Girls Sin

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Like Ulzzang Pistol on Facebook
Listen to Ulzzang Pistol on SoundCloud
Follow Ulzzang Pistol on Twitter
Check Ulzzang Pistol on Tumblr

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ULZZANG PISTOL – PASTEL 女の子 (ET ALIAE REMIX)

Welcome. If you've never been here before, well done to you; if you have been here before, well done to you, too. Basically, we're here today to talk about a remix of a song, or perhaps more specifically a remix of a track. I actually heard the original track, 'PASTEL 女の子' (where '女の子' – onnanoko – means 'girl' in Japanese), a few weeks ago and thought "hmm ooo yea I'ma write bout dat" but it seems it never happened. However, now that I'm here, and you're here, it's the perfect time to give it a sprinkling of spotlight.

So yes, the original, by Filipino musicmaker Ulzzang Pistol – who also heads up the Philippines-centric Youngliquidgang collective – is a Latin-flavoured slice of synth-lounge, complete with groovesome bassline, 80s-drum-machine tom fills and glimmmerings of glockenspiel. A kind of laid-back, easy-listening, city-by-night feel, flourishing in its own sense of romance.

Made for and taken from the net-station/label datafruits.fm compilation, Funky Freaky Freestyley, Ulzzang Pistol put it up with downloadable stems, allowing anybody to remix it. And that's exactly what et aliae (which means 'and the others/rest' in Latin, but it's feminine plural so could be translated as 'the other girls' or sth like dat) has done.

Mixing the dizzy potential of R&B-inflected beats and neon-tinged tremolo synth chords with softly reverbing marimba and gentle glassy cascadings, the London-based et aliae produces a stunning remix that simpers high above the original; a persistent ghost of swirling cloud-sounds that summon silver-outlined dreams.

Say, if the original was the actual soundtrack to a person wandering around the heart of a city replete with bustling streets and entertainment at every turn: then this remix is that person's out-of-body experience, their true consciousness floating as their body is jostled by crowds, beset on all sides by relentless sights and sounds and smells, seeking without end something indescribable.

Or at least, that's what I get from it... so uh...

• HEY! LISTEN! You can download this lovely pot of jam HERE (cliicky-cliiiiiick)
• This has been released on international netlabel, MAGIC YUME: "Promoting dreamy music from a magic world."
• FEEL LIKE REMIXING THIS URSELF? Then go for it (stems for download).

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Like xxx on Facebook
Listen to Ulzzang Pistol on SoundCloud
Follow Ulzzang Pistol on Twitter
Check Ulzzang Pistol on Tumblr

Like et aliae on Facebook
Listen to et aliae on SoundCloud
Follow et aliae on Twitter

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