TOKOMA NONKA RAINY APARTMENT

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Actually, that's all over and done with now isn't it? I guess it is. But, if you were thinking in terms of the "12 Days of Christmas" then it's actually not over till 12 days after Christmas. I think we do it the other way round now. Christmas starts mid-November and finishes on Boxing Day, at least it does here in the UK. I kinda wish it did stick around for 12 days afterwards. Maybe it does. But anyway, we have New Year's Eve to look forward to now. But how are we going to look sexy in our spangly new outfits with the sudden weight that's come from the insane food gorging over the last few days? I don't know.

Anyway, I thought I'd post something today. Just because, well, it's been too long. It's been over a week since I posted something. It's felt like forever, though. So maybe I just miss it. You know what? I probably do. But I— eugh. Who cares! It's the New Year soon! So here is something pretty and reflective just for you that I hope will make you sit there and have a nice little introspective moment about 2013. It's by a Japanese guy called Tokoma Nonka who is part of the electronic group Leaseka, describing themselves as "dreamy / darkness / deep sea / cosmic / fantasy" – a lovely mix.

Now, I'm not sure if this song is supposed to be called 'Rainy Apartment' or '101102201202' – as it says on SoundCloud – but I'm gonna go for the former because, well, it sounds better. So if it's not the real name, I'm sorry.

Featuring as its eternal backdrop, the sound of an evening (I assume) downpour of rain, the song reflects the icy and sometimes isolating atmosphere of this sort of precipitation with all of its elements; yep, from the synth lead parts, which drip with glassy percussion and that also sound a little like the beautiful melody from Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence', to the beat itself – whose snares are like pinging missiles of rain into deep plopping puddles – it's the very embodiment of an actual rainy apartment. Glowing sounds ache from one emanating note to another behind the plinking melody and distorted vocal samples mix with shuddering noises and ambient grumbles to form a decorative representation of the rain's distorted barrier to the outside world; everything is grey and piled with the grainy footage of rain.

It's a simplistic concept that has a lot of sounds at work at the same time, taking you off and away from where you're sitting to a cosmic, fantasy world where everything is seemingly the same yet slightly changed. I would actually love to listen to this whilst watching the rain – I think it would be the perfect soundtrack. There is also a remix of this by Tom Bombadil, which features heavier drums that you should check out as well.

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Listen to Tokoma Nonka on SoundCloud
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YES/NO GUEST MIX 005 :: DCUP

Whilst other music magazines, websites, blogs and whatever say farewell to you as they disappear into the mists of Christmas like fun-loving spirits of Christmasses present, past and future, I am tirelessly – well, actually completely and pretty much always tired – continuing the music-posting struggle. Christmas or no Christmas. However: please do not get the wrong idea and get it into your head that I am some sort of Scrooge who doesn't give a fig for tradition. Cause I a) really like/love Christmas, and b) Tradition is important. So there. I just happen to be able to write about music even as we inch towards the 25th of December without withering into a pool of why-should-I or where's-the-snow.

Anyway, that out of the way, I'd like you to embrace the latest guest mix that has been lovingly created for YES/NO. This one is the fifth in the current series (if there is another series— hmm, well I'll let you know) and it comes from Australian producer, DCUP, aka Duncan MacLennan. Mr MacLennan was kind enough to answer some questions for an interview earlier this week, and now he's contributed this lovely guest mix – what a guy! I'm also very envious of the probably-quite-warm Christmas he'll be having in Australia. Never experienced that; it would be interesting I gotta say.

His mix is an entirely smooth mix of warm house and funky disco that displays one of DCUP's most impassioned loves of music, "that 'hook' that everyone talks about. I'm obsessed with that piece of a song that you sing in the shower, or in your head." That's embellished by a "love of huge bass and beat," as pretty much every song in his mix displays, including his own track 'Magic', fun track – 'Imperfection' – from Welsh duo Bodhi, and the big tune of Amine Edge & DANCE's track 'Lost'. ENJOY/Merry Christmas.

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TRACKLIST
01. Dave Hollister - Keep Lovin' You (Kartell Edit)
02. Den Ishu & Noah - Put Ur Hands
03. Amerie - 1 Thing (Cherokee Remix)
04. Only Children - Down Fever (DCUP edit)
05. DCUP - Magic
06. Samir Maslo - I'm In Love With You
06b. Warren G & Nate Dogg - Regulate (acapella)
07. O&A - Basement Beats
08. Bodhi - Imperfection
09. Andhim - Boy Boy Boy
10. TCTS - Do It Alright
11. FormatB - Magic Button
12. Amine Edge and Dance - Lost
13. Kartell - Minimum Move
14. Janet Jackson - Rock With You (Milo Mills Edition)

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EN2AK WOODWORK MISFITS (JOLLY MARE REMIX)

It's Jolly Mare! Hooray! I probably could've written about this guy a hundred times between now and the time that I last wrote about him, but I haven't, so— anyway, here he is again with a remix of Wrocław-based Polish musicmaker En2ak's bristling track 'Woodwork Misfits'.

Before I go any further, some of you may be thinking, "who the literal hell is Jolly Mare?" – well, that's kind of easy to answer. From Italy, his real name is Fabrizio Faberismi, and I've written about a couple of his songs before – namely 'Nobody Cares', a vaporwavey number, and 'Castlemare', sounding like the hardest videogame boss fight ever; he was also a participant in the Red Bull Music Academy. So too was En2ak – and that is how the two met. And so Jolly Mare ended up as one of the artists featured on 3 Remixed – a set of remixes of the songs from En2ak's 3, set for release on Christmas day (25th December lol) of all days, via Warsaw-based label U Know Me Records.

But what about the actual remix? En2ak's original – from his third album, simply titled 3 – is a bustling tin-pan assortment of percussion mixed with bubbling bass and phasing synths polka-dotted with tuned vocal samples, turning in its second half into a more menacing rumbler of a track, all with a distinct ghetto house feel to it.

Jolly Mare's version is nothing short of brilliant. Taking on the mind-bending dub sounds of reggae, this remix is a warm and synth-laden foray into a stress-melting atmosphere; bass bulges lazily alongside the raw drums and the glitchy lead synth sounds. Occasional samples from the original cut through the chilled blanket of noises in thin reverbing stabs. By the end of the track, you're so far engrossed in its bliss that it's almost as if you could be on holiday – soaking up the sun and feeling a single beat of sweat drip from your forehead. It also positively aches with an 80s sensuality, perhaps in the raw, almost primordial synth sounds that Jolly Mare chose to use in the track.

His remix, though different to original (which ain't a bad thing yo), is a sultry, head-bopping number that whisks us away from the cold gusts of wind that winter is currently throwing our way – at least in the UK anyway – and takes us to a fantasy island, where the beach is endless, and all the amenities you could ever desire are sitting right behind you, nestled under rows tall palm trees. It's the soundtrack to a sexy dub holiday, that's what.

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Hear more En2ak on Bandcamp
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STROMAE TOUS LES MÊMES

Well now. This is interesting. I didn't know who this guy was until I googled him – is that bad? Who cares. I just saw that somebody shared the video on Twitter and I watched it and was not only intrigued by the video itself but also, and of course otherwise I wouldn't be writing this, by the music. Anyway if you can't read what I'm probably going to say in a tweet about this post, nor the title of this post, then I suppose the right thing to do is to say this is Stromae with 'Tous Les Mêmes'.

Yeah, it's a Francophone song. Everything about it is in French. If that scares you, I'm sorry; if not, then that's good. But who is Stromae? Well, you may remember a pretty funky nocturnal dance number called 'Alors On Danse' from 2010 that was like, huge everywhere – that was his song. He's called Paul Van Haver and he's from Belgium and he writes and sings songs. What else do you want to know? Have a look at Wikipedia for that. All I know is that this video is a strange and entertaining display of a man, Stromae, seemingly living the best – or worst? – or both worlds with lashings of jaunty choreography.

As for this song, it's a swing-infused tune that features the smooth, slightly melancholic vocals of Stromae singing about men being "all the same" ("tous les mêmes") in essence. There's a Latin lilt to it, in the subtly moody chords of the piano and the sweaty brass sounds that give it a bolshy kind of cabaret atmosphere, a hint of fierceness in its syncopated rhythms and a whole dose of electro-funk slo-house feel, thanks to that nicely understated, overlapping-itself bassline and the lush beat with its unbeatable claps. Catchy and destined for dancefloors and radio play (probably) all over Europe, this is a classy song from a pretty unique musicmaker.

This, btw, comes from Stromae's most recent album, Racine Carrée (that's 'Square Root' in English).

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TOMGGG POPTEEN EP

How do you stumble across new music for thee? Let me count the ways... well there's Twitter, SoundCloud, Spotify (namely under "similar artists" which are good because the similar artists bit on Spotify is actually quite bad, but it means that you can find really varied people), getting stuff sent to me, listening to the radio, and lastly there's people telling me about new stuff IRL via the mouth method of communication. Suffice to say, there's a few ways.

The way I found out about this new release was just a simple tweet from Spazzkid, an LA-based producer I've chatted quite a bit about now (if u don't know him check him out). It's easier than ever these days to unearth some really interesting sonic gems from all over the place, so if this clunky blog aids you in any way I'm honoured – it's really quite superfluous to the other discovery methods, plus blogs are like so 2 years ago.

Anyway. This is a little 3-track EP called Popteen, and it comes from a Japanese musicmaker known bizarrely as Tomggg – but maybe it's an acronym; his real name is Tatsuya Fujishiro and he is from Chiba. 'Popteen' is the first song from this release and it's a wonderful track. Moving through varying different sounds, it's a bustling tune that's driven along with the percussive bristles and attitudinal kicks and snares of a juke beat – something that is very popular in a lot of Japanese music I've heard recently. I could be wrong though, so don't take my word for it. About halfway through the tone changes, and to lounge-esque synth chords the volume cranks up and the song explodes, leading into its unintelligible, vocoder'd refrain. By the end, we're caught in a downpour of frenetic bleeps that soak you in energy, the kind that makes you think you can dance like a demon (even though you probably can't).

Into the more chilled atmosphere at the beginning of 'SO-EN', whose ghetto beat supports soothing chords that gradually surge forward and climax into a frantic collection of syncopated chord stabs. These themselves whisk you away into something that, yes, is juke, but just has a dirtier sound to it so we'll call it 'ghetto house' or 'footwork' (for variety's sake) – but for a moment it's just the beat, booming out. How he gets from here to the last third of the song is genius. It's an exercise in building tension, drenching the synth chords in ever-whooshing reverb, adding sounds until we're at the peak of the song, a chaos of candy-coloured clouds that then fades out...

There's barely a chance to breathe before 'ViVi' storms in, snares rolling right through your veins till it bursts into life. The vocal samples here are nothing short of virtuosic, played in devilishly quick succession, sharing the limelight with a decidedly swinging rhythm that makes you want to clap along with it. It makes me think of Golden Saucer in Final Fantasy VII, or the general vibe of Nintendoland – almost theatrical in its heart-stopping speed, in its cutesy imitation of classical scores, at all times showing that this is a song to think fun thoughts along to. It's crazy, really crazy, but I like it.

I have no other words. I feel exhausted after listening to that – but in a good way, like my brain has just been rolled through bars, dancefloors, casinos, videogame worlds and ideal summer days, still now with the concoction of toy-like glockenspiels, hard beats and engaging synth work echoing in my ears. Wowee. A cross between juke, videogame music and the jazzy, hyper-pop sounds of nu-Shibuya-kei, this is mad shit but I like it. If you're interested: the art, this really nice little gif right here, is by Kazami Suzuki. And if you are interested in owning the Popteen EP from Mr Tomggg, then you're in luck: it's been released on Japanese netlabel Maltine Records and you can download it for absolutely FREE.

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Like Tomggg on Facebook
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Visit Tomggg official site
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Check out Maltine Records

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