Yppah

IF YOU TOLD ME A FEW WEEKS AGO THAT WE WOULD BE REVIEWING AN ALBUM THAT “DRAWS ON A CULTURAL HERITAGE THAT TOOK IN MY BLOODY VALENTINE ALONGSIDE HIP HOP AND WHICH IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY VARIOUS FORMS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC, PSYCHEDELIC SOUL AND ROCK” I’D HAVE SAID, I DON’T THINK SO; BUT YPPAH’S SECOND ALBUM IS NOT ONE TO DISMISS SO LIGHTLY.


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That said, I did own up to anti-MBV tendancies in the review of Rob da Bank’s Shoegazing compilation, Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi Vol. 3 (Shoegazing 1985 - 2007) quickly followed by the equally excellent Sonic Cathedral compilation Cathedral Classics at the same time as Carlos Niño is sending us some ‘pyschedelic cosmic love from California’ (The Beatles, The Doors and all that pop-psych from the 60’s and then we got the latest single from Yppah with the brilliant Gumball Machine Weekend EP!

That was so good I must admit I hoped new album by Joe Corrales, Jr. aka Yppah (pronounced “Yippah”). It’s been a long wait since the Mexican-American from Texas debuted on Ninja Tune in 2006 with his album You Are Beautiful At all Times, but as you’ve guest he’s developed a rockier sound for They Know What Ghost Know.

And there’s some killer tracks on it like the title track, the dreamy broken ‘Southern Sky Tells All’, the still impressive ‘Shutter Speed’ (that was on the EP) and the opener ‘Son Saves The Rest’ that’s a “wall-of-noise guitar pummeller”.

Did someone mention hip-hop? Well, it’s there but well warped as in ‘The Tingling’ and ‘Bobbie Joe Wilson’ that’s got DJ Shadow tendencies but if you want the full-on MBV ‘tribute’, it’s the mufled twang of ‘Sun Flower Sun Kissed’ and the semi-trash of ‘City Glow’.

My current favourites are ‘Playing With Fireworks’ (including seagull squarks!) and the indo-prog rock of ‘The Moon Scene 7’ (Wow!) and streetscape ‘A Parking Lot Carnival’.

The Ninja Tune guys are big on this one, “After a series of shows last year from SXSW to Japan, there’s a real feeling that Joe Corrales is ready to step up into the big league. The album has that feel to it - that it has been made under huge skies, that it’s possible to make music which is epic and intimate all at once. It’s beguiling and beautiful and makes you a little giddy, too. Find out what Ghost know”. I know they know a star when they hear one.

Reviewed: Yppah - They Know What Ghost Know (Ninja Tune) Cat. No: ZENCD147 Release date: 18th May 2009
Tracklisting:
1 Son Saves The Rest (3:58)
2 Gumball Machine Weekend (4:00)
3 Playing With Fireworks (4:13)
4 Shutter Speed (3:51) [featuring Adriana Corrules & Thomas Sutherland]
5 The Moon Scene 7 (4:38)
6 They Know What Ghost Know (4:48)
7 City Glow (4:15)
8 Sun Flower Sun Kissed (3:51)
9 The Tingling (3:48)
10 Bobbie Joe Wilson (3:32) [Additional production by B. Hinojosa]
11 A Parking Lot Carnival (4:09)
12 Southern Sky Tells All (4:20) - Fly Magazine

THE Ninja Tune label appears to have unearthed another major talent in the form of Yppah (pronounced ‘yippah’) a native of Texas who specialises in sublime instrumentals.

Born Joe Corrales, Yppah spent his early teen years playing guitar and bass in rock bands, before becoming a scratch DJ who mixed hip hop and house in club sets, produced weird mash-ups (such as OutKast versus Ted Nugent) and eventually settled as a turntablist with The Truth.

His aim with debut solo album You Are Beautiful At All Times is to combine all these influences and experiences into a collective whole. And he has done so with considerable aplomb.

The album is an enriching experience in every sense – one that blends the sublime beauty of tracks like Again With Subtitles with moments of upbeat rock/hip hop hybrids (such as Ending With You).

There are moments that hint at 80s nostaglia, such as the Tangerine Dream-inspired What’s The Matter?, as well as those that aspire to the giddy heights of Bonobo (We Aim) and its deft blend of soul and chillout.

Several tracks unfold into epic soundscapes, complete with rousing beat compilations, while others remain content to simply drift over you like a cool breeze on a hot day. Certainly, most transport you to a blissful state of consciousness that’s both immensely soothing and totally inspiring. That they’re touched with an element of the melancholy only makes them more captivating and enthralling.

To achieve the sounds on the album, Corrales has done things like mix guitars shoved through massive delays with keyboards and loops sampled from real drums, so as to create intricate, multi-layered soundscapes of richness and beauty.

Take the majestic beauty of In Two, The Weakly as a prime example of the artist at his most serenely beautiful – a track that takes some computer-style whizzes and sets them against an ambient backdrop, before changing tempo completely for a genuinely thrilling finale.

Almost In That Category is another fine example of Yppah’s wizardry, beginning with a simple lick of the acoustic guitar and then dropping in all manner of instrumentation that contributes to an utterly beguiling whole. It’s another track that draws favourable comparisons with the DJ styles of both Bonobo and early DJ Shadow, while impressing in its own right thanks to Yppah’s sense of invention.

Of the 12 tracks assembled as part of this collection, all impress on a massive scale. So while the name may not be one that rolls off the tongue, Yppah’s debut offering is one that deserves to rate as one of the debut releases of the year.

Like it’s name suggests, it is a thing of rare beauty.

Track listing:

Ending With You
I’ll Hit The Breaks
Again With The Subtitles
The Subtleties That Count
We Aim
What’s The Matter?
In Two, The Weakly
Almost In That Category
Good Like That
Cannot See Straight
It’s Not The Same
Longtime - Indie London

When we made Yppah TMF Single of the Week recently, it was with the hope that Joe Corrales Jnr. could maintain the promise therein over an entire album. Boy, can he. In spades.

The obvious reference point is DJ Shadow with whom he shares a fondness for strong beats and atmosphere but anyone who fell for the likes of Death In Vegas or Air will enjoy this hugely over the summer. Having spent his early musical career in bands, Corrales understands the benefits of a warm, organic sound despite working in the realms of electronica so there are snippets of folk guitar, the occasional soul chop and enough fuzz and drones to keep the indie kids happy. The mellow flute work on 'Shutter Speed' sits comfortably alongside the shimmering 'Sunflower Sunkissed' (northern soul by the way of MBV) and 'A Parking Lot Carnival' has all the fizz of Pains of Being Pure At Heart. This is Texan psych 2009-style.

Above all, They Know ... revels in itself. Not since The Go Team! has an album instilled such a sense of unfettered glee. Forget your troubles, c'mon get Yppah. - The Digital Fix

Yppah - They Know What Ghost Know
Record Label: Ninja Tune
Release Date: June 23, 2009

Who?

Yppah is the one-man project of Houston's Jose Corrales, Jr. They Know What Ghost Know is his second full-length release, following 2006's You Are Beautiful at All Times.

How Is It?

Yppah's mixture of trip-hop, post-rock and just a touch of dream pop is hard to classify and is probably best described as ambient electronic. They Know What Ghost Know isn't quite as interesting, but is probably a little more listener friendly, than the overlooked, and often spectacular You Are Beautiful at All Times. Vocal-free music doesn't get much catchier than the album's highlight "Gumball Machine Weekend." Corrales's knack for writing these memorable "instrumental" pieces has landed some of Yppah's recordings on the big screen (in the feature film 21) as well as on TV (an episode of CSI)-- hopefully some hipper placements are on the horizon-- but even when the songs aren't so immediate, like "The Moon Scene 7," there's simply so much at work it's hard not to be engaged by it. There are the looped samples and compressed sound of trip-hop, buzzing prog-rock keys, and an epic-sounding space rock backdrop. Perhaps it's what Portishead's third album would have sounded like had they waited only five or six years to record it instead of eleven. The psychedelic organ on the title track and the swirling electronic sounds of "City Glow" further complicate the task of ascribing a label to the album. No matter what you call it, They Know What Ghost Know is most remarkable for defying easy categorization while remaining so readily enjoyable and not confounding the listener. - Absolute Punk

The unfair thing with this review, and perhaps most reviews, is name-checking. But it’s almost impossible not to; so here we go... on young Ninja Tune artist Yppah’s second full length we have a lot of My Bloody Valentine wall of noise; a large dollop of breaks ala DJ Shadow; synthesisers – M83; psychedelics – The Doors (it may not be unfeasible that Yppah shook the ghostly hand of Jim Morrison in some higher state while making They Know What Ghost Know's title track). It’s all there and such comparisons really set the bar for the whole piece. And a very high bar it is. Some of those acts have succeeded in their own pocket of time and place, an encapsulation of a collective feeling in time. Music in the Noughties tends to have far less trans-generational appeal, and that's certainly something that very much applies to They Know What Ghost Know.

Vocals in the aforementioned are a key part of their anthemic popularity, but that is not so here, and it's in the instrumentality where Yppah’s music truly prospers. Yes, there are brief hints of vocals in a couple of tracks, but they are chopped up and produced in such a way that they're reduced to aural trinkets by the music’s maker. Never should you feel as though a poetic element is necessary as a marker of viability for the music on offer.

‘Son Saves The Rest’ breaks things in with a wash of discordant noise underpinned by the mutated and repetitive drum break. ‘Gumball Machine Weekend’ follows a similar line with the rhythm section being the true killer; kinetic bass and breaks flooding the mix with stabs of clean Stratocaster accentuating each movement. Its Motown influence is obvious without being overstated; there’s almost a ‘Ronson’ sound to it. That’s meant in the level of pastiche-ridden accessibility, as opposed to the potential of some drunken hipster thrusting their nonchalant histrionics upon it. Twinned with ‘Playing With Fireworks’, there’s a feeling of hope that the path taken since his superb first album You Are Beautiful At All Times was the right one and Yppah will make a name for himself with his own brand of electronic noise.

But with ‘Shutter Speed’s introduction of the pan pipes to the fold, there’s a marker for a decline in the more structured essence of the album. ‘The Moon Scene 7’ and the title track blur with their slower pace and sound like they may have been written by robots on some form of electronic hallucinogen picking up some classic acoustic instruments and getting thoughtful around a campfire. The combination of these central tracks with the entry and exit of the album is stark and leaves you feeling ultimately confused by the wandering nature of the album in its entirety.

There’s definitely a lot of soul within the musicality, but as that soul is filtered through a more contemporary vintage lens, its true significance is somewhat blurred. They Know What Ghost Know encapsulates a whole world of influence and does so very astutely. But, in doing so, it struggles to gain any real feeling of individuality, which is a real shame as it really is an accomplished piece of work. Joe Corales Jnr. (aka Yppah – of course) can certainly be considered, at least ethically, on a par with his solo electronic contemporaries.

The accessibility of the album is its true strength – the emotion on show throughout each track will connect you to it, but the connection of all of these parts should be made clearer for Yppah’s definite potential to be realised in full. With albums one and two out of the way, maybe number three the shackles of influence will be broken and a personally established comfort zone will be found for all. - Drowned In Sound

Yppah
You Are Beautiful At All Times
Album Review
Welly, welly, welly, well…just when I was starting to lose faith in Ninja Tune, they release this, ‘You are Beautiful at all Times’, the debut album from Texas maestro Ypaah (pronounced Yippah). Born and bred in a somewhat unlikely part of the world, Joe Corrales has produced this modest little epic off the back of playing in rock band after band whilst also becoming, lets say more a than proficient hip-hop dj/turntablist. Lets see how this pans out shall we.
‘Ending With You’ kicks things off, immediately transcends my expectations, and quickly dissipates any scepticism I may have had after reading the press release, after all they are written with a somewhat biased view of the release. Sleepy, yet constantly engaging, ‘You are…’ is the perfect permutation of Corrales previous musical endeavours, whilst also taking them to a higher plain, and manages to fill you with a cosy sense of well being. ‘Again With The Subtitles’ sounds like a Boom Bip rework of the Chemical Brothers’ ‘Star Guitar’, stripping away the minimal techno to breed something much more organic, a truly beautifully uplifting piece of modern production. Swimming with all the right elements of a melancholic opus, ‘You are…’ somehow manages to skip the down and out vibe and move straight on to brooding optimism that’s missing in so many of the could be brilliant albums of our time. Despite being layered up to the eyeballs, none of these songs ever feel weighed down, and infact all have a very airy almost buoyant demeanour.

This is a truly superb debut, even superseding releases from season Ninja Tune artists. Perhaps more akin to the Lex sound this album is chock full of the kinda beats you’d expect from Anticon’s Alias, or perhaps even and early DJ Shadow release, then sprinkle with Bonobo-esque effect laden instrumentation, add My Bloody Valentine and Mogwai style atmospherics and you’re on to a winner. Sublime from start to finish, and this is only his debut; I can’t wait to see what else this kid is capable of.

-Thom Holmes - contactmusic.com

Although you have to love it when an artist you already listen to delivers on a new record, it’s a whole different experience when you discover a new artist thanks to stumbling on his or her latest effort. And while Potholes’ own Objektiv One did recommend this record to me, Yppah’s They Know What Ghost Know still came with that fresh, new-CD smell that has yet to leave my PC, iPod, and car. Besides being an ingenious blend of electronica, hip-hop, and shoegaze, this is what an album is supposed to feel and sound like.

As early as the first notes and drum hits of album-opener “Son Saves the Rest”, Yppah’s production talents are astoundingly clear. The Ninja Tune-signed multi-instrumentalist crafts his gorgeous soundscapes with a slew of guitars, noisy effects, and vibrant drums. And he uses those to build a very cohesive, finely-honed series of tracks that – and some might take issue with this – feature similar vibes. But it’s not to the point where you are hearing the same loop or drum pattern over and over. No, it’s called being consistent and sticking wisely to a theme (or sound in this case) that works.

And across the spacey They Know What Ghost Know, Yppah rarely falters. The only track that sounds just slightly out of place is the rave-ready “City Glow”, which is more or less musical insanity. It’s a little too cliché-techno for my taste, but it at least shows that this producer can branch out without losing the overall sound heard throughout the album. And he actually balances out the flawed “City Glow” with a likeminded but mellower dance party anthem in “Bobbie Joe Wilson”.

Aside from that slight misstep, Yppah’s light-switch remains flipped on from beginning to end. From the soaring flute, stuttering synths, and vibrant drums of “Shutter Speed” to the galactic bliss of the title-track, everything simply works. He even comes through with what equates to a noisy beast of a track, “Sun Flower Sun Kissed”, which could possibly fit in on a Deerhunter record – if you don’t know them, look ‘em up. Equally as shoegaze-inspired and lush is “Moon Scene 7?, a track filled with crashing drums and feedback-drenched guitars. Other instant highlights include “The Tingling”, which is a beautiful and frantic mess, and the moody, indie-pop-inspired “A Parking Lot Carnival”.

If you are in the mood for a perfect accompaniment to a rainy evening or a relaxing drive with the windows down, They Know What Ghost Know needs to be on your list of albums to purchase. Hell, it should be on your list in any case. Yppah’s electronica/shoegaze/rock blend might seem alienating to some, but he produces it so well and masterfully that everyone should make an effort to, at the very least, give him a try. - Potholes In My Blog

Yppah is Happy backwards, but that doesn’t mean this second set from faux-turntablist Joe Morrales Jr is a maudlin affair. It’s more of an enchanted castle somewhere between the two; the kind of blissful ambience Lemon Jelly used to do, zonked out on sedatives and drenched in feedback. Shoegazing instrumental hip-hop might sound like it belongs back in the ’90s, but Morrales sprinkles his tracks with a wide range of fairy dust. ‘Gumball Machine Weekend’ sees bossa nova flourishes and twinkly glockenspiels fight their way through the fog, while ‘City Glow’ employs crashing guitars that recall My Bloody Valentine trapped in The Magic Roundabout’s fantasy world. The time may be right for a new DJ Shadow after all.

Dan Martin
- NME

By Andrew Martin 4 August 2009
Well all know how much we love it when an artist you already listen to delivers on a new record. But is it not a whole different experience when you discover a new artist thanks to stumbling on his or her latest effort? And while a friend did recommend this record to me, Yppah’s They Know What Ghost Know still came with that fresh, new-CD smell that has yet to leave my PC, iPod, and car. Besides being an ingenious blend of electronica, hip-hop, and shoegaze, this is what an album is supposed to feel and sound like.

As early as the first notes and drum hits of album-opener “Son Saves the Rest”, Yppah’s production talents are astoundingly clear. The Ninja Tune-signed multi-instrumentalist crafts his gorgeous soundscapes with a slew of guitars, noisy effects, and vibrant drums. And he uses those to build a very cohesive, finely-honed series of tracks that—and some might take issue with this—feature similar vibes. But it’s not to the point where you are hearing the same loop or drum pattern over and over. No, it’s called being consistent and sticking wisely to a theme (or sound in this case) that works.

And across the spacey They Know What Ghost Know, Yppah rarely falters. The only track that sounds just slightly out of place is the rave-ready “City Glow”, which is more or less musical insanity. It’s a little too cliché-techno for my taste, but it at least shows that this producer can branch out without losing the overall sound heard throughout the album. And he actually balances out the flawed “City Glow” with a like-minded but mellower dance party anthem in “Bobbie Joe Wilson”.

Aside from that slight misstep, Yppah’s light-switch remains flipped on from beginning to end. From the soaring flute, stuttering synths, and vibrant drums of “Shutter Speed” to the galactic bliss of the title track, everything simply works. He even comes through with what equates to a noisy beast of a track, “Sun Flower Sun Kissed”, which could easily fit in on a Deerhunter record. Equally as shoegaze-inspired and lush is “Moon Scene 7”, a track filled with crashing drums and feedback-drenched guitars. Other instant highlights include “The Tingling”, which is a beautiful and frantic mess, and the moody, indie-pop-inspired “A Parking Lot Carnival”.

Perhaps most impressive about Yppah’s latest record is the fact that it is able to hold your attention without a single featured vocalist. Music-lovers—from underground hip-hop heads to electronica enthusiasts to post-rockers—know what it’s like to hear a purely instrumental album and feel instantly bored. Sometimes, no matter how talented the artist, you need an emcee or singer to bless the track to make it truly listenable. A recent example of this is J Dilla’s posthumous Jay $tay Paid. While it was solid, there were several instrumentals that could have been left off or made better with a rapper strutting his or her stuff on the beat. But They Know What Ghost Know never, ever features a moment where you are yearning for a voice over the near-perfect music. Could the typical breathy shoegaze vocals have made the tracks fuller or more complete? It’s definitely possible. Are they necessary, though? Absolutely not. And therein lies just how engrossing Yppah’s music truly is.

If you are in the mood for a perfect accompaniment to a rainy evening or a relaxing drive with the windows down, They Know What Ghost Know needs to be on your list of albums to purchase. Hell, it should be on your list in any case. Yppah’s electronica/shoegaze/rock blend might seem alienating to some, but he produces it so well and masterfully that everyone should make an effort to, at the very least, give him a try. - Pop Matters

Ninja Tune is one of, if not the most consistently awesome label, with a roster boasting the likes of Fink, Roots Manuva, Daedelus and many more including it’s founder, Coldcut.

Yppah, a producer from Houston is another gem found on Ninja Tune and the sublimely amazing ‘Never Mess With Sunday’ is a must listen. - Tape UK