Sub Swara have returned! Not that anyone who knows the work of Dave Sharma and Dhruva Ganeson ever thought they left. They were most likely just off the map finding the finest Balinese cymbals, then recording them in an acoustically perfect Wampa ice-cave with custom-built tube pre-amps reverse engineered from martian sound weaponry, and then doing their final mixdowns it in an Ayahuasca ceremony atop  Mount Kilauea. Shit takes time to do right.

But soon, your patience will be rewarded. They’ve announced that they will be releasing 15 brand new tracks, not as an LP, but as a mixtape titled “The Rudiment”, dropping May 1st. Today they’ve given  us a taste with the Amy Winehouse-sampling track “You Don’t Know”. No easy feat, but they’ve matched the Lioness’s passionate vocals with galloping drums and a ferocious tearout synth-line. Cop the free download on soundcloud so you can really savor all that luscious reverb.

Ninjatune has done it again, bringing us yet another brilliant release at the intersection of  LIVE and ELECTRONIC. YPPAH is the alias of Joe Corrales Jr., and now a full live band that fuses dusty breaks with poignant instrumentation to great effect. I’d seen the name a few times recently in official Ninjatune communiques, and while my interest was piqued by it’s androgynous unpronouncability, it was hearing the “Eighty One” Album minimix that really got me electrified. Turns out YPPAH has put out a half dozen releases on Ninjatune since ’06. Dunno how I slept on ‘im till now.

One could safely assume from the cover that this is a work awash in texture and nostalgia (and it is) – but to me it sounds a lot more like the nineties than eighty one. Yppah takes a tasteful post-rock/psychadelia sound and infusing it with potent electronics. Imagine if Cinematic Orchestra’s J.Swincoe was producing Do Make Say Think, and you’re not far off. There’s clear evidence of reverence for guys like DJ Shadow, Boards of Canada and the Chemical Brothers, who could squeeze teardrops out of psychadelic samples and breakbeats. But while YPPAH is steeped in nostalgia, they aren’t mired by it. Their sound is urgent, full, and ready to say something new (albiet with familiar pieces).

This album came out April 2nd, and is available for purchase on iTunes and at NinjatuneHQ. If you’d like even more YPPAH, check out the mix that Joe did for Solid Steel this past week, featuring all tracks from 1981.

Tracklist:

Brian Eno & David Byrne _ Mea Culpa _ Sire
Gang of Four _ What We All Want _ EMI
The Cure _ Other Voices _ Polydor
Gary Numan _ Moral _ Beggars Banquet
The Sound _ Judgement _ Korova
Cocteau Twins _ Blind Dumb Deaf _ 4AD
Siouxsie & The Banshees _ Into the Light _ Polydor
The Church _ Sisters _ EMI
Kraftwerk _ Computer Love _ EMI