Yppah - Tiny Pause [Japanese Edition] (2015)

Having amassed a legion of loyal fans with his signature blend of electronic, psychedelic and rock influences, the artist known as Yppah (pronounced “yip-ah”) is back with perhaps his most intimate work to date. Tiny Pause, due for release on Counter Records October 16, finds Yppah adopting an enormous technical shift in his writing process, moving away from largely software-based production and live instrumentation to modular synthesizers and samplers. Inspired in large part by 8mm footage and self-described “creepy/beautiful” archived film found on the internet, Yppah draws on the same palette of the living landscape, human memory and emotive warmth found in his prior work and magnifies it, echoing the sounds of Tycho, Baths and Boards of Canada.

Yppah (born Joe Corrales Jr.) has forged a career marked by ethereality and dynamism. Brought up on equal parts My Bloody Valentine and hip-hop, he has utilized a number of instruments and techniques in forging his place in the uplifting (yet firmly grounded) world his music inhabits. Previous records (2006’s You Are Beautiful At All Times, 2009’s They Know What Ghost Know, 2012’s Eighty One) have harnessed his cultural heritage and relentless curiosity to brilliant effect, landing placements in films (21), video games (Alone In The Dark) and television series (House, CSI) as well as taking him on tour around the globe.

Tiny Pause is informed in large part by shifts in Yppah's life since his last work. Having toured the album, moved from Texas to Southern California and transitioned into more ambitious commercial work (for trailers, sound design and music libraries), Yppah soon found himself embracing hardware in a big way, buying and selling gear constantly while writing to find the best-suited combination for his workflow. The addition of two dogs to his home and a newfound hobby of surfing round out Yppah's biggest influencers for the direction of the new record. And it all shows - the celestial dips and rises in “Occasional Magic,” the cascade of drums in “Little Dreamer,” the fractured ascent of “Spider Hands,” and the human-tinged glitches of “Neighborhoods” all point to an artist matured not only in sound but in perspective.