Mount Matsu

Dutch group YĪN YĪN’s third album is a joyous concoction of surf guitar, retro synth and East Asian influence. The record recalls the instrumental ‘library music’ created for background use by the likes of Alan Hawkshaw, but subsequently rediscovered by dance DJs and hip-hop producers. Mount Matsu might be mistaken for a long-lost session by impeccable Japanese studio musicians, but its cheekiness gives it away.

The zany drum battle of ‘Tokyo Disko’ and the ASMR vocals of ‘Komori Uta’ exemplify YĪN YĪN’s sonic sense of humour. But the foundation of the group’s sound is the interlocking of guitar, bass and percussion that supplies such sinuous grooves. The funk and the fun come together riotously on Mount Matsu’s ‘Takahashi Timing’, which begins as an Afrobeat-inflected disco before departing on an audacious synthesiser- and bongo-powered odyssey.

There is simply too much fun to be had with this album to worry about how four men from Maastricht came to draw so heavily on Japanese culture. YĪN YĪN’s originality of vision and sonic craftsmanship is compelling, and would surely be even more irresistible if experienced live.