What ever musical direction YB go in is their choice and up to them. I’m sure they’ll alienate some fans because of it. However this is a track which can be a popular one. It has a broader appeal in it’s sound. The only issue I see is that with the birth of a new audience only seeing Night lead me astray video and not knowing earlier YB work is that they’ll only see Ru. Maybe Si and Benji don’t want to be in the spotlight but I just hope that new fans won’t think that Ru is Younger Brother.

I think Si and Benji will still be heard. Remember ‘All Saints’ (Pure Shores etc.)? without W. Orbit they just disapeared.

If articulating our experience (lyrics) is = mainstreampop, why do we bother talking in a forum? Is Portishead mainstream? I enjoy hearing Ru summing up the feelings of so many lost & forgotten tribes.

“The beat goes round and round
The beat goes round and round
I never really got there
I just pretended that I had
What’s the point of instruments
Words are a sawed off shotgun

Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out

Before you run away from me
Before you’re lost between the notes
Just as you take the mic
Just as you dance, dance, dance”
(Thom Yorke/Radiohead)

Alright… So I’m reading all kinds of things like

...I don’t understand who the audience is…
...I’m a bit confused at present as to the new musical positioning of YB…
...this new direction addresses a younger and hipper peergroup…
...you guys at twisted probably think of ways to try and get new fans by making different…
...be careful not to loose your old fans…
...I’m sure they’ll alienate some fans…

and I really don’t feel this way…

Who’s the audience? It’s whoever likes this music, doh. You don’t make music with an audience in mind. ‘It addresses a younger and hipper peergroup?’ What? Why? I could imagine NLMA would fall well with people in their fifties, whereas a track as Crumblenaut probably wouldn’t.

What’s their musical positioning? Well they’re just doing what they like, no need to be pushed into a genre-box, right? They’re just experimenting, no boundaries. Musical positioning is a negative term to me because it implies that musicians will sit down and be like ‘alright, let’s make thís kind of music’. Pop-musicians do that, its formulaic. Im convinced that Benji and Si are just doing what they like. Why is there a need for musical positioning?

And about the fans.. Really. Does anyone really think they just make this kind of music just get new fans and make money? That they don’t really like this but they feel like they have to do it? And how could old fans ever be lost or alienated when there’s still Flock of Beeps and Last Days of Gravity? ‘Fans’ who turn their back on YB now are crap fans. IMO, fans cherisch what they have and don’t have to like EVERYTHING a musician produces. And in that sense yes I’m a fan of Infected Mushroom. But that’s just my perspective on fans.

To summarize: You’re making it all a whole lot more difficult than it is. It’s just a bunch of guys making music which they enjoy. Some people will like it, some people won’t. That’s all there is to it.

Now, on topic:
I don’t like the remix of NLMA, I like the original better, especially the drums and nice guitar sounds (except the wheemp, wheemp, wheemp, wheemp one at the end). Also think it’s a bit repetitive.
I really enjoy Pound a Rhythm. Ruu sounds good there, and it’s a fun track with nice details in the background.
All I Want remix does nothing for me and was already released, so yah…

What’s their musical positioning? Well they’re just doing what they like, no need to be pushed into a genre-box, right? They’re just experimenting, no boundaries. Musical positioning is a negative term to me because it implies that musicians will sit down and be like ‘alright, let’s make thís kind of music’. Pop-musicians do that, its formulaic. Im convinced that Benji and Si are just doing what they like. Why is there a need for musical positioning?

Musical positioning was probably not the best phrase for me to use and yes I agree with what you’ve said here. Of course they don’t sit down and think ‘oh lets appeal to this kinda crowd’ etc I wouldn’t attribute that to Benji & Si, they have more integrity than Simon Cowell..

For me it’s just a move away from what I’m use to and I’m sure it will appeal to a new kinda crowd..

Kodara - 17 November 2010 07:13 PM

To summarize: You’re making it all a whole lot more difficult than it is.

Yes, this sums it up pretty well.

I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t listen to electronic music every single day. I love all the Twisted artists and I’m proud to say I own all their albums and their music is amongst my favorite. However, there are days where I just can’t stand any of the bleepity-bleep sounds of Shpongle and Ott and I just want some drums, guitars and a bass. I will then resort to Tool (great lyrics by the way, for all you “lyrics haters” ), Opeth or this obscure Hungarian band that I can’t even pronounce or spell (it’s great music, though) and countless other bands of all sorts of genres.

The Younger Brother guys seem to feel the same way, otherwise they would’ve stuck to their 80% Electro 20% Rock schematic. Night Lead Me Astray and Pound A Rhythm sound like 20% Electro and 80% Rock. And you know what, I love that change. Simon, Benji and the others have been making this Electro sort of music for about 15 to 20 years? Personally, I wouldn’t want another Last Days of Gravity, no matter how much I love that album. When I first put on Pound A Rhythm I was surprised, then I noticed my head bobbing from left to right slightly, my legs twitched a bit and I smiled and after a while I knew that I would very much like this “new direction” or whatever you want to call it.
Also, this has nothing to do with Mainstream Pop/Rock at all. We will not see Younger Brother fighting Lady Gaga and Rihanna for the #1 spot.

So, to quote Kodara again: You’re making it too complicated. Enjoy the music, acknowledge the fact that music that doesn’t sound like LSD transcribed into notes can be good and worthwhile, too, and you’ll start enjoying it. In my opinion.

Kodara - 17 November 2010 07:13 PM

To summarize: You’re making it all a whole lot more difficult than it is.

No actually… you are. The people here “defending” the new EP are posting long long texts with lots of complex (warped) reasoning, whereas what most of the rest is saying is really very simple: Good luck YB, it’s just not for me.

It’s a matter of taste - we can talk long or short about that, but it won’t change anything.

Well, there are those that say it’s bad, those that say it’s good, those that say they like it, and those that say it’s not for me. If I defend the EP, it’s against accusations of it being of poor quality, or not up to YB standards. For me, it’s good, but not something I would listen to as often as the more electronic stuff.

Tapioka - 17 November 2010 08:42 PM

Yes, this sums it up pretty well.

The pingpongy typewriter percussion in the intro and the buildup of the drums at about 3:30 of NLMA kind of infect this alternative rocksong nicely with twisted vibes.

In Pound A Rhythm (on the soil) things get less subtle: glitched up sitars and microdelays. And beautifully articulated message of getting out of the traps of routine and redefining what one really wants in life.

p.s. -tool is cool- 

kodara. I’m sure their new music will alienate them from some fans. It is to be expected. All great bands have had this happen to them.

I think its ‘pound a rhythm of your soul’ (not soil.) Or maybe its salt…

edit: Nevermind. Its, ‘soil.’ Dunno what happened to my ears.

Also much dissapointed by NLMA, I’m not even sure to buy the last YB album, but for sure I won’t buy it blindly like I did with previous twisted releases. I have nothing against rock music nor lyrics, I love both of them actually. But this single has nothing to do with it, it’s just pop with an intention of sounding like the MTV mainstream music.
Lets say Simon decided at some point to make a rock album, fair enough, I’d probably be anticipating it greatly, thinking that considering how pioneering and crazy Simon’s music has always been, it would have to be probably as huge as shpongle in terms of change of musical directions. But that’s anything but the case here, this is POP, damn fucking pop… With cute arrangements, sounds and vocal style I feel I’ve already heard GILLIONS of times. When I think how pioneering, mindblowing and ahead of their times were albums such as are you shpongle, flock of bleeps, nothing lasts. And the great things about these albums, is that they never sounded like ANY other thing, they were just unique creations with no intention of replicating someone else’s sound or style.
But hey, I should probably calm myself down there will probably be a couple of good tracks on vaccines as well, but damn NLMA!! What the hell was that about!!

yb3 beta version anyone? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEC62gDEbuI&feature=related

cjpience - 19 November 2010 04:27 AM

I think its ‘pound a rhythm of your soul’ (not soil.) Or maybe its salt…

edit: Nevermind. Its, ‘soil.’ Dunno what happened to my ears.

hmmm, makes me wonder about the etymology of soil and soul… Maybe our soul is the salt of the soil?!  

The song gives me the image of dancing with bare feet open air at sunrise…

generix - 19 November 2010 11:33 AM

there will probably be a couple of good tracks on vaccines as well,

‘No Safety in Numbers’ has diminished chords in the guitar riff and electronics that start talking to you at 4:00 in the morning and won’t stop no matter how polite you ask them to…

This will be good !!! :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AkZTktgrCI