Noyouyesme – Talanus 3: Legends Of Yosuga (HTX102) album review

Fire up your Spelljammer modules! Break out your Cyberpunk supplements – Portland’s Noyouyesme returns with 5 tracks of sci-fi electronics for building worlds or escaping this one.

Noyouyesme – Talanus 3: Legends Of Yasuga (HTX102)

When you think of music for role-playing games, you likely flash to some bardcore, maybe some medieval tavern ambience or – if you’re feeling far-out and imaginative – maybe a playlist of old-timey jazz for a Call Of Cthulhu campaign. There’s a few problems with this:

A lot of that music isn’t very good.
It’s fairly narrow-minded and restricted to one genre of tabletop game.
It’s not very imaginative or creative.

Sure, it’s fine if you’re running a High Fantasy campaign or just want a soundscape for writing your Black Cauldron fanfic… surely there must be ways to get creative and re-invigorate the medium, though?

Portland’s Noyouyesme does just that with the 3rd installment of the Talanus series for Heterodox Records.

The Talanus series is a series of atmospheric soundtracks and soundscapes for the Talanus cycle created by Heterodox Records co-founder Ramon Mills, otherwise known as Production Unit Xero. Speaking on the origins and inspirations for Legends Of Yosuga, Noyouyesme writes:

From the Luna Kalo ghost operative stealth of Jasyndyl the shuriken assasin, to the the tinkering tools of the Kraagin artificer Kosugi and his wizard rifle. You may find yourself being sucked down into the Creeping Haunt, or fighting for your life at Blackport itself only to come through to a valley breathing with light..

Far out stuff, and the sonics more than match.

Talana 3: Legends Of Yosuga in no way relies upon a concept or a gimmick to be worthy of comment; it not only stands on its own two feet but springs, cartwheels, pirouettes, feints and dodges, weaving through a kaleidoscopic swirl of electronic genres. That’s the first thing that stands out about Talana 3 – Noyouyesme departs from Heterodox’s signature post-Aphex Twin/Autechre/Squarepusher for moody halfstep drum ‘n bass, laced with growling sub-bass and spiked with sparkling sound-design – the spirit of 2013, resurrected, when bass acolytes were still convinced they could change the world with woofer-shredding bassweight.

The d’n’b futurism gives way to some sinister exotica on “The Creeping Eye Of Yasuga,” though, which even features a chilling whisper-singing vocal from Portland noise legend Todd Dickerson, the genius behind the Soup Purse project, over stroboscopic Steve Reich-ian minimalist mallets and a broken clockwork beat.

Then things take a turn for the noisy with “Battle For Blackport”, which somehow conveys the bleary-eyed tape skudge of Boards of Canada and a bloodthirsty Pterodactyl at the same time.

You don’t have to be a gamer, either, to get something out of Legends Of Yasuga, either. There’s a somewhat post-industrial steampunk vibe to some of the percussion and sound design that brings to mind China Mieville’s New Crobuzon trilogy while some more exotic elements recall visionary sci-fi classics like Fantastic Planet.

Whatever you’re looking for, there’s a good chance you’ll find it in Talanus 3: Legends of Yasuga. At just 30 minutes, this short and very sweet EP goes down super smooth and easy, greatly rewarding repeat visitations with fresh new details, from hyper-intricate beats to lush and layered sound FX to arcane whispers buried deep in the mix.

Whether you need a soundtrack for repairing your wizard rifle or to fill out your next future break DJ set, there’s something for you on Talanus 3: Legends Of Yasuga.

Talanus 3: Legends Of Yasuga by Noyouyesme is out now on Heterodox Records.

For anyone fortunate enough to be in Austin this year for the triumphant return of SXSW, Noyouyesme will be performing this evening, March 11, at the Yeast By Sweet Beast showcase with a handful of other Heterodox Records artists, including Production Unit Xero and enereph that we reviewed a few weeks ago.