See a Man About a YACHT

October 28th, 2009 | Posted in Articles by zack

There is a great show coming up this Friday at YuYinTang, brought to you by S.T.D. If you are hip and smart enough to attend, you will be transported back to the 80s by the Violent Phlegms, a Violent Femmes project featuring Adam and Fabien from the Rogue Transmission. Resist Resist and Youth and the Destroyer will also enchant you with their musical stylings. However, the centerpiece of the evening, this all-important All Hallow’s Eve, is the stylish American electro duo, YACHT.

How to describe YACHT? Well, let’s take a quote from their RCRD LBL bio (which, incidentally, is a great site for free, new music):

YACHT is a lot of things. It’s kind of a band, but it’s mostly a genre-and-media-spanning life project founded and led by Jona Bechtolt of the Northwest’s very own Portland, Oregon

I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here: There WILL be music played. Bechtolt and singer Claire Evans have discovered that chic electronic dance music is the new hipster crack.  Four on the floor is back and better than ever. YACHT deals it out in a highly mysterious, highly stylized package. And people are smoking this stuff like it’s going out of style. This is dance music for people who would normally be uncomfortable with the idea of dancing, but it seems to go deeper than that. Check this excerpt from their mission statement:

YACHT was formed in 2002 as Y.A.C.H.T., “Young Americans Challenging High Technology.” The current incarnation began gestating in 2008, and at this point bears no resemblance, except biologically, to the previous versions. The YACHT of 2009 is the true form of YACHT

Intriguing. I like that I can’t really tell if this is tongue-in-cheek or deadly serious stuff, so check it out for yourself (online and in person, this Friday) and make your own judgment. I really like the fact that at the end of their mission statement YACHT feels the need to stipulate that “YACHT IS NOT A CULT.I believe them when they say it is not a cult. I think their persona is a clever marketing strategy, designed to add to the band’s mystique. And it’s working, at least on this humble music hound.

But wait! The plot thickens: One other interesting thing about the group is the back story concerning their recent album “See Mystery Lights”. There is an unexplained light phenomenon in Marfa, Texas, that they have become fascinated with (as well as the town, also, I think). They recorded the album and have even talked of moving their operations there.

What is the connection between these mystery lights and YACHT? Does life exist on other planets? Are these lights their advanced spacecraft or, perhaps, their auras? Are the members of YACHT, in fact, visitors from another, more fashionable and technologically advanced planet? Is their true mission to prepare us for invasion?

These and many other questions will be answered if you come to YuYinTang on Friday, October 30^th.

Click here for the deets.

tags: Adam Gaensler - Claire Evans - Fabi - Halloween - hipster crack - Jona Bechtolt - Marfa - Oregon - Portland - RCRD LBL - Resist Resist - S.T.D. - See Mystery Lights - Texas - The Rogue Transmission - Violent Femmes - Violent Phlegms - YACHT - Youth and the Destroyer - YuYinTang

Layabozi Presents: Culture Clash!!!

October 21st, 2009 | Posted in Articles by zack

I am coming to you as a fan here.

At my desk in Layabozi Central, I am taking off my journalistic derby hat with the press pass stuck behind the band. I am now putting on my rasta rainbow cap with the fake dreads down the back which, in case you haven’t seen me in the clubs, is what I wear to all music shows I attend as a fan. So you can trust me when I tell you that Layabozi Presents: Culture Clash will be a kicking Shanghai rock show. Just look at the lineup:

First off, Weghur. Who are they? Oh, just Shanghai’s entrant in the China Battle of the Bands. That’s all. And we ain’t talking no weak Pepsi battle of the bands. This is GLOBAL, baby. There may be no I in team, but there is a we in WEghur. So get over here and groove to the          Xinjiang stylings of Hassan and his magic band.

Who else, you ask? Dovetail Joints. Remember them? They haven’t played a show in many a moon. But they have found a superb fill-in bassist, and they rock. Melodies, harmonies, heaping helpings of guitar and drums; they’ve got it all. I am convinced that Adam Gaensler could slay a dragon with his guitar. That’s how much confidence I have in him and this band. So if a dragon invades YuYinTang this Friday night, we’ve got it covered. And I’m talking real dragons, not just Dragon from Duck Fight Goose.

Speaking of which, the universe will be saved by animals. I don’t care what you say. That’s what I have read from Duck Fight Goose’s Douban page. If that is indeed the case, then if you don’t go to this show, if you shun Duck Fight Goose and their quirky form of rock music, you’re basically saying that you don’t care about the universe. That’s really selfish of you, dude. Uncool.

The night’s capper is Boys Climbing Ropes. I’m talking about the band here, not actual boys and climbing ropes. Why are Boys Climbing Ropes cool, besides being a propulsive jet of synthesizer and sheer rock intensity? They are the only band I have ever heard of who derive their name from a “Wayne’s World” quote. OK, I made that up, but only the “Wayne’s World” part. (Could it be true, though?) As you can tell from the pic at right, they mean business. Xiao Punk? That girl might just bounce and gyrate right off the stage this time. It could conceivably happen. Good thing they will have some ropes on hand.

Catch the cultures clashing at YuYinTang, Friday night, October 23. 40 spicy duck necks gets you in to see 4 great bands. Keep checking www.layabozi.com for some ticket giveaway contests in the coming days.

tags: Adam Gaensler - Boys Climbing Ropes - Culture Clash - Duck Fight Goose - Hassan - Layabozi Presents - The Dovetail Joints - Wayne's World - Weghur - Xiao Punk