[[wysiwyg_imageupload:83:]]Regardless of its recent foray into the realm of all things cute, young, and pop, it is undeniable that YACHT (playing Moogfest 2011 at the Asheville Civic Center on Saturday the 29th) has a deep understanding of the guts of electronic music. You don’t believe me? Consider the first sentence of the group’s very own religious pamphlet, The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights:
“The notion that all the labors of mankind reach their apogee in mere symbols, indicators, shadows and arrows which point toward the actual, ineffable, unrepresentable reality of existence is the most important thing which unifies ‘irrational’ spiritual thought with ‘rational’ scientific thought.”
A common misconception about Bob Moog’s first great invention, the synthesizer, is that the root of its name is the adjective, “synthetic,”– that its purpose is to reproduce. On the contrary, the root is the verb, “to synthesize,” to bring together all the tools needed to make a sound out of nothing in a musician’s hands. In other words the point is not to be able to reproduce the sounds of strings or pianos, but to be able to reproduce what violins and pianos reproduce –“the actual, ineffable, unrepresentable reality of existence.” And perhaps to do it more accurately, less synthetically.
Anyone who’s heard YACHT’s debut CD, Super Warren MMIV, knows that the band (at that time, consisting only of Jona Bechtolt) has virtuosity with beats. Tracks like “Bunny & Duck’s Boat House” revel in torrential Midi bleeps and Casio tones, bringing to my mind a tweaking Boards of Canada song. Motifs such as summer warmth and cosmic humming were present far before YACHT’s trip to Marfa, Texas, to record their breakout 2008 DFA release, See Mystery Lights. What has happened since is development, nuance, and layering, but the band has never lost its otherworldly, electronic core–what was there from the start.
With 2007’s I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real, YACHT showcased more tonal songs and vocals, and gained more critical acceptance. Guitar strumming and that hollow, flicking-your-cheek-while-making-a-kissy-face sound (featured prominently on YACHT’s biggest hit to date, “Psychic City (Voodoo City)”) also prompted their rise to the fore.
Since moving to DFA records in 2008 and adding Claire Evans as a permanent part of the band, YACHT has lost some of its early stop-start angularity, but gained in exchange a broader sound that can tell richer stories and hit more emotional highs and lows. Claire Evans, perhaps, has also brought some more wit to the act, with memorable lyric’s on this year’s Shangri-La, such as “If I can’t go to heaven let me go to LA,” and "I love you like a small-town cop/ Yeah, I wanna smash your face in with a rock."
As a solo act, Jona Bechtolt was already a blast live, driving his audience to frantic calisthenics with his speedy beats and characteristic laptop “solos.” With the addition of Claire Evans, the stage show has gotten more energetic and compelling; a band once known for having performed in front of a PowerPoint presentation now features live drums, vocals, bass, and, occasionally, choreographed dance moves. Attendees can look forward to a sweaty dance party, compelling dance moves, and perhaps a brief philosophy lesson (“It’s better/Than silence/Do what you love/Love what you do”).
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