The Yellow Happy Triangle

I've seen YACHT before. I've heard YACHT before. The more I read about and experience YACHT, the more I want to read about and experience YACHT.

I'm standing at the head of the crowd at the feet of the lead guitarist; he's well put-together with his slick grey shirt, plain grey pants, no belt and haircut that reminds me of a young David Byrne. Claire Evans peels off layers of a white suit jacket, to a white thigh-length skirt, to just a wifebeater and white spandex shorts. It perfectly compliments the angelic perception I have of her enlightened soul.



Most times I go to a show and perceive the band's stage visuals while sipping my greyhound and being crowded in with the occasional patchouli fellow or sweet-scented female. This time, my divine essence is tickled. Truly the experience of hearing Yacht both in melody and in conversation conveys an embodiment of balancing subdued, Gaian worship with exercising group party yoga to advance human consciousness. At the show, Claire told me where their spiritual center is and now Marfa is my Mecca.

Which brings me to YACHT as a brand: human love and the pure, positive human experience. I can't think another appropriate word for it as the concept of a brand is fabricated, but YACHT's entire artistic vision is more of a discovery that they want to share in a focused manner with their audience. You could liken it to a religion but there is nothing overt or pressing about their message. Excerpt from their pamphlet "The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights" that I picked up from Jona Bechtolt himself:

Thankfully, the Universe need not be worshipped. The Universe is not self-conscious, not self-organized. It is merely an awesome extension of the space which we inhabit. We are part of its makeup as stars and planets are part of its makeup; if the Universe is infinite, then size becomes subjective. We are as relevant a part of it as anything else.

It may be difficult for you to picture yourself as an actual part of the Universe, to see your physical body as a visible nature through which the structure of countless waves of evolving life are unfolding their latent potentialities. But it is the case. Just as every cell in your body is an infinitesimal part of the system that is you, so you are an infinitesimal part of the system that is the Universe. And as we are part of all things, so we are capable of knowing all things.

Off their 7"...
YACHT - Dystopia
YACHT - Utopia

Experience them, travel to Marfa, and perpetuate positivity.

Another 90's post

I'm not there yet. The 90's are not back yet... not for me. The closest I've seen grunge make a comeback are folks wearing plaid shirts, but the long hair isn't there yet, nor are the Vans, the JNCO jeans, or Daria. What are back are the early 90's, only insofar as an extension of the 80's. Case in point:


Lady Miss Kier

Deee-Lite - Groove Is In the Heart ... and video



Many moon ago at Coachella 2007, I was walking along and heard some real grooves coming out of one of the side dance tents. I'm always a fan of the fag jams, and with the boys' presence on stage, that solidified the atmosphere. It was a big girl, with big hair, and a hot dress pushing up her girls, going all out with her mix. "Damn she's the jam." Who was it? It seriously wasn't until a couple of days ago when I became reacquainted with Deee-lite when I heard that Lady Miss Kier was DJ'ing at Berlin this Sunday (seriously, a gay club on Easter Sunday and a school night?) and hence this post. Now I can't get enough of her.

Reading about her influence on the NYC dance scene in the early 90's and the fact that she was already heavily a club fashionista makes me even more drawn to her. Her relations with Grace Jones and Bootsy Collins make my social libido percolate and her rampant self-canvasing makes me want to be my future-daughter's tailor. Now that she's coming (back) to Chicago, I can only imagine what she's got in store for the current scene... and what she's wearing.


Oh by the way, I hope she wears her hair up.

WLUW Hints Part 1

Living under a rock does have it its advantages...

1) You get more time to yourself
2) Nobody will judge that 6" beard after you keep telling yourself you'll get around to it
3) You can appreciate Lady Gaga two years later after The Fame since you just got it

Trends have flown past tending not to knock on their way through town. Fortunately, your radio that interprets frequency modulated air waves have given you a cracked-open window view of the music world. Enter WLUW, Loyola University's radio station. It's rare to hear the same song twice during any given month of listenership, so the opportunities to write down picks is on par with a grizzly bear catching horny salmon.

Enter White Mystery.


This is the kind of band that I want to see in my brother's basement, the Ice Factory, or the Mopery. (Oops, those are all gone.) Gruff, sweaty, and on Whistler Records, this pair are like a garage band for your next beach party: gleefully serrated. Alex White's sweet voice balances out the over-the-top drums of her brother Francis and is a perfect complement to her bad axe (do people still call it that? and bad = good, duh). Try their single on for size:



White Mystery - Powerglove

See them at Pancho's on April 20th or at the Abbey on May 7th.