WATCH: YACHT releases video for "I Walked Alone"

Now that's what I call a hiatus.

It wasn't too long ago that Quinn S. shared YACHT's double video for "Utopia" and "Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire". That video released teamed up well with a previous of post of mine, as the dance outfit prepared to drop their most recent album Shangri-La this past summer. As the YACHT road-crew continues to tour, they've also found time to film another music video for (literally) the next track on the album, "I Walked Alone". 

The video, directed by apparent YouTube sensation Mitchell Davis, makes use of a spinning cinematic technique we've seen before in Hot Club de Paris' video for "Free the Pterodactyl 3", except this time the camera's view is outwards toward the musicians, not vice versa. Constant camera movement lends itself well to both songs, as they each feature a beat intended to get your head nodding and your foot tapping incessantly through out the whole tune. It's not wholly revolutionary, but it's nice to see some creative movement in videos for songs that could easy drone on like an old side-scrolling video game or get lost in a sea of cuts to different sets. For the duration, we hop back and forth between a dusk-lit desert road and a Kubrick-like room which seems to be holding a passive yoga class. 

Catch the rest of the post and the video (duh), after the hop.

WATCH: YACHT Release Wild Double Video for "Utopia" & "Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire)"

Electropoppers YACHT just released Shangri-La, their fifth studio album, Tuesday on iTunes (it's available everywhere next week, all thanks to DFA). We've already heard "Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire)", and last week Simon shared a full album stream of Shangri-La. Today, we've got the vibrant, animated, exhilarating music video for the new album's first two tracks. It only made sense to make a seven-minute mini epic to display the two-sided coin that is "Utopia" v. "Dystopia."

Band member Claire L. Evans explains the inspiration behind the video after the hop. Plus, watch their Tiny Desk Concert and scope upcoming tour dates, all below.

LISTEN NOW: YACHT's "Shangri-La"

Gosh, it sure has been awhile. Good to be back.

As Quinn S. and I have so often mentioned, the music department over at National Public Radio does a fantastic job bringing us new music (before official release) in full-album form every week. Guess what, this week is no exception. Most recently, our fearless editor-in-chief sounded the horn on First Listen's release of the self-titled release from Bon Iver. Today is all about an outfit that, until this current spin, has evaded my eardrums: YACHT. It's also about their over-populated niche in the music industry today. 

With all the computer music floating out there in the tubes of the Interwebs, electro/dance-pop music is easy to find. Put it this way, if dance music was our currency, we'd have a very serious inflation issue (see: the Weimar Republic when folks needed a wheelbarrow-full of Marks to pay for a loaf of bread). 

All it takes is a brief scan of the popular/latest playlists over at the Hype Machine (or MM's inbox) to see that this type of music is pervasive. Not to completely rip the genre, but it lends itself to struggling artists with a couple of microphones, a drum machine, some fancy (but easily torrented) software, and a decent computer to make acceptable dancy-beats. Where techno and trip-hop used to be something that required intense knowledge of turntables and a very involved on-stage setup with tons of wires, powerful home-studios are now able to churn out the stuff like a cotton-candy machine on full whirl. 

Read the rest of the post and catch the link, after the hop. 

Download a New Song by YACHT Right...NOW

Electropop/dance punk outfit YACHT will release their new album Shangri-La on June 21st through DFA. The album, the band's second for DFA and fifth overall, was produced, mixed, and recorded by YACHT (Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans), with assistance from frequent collaborator and touring member Bobby Birdman. According to a press release, "On Shangri-La, YACHT asserts that the future is a blank slate upon which anything can be imposed. YACHT believes that the only real sustainable paradise is in our minds, and hence creative output can be a tangible piece of the Utopia within each individual. Shangri-La literally is YACHT's Utopia, a place made of songs." Hear/download a song from the new album below.

YACHT - “Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)”


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