Y.A.C.H.T. - Super Warren MMIV
(States Rights)
Y.A.C.H.T. is the one man laptop based project of Jonathan Bechtolt. I know all you laptop haters want to click the "back" button on your browser, but don't!! This one man laptop based project is fun, vibrant, and—dare I say—very personal and human.
From the opening salvo of "Rembember What This Feels Like," it's evident that Mr. Bechtolt is not only a wonderful manipulator of the mouse, but knows how to construct an electronic song filled with danceable yet interesting elements. The stuttering beats, reminiscent of early Aphex Twin, are twisting and bright while the melodies meander this way and that through verse and chorus. One gets the feeling that being in bands such as the Badger King and playing drums for Little Wings and Phil Elverum has really helped Bechtolt get a grasp of good song construction. These tracks actually sound more like indie band songs than they do electonic pieces.
While there are many high points, such as the Nintendo-core "I Asked If We Could Have Sex One Last Time" (the only lyrics of which are "What a stupid thing to do"... get it? It's funny!), this album is a bit long and a bit scattered at times. A track like "Do You Remember the Summer" seems tacked on to the tighter, more interesting songs that surround it. Perhaps Super Warren MMIV could have been pared down to a taught 10 or 12 songs instead of 16. This is not to say that there are duds, there are not. As a matter of fact there are plenty of songs that in a perfect world would be huge hits on MTV2 or whatever. An example of one of these hits is "The Denver Nuggets," which sounds like Air... only less French and way more awesome.
With Super Warren MMIV, Bechtolt has offered a unique and truly fun take on electronic pop music. Honestly, this album can only be topped by the intense live shows that Y.A.C.H.T. puts on. Whether or not dancing is cool (and Pitchfork says that it is), Y.A.C.H.T. deserve to be huge.
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