song of the day: may 1/2011

Yeasayer - Rome
Album: Odd Blood [2010]

the music of brooklyn's yeasayer is an eclectic, genre-bending journey into pop, rock, middle eastern and african musics, folk, and dub. in may 2006, the band set to work on recording its debut album, "all hour cymbals", which was unveiled to much critical acclaim (not to mention a healthy blogosphere buzz) in october 2007. international tour dates and festival appearances followed, during which the band honed its blend of live instrumentation and prerecorded samples. when it came time to record a second album, yeasayer traveled to Woodstock, NY, and rented out the country home of percussionist jerry marotta. the resulting record, Odd Blood, appeared in early 2010 and showcased a different side of the band, with synthetic sounds and dance-inspired production playing a much larger role. the album does get off to an odd start with “the children” - a robotic, plodding song that prizes mood over melody - before settling into a more balanced groove, mixing the multicultural sounds of yeasayer's debut with a new emphasis on electronica, global trip-hop, and digital production. like their debut, this is a thinking man’s album, one that requires its listeners to put on their thinking caps as well as their dancing shoes. it’s more urban than its predecessor, though, with most songs ditching the tribal harmonies and lo-fi analog ambience of the band’s earlier work in favor of an electric, textured sound. singer/guitarist anand wilder often abandons his guitar entirely, focusing instead on the keyboards that serve as odd blood’s bedrock, and he sings the latter song in a voice that’s clear, pleasant, and devoid of the yelping that characterized some earlier tracks. the album's emphasis on genre-mashing can overwhelm the weaker tunes, whose melodies are sometimes less interesting than the arrangements themselves, but the album has enough highlights (ie. "rome", "ambling alp") to outweigh any filler on side B. all in all, this is a rare sophomore album that widens the band's sound without narrowing its appeal.

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