Yacht (band)

YACHT is an American band from Portland, Oregon, Marfa, Texas, and Los Angeles, CA. The core group consists of Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, but expands to include musicians Rob Bobby Birdman Kieswetter, and Jeffrey Brodsky as touring members.

YACHT (often printed as 'Y△CHT' or 'Y▲CHT') has released albums on States Rights Records, Marriage Records, and most notably DFA Records.

History

2002-2008

YACHT was the solo project of Jona Bechtolt from 2002-2008. During this period, he released three albums, Super Warren MMIV, MEGA, and I Believe In You. Your Magic is Real, on small record labels in the Northwest area.

In January 2006, YACHT was commissioned for two performances for the New York based art and technology platform Rhizome, as part of their "Crap-tops vs Laptops" show. In February 2006, YACHT performed at the Museum of Modern Art's P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center^[1] and produced an hour-long internet radio program with Clear Cut Press; a Northwest-based publisher of new literary work. In April 2006, the Aurora Picture Show commissioned a YACHT performance as part of their Media Archeology Festival in Houston, Texas.^[2]

For the 2007 release of I Believe in You, Your Magic Is Real on Marriage Records, Bechtolt performed a concert on an actual yacht^[3] on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

Live performances during this period included dancing along to music ^[4] as well as elaborate PowerPoint presentations.

2008-Present Day

In 2008, YACHT expanded to a duo with the introduction of longtime collaborator Claire L. Evans as a full member, contributing vocals to many of the songs on the 2009 album See Mystery Lights,^[5], YACHT's first full-length release on DFA Records. From this point forward, YACHT re-identified itself as a two-piece.

The album cover for See Mystery Lights was designed by Texas-based artist Boyd Elder^[6], who previously designed album art for The Eagles. See Mystery Lights was well received. Pitchfork gave it an 8.5 calling it "a triumph," and Rolling Stone wrote that YACHT "split the different between Talking Heads and electro pop, and make a breakthrough album of digital ear candy.” It was chosen as a "Critic's Choice" by New York Times critic Nate Chinen.^[7]

In January of 2010, YACHT added a live band, "The Straight Gaze," consisting of musicians Rob Bobby Birdman Kieswetter, and Jeffrey Brodsky to their live show. This incarnation is known as YACHT and the Straight Gaze^[8].

Band members

Jona Bechtolt – vocals, programming, guitar, drums, bass, percussion, claps, synths, keyboards, piano, effects
Claire L. Evans - vocals

When performing live, YACHT is accompanied by the following band members^[9]:

Rob Kieswetter – vocals, bass
Jeffrey Brodsky – drums, percussion

Discography

Studio albums

See Mystery Lights (July 28, 2009) DFA
I Believe in You. Your Magic is Real. (May 15, 2007) Marriage Records
MEGA (March 8, 2005) Marriage Records
Super Warren MMIV (2004) States Rights Records

Other releases

Summer Song 12" Single (August 2008) DFA

References

^ Cite error: The named reference AMG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Media Archeology: Software Cinema". Aurora Picture Show. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
^ "Photos: YACHT on Yacht (Portland, OR; 05/05/07)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
^ "Yacht destroys the stage at NME SXSW show". NME News. March 14, 2008.
^ Lindsay, Cam. "Yacht Do More Than Rock". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
^ "Boyd Elder's album cover for YACHT". Print. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
^ "New CDs". New York Times. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
^ "YACHT becomes YACHT & the Straight Gaze". The Oregonian. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
^ [1]

External links

Official website
style="background: #8FD; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="partial table-partial"|http://www.trustyacht.org
YACHT on IFC's Dinner With The Band

Template:YACHT

[AMG-1] Cite error: The named reference AMG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Media Archeology: Software Cinema". Aurora Picture Show. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

[3] "Photos: YACHT on Yacht (Portland, OR; 05/05/07)". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 31, 2008.

[4] "Yacht destroys the stage at NME SXSW show". NME News. March 14, 2008.

[5] Lindsay, Cam. "Yacht Do More Than Rock". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

[6] "Boyd Elder's album cover for YACHT". Print. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

[7] "New CDs". New York Times. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

[8] "YACHT becomes YACHT & the Straight Gaze". The Oregonian. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

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