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All Music Guide:
The music of Brooklyn's Yeasayer is an eclectic, genre-bending journey into pop, rock, Middle Eastern and African musics, folk, and dub. Vocalist/keyboardist Chris Keating and vocalist/guitarist Anand Wilder were both raised in Baltimore, where they honed their vocal skills in a barbershop quartet and played in a high-school band, Sic Transit, before leaving town to attend different colleges. Years later, the two relocated to New York and began shaping the project that would soon become Yeasayer. Wilder's cousin, Ira Wolf Tuton, joined as the group's bassist, and drummer Luke Fasano was the last member to climb aboard 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, New York, 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. Odd Blood proved even more successful than its predecessor in terms of album sales, and Yeasayer continued to tour internationally. In the fall of 2011, work began on the group's third album, Fragrant World. A continuation of the murkier textures of Odd Blood, the album arrived in the summer of 2012 and featured guest appearances from string player Kishi Bashi and NOMO's Elliot Bergman.
Wikipedia:
Yeasayer (pron.: /ˈeɪeɪər/) is an American psychedelic pop band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2006. The band consists of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, Anand Wilder and Cale Parks.
History [edit]
The band's three core members, Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand Wilder, first came to attention after appearing at the SXSW festival in early 2007. Their first single consisted of a double A-side of the tracks "Sunrise" and "2080". Following the release of debut album All Hour Cymbals in October 2007 by We Are Free, Yeasayer described their music as "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel". Live performances often include psychedelic visuals.
In 2008, Yeasayer toured with MGMT and Man Man and supported Beck. The same year they performed a public a cappella concert, "Take Away Show", on the Paris metro. The band has also played at Lollapalooza, the Pitchfork Music Festival, the Austin City Limits Festival, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch! Music Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In 2009, Yeasayer contributed "Tightrope" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization. Yeasayer appeared at the Coachella Music Festival of 2010, the Dutch Pinkpop and Lowlands festival, and performed at the Australian music festival Splendour In The Grass in August where they were asked by the organisers of Laneway Festival to return and play in 2011. Backed by labels Secretly Canadian and Mute Records, Yeasayer released their second studio album, Odd Blood, in February 2010, featuring more pop music influences than earlier work. In July 2010 they appeared at Latitude Festival in England at the Word Tent where they also completed a signing session.
In January 2011, The Hype Machine named Yeasayer the most blogged artist of 2010.
In April 2011, Yeasayer released End Blood in participation with Record Store Day which the band described as "two ideas that didn't fit on Odd Blood".
Their songs have been featured on TV shows such as 90210, America's Next Top Model and The Good Wife.
Their song "Rome" was featured in the 2012 movie "Pitch Perfect".
In May 2011, the band premiered their brand new song "Devil and the Deed" on Conan O'Brien's late night talk show. During their subsequent tour of North America, the band played this song at shows along with two other new tunes, "Demon Road" and "Henrietta".
On August 21, 2012, Yeasayer released Fragrant World. To promote the album, Yeasayer performed single "Longevity" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the night before the commercial release of Fragrant World.
