posted by Patrick on April 24, 2011
A few Indieballers caught Yellow Ostrich at SXSW in the middle of a long and killer set featuring Thao, The Head and the Heart, Submarines and Okkervil River. The band’s lead singer—Wisconsin-native-turned-Brooklynite Alex Schaaf—faced technical difficulties (a malfunctioning Apple laptop, if you can believe it) with aplomb, aw-shucksing through a ten-minute delay before giving up and playing “the longest version ever” of the band’s best track, ‘Whale,’ unassisted. (The marathon version clocked in at just over four minutes. Exhausting.) That minor blemish aside, the band provided a terrific lo-fi counterpoint to the outsized performances from the rest of the bill. The band does alchemy one better: rather than spinning lead into gold, Schaaf and his crew turn seemingly basic, even meanlingless phrases into infectious refrains, a trick ‘Whale’ performs to perfection. Yellow Ostrich will not overwhelm you, but they are certain to charm and entertain. Highly recommended.
WHALE (live at Pianos) by Yellow Ostrich from Big Ugly Yellow Couch on Vimeo.
Yellow Ostrich – Whale (Downloaded 393 times)
Yellow Ostrich – In The Past I Was An Astronaut (Downloaded 358 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Catchy • Clever • Male vocal
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May 17th, 2011 at 10:01 am
What a joy to find such clear thinking. Thanks for ptonsig!
May 19th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
x97Ise ljytyujlhaok
July 1st, 2011 at 8:35 am
Ya learn seomthnig new everyday. It’s true I guess!