Who is Yacht?

Elliott Smith, The Shins, The Dandy Warhols, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse. There must something in the water down in Portland, Oregon. This former sundown town is like your best friend's cool mum who passes out glasses of soda pop to all the skaters, freaks and geeks of the neighbourhood with nary a judgmental eye. Portland currently plays host to a burgeoning live music scene, not to mention being the birthplace of SuicideGirls and the hometown of Chuck Palahnuick. It's clear that there's always something new to uncover in the city of roses.

One of its somewhat lesser known residents, though no less notable, is Jona Bechtolt. He began his mission of 'fine grunge music and hugs' by forming one-man-band 'Yacht' in 2001, and has since developed into a whirlwind of dance compositions and multi-media wizardry. This is a man whose creative output is almost frightening in its breadth. And if that wasn't enough to make you feel shamefully unproductive, this is also a man whose multi-faceted work stretches across the global arts community.

During 2004 he began collaborating with songstress Khaela Maricich. She had been performing alone as The Blow since 2002 but together they formed a formidable pop-duo; relentlessly recording and touring for the length of their professional relationship. During the brief period of their partnership they crafted two veritable gems; LPs masquerading as pop albums. In reality these releases are magnificent amalgamations of electronica, folk, indie, and rather surprisingly, hints of r'n'b.

Since leaving The Blow earlier this year Jona has poured all his creative energy into making Yacht this winter's indispensable audio delight. To do so he has embarked on a mammoth tour, including China of all unlikely places, before landing in the UK on 6th November – catch him in intimate surroundings at serious-indie-men-with-beards club night Stutter at the Thekla Social in Bristol.

It's Jona's shining originality that broadens his appeal across continents way beyond his native Oregon. He has a special ability of producing records that get you all tingly and excited about music. With technical abilities that mere mortals can only dream of he creates light-hearted melodies and bubblegum pop that you'd be a fool to disregard. Catch Jona now at one of Yacht's legendary dance-parties before he gets over-hyped.

www.myspace.com/yacht

www.teamyacht.com

The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division

"When routine bites hard/ And ambitions are low/ And the resentment rides high/ But emotions won't grow"

It's a tale weaved from a thousand broken relationships, a tale we all know intimately. Joy Division's iconic tragi-ballad Love Will Tear Us Apart was originally penned as a sort of swan song to Ian Curtis' marriage to estranged wife Deborah, but over time has been adopted by many ideological camps who claim Curtis as their figurehead. More recently it has been appropriated by Scouse indie japesters The Wombats, who have a rather more mischievously twee outlook on life.

Perfectly pitched at a time when Curtis' morose life and subsequent suicide could hardly be closer to mind, Let's Dance to Joy Division seems released to coincide with one-time NME photographer Anton Corbijn's directorial debut 'Control', starring relative newcomer Sam Riley in the lead role and Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis. One hopes that with Riley's previous experience portraying Factory Records icons - he was cast as Mark E Smith in 24 Party People - will help propel this film beyond it's current hype.

The Wombats, on the other hand, are placing themselves firmly as the antithesis of Curtis's melancholic mindset. They have created a call-to-arms for every Elliott Smith loving shoe-gazer out there. Head Wombat Matthew Murphy encourages you to "celebrate the irony" in dancing to Joy Division. With lyrics like "Everything is going wrong/ But we're so happy/ Let's dance to Joy Division/ And raise our glass to the ceiling", this couldn't be further from the traditional attitude to the post-punk pioneers.

Sometimes all it takes is a complete breath of fresh air to remind us why classics become classics. Every indie DJ across the land must be sorely tempted to follow Let's Dance to Joy Division with it's namesake and it will only serve to reintroduce us to that tingle up the spine that accompanies truly great pieces of music. Ultimately, The Wombats have crafted a cute novelty song that will inspire many scenesters to look up their inspiration.

Restaurant review: Arabesque

Arabesque,
The Podium,
Bath

Upon arriving at Arabesque one can’t help but be reminded that you are in the food court of a shopping mall. The intimate ambience and authentic décor feels a little wasted on a diner who can’t help but notice all the neighbouring restaurants.

Luckily for Arabesque the severe lack of space is their only noticeable shortcoming. With such delicately flavoured food, every morsel leaves you more enchanted with Lebanese cuisine, and the attentive, but discreet staff more enamoured with Arabesque.

Arriving on a Saturday evening at 8 o’clock with no booking is surely folly under normal circumstances. However, my companion and I were swiftly shown to a beautiful decorative wooden table in the cosy restaurant and, despite being seated next to a gaggle of female students, we managed to achieve an admirable level of privacy for such close quarters.

After much deliberation we opted to share an ensemble of hot and cold mezza -a sort of Lebanese tapas - at £3.95 per item. A short way into dining my companion made the rather astute observation that the lynchpin holding together our entire meal was the Laban Bi-Khyar, a simple yoghurt dish with cucumber, mint and garlic. It would be easy to dismiss this as a mere accompaniment, and not worthy of the price tag. But you’d be wrong. Like every other mezza we sampled, the Leban Bi-Khyar was soft, smooth and so delicately flavoured it was positively endearing.

It was unanimously decreed that our favourite dish was the Sujiq, a small bowl with four Armenian sausages in it. Just enough to share equally you’d think, but three sausages in my companion was desperately bargaining to gain the lion’s share. These are sausages worth fighting over. Each bite breaks apart in your mouth in such a pleasant manner, leaving you to savour the taste rather than bother with all that tiresome chewing.

Each dish we chose was picked according to our individual tastes, yet they all complimented each other wonderfully. The unleavened bread we received free of charge was ideal for mopping up the irresistible medley of leftover sauces still clinging to our plates. The entire meal came to just under £25, including 2 soft drinks. We left the restaurant feeling perfectly satisfied; not bloated, just content.

CSS - Alcohol

You overhear all kinds of unusual opinions when you're sat with people you don't know. Add alcohol and music into the mix and the chances of it happening multiplies. It's a common enough occurrence and yet the average Joe off the street can still shock you with wildly unfounded opinions, like this gem we heard earlier this week.

"In ten years time we'll look back on this the way we look back at Chumbawumba".

An unfair statement, but you can see why the untrained ear might think it. Alcohol is album filler and hardly deserving of a single release. The song meanders along without beginning, middle or, seemingly, end. CSS' strength lies in dramatic synths and husky Pidgin English vocals, not self-consciously quirky monotony.

You're sat there thinking "My, this song's a bit shit. What on Earth could redeem this?" Some shots of Lovefoxxx frolicking about the video with the rest of her Brazilian buddies, yes? Well, no. You're denied even this basic right. Instead, you are served up a kooky little stop-motion animation by director Jared Eberhardt, formerly creative director of Burton Snowboards. Mr. Eberhardt, as it transpires, won a competition set up by Qoob - the Italian version of MTV Flux - to make this video. With a cash prize of merely 2000 euros, I'd hate to see what didn't make the cut. What were the record company thinking?