{"id":10626,"date":"2012-11-26T10:34:10","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T08:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/?p=10626"},"modified":"2013-01-28T10:41:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T08:41:10","slug":"music-yoav-blood-vine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/music-yoav-blood-vine\/","title":{"rendered":"Music: Yoav – Blood Vine"},"content":{"rendered":"
MUSIC<\/div>\n
\n
\"Blood<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n

I haven’t posted an album review before so think it fitting that my first should be of one of the most anticipated releases of the year (as far as I’m concerned) – Yoav’s third album Blood Vine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It’s a stylistic departure, but, much like its predecessors, there is a beautiful darkness (and an occasional Middle Eastern undercurrent) that runs through the album which makes the slower songs particularly haunting.\u00a0\u00a0A great album and a grower, it’s\u00a0definitely one to stick on repeat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nYoav’s debut, 2008’s Charmed & Strange,<\/em> had some stunning moments (There is Nobody<\/em>, Beautiful Lie<\/em>) but it’s because of 2010’s A Foolproof Escape Plan<\/em>, a near flawless album, that I’ve really been looking forward to Blood Vine<\/em>. From opener\u00a0To the woods<\/em> (an atmospheric 40 second instrumental) it’s clear that this album is quite different from its predecessors. Where before, through self-made guitar and percussive loops, Yoav was a one-man band, he’s now shifted towards more production and using additional instruments (all of which are played by him).<\/p>\n

The experimentation with this new direction (most notably the loud drums) is most immediate on the club-tinged Know More<\/em> and first single Blink<\/em><\/a> and the almost sarcastically uptempo\u00a0Karaoke Superstar,<\/em>\u00a0a TV-talent-contest-bashing anthem. For me, they feel a little detached and lack the warmth of the quieter more acoustic tracks, though at the same time this makes them compelling.<\/p>\n

\"Yoav<\/a>

Yoav at the Assembly, 16 January 2010 – the first time I saw him live\/heard him<\/p><\/div>\n

By the halfway point though, things really start to get good. Keep Calm Carry on<\/em> is more reminiscent of Yoav’s earlier work, and sets the mood for the album’s cluster of highlights which follow in rapid succession. The acoustic guitar (not so prominent up until this point) shine<\/em>s on the short and sweet\u00a0Everything Is…<\/em>., Pale Imitation<\/em> picks up the pace again and some great lyrics (“The lady greets us with a reptile grin\/wrapped tight around her alligator skin”<\/em>) make the dream-like Hotel Oblivion<\/em> especially visual.<\/p>\n

Sign of Life<\/em> is the longest and most complex track on the album, and Shiver#7<\/em> (the 7th reworking of a song Yoav wrote when he was 19) and album closer Malice in the garden<\/em> are both lovely slowburners. On the first listen\u00a0Blood Vine<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0intriguing,\u00a0and with every subsequent listen, you start appreciating more and more the intricacy and subtlety of the many sonic layers – it’s definitely a grower.<\/p>\n

I’m really looking forward to seeing how Yoav interprets these new tracks on stage<\/a> – his show at Kirstenbosch next month is sure to be something very special<\/a>.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

Standout tracks:<\/strong> Pale Imitation<\/em>,\u00a0 Hotel Oblivion<\/em>, Keep Calm Carry On<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yoav:<\/strong> Facebook<\/a> | Website<\/a> | Just Music<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Available in South Africa now<\/strong>: Look & Listen<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 kalahari.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MUSIC I haven’t posted an album review before so think it fitting that my first should be of one of the most anticipated releases of the year (as far as I’m concerned) – Yoav’s third album Blood Vine. It’s a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[708,153,709,706,204,154,170,707,116,17,705,57,43],"class_list":["post-10626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-reviews","tag-708","tag-acoustic","tag-album","tag-blood-vine","tag-favourites","tag-guitars","tag-international-act","tag-just-music","tag-local","tag-music-2","tag-review","tag-south-african","tag-yoav"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10626"}],"version-history":[{"count":59,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10683,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626\/revisions\/10683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}